ANTHONY JOSHUA is one of the least demanding athletes, from my perspective as a nutritionist. I think you have to have good relationships with your athletes, know what makes them tick if you are going to influence their diet and training. There is an optimum fighting weight as a heavyweight, but Josh doesn’t have to worry about making weight. He likes to eat healthy, wholesome, natural foods. Anything new I suggest his first question is always, ‘What would Muhammad Ali do?’ That makes me laugh. We have interactions on a weekly basis – each week we’ll perhaps go for a bit of dinner together, chill, but there’s not a written report each week, saying ‘Eat this many grammes of x, y and z.’ We speak frequently though the week too but Josh is not that needy. It’s more principles with Josh, maybe six years ago he needed that level of information, but he’s a mature athlete now, he knows what he’s doing. As he tapers down his training for the big fight with Dillian Whyte this weekend, some of those principles – or lessons – are outlined over the next few pages.
Next: Lesson 1 of 4 – Managing your diet around your schedule
Mark Ellison RSEN
Performance Nutritionist
@ElliNutrition
Joshua… manages nutrition around his schedule
JOSHUA is supported by a nutrition company that provide two deliveries a week with all his food. I converse with them, there’s a real good relationship there and if we need to change the amount of protein or carbohydrate, we can. He’ll have his food delivered half raw and half prepped so if he’s ever in a rush, or has media commitments, he’s got prepped food ready to go. We have a hydration partner as well. Josh takes dissolvable electrolyte tablets in his water to replace those lost in sweat; you would not believe how much a big guy in a hot gym can shift. He can be losing two-plus litres of fluid in an hour easy.
Next: Lesson 2 of 4 – Engage with your food
Mark Ellison RSEN
Performance Nutritionist
@ElliNutrition
Joshua… engages with his food
THE majority of the time he has a lot of foods delivered raw rather than pre-cooked. Anthony likes to be engaged with his food, to prepare and cook it; then you can make it to your taste.
Next: Lesson 3 of 4 – Maintain your carb intake (if you’re a heavyweight)
Mark Ellison RSEN
Performance Nutritionist
@ElliNutrition
Joshua… maintains his carb intake
THIS phase we’re in now, we’re tapering off the training. At this stage, carb intake is important for most athletes to ensure they are well fuelled before competition, but uniquely in combat sports we have to cut down the carb intake to make weight, for some fighters everything is reduced. Josh doesn’t have to worry about making weight so he can maintain a good carb intake throughout. The weight-cut is the most carefully managed part of camp for any non-heavyweight boxer. During the training camp we like them to eat 6-8g of carbs per kg of bodyweight per day, so for Josh that’s 650-850g of carbs per day (from complex sources like rice, pasta, breads and grains at meal times and simple sugars before and after training sessions from fruits, milkshakes etc). We’d hit 8g per kg or more for a big day, when the running, strength and conditioning and rounds of sparring go up and the intensity is high, but on a tapering week it would go down to around 4g per kg, though for most boxers making weight it would be down to 2g or less. It’s a huge amount of food at times, but the key thing is to have small, frequent meals that are nutritious and energy-dense.
Next: Lesson 4 of 4 – Get sufficient protein
Mark Ellison RSEN
Performance Nutritionist
@ElliNutrition
Joshua… gets sufficient protein
AS a rule during camp we like him to consume 2-2.4g per kg of bodyweight in protein and within that it’s mainly natural food (eggs, dairy, poultry, lots of oily fish and meats) spread evenly over four-six feeds . Around training we use fast-digesting whey proteins for practicality; we’ve got to get it all in, in a day. We take advantage of liquid recovery when we can.
Mark Ellison RSEN
Performance Nutritionist
@ElliNutrition
