KINGS STAYING HEALTHY

BRAVE ENOUGH TO SHAVE

Thursday, January 2, 2014
Sydney Kings Online
Linden Smith-Hyde
For most of us, the festive season is where we throw our summer diet plans out the window as we
enjoy our lavish Christmas dinners and a few too many drinks on New Years Eve with family and
friends.
Julie Maree oods jo! however, was to ensure the "ydney #in$s didnt partake in any of the
traditional overindul$ent feasts that many of us are a%%ustomed to.
&'ts a tou$h time of year to resist temptation, !ut for these $uys, as athletes their !odies are their tools
so they %ant afford to let their $uard down,( says ood, referrin$ to "ydney #in$s players.
Julie is a naturopath and nutritionist who spe%ialises in sports nutrition, and has !een in %har$e of
nutrition with the #in$s for the past three seasons.
&' know its Christmas, and they %an still have their puddin$, %ra%klin$ and so on, as lon$ as they keep
their portions reasona!le,( says ood. &'ts everythin$ else this time of year, like party sna%ks and
al%ohol that %an si$nifi%antly %ontri!ute to the athletes weekly %alorie intake.(
ith $ames all throu$h the festive season headin$ into )ustralia *ay, it will !e diffi%ult for "ydney
#in$s players to have mu%h of a !reak and enjoy the simple lu+uries we all take for $ranted at this
time of year.
&)l%ohol rapidly in%reases the rate of dehydration, so %uttin$ out al%ohol is one of the major thin$s we
emphasi,e at this time of year,( says ood.
-here is already a team poli%y in pla%e with re$ards to al%ohol, !ut with all the festivities, ood said
her intentions are to remind the players of how the adverse effe%ts of al%ohol will impa%t their $ame,
even if it is only one or two drinks.

Hydration
.ydration is e+tremely important, espe%ially $iven the N/0 season runs throu$hout the summer
months.
&.ydration is a key %omponent, not only !e%ause of the heat, !ut !asket!all is an e+plosive sport with
athletes usin$ fast1twit%h mus%les to e+e%ute powerful movements,( ood e+plains. &Competin$ at
su%h a hi$h intensity, $oin$ !a%k and forth, !asket!all players lose a lot of fluid durin$ a $ame or
trainin$ session.(
ood wei$hs players individually !efore ea%h trainin$ session, then a$ain afterwards to see how
mu%h water wei$ht they lose durin$ trainin$. &)fter takin$ in to a%%ount what they drink durin$ trainin$,
'm a!le to %al%ulate how mu%h more they need to drink to remain hydrated,( says ood.
ood advises the #in$s to drink one and a half times the wei$ht they lose to fully rehydrate, whi%h
in%ludes the ri$ht !alan%e !etween sports drinks, supplements and water.
&"ome players lose up to 2k$ durin$ a session, whi%h, when rehydratin$, is a %onsidera!le amount of
fluids $oin$ !a%k into the !ody,( says ood.

Have a Drink
) re%ent study performed in asso%iation with the N/) found !asket!all players are amon$ the worst
at stayin$ hydrated in %omparison to other athletes from different sports.
&hen a player !e%omes dehydrated, he loses around 3 per%ent of his !ody wei$ht,( e+plains ood.
&hen the player !e$ins to drain throu$h dehydration, their a!ility to perform !e%omes si$nifi%antly
impaired.(
-he study found that the field $oal per%enta$e of a !asket!all player sufferin$ from dehydration %an
drop up to 45 per%ent, while defensive intensity, jud$ment and de%ision makin$ are also ne$atively
impa%ted.
-he study also found that players failed to hydrate themselves durin$ a $ame unless the drink !ottle
was a%tually pla%ed in their hand.
&-hats somethin$ ' try to stay on top of,( says ood. &' ori$inally sat at the end !en%h so all the $uys
had a %onstant reminder to keep drinkin$. /ut now, 've moved further up near the s%orers ta!le so
my head is %onstantly on a swivel !etween the a%tion on the %ourt and the !en%h, makin$ sure our
$uys keep their fluids up.

Working with the New Guys
ood has !een workin$ %losely with "am Youn$ sin%e he arrived in Novem!er, !ut with the re%ent
arrival on Cody Ellis, ood will have her hands full $ettin$ the new arrivals up to speed on the
nutritional front with the rest of the s6uad.
&'ts tri%ky when they %ome halfway throu$h the season !e%ause weve already !uilt an edu%ation and
healthy eatin$ %ulture,( says ood.
.owever, !oth Cody and "am havin$ !een workin$ hard with ood and have already made some
%han$es to their eatin$ ha!its to optimi,e their on1%ourt performan%e.
Looking Ahead
.appy with what she has seen so far, ood is lookin$ forward to reassessin$ the s6uad and helpin$
to prepare the #in$s throu$h the se%ond half of the season and into the playoffs.
&' do hydration with the players at the !e$innin$ of the season, then we reassess in January !e%ause
the summer heat peaks throu$hout January so it is %ru%ial time for us to stay on top of it,( says ood.
0eadin$ into the offseason, ood then does a review at the end of season, $ivin$ the players some
simple $uidelines to follow.
&' normally ask them where they want to !e when they $et !a%k for preseason. *o they want to have
an e+tra 7k$s to work off, or do they want to !uild on what weve a%%omplished with re$ards to
nutrition this season,( says ood.
&' find that durin$ the season, for the players, its really dili$ent 89 per%ent of the time, and enjoyin$
themselves for the other 49.
&'n the off season, its more like a :9;39 split. "o they still have to !e %ons%ious of what they eat, !ut
may!e they %an have an e+tra -im -am ea%h week,( ood says with a lau$h.