‘The Role of Nutrition in Injury Rehabilitation and Recovery,’ brought together three super knowledgeable speakers, who despite never having met before, combined effortlessly to provide a superbly informative and engaging webinar; the second in the 2021 SST Webinar series.
Dr Ian Rollo, Principal Scientist, Gatorade Sports Science Institute, Dr Sally Waterworth, Course Leader, Sports Therapy at the University of Essex and Charlie Beestone, Performance Nutritionist and Lifestyle Coach made up the trio of speakers. They proved to be a huge draw with over 600 people registering for the event. Society Member and Chair of the SST Communications Group Hayley Clarke hosted the evening and once again, she did a superb job.
Hayley had been instrumental in putting the webinar together, so we spoke to her about her thoughts on the evening and what the speakers had to say. She said:
‘Each of the speakers are registered SENR practitioners, accredited for their knowledge and expertise in the field of sports nutrition. Together they delivered an excellent overview which led to an informative panel discussion, incorporating some of the key topics considered by Sports Therapists, working with injured athletes.’
For Hayley, each speaker brought something different and she was very appreciative of the relevance of the content to the role of an SST Sports Therapist. She said:
‘Dr Ian Rollo kicked off the webinar by highlighting the importance of an interdisciplinary approach when working with athletes with musculoskeletal injury. He explained how nutrition and hydration can be integrated within our rehabilitation programmes, providing the building blocks for the body’s remodelling process. With specific reference to the turnover rate of different tissues, Ian further explained the nutritional concepts we should consider, dependant on our athlete’s current state of injury. For example, how research suggests that Omega 3 fatty acid consumption, predominantly in female athletes, can preserve muscle mass during injury. Overall, this was an excellent introduction into the world of nutrition in relation to injury and it provided food for thought, pardon the pun, in terms of what we as Sports Therapists should take into account when working with our athletes.
‘Dr Sally Waterworth showcased the value of wearing both hats (that of Sports Therapist and Sports Nutritionist) when it comes to recovery from injury. Sally focused on overuse injuries and the misbalance between training load and inadequate recovery. With her Sports Therapist hat on, she looks at the mechanics of an injury and explores training loads/frequency/intensity. With her Sports Nutrition hat on, she looks at things more globally, with an investigation into energy requirements and energy expenditure to assess whether the body has the energy left to support all physiological functions of recovery. Sally’s talk really demonstrated the value of both disciplines and highlighted how we can successfully support our athletes to recover more efficiently with a combined approach.
‘Charlie Beestone followed on with a thought-provoking case study centred around the recovery of a young female marathon runner with low energy availability, who was frequently injured. This athlete had been working with coaches and therapists prior to the referral for nutritional assessment. Charlie explained how via consultation, some
red flags were uncovered when the athlete expressed thoughts and feelings around weight gain, body image and the inability to exercise whilst injured. Ultimately, this athlete was referred to the relevant professionals for support and was diagnosed with an eating disorder. Charlie then went on to highlight the importance of the language that we as practitioners use, and how certain terms which we may casually use in sports settings, can have detrimental impacts on individuals who may be suffering with an eating disorder. Overall, Charlie highlighted a sensitive topic, explained what we as Sports Therapists should be aware of and the importance of appropriate referral.’
The three talks were followed by questions from the audience. After a quiet start, the questions flowed, leading to some excellent discussion. Hayley, who is undoubtedly passionate about the role of nutrition as a tool in injury rehab and recovery said:
‘I would like to thank all attendees for joining the webinar and for their participation in the panel discussion. I hope the information shared will encourage you to explore nutritional concepts within your rehabilitation programmes, recognise where referral is necessary and network with SENR practitioners in your local areas.’
Finally, our thanks go to our three panelists for taking time out of their busy schedules to provide such a thought provoking and enjoyable evening.
If you missed the webinar, you can watch the recording on the SST Youtube Channel at: https://youtu.be/0oByjDlHOWs
We hope you can join us for the next webinar in our SST 2021 Webinar Series: ‘The Adolescent Athlete: Strategies for Performance and Injury Management’. Thursday 13th May 19:00 – 20.15