Science for Sport Podcast - Episodes Tagged with “Performance Nutrition”

315: The Under-fueling Problem in Professional Sport with Dr Nessan Costello

Science for Sport — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 06:00:00 +0100

Sports nutrition in elite football is often misunderstood, even by the players doing it for a living. In this episode, Richard Graves sits down with Dr. Nessan Costello, 1st Team Sports Nutritionist at Al-Ahli in the Saudi Arabia Pro League, to cut through the noise and get practical about what performance nutrition actually looks like at the highest level.
Nessan has worked across the Premier League with clubs including Chelsea, Newcastle United and Leeds United, and brings a rare combination of academic rigour and real-world experience to the conversation. From fuelling strategies across a congested fixture schedule to navigating Ramadan with Muslim players, and from debunking carbohydrate myths to calling out the damage done by overly controlling nutrition environments, this is a frank and refreshingly honest look at what it takes to keep elite footballers performing at their best, week in, week out.
Whether you're a practitioner working at the sharp end of elite sport, a coach trying to get more out of your athletes, or simply someone who wants to understand the science behind peak performance, there is plenty here for you.

In This Episode You Will Learn

Why the majority of elite footballers are chronically underfuelled — and why that matters more than their body fat percentage
The real science behind carbohydrate loading: why you should start 24 hours before kick-off, not the night before, and what foods actually work
How to structure post-match nutrition across a 72-hour recovery window, including the specific gram-per-kilogram targets Nessan uses with his players
Why ultra-lean body composition as a performance goal is actively harming players, and how disordered eating behaviours are more common in elite football than most environments will admit
How Nessan adapted his approach during Ramadan — including training sessions at 10pm and cup semi-finals kicking off at 1:30am
The practical hydration framework he uses: why 500ml of fluid with every meal beats carrying a big bottle around all day
How nutrition changes across a full season, from pre-season heat acclimatisation through to the demands of a congested run-in
Why supplements are largely irrelevant until you've nailed sleep, three meals a day, two snacks and consistent hydration
What working in the Saudi Pro League has taught him about personalised nutrition across diverse nationalities and food cultures
His advice for coaches and practitioners working without a dedicated nutritionist — and when it becomes worth bringing one in

About Nessan Costello
Dr. Nessan Costello is a sports nutritionist with over a decade of experience working at the highest levels of professional football. He has held roles at Premier League clubs including Chelsea, Newcastle United and Leeds United, before taking on his current position as 1st Team Sports Nutritionist at Al-Ahli in the Saudi Arabia Pro League.
Nessan specialises in helping elite athletes optimise their health and performance through practical, evidence-based nutrition strategies — with a particular focus on fuelling, recovery and body composition in high-demand environments. He is known for his ability to simplify complex nutritional science and make it actionable for players, coaches and multidisciplinary teams alike.
You can follow Nessan on LinkedIn and Instagram at @DrNessanCostello.

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303: Periodised Nutrition in Practice: Delivering the Plan Away From the Club

Science for Sport — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 06:00:00 +0000

This week on the Science for Sport Podcast, Richard Graves is joined by Rachel Muse, one of the leading performance chefs working with elite athletes across professional sport.Rachel is the founder of Talk Eat Laugh, a specialist performance-chef service supporting athletes in their own homes. Her work bridges the gap between performance nutrition science and real-life eating habits, ensuring athletes follow precise nutritional plans without meals becoming clinical, restrictive, or culturally disconnected.In this episode, Rachel shares her unconventional journey from mathematics graduate to elite performance chef, and explains how chefs, nutritionists, and sports science teams work together to deliver periodised nutrition away from the training ground. The conversation explores how macronutrient targets are delivered in practice, how food preferences and cultural background shape compliance, and why fuelling the brain is just as important as fuelling the body.This is a rare insight into a part of the performance system that is often overlooked, but critical to recovery, consistency, and late-game performance.

