The RL diet: Must have supplements for rugby league players
The rugby league diet is our new feature where we give you an insight in to the eating habits of your favourite professional players, in partnership with Heaven ‘N’ Health.
Former Salford, Halifax, Dewsbury, Oldham, Rochdale and Leigh forward Luke Adamson is our latest guest…
What supplements would you advise taking, Luke?
“For an athlete, I would suggest to take BCAAs, creatine and fish oil tablets.
“Creatine is naturally in your body but if you are trying to put on size then it is useful and it is good for endurance as well. I was speaking to Rob Massam (North Wales player) and he says I need creatine, BCAAs to help with recovery and beta alanine as well to aid my training.”
So what is creatine and beta alanine?
“Creatine pumps water in to your muscles, increases your strength and acts as a lactic acid buffer. So when you are doing like six reps in the gym – creatine will help push you to do seven or eight.
“Beta alanine is like the tingles that you get in your face when taking pre-workout. Beta alanine is that but without the heaps of caffeine that you get in pre-workout. It’s a lactic acid buffer, and so is creatine.”
What other supplements would you say are important to rugby players?
“Fish oils are essential. I’d recommend having four fish oils a day if you don’t eat fish or just one or two per day if you eat fish regularly.
“Vitamin D is the most important supplement you need and the primary source for that is the sun. Obviously being in England, we don’t get much sun so get vitamin D capsules. If you aren’t getting enough sun then you should get supplements instead. You will never get ill and feel amazing.”
What is your daily routine with supplements then?
“In the morning, I have vitamin C powder and that stops you from getting ill. I just have a tiny scoop in my aloe vera juice and the scoop is just called super greens.
“I have centrum cod liver oil, omega 3 and oleoresin garlic in the morning which is just from plants for hydration and I will have super greens for vitamin C.
“In the afternoon, I’ll have my whey protein, BCAAs, creatine and glutamine – I’ll have a scoop of each with my whey protein and then I’ll have my meals in between. It sounds a lot but once you do it then it’s not. I have pre-workout when I’m training as well.”
More on site
Luke Thompson on having up to five meals a day
Joe Philbin on intermittent fasting and not eating until midday
Oliver Gildart on what his pre-season bulking regime is like
Jackson Hastings discusses his eating routine in our new food feature