West Ham’s Matt Jones offers an insight into nutrition at a Premier League club

When Matt Jones tore his cruciate ligament twice before he was 20, any hope of a career as an elite athlete was dashed.

Fortunately for him, the silver lining was right in front of his eyes. The industry was not cut off forever.

“During the second recovery period, I started reading up on nutrition because I was being treated by physical therapists, strength and conditioning coaches, and I even had conversations with psychologists, but no one ever told me what to eat,” she says. Sky sports.

“Then I found myself gaining weight quite rapidly as I was going from incredibly high energy expenditure to incredibly low energy expenditure while using crutches.

“I was fascinated by the impact of nutrition on health, performance, recovery, and injury as well. Back in those days, about 15 years ago, sports nutrition wasn’t really a thing, so I went on to get a bachelor of science from sport. , which was pretty broad and generic, and then I did a master’s degree in nutritional science, because that sports science degree really made it clear to me that sports nutrition was what I was interested in.

Building a reputation over the last decade, Jones has worked in Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the US, but, since the summer of 2019, has been working as a sports nutrition consultant at the Premier League with West Ham.

He spends two days a week at Hammers’ Rush Green training ground, working as part of the acting and medical team. So what exactly does the role entail?

“I like to spend time in various areas that nutrition can affect,” she explains. “What I often do is a group theory session, which can be like a traditional lesson with a presentation. Sometimes I record a video and share it with the group.

“That will be the first week of a month-long cycle and the second week would be more of an applied practical session, which could be in the dining room. We could be talking about carbs for fuel and how you have a little gas tank in your muscle that fills up when you eat carbs and when you do some intense action your gas tank goes down.

“So after 70-75 minutes of intense soccer action, for example, the gas tank is completely empty and that’s when the players will experience fatigue. Consuming more carbohydrates in the days leading up to the game will ensure that the tank of gasoline is full”. In the dining room, he would point out the different carbohydrate options and talk about portion sizes and that sort of thing.

“In week three, I’d probably be out on the grass with the players, pointing out intense actions, I mean, you just did a 10m sprint, so your gas tank is down x percent. That’s one opportunity to think about how to get fast fuel on board at half time or during breaks in the game, like gels, or taking carbs to top up those fuel tanks.

“Next month I’ll take another topic and go through the same process.

“Recovery is also a big component of what I do. If you imagine a pyramid of importance, the base would probably be sleep. The second layer would probably be nutrition, refueling, repairing damaged muscle, reducing inflammation and rehydration.

“We try and encourage players to make rehydration their first priority as soon as they wake up. You can get a little dehydrated in your sleep, but we don’t want them to wake up in the middle of the night and start drinking.”

“Before the big toe touches planet Earth in the morning, they need to drink 500 ml of water, for example. One of the first signs of dehydration is lethargy and general fatigue. That is the first basic behavior that we must instill in the players.

In general, the idea of ​​focusing on nutrition and its impact on performance and recovery, among many other aspects, in football is still in its infancy. “When I started, I was there to help people lose weight. Now it’s about getting athletes fit,” says Jones.

As a result, his work is, at this stage, very much based on education. And to be able to educate successfully, there must be an acceptance by the players themselves.

“The acceptance is huge,” he adds. “That ultimately stems from the relationship you build with the players and the trust you build.

“Behavior change requires three key things: opportunity, motivation and capacity. Opportunities arise from the environment, education and, in some cases, persuasion. Motivation is the reason to do it. Capacity is giving them the skills and shaping the environment to change those behaviors.

“In the early days, I realized that I needed to have a strong philosophy that I could come back to all the time, almost like a litmus test. My philosophy is simple, meaningful and purposeful.

“I was lucky enough to go to work in Brazil with Flamengo and they had no idea what I was talking about, so I quickly realized that everything had to be simplified and it also had to be in the language of football and food. Rather To speak of 30g of protein, we must speak in the language of food and say a chicken breast or a salmon fillet.

“The players in Brazil just want to play football, so it also had to be in the language of football, so that carbohydrates allow you to run 10 more minutes and play football for 10 more minutes.

“There is a much greater emphasis and much greater appreciation for the impact of nutrition today. There are role models within clubs and outside of clubs within football in general, like Cristiano Ronaldo for example. In the past , nutrition could change body weight.” slightly, but now people really understand the true impact of nutrition.

“Now I have 18-year-olds, 19-year-olds, even 16-year-olds who come in and ask how they can eat better to improve their performance. So you have more time to help them because you can help them instill new behaviors and new habits at a very young age than they will put them in a really good place in the future.

“That’s also because former players became coaches. They’ve experienced working with sports nutritionists, felt the difference themselves, started to appreciate it and then started applying it within the clubs they now manage. They’re cultural architects.”

Interestingly, work doesn’t stop at the end of Jones’ workday. “It’s a good job, I love what I do because WhatsApp messages start around 4-5 pm!” he jokes

Players are left alone the moment they leave the training ground or stadium after a match, with many hiring private chefs to prepare their meals from the comfort of their own homes.

It is his relationships with these people, often forged outside of working hours, that can be instrumental in cementing the work he and his colleagues have done earlier in the day.

“We are in direct contact most weeks, if not most days, because they are a very important part of delivering our nutrition plans and interventions to the players.

“We have a list of club-approved chefs, but ultimately it’s up to the players because the chefs will have specific kitchens that they specialize in, so we try to link them that way. Sometimes it’s a standard restaurant chef. , sometimes it’s a Michelin star chef, they will literally come to their house, sometimes every night, and cook for them.

“Salmon is always a good choice after games because it’s a great source of omega-3s, which help reduce inflammation, soreness and muscle damage. Adding curcumin and turmeric injections, and ​then also polyphenols like berries, cherries, dark chocolate and pomegranate.”

However, in the end, the additional work has certainly contributed to the greater good.

This is Jones’s fourth season working for the east London club and in the last two he has finished sixth and seventh in the Premier League.

“It’s fantastic,” he adds. “Working as part of the medical and performance department, you work hard and you like to see that that hard work is having an impact.

“It’s quite difficult to objectively quantify the work you’re doing, so performances on the pitch, individually and as a team, are one of the best markers we have.”