In this episode, you will learn

What periodised nutrition actually means in practice, beyond the theory
How performance chefs work from nutritionist-led macro prescriptions
Why chefs should not act as nutritionists, and where the professional boundaries sit
How to deliver exact macronutrient targets without meals becoming boring or restrictive
The role of carbohydrates in sustaining physical and cognitive performance late in matchesHow cultural background and food identity influence nutritional compliance
Why elite performance nutrition is as much about psychology and trust as it is science
What “success” really looks like when supporting elite athletes away from the club environment

About Rachel Muse
Rachel Muse is a performance chef with a background spanning elite hospitality, private households, and professional sport. After an unconventional route into the culinary world, she founded Talk Eat Laugh, a performance-chef business supporting elite athletes across football, rugby, swimming, and motorsport.Rachel works closely with performance nutritionists and sports science teams to deliver highly specific nutritional strategies in athletes’ home environments. Known for her emphasis on collaboration, precision, privacy, and cultural understanding, Rachel specialises in translating complex nutrition plans into meals athletes genuinely want to eat, consistently and compliantly.You can follow Rachel on LinkedIn or find Talk Eat Laugh on Instagram for insights into performance food done properly.

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302: Creatine and the Evolution of Performance Nutrition

Science for Sport — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Creatine is now one of the most widely used and well-researched supplements in elite sport — but few people know the story of how it first made its way into Olympic performance programmes.

In this episode of the Science for Sport Podcast, Richard Graves sits down with Steven Jennings, one of the key figures behind the early adoption of creatine in elite sport, to unpack a remarkable story that begins long before creatine was common knowledge.

Steven takes us back to the early 1990s — a pre-internet era where sports nutrition research travelled slowly, secrecy mattered, and a single kilogram of creatine played a role in reshaping performance preparation ahead of the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games. From working directly with pioneering researchers at the Karolinska Institute to navigating Olympic-level scrutiny, this is a rare, first-hand account of how science moved from the lab to the field.

Beyond performance sport, the conversation also looks forward. Steven shares why he believes we are only just beginning to understand creatine’s wider potential — from cognition and ageing to plant-based diets and long-term health.

This is an essential listen for practitioners who want to understand not just what works in performance nutrition, but how evidence, trust, regulation, and timing shape real-world impact.

In this episode you will learn

What creatine actually is and how it works at a cellular level
How early research in the early 1990s changed elite sport preparation
Steven’s role in bringing creatine into Olympic sport ahead of Barcelona 1992
Why creatine was (and still is) legal, safe, and fundamentally different from banned substances
How creatine became associated with repeated high-intensity performance and recovery
Why creatine research is now expanding beyond sport into cognition, ageing, and health
Why we may still be “scratching the surface” of creatine’s full potential

About Steven Jennings
Steven Jennings is a sports nutrition entrepreneur and former professional cyclist who played a pivotal role in the early commercialisation of creatine for elite sport. In the early 1990s, he worked directly with leading researchers from the Karolinska Institute to help translate groundbreaking creatine research into real-world Olympic performance programmes.

Over the past three decades, Steven has remained closely connected to the evolution of creatine research, from elite performance applications to emerging work in health, cognition, and ageing. Today, he continues to focus on education, innovation, and the future direction of creatine science.

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299: Managing Performance Nutrition Over Christmas with Dan Richardson

Science for Sport — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The festive period can be one of the most challenging times of the year for athletes and practitioners trying to balance performance, recovery, wellbeing and real life.
In this episode of the Science for Sport Podcast, host Richard Graves welcomes Dan Richardson back to the show to tackle one of the most relevant (and misunderstood) topics in elite sport: how to manage nutrition, fuelling and hydration over Christmas and the New Year.
Drawing on his experience working across football, rugby, rowing and professional cricket, Dan breaks down how athletes can enjoy the festive period without compromising performance. From Boxing Day fixtures and congested travel schedules to Christmas dinners, social events and late nights, this conversation blends applied sports nutrition principles with real-world practicality.
Whether you’re working in elite sport, competing at a high level, or simply want evidence-based guidance on fuelling through a disruptive period of the year, this episode delivers clear, actionable insight, without guilt, extremes or fads.

In this episode you will learn:

How to apply the 80–20 rule to festive eating without harming performance
Practical strategies for managing Christmas meals, portion sizes and food choices
Why under-fuelling can be just as risky as overindulging during the festive period
How athletes should think about macronutrients vs calories when routines break down
Smart approaches to travel nutrition and hydration during busy fixture schedules
Simple habit-based strategies to stay consistent through Christmas and into January
How elite athletes can enjoy social time while still prioritising recovery and readiness

About Dan Richardson
Dan Richardson is a performance nutritionist who works across elite and professional sport, with experience supporting athletes in football, rugby, rowing and professional cricket. Known for his practical, athlete-centred approach, Dan specialises in helping performers fuel effectively in real-world environments — including congested schedules, travel-heavy periods and high-pressure competitive blocks.
He regularly works with athletes navigating complex training and match demands, translating sports science into clear, actionable habits that support both performance and wellbeing. Dan shares evidence-based insight through his applied work and educational content, making him a trusted voice in modern performance nutrition.
You can find Dan on Instagram at @DRNnutrition.

