February 23rd 2022
For 25 years, Darryl Griffiths, founder of KODA Nutrition, has worked with athletes at the top of their game to improve their performance by focussing on a unique set of data that is often overlooked. “The amount of sweat and sodium each athlete loses differs incredibly from one person to the next,” Griffiths explains, “even when they are competing in the same conditions. Addressing these unique requirements is paramount to an athlete performing at their best”.
“Sports drinks with calories don’t allow athletes to customise their calories and hydration. If you need the hydration, you have to consume the calories. The marketing tells us sports drinks are the solution, but my research and experience has shown they are actually the cause of the problem,” Griffiths says.
“It’s all in the title of my new audiobook: Sweat. Think. Go Faster. It’s as simple as that. It is the thinking, the questioning, that makes all the difference. You can train as hard as you like, but if you don’t consider how much you sweat, how much sodium you lose when you sweat and how many calories you need to replace in the conditions you are competing in, you’ll never reach your full potential”.
“One simple change is the key. By separating fluid and calories, rather than mixing them together, athletes can address their unique requirements. They can drink the amount of fluid they need and alter the amount of fluid they drink as environmental conditions change. It means they can also address their unique sodium loss,” Griffiths adds.
“Each athlete’s level of exertion changes depending on a myriad of variables, which means the number of calories they need to consume will be different for each competition. We’ve seen it time and time again that when an athlete customises their hydration and nutrition to suit their specific needs, they are able to perform at their best in varying environmental conditions,” says Harriet Brown, Exercise Physiologist for KODA Nutrition.
“You have the ability to improve your performance and it’s not by training harder,” says Griffiths. “It’s by thinking smarter and understanding your unique hydration, sodium and energy needs”.
Sweat. Think. Go Faster: A common sense approach to sports nutrition for athletes by Darryl Griffiths is available on Apple, Audible, audiobooks.com and Google Play.
