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Ron Maughan

Publications and source records attributed to Ron Maughan.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Exercise in the heat: challenges and opportunities.

Exercise in the heat poses a formidable challenge to the body's ability to control its internal environment due to the high rates of metabolic heat production and heat gain by physical transfer from the environment. In an attempt to restrict the rise in core temperature, an increased rate of sweat secretion onto the skin is invoked. This may limit the rise in core temperature, and can prolong the time before a limiting temperature is attained, but it does so at the cost of a loss of body water and electrolytes. The effects of the diminished blood volume are offset to some extent by cardiovascular adaptations, including an increased heart rate and an increased peripheral resistance, but these are insufficient to maintain functional capacity when blood volume is reduced. Prior dehydration will impair performance in both prolonged exercise and short-term high-intensity exercise. Athletes living and training in the heat may experience chronic hypohydration due to inadequate replacement of fluid losses. The negative consequences of exercise in the heat are attenuated to some extent by a period of adaptation, and by the ingestion of water or other appropriate fluids. Optimum fluid replacement strategies will depend on the exercise task, the environmental conditions and the individual physiological characteristics of the athlete. Manipulation of pre-exercise body temperature can also influence exercise performance and may be a strategy that can be used by athletes competing in stressful environments.

Acclimatization↗
PubMed2004

Contamination of supplements: an interview with professor Ron Maughan by Louise M. Burke.

This issue of IJSNEM features two articles related to supplement use by athletes. In one (Morrison et al. 2004), people who undertake regular exercise in a gym were found to report the use of a wide variety of supplements. The other paper (Goel et al. 2004) dealt with one of the issues that a sub-group of athletes need to consider before deciding to take supplements - the risk of a positive drug test if the product contains substances banned by the anti-doping codes under which their sport is conducted. This issue received much publicity earlier in the year when top tennis player Greg Rusedski tested positive for the steroid nandrolone as the result of inadvertent intake via a contaminated supplement. In this article, Professor Ron Maughan, Chair of Sports Nutrition at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom, advisor to the British Olympic team, and co-editor of IJSNEM, provides his insight on this important topic.

Dietary Supplements↗
PubMed2002

The athlete's diet: nutritional goals and dietary strategies.

When talented, motivated and highly trained athletes meet for competition the margin between victory and defeat is usually small. When everything else is equal, nutrition can make the difference between winning and losing. Although the primary concern of many athletes is to supplement the diet with protein, vitamins and minerals, and a range of more exotic compounds, key dietary issues are often neglected. Athletes must establish their nutritional goals, and must also be able to translate them into dietary strategies that will meet these goals. Athletes are often concerned with dietary manipulations in the period around competition, but the main role of nutrition may be to support consistent intensive training which will lead to improved performance. Meeting energy demand and maintaining body mass and body fat at appropriate levels are key goals. An adequate intake of carbohydrate is crucial for maintaining muscle glycogen stores during hard training, but the types of food and the timing of intake are also important. Protein ingestion may stimulate muscle protein synthesis in the post-exercise period, promoting the process of adaptation in the muscles. Restoration of fluid and electrolyte balance after exercise is essential. If energy intake is high and a varied diet is consumed, supplementation of the diet with vitamins and minerals is not warranted, unless a specific deficiency is identified. Specific strategies before competition may be necessary, but this requirement depends on the demands of the sport. Generally, it is important to ensure high pre-competition glycogen stores and to maintain fluid balance. There is limited evidence to support the use of dietary supplements, but some, including perhaps creatine and caffeine, may be beneficial.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed2002

Sports nutrition: an overview.

Nutritional interventions have the potential to influence the outcome of athletic competition where opponents are closely matched. Sound dietary habits can also influence the adaptations that occur in response to training. This article summarizes some of the strategies that the athlete can use to enhance performance.

Body Weight↗