SNR #121: Graeme Close, PhD – Nutritional Strategies for Jockeys to Make Weight, Perform Better & Improve Health

Graeme Close PhD discusses nutrition strategies that he has researched and employed with professional jockeys in order to allow them to make weight more safely, perform better and improve their overall health.

Guest Bio

Prof. Graeme Close

Originally a Professional rugby league player, Graeme is now a Reader in Applied Physiology & Sport Nutrition at Liverpool John Moores University where he combines his academic research with nutrition and physiology consultancy to some of the worlds leading sporting organisations.

Graeme is currently the head performance nutritionist to England Rugby. He is the lead nutritionist to Team GB Ski and Snowboard and works with some of the worlds leading golfers and Rugby League players.

On top of this, and despite spending most of his professional career helping big people get bigger, he currently receives funding from Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan (the owner of Manchester City FC) to help professional jockeys make-weight safely.

It is this combination of academic theory (over 75 research publications) and applied practice that has enabled Graeme to establish himself as a world-leading nutrition consultant and public speaker.

Graeme is the only person in the UK who is an accredited sports nutritionist (rSEN), sports scientist (BASES) and strength and conditioning coach (UKSCA). He is the deputy chair of the Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register and has recently received a prestigious fellowship from the British Association of Sport & Exercise Sciences (BASES)

In this episode we discuss:

• Conventional weight-making tactics employed by jockeys
• Health and performance issues encountered by professional jockeys
• Physiological demands of racing
• Fuelling strategies: Balancing sufficient energy provision with keeping bodyweight down
• Dehydration tactics and implications
• Findings from Graeme’s research on professional jockeys
• Results from applying smarter nutrition strategies: weight, performance and health
• Vitamin D levels, kidney and liver function
• Vitamin D: how much is optimal? Too high? Cause and effect?
• Areas for future research

Links & Resources:

• Graeme Close – Twitter
• LJMU – Twitter
• Graeme Close – Research Gate
• Weight-Making Strategies in Professional Jockeys: Implications for Physical and Mental Health and Well-Being
• Elite male Flat jockeys display lower bone density and lower resting metabolic rate than their female counterparts: Implications for athlete-welfare
• Fasted Exercise and Increased Dietary Protein Reduces Body Fat and Improves Strength in Jockeys
• The Assessment of Total Energy Expenditure During a 14-day ‘In-Season’ Period of Professional Rugby League Players Using the Doubly Labelled Water Method