Gastronomic Training for The Competitive Goalkeeper
The nutritional aspect of a goalkeeper's training regime cannot be underestimated. All players can take comfort in the fact that even at the highest levels, diet remains one of the unsolved mysteries that can make or break a season. There is no cure-all diet, and there is no way to prescribe eating habits to an entire team. Diet is an individual aspect of football, and all players should take responsibility for their own intake.
Food is one of life's little luxuries that footballers have to learn to control in order to gain maximum success on the pitch. The Independent mentions players such as Jan Molby, Micky Quinn, Andy Reid, and goalkeeper "Fatty" Foulkes as players that have succeeded with a little more cushion in the midsection, but more often than not, players like these will not succeed.
English players have also had a worse reputation than other European players, who are regarded almost as footballing machines because of their finely-tuned bodies. In fact, Ramos himself said that he took photos of the first team buffet he saw because it was "very interesting". The table included "cakes, chocolate muffins, and a box full of sweets".
Arsenal's astute Arsene Wenger has mentioned that the two years he spent with Japan's Grampus 8 were the best in terms of nutrition because of their overall healthy way of life.
"Their diet is basically boiled vegetables, fish, and rice. No fat, no sugar," the Arsenal boss remarked.
While I believe that fat and sugar do play their own parts in the diet of a well-rounded goalkeeper, it is easy to see why the Asian people are generally very healthy and live productive lives.
It will be interesting to see what effects Ramos' changes will ultimately have on a Tottenham side that was "basically 100 kilos overweight", according to fitness coach Marcos Alvarez, when they arrived from Seville in October. Already the team has climbed out of the drop zone and into a secure mid-table spot. The team has already lost about half of their weight, and are focusing just as much on turning fat into muscle as they are with shedding excess pounds.
The G-Code is an excellent resource for help with goalkeeper diet and fitness, both to drop excess weight and turn flab into lean muscle. Five of the book's twelve chapters are exclusively about nutrition. Carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and hydration are all covered in depth and extensively by the writer and founder of this site, John Stevanja.
Liviu Bird
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Reader Comments (2)
I favor the PC diet:
Pasta and chicken. :-) But I was not a keeper.
Jokes aside, this is an important theme. For example, when Italy travels, they bring their own chefs and sometimes their own food. No doubt it is similar to other elite teams.
I recall an interesting comment from the 1998 World Cup in France. The American team stayed at a chalet, and the staff/cooks remarked that "They ate a lot of ice cream."
Did that explain the Yanks out in three performance, or was it Steve Sampson's tactics, or lack thereof? Perhaps both.
My apologies. I thought that John posted this very intriguing entry.
All the best.