The nations top players hope to benefit from the work being done

UNDERSTANDING ENERGY

Badminton players based at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes are learning more about their energy expenditure and how it impacts on their performance thanks to trials being carried out by English Institute of Sport (EIS) Nutritionist Bronwen Lundy.

Lundy, in collaboration with EIS strength and conditioning coach Andy Allford and Physiologist Gary Walker, has been measuring exercise intensity, energy expenditure and sleep quality of athletes using a band worn on the subjects dominant arm which picks up changes in body movements and behaviours.

“Energy expenditure in badminton players is of interest to us because it is not as easy to quantify as in some other sports” explains Lundy. “The players train for up to six hours a day so we expect their energy expenditure to be high but the stop start nature of the sport makes it harder to decide how high. The results of this research will hopefully educate the athletes as to how much energy they burn in different types of training sessions and guide their recovery practices” she says.

The sophisticated software, known as the Bodymedia sensewear armband, can even detect when the subject is asleep.

“The device can tell us how long the athlete took to get to sleep, whether they had breaks in their sleep and how long they were asleep for” explains Lundy. “This is particularly relevant for athletes involved in international travel and enables us to look at how things such as jet lag might affect their energy levels.”

But how does this knowledge help a nutritionist?

“It gives us a greater understanding of the athletes’ daily energy expenditure whether they be competing, training, traveling or resting at home” Lundy explains. “this is one of the areas in nutrition athletes often struggle most to understand and can be detrimental to performance if not successfully managed.”

“It also enables us to see how changes in the types and intensity of training might impact on their energy levels.”

“We can then adjust their nutrition intake appropriately to accommodate the amount of energy they are burning.”

The trial hasn’t been without its problems however with some of the senior players on court power play proving too much for the sensitive equipment, but Lundy has continued the research on more junior badminton players and is keen to see similar work being done in other sports.

“Mhairi Keil [a fellow EIS nutritionist] is considering similar work with archery whilst synchronised swimming have also shown an interest” says Lundy.

“The work we’ve done so far has certainly been of great value and it’s something we’ll continue to work on with interest” she says.

by James Skitt

29.10.07

Photography © Getty Images