Para Sports Nutrition

Dr Chris McGlory is an assistant professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies at Queens University in Canada. Chris talks to us about omega 3 fatty acids (aka fish oils), their role in health and in muscle for athletes.

Mitch Valize is an H5 handcyclist who won both the time trial and road race on debut at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic games. Mitch talks to us about how he got into hand cycling, his training, how he manages his nutrition and eating enough energy to support his training and racing, and how he monitors his body to ensure he's adapting effectively to his training.

Jessica Heims is a 2 time paralympic discus thrower and previous world record holder. Jess talks to us about her impairment, her training, how her nutrition has changed to help improve her strength as a thrower and the challenges and benefits she's experienced when increasing her energy intake for this.

Dr Jamie Stanley is the senior sport physiologist working with the Australian para cycling team. Jamie talks to us about the work he does in conjunction with athletes and coaches to optimise performance through monitoring how the body adapts to training and recovery practices in order to produce the best performances within any individual.

Dr Sommer Christie is a mental performance consultant with the Canadian wheelchair rugby team. Sommer explains to us how a mental performance consultant (or sport psychologist) can help athletes improve their mental approach to training and performance, and how they interact with coaches and other performance support personnel to create the most productive environments for athletes to thrive. 

Dr Miriam van Reijin is a sports nutritionist working with the Dutch wheelchair tennis and ski / snowboard programs. Miriam talks to us about her approach to working out the nutritional needs of her athletes and improving their intakes to better support training and competition.

Dr Gary Slater is an associate professor in Nutrition & Dietetics at the University of the Sunshine Coast and the National Nutrition lead for the Australian Institute of Sport. Gary talks to us about physique (or body composition) assessment of athletes - why it might be undertaken, what methods are best to use and for what purpose, when it might be appropriate to undertake and some precautions pr...

Dr Jill Parnell is a Canadian researcher who has investigated dietary supplement use and nutrition knowledge of paralympic athletes. Jill explains what we mean by dietary supplements, tells us why we would study dietary supplement use, what para athletes and coaches need to consider before deciding to take a supplement, and sources of useful information about dietary supplements.

Rob van der Werf is a sports dietitian who works with the Dutch para cycling and swimming programs. Rob talks to us about some of his experiences in working with para athletes, how that's different to working with able-bodied athletes, some of the research they've done on energy requirements of para cyclists, and the opportunities for young sports dietitians / nutritionists coming into para sports...

Josh Pauls is a 4 time Paralympic gold medallist with the Team USA Para Ice Hockey program. Josh talks to us about how he got into playing ice hockey, his impairment, his training and the work he's done on improving his nutrition to support his performance.

Diede de Groot is the world number 1 in wheelchair tennis singles and doubles who won the Gold medal in both events at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic games, as well as winning the Golden Slam in 2021. Diede talks to us about her impairment, how she got into playing wheelchair tennis, her training and how she manages her nutrition through all the travel she does each year to compete.

Jeongmin Lee was a South Korean para rower and nordic skier who competed in the 2018 PyeongChang Paralympic games. Having completed his PhD, Jeongmin now works as a researcher for the Korean Paralympic Committee. We talk to Jeongmin about his journey through paralympic sport.

Kevin Mather is a Paralympic Archer and gold medalist from Tokyo. Kevin talks to us about his background in multiple sports (ironman triathlon, alpine skiing), his impairment, how he got into para archery and the discipline he brings into being a professional athlete.

Greg Smith, OAM, is a 5 time Paralympian and multiple medalist across two sports (wheelchair racing and wheelchair rugby), who is currently the strength and conditioning coach for the Australian wheelchair rugby team. Greg tells us about how he got into coaching, his journey as an athlete, and how para sport has changed over the past 30 years.

Andrew Kurka is a 3 time paralympic alpine sit skier who won gold in the Downhill and silver in the Super G at the PyeongChang paralympic games. Andrew talks to us about his spinal cord injury, how he got into sit skiing, how a sit ski operates, the things he focuses on with his diet and how he modifies his diet when he's recovering from injuries.

David Hoff is the National Para Ice hockey coach for Team USA, who have won gold at the last 4 Paralympic Winter games. David tells us about the sport of para ice hockey, monitoring athletes' ability to manage training loads, and the primary nutritional concerns.

Nathan Doyle is a para swim coach who has coached numerous Australians to medal at the Paralympic and Commonwealth Games. Nathan describes para swimming to us and provides some insights into how he manages his training programs to cater for a wide range of impairment types.

Melissa (Milly) Tapper is a 3 time Paralympic and 2 time Olympic table tennis player, and sliver medallist from the Tokyo Paralympic games. Milly talks to us about her impairment, how she got into playing table tennis, her training and nutrition, and how she monitors her response to training and recovery.

Melissa Lacroix is the lead physiologist for the Canadian Sports Institute Ontario and the lead physiologist with the Canadian Wheelchair Rugby team. Melissa talks to us about the work she does with para sports and provides advice on some simple monitoring tools that athletes and coaches can use to assess the effectiveness of training and recovery.

Chris Wilkins is a young British para cyclist with a vision impairment. Chris talks to us about his vision impairment, how he transitioned into para cycling, his training and nutrition, and the adaptations he's making to enable him to compete at a higher level.

Carolyn Murray is the Head Para Triathlon coach for team Canada. Carolyn talks to us about how she got into coaching para triathlon, what para triathlon is, some of the training and nutrition challenges, and what she's learnt along the way.

Chris Bond, OAM, is a 3 time Paralympic wheelchair rugby player and quadruple amputee. Chris talks to us about his impairment, his training and nutrition for wheelchair rugby, and provides great advice on keeping your sports nutrition simple but effective.

Katie Holloway Bridge is a 4 time Paralympic sit volleyball medallist and leg amputee. Katie talks to us about her journey from collegiate basketball player to elite sit volleyball player, how she manages her training and nutrition together with full time work, and her first time pregnancy.

Lindsey Zurbrugg is a wheelchair basketball player who was part of the bronze medal winning team at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Lindsey talks to us about her impairment which she acquired at age 13, her journey as a basketball player and university student, and her proactive approach to her sports nutrition.

Steve Emt is a 2 time winter Paralympian in the sport of wheelchair curling. Steve talks to us about his background, his impairment, how he got into wheelchair curling, his training and nutrition, and the purpose behind his book "You Decide".