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294: The Science Behind England’s Ashes Preparation – with Lead Nutritionist Charlie Binns

Science for Sport — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 06:00:00 +0000

This week, host Richard Graves sits down with Charlie Binns, Lead Nutritionist for the England men’s cricket team, fresh from Perth as preparations ramp up for the Ashes. Charlie lifts the lid on what elite fuelling actually looks like across five-day Tests, why recovery is an arms race, and how his team builds simple, repeatable habits the players will actually use, from colour-coded carb periodisation to the humble banana bread on the snack table.
He also shares the months of behind-the-scenes logistics you never see: venue-by-venue menus for lunch, tea and post-match; shipping batch-tested supplements across the world; and how day–night “pink ball” Tests flip the entire eating schedule on its head. Expect practical insights, no fluff, and a proper appreciation for just how physically brutal modern cricket really is.

What you’ll learn from the episode

Cricket’s true physical demands: why a Test bowler can cover ~50 km across a match and repeatedly absorb ~8× bodyweight through the front leg, and what that means for fuelling and recovery.
Tour prep, six months out: coordinating stadium caterers, training-day menus, and freighted, batch-tested supplements, plus how strategies are trialled at home before heading overseas.
Match-day fuelling made usable: the role of lunch, tea and all-day snack stations; when to use liquids vs solids; and why simple, high-carb options (wraps, bagels, flapjacks, banana bread) win.
Carbohydrate periodisation in practice: using colour-coded days to align intake with bowling/fielding workloads, then ramping to a high-carb taper before the first ball.
Refuel like a pro: stacking recovery windows, shakes on the final whistle, high-carb changeroom options, team-room snacks, and evening meals, to reduce soreness and restore glycogen for day two (and three).
Day–night Test adjustments: how pink-ball timings shift pre-match, “lunch”, “tea” and sleep hygiene, and the tweaks Charlie makes to keep players alert without compromising recovery.
Communication that sticks: nudging over lecturing, tailoring to individual preferences, and equipping S&C staff to deliver on-ground during play.

About Charlie Binns
Charlie Binns (BSc, MSc, SENr, UKAD, ISAK) is the Lead Nutritionist for the England & Wales Cricket Board’s men’s team. He joined the ECB setup after roles across elite rugby and football, including First-Team / Senior Men’s Nutritionist at Tottenham Hotspur and consultancy with Birmingham City FC. He also founded CMB Performance & Nutrition, serving athletes and organisations from academy to international level.
Charlie’s academic route began with a First-Class BSc in Sport & Exercise Nutrition at Leeds Trinity University, followed by an MSc in Applied Sports Nutrition at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. He is SENr-registered, UKAD-accredited, and ISAK L1 certified.
Before moving into cricket full-time, Charlie built experience in multiple environments to broaden his practice, from Richmond Rugby during his Master’s to league and academy football, a deliberate multi-sport grounding he still credits for his applied approach in cricket.
Within England Cricket’s performance team, Charlie’s remit spans:
Tour logistics & catering coordination across venues (training, lunch, tea, post-match menus).
Carb periodisation frameworks aligned to bowling/fielding loads and match phases.
Recovery protocols (e.g., immediate shakes, tart cherry, staged refuelling) to hit repeat high-output days.
He’s been part of touring groups across the subcontinent, South Africa and Australia, and has supported senior and Lions squads in major series and tournaments. Media reporting has highlighted his role in individualising fuelling targets for players during high-demand campaigns.
Outside the ECB, Charlie has hosted CPD for nutritionists across the county game and continues to contribute to practitioner development within cricket.

270: Dr. James Morehen on Fueling England Rugby Through the Six Nations

Science for Sport — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 06:00:00 +0100

What’s it really like behind the scenes of an England Rugby Six Nations campaign? How do you fuel elite athletes to perform at their peak, and recover just as hard?

This week, host Richard Graves is joined by the brilliant Dr. James Morehen,lead performance nutritionist for England Rugby and founder of the Performance Nutrition Network. With a career that’s taken him from snowboarding in Canada to backstage of international test matches, James brings a fascinating, no-nonsense look at the art (and science) of elite-level nutrition.

