In the months prior to the games, ISEH’s Dr Tom Gurney, Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Medical Sciences and Year 1 Academic Lead, collaborated with GB Women’s Hockey at our dedicated facility for sport and exercise medicine to assist their nutrition and medical teams in preparation for Paris.
The main objective of this project was to gather Resting Metabolic Rate data from each athlete. This data is vital for their medical team to monitor risks related to Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) and low Bone Mineral Density (BMD). By analysing this information, the team can develop personalised nutrition plans and ensure proper energy balance, addressing the fact that negative energy balance frequently contributes to low BMD.
We sat down with Dr Gurney to learn more about this project and his role in this research; he talks about what a typical day was like and shares key insights about the purpose and outcome of this study.
Can you share what typical day was like?
A typical day involved very early starts at the ISEH! This is because the athletes must have come fasted, so to keep them as happy and comfortable as possible it was important this took place first thing in the morning.
We measured each athletes resting metabolic rate using the Vyntus. They then simply lay down and relaxed for 30-minutes whilst the machine measured their expired and inspired gasses (each breath). The Vyntus machine then runs its algorithms to work out how much fat, carbohydrate and protein they are oxidising.
The Vyntus machine will then also tell us how many calories they need to consume in a day in a rested state (resting metabolic rate).
What was your role in this research?
I served as the main point of contact for collecting the data with the athletes while also working with the wider GB Hockey team on organising the visits. I carefully analysed the data, generated the athlete reports, and provided feedback to their nutrition team.
What was the outcome and how has the study helped the team?
We have provided GB Hockey with individualised player reports and a master spreadsheet to help them inform their nutrition team on whether any of their athletes might be at REDs risk.
The ISEH is proud partnership between with UCLH (University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust), HCA Healthcare UK, UCL, the British Olympic Association and the UK Sports Institute. This collaboration was initiated as a major legacy project after the London 2012 Olympics.