After focusing on the senior A & B groups during the opening months of the season, nutritionist Jon Williams is set to provide advice and guidance to young players on the elite development pathway.
One of the UK’s leading sports nutrition experts, Williams joined the Ospreys on a consultancy basis during the close season to provide guidance and educational support to both the senior squad and the Eyasses on an ongoing basis.
His initial focus has been on working with senior players at the region, helping Strength and Conditioning Coaches Mark Bennett and Kevin Morgan to get the squad into the right shape for the rigours of a long season, but after also concentrating on a small group of Eyasses during this period, he is now ready to work on a closer basis with the young Ospreys over the coming weeks to help with their own personal development.
Williams commented:
“During pre season the senior squad made impressive changes in their body composition. There was a huge 30.6% fat loss and a gain of 24.7kg lean muscle was made by the squad, equating to an average of 2% fat loss and 1.64kg lean body mass gain per player. This is a result of some hard work in the gym and good compliance with eating guidelines.
“We have seen similar results with age-grade players in our work so far. The initial focus was on a priority group of players who have made huge changes in their body composition. Since then I’ve held a series of group education workshops for all players involved with the Eyasses and, to be honest, I was impressed with quick uptake from the players in terms of their knowledge on nutrition issues. We’ll continue these workshops throughout the season to ensure our players are up to date with the latest information on nutrition, while we focus on individual progression.
“By ensuring the time and focus is given to these players at the young age not only will we accelerate their physical development we will have bigger, leaner, more powerful players for senior rugby to keep raising the bar.”
Elite Performance Director, Andrew Hore, said the nutrition advice supplied by Jon Williams was essential to the development of the younger players:
“It is vital that we encourage young players to develop the right habits at the very start of their career, as it will benefit them for their life in rugby. It is also important that we get buy-in not only from the young players but also from their families, ensuring that these young players are able to get the right nutrition in order to enable them to compete on the field.
“Jon has an immense amount of knowledge in this department, and the results we are already seeing among the senior players is excellent. By filtering this information down through the A, B and C groups, and into the players on the development pathway, we will be ensuring that their physical development is supported by good nutritional habits, furthering their progress, individually and as a team.”