If you’re a coach, athlete, nutritionist or just curious about what fuels champions, this episode is packed with practical insights, powerful stories, and a few grassroots tips that could change your game.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How to fuel for optimal performance and recovery during high-stakes tournaments like the Six Nations
The importance of preparation, trust, and consistency in elite sports nutrition
Why carbohydrates aren’t the enemy, and how they’re periodised to match training loads
How halftime nutrition strategies can make or break a second-half performance
The real-world challenges of fuelling players during international travel and changing environments
Simple, effective advice for grassroots players and coaches to improve fuelling and recovery on a budget
Why Jaffa Cakes and chocolate milk still have a place in post-match recovery
What inspired James to go from aspiring S&C coach to becoming one of the top performance nutritionists in UK sport
The importance of building trust with athletes and the subtle art of sideline communication
James’ thoughts on balancing consistency with cultural curiosity when travelling with elite teams

Whether you're working at the elite level or coaching an U16s team on Sundays, this episode offers something for everyone. As James puts it, "We’re all failed athletes trying to help others be their best."

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269: Food First, Supplements Second: Performance Nutrition with Tom Coughlin

Science for Sport — Mon, 26 May 2025 06:00:00 +0100

Join host Richard Graves as he sits down with performance nutrition consultant Tom Coughlin, who brings a decade of elite sports experience working with Olympic athletes, professional rugby teams, and numerous other high-performance individuals. In this enlightening episode, Tom shares his journey from psychology and sports science student to becoming a leading voice in sports nutrition.

Discover essential insights about:

The truth about sports supplements and how to navigate the complex market
Why food fundamentals matter more than fancy supplements
The science behind pre-workout nutrition and caffeine's proven benefits
How behavioral psychology shapes successful nutrition strategies
Real-world advice for both elite athletes and everyday gym-goers

Drawing from his experience as former Head of Nutrition at Scottish Rugby and work with the 2019 Rugby World Cup team, Tom breaks down common nutrition myths and provides practical guidance for optimising performance through smart fueling strategies. This episode delivers valuable insights on making informed nutrition choices in a supplement-saturated market.
Don't miss Tom's expert perspective on building sustainable nutrition habits and his evidence-based approach to performance enhancement that has helped countless athletes reach their peak potential

About Tom Coughlin
Tom Coughlin is a performance nutrition consultant with over a decade of experience working with Olympic athletes and professional teams. As former Head of Nutrition at Scottish Rugby and a key figure in the 2019 Rugby World Cup campaign, Tom combines his expertise in sports science and psychology to deliver evidence-based nutrition strategies. His approach emphasises realistic, food-first solutions while helping both elite athletes and everyday performers optimize their nutrition for peak performance.

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255: The Post-Workout Mistake Elite Athletes Never Make

Science for Sport — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 06:00:00 +0000

From Elite Athletes to Weekend Warriors: The Science of Sports Nutrition with Dan Richardson
Join host Richard Graves as he sits down with sports nutritionist Dan Richardson, who shares his expertise from working with Leeds United Academy and Leicestershire County Cricket. In this eye-opening episode, Dan breaks down the myths and misconceptions around sports nutrition, revealing why your post-workout nutrition might be more about fruits and vegetables than protein shakes.

Discover:

Why the 'food first' approach isn't always enough
The truth about creatine and common supplement misconceptions
How to properly fuel before, during, and after exercise
The science behind recovery nutrition and why timing matters
Practical nutrition strategies for both elite and recreational athletes

Whether you're training for your first marathon or looking to optimise your athletic performance, this episode delivers actionable insights on how nutrition can enhance your training, recovery, and overall athletic success. Dan's blend of academic knowledge and real-world experience working across multiple sports makes this a must-listen for anyone interested in the science of sports nutrition.

About Dan Richardson
Dan Richardson is a distinguished sports nutritionist currently serving as the Academy Nutrition Lead at Leeds United Football Club and nutrition consultant for Leicestershire County Cricket's men's first team. With an academic foundation in Sports Science from Durham University and a Master's degree in Sports Nutrition from Manchester, Dan has built an impressive career supporting athletes across multiple sports including football, rugby, netball, and hockey. He also works with developing athletes through the Talented Athlete Support Scheme, helping GB and national team competitors optimise their performance through evidence-based nutrition strategies. Dan's approach emphasises "food first, but not food only," combining practical experience with scientific research to deliver results for both elite athletes and recreational sports enthusiasts. His expertise spans from youth development to professional sports, making him a trusted voice in sports nutrition.

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