by Rebecca Roberts - 13.06.14

As England’s footballers prepare to compete at the Brazil World Cup, the conditions the squad will face will also be of interest to those Olympic and Paralympic athletes looking for gold medal glory at the Rio Games in 2016.

eis2win.co.uk talks to English Institute of Sport (EIS) experts on just what lies ahead for England’s footballers and what preparations are underway for Britain’s best in two years’ time.

Heat Acclimation

It’s no secret that Brazil is going to be hot. When England kick off against Italy in their first game, the temperature could be as high as 30C (85F), with humidity hovering around 75%. So how do athletes prepare for this?

“With heat acclimation what we’re trying to achieve is to increase an athletes’ ‘sweat response’” says Kate Spilsbury, EIS Physiologist.

This sweat response is a key player in helping athletes regulate their core temperature which can go from an average of 37C up to 39-40C which is when athletes are likely to suffer impaired physical and cognitive ability.

“Recreating temperature and humidity conditions in an environmental chamber or lab will not only help athletes get used to working hard in these conditions but help the body improve its efficiency at dissipating heat, which is why the England team have worn several layers during training as well” she adds.

Strategies during both training and competition will be mapped out to include cooling techniques, something the EIS team will work with sports on ahead of Rio.

“For Beijing, several sports had cooling techniques which were important for competition” says Spilsbury. “These included things like ice jackets, which help cool the body’s core temperature, which are likely to be used in Brazil.”

Hydration

Playing football in hot conditions can increase the sweat response during exercise. Research indicates that athletes performing high-intensity exercise in the heat commonly have sweat rates of 1.0-2.5 litres per hour (l/hour), but sweat rates higher than this are not unusual when the ambient temperature is high. With this in mind, individual hydration strategies will play an important role in Brazil.

“Athletes can improve their tolerance to heat through heat acclimatization. Through this process we will understand an individuals’ sweat composition which will contribute to their rehydration strategy as we will better understand what electrolytes they’ll need and the volume of fluid lost during exercise in the heat” explains Chris Rosimus, EIS Performance Nutritionist.

“Understanding an athletes’ individual response to heat and humidity as well as what they need nutritionally for recovery, will play an important role in helping them refuel and hydrate effectively between each match” he adds.

The England team have taken former EIS nutritionist James Collins to the competition, and have reportedly worked on bespoke nutrition strategies with researchers from Loughborough University. 

Eating Right

Athletes will be used to eating certain foods to help prepare them for the training and demands of competition, but for performance nutritionists the logistics of an oversees tour can take months of preparation.

“Whether a team takes their own chef with them, consults with one domestically or liaises with those based at their locations overseas, it’s for the performance nutritionist to work closely on the composition of food choices made available to athletes to ensure consistency with what athletes are used to back at home” says Rosimus.

“The challenge is to prepare great tasting food without compromising the quality. Given the high physical demands the players will be subjected to in Brazil, it is important to unleash the power of food to optimise players’ performance and enhance recovery.

“Menus will be designed to provide high quality carbohydrate for energy, lean protein sources for muscle recovery and rich in fruit and vegetables to boost the immune system. Food familiarity is also an important consideration. The last thing a team wants is anything new or unexpected whilst in the middle of a competition, so the recipes and menus are designed to overcome these issues.”

The EIS Performance Nutrition team are currently working with a consultant chef to help with recipe designs which are suited to catering, specifically for this purpose.

Travel

Getting to Brazil can also have a knock on effect to athletes’ ability to train and perform as body clocks adjust to travel zones as well as local conditions.

“Travelling west is easier than travelling east but even so, athletes will require plans on how best to handle the impact that travel and jet lag can have on the body and therefore ability to train as they get ready to compete” explains Spilsbury.

“There are things athletes can do to prepare themselves for the change in time zone, such as adjusting their daily routines by half an hour each day for a period leading up to the point of travel, making the overall adjustment easier. Once landed however, its best that they expose themselves to natural daylight first thing in the morning at the destination, to help shift the body clock.”

Pressure

Whether the England team are faced with a penalty shoot-out or not, performing on the world stage can be a daunting prospect and can affect performance.

“Whilst you cannot recreate a penalty shoot-out in front of thousands of spectators in a stadium with millions watching at home whilst wearing your national shirt, there are strategies you can introduce to help athletes’ manage pressure when performing” says EIS Performance Psychologist Tom Cross.

“Across the EIS Performance psychologists work with teams and individuals around ‘Pressure Training’. While you can’t create the pressures of a real penalty shoot-out, what you can do is create emotional reactions in people (through manipulated forms of pressure), who can then be helped understand what coping strategies they can try out to manage these reactions in a more effective way which in turn allows them to be more successful.”

“This type of training alongside pre-performance routines and knowing your areas of strengths are key to increasing your chances of success under pressure” he adds. 

Whilst the England football team will already have their strategies in place to compete in Brazil for the 2016 hopefuls who may be watching at home, the EIS are already working closely to help identify the sport science, medicine, technology and engineering elements that could increase the probability of success in two years’ time. 
 

Photography © Getty Images