In his interview with The Athletic UK, Dr. Rob Naughton, INTRA Senior Performance Nutritionist, discusses how nutrition has transformed football performance. Speaking with Sarah Shepard, he explains how tailored diets, hydration strategies, and recovery plans have reshaped the way players fuel their bodies, train, and extend their careers.
The Evolution of Performance Nutrition
“What has changed,” Naughton explains, “is the approach towards performance nutrition. Periodisation is one of the biggest things to come out in the last decade.”
This approach tailors nutrition strategies to match the intensity and frequency of training and matches. “For example, if a footballer plays on a Saturday and then has a rest before the following Saturday’s game, their carb intake for that week looks different than if they go: Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday.”
“It was initially more linked to endurance sports and has since been adapted for football. During lower-intensity training days, their carb requirements are lower compared to when preparing for a game. It’s a way of helping them keep optimal body composition while also ensuring they are fuelling when they need to fuel.”
Personalised Nutrition for Peak Performance
Another major shift is the increasing personalisation of nutrition plans. While clubs provide general guidance, more players are now hiring private nutritionists and chefs to optimise their diets.
“We’ll have high-performing footballers who might have a nutritionist at the club who deals with a more whole-team approach, but they’ll employ us to look solely at their(own) nutrition,” Naughton explains.
The Role of Protein, Carbohydrates, and Recovery
As players age, their nutritional priorities shift. Younger footballers focus on developing muscle mass while fuelling high-intensity performances. Older players, on the other hand, aim to maintain the strength they’ve built over the years.
“Muscle mass is an extremely important marker for strength,” says Naughton. “And strength is crucial for robustness, staying injury-free, as well as performance. Ronaldo is remarkable not just for the length of his career but also for his availability throughout.”
Injuries, particularly those requiring surgery, can significantly shorten a player’s career. While genetics play a role, nutrition and training are now seen as vital tools in preventing injuries and maintaining longevity.
Finding the Right Balance
Dr. Rob Naughton highlights that while body composition matters, there’s no ideal number for every player. Many aspire to have low body fat like Ronaldo, but Naughton warns that chasing a specific number can be harmful. Instead, he focuses on helping players find their "fighting weight"—the composition where they perform at their best.
“That obsession with being a certain body fat can have a detrimental effect. It can lead them down the route of under-fuelling, which can lead to several negative health and performance issues. Athletes have to look to optimise body composition but the optimisation is not about hitting an arbitrary magic number, it’s about optimising it for that player and their body and where they’re best at.”
Click here to read the full article: Will it become increasingly common to see footballers still playing in their forties?
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