Diet, in addition to training

[CoachLite]

Nutrition may be at the heart of many of the injuries, not found in the strength training program Has anyone looked into the nutritional program of the Colts?

[Coffeedrinker]

I'm sure it has been looked into.

 

Let me guess, you just happen to be a distributor of all natural nutritional products that will help them. ;)

[jvan1973]

Nutrition may be at the heart of many of the injuries, not found in the strength training program Has anyone looked into the nutritional program of the Colts?

I'm more than positive it is already in place

[IndyD4U]

A key part to every strength program is nutrition! You don't build muscle/maintain muscle while eating crap. 

 

Do people actually think that an NFL team has sub-par trainers and nutritionist and that they aren't educated on what they're doing?

 

Coming from a guy that's lifted for 15 years and knows the importance of diet

[lollygagger8]

Maybe they should try more ....

 

and 

 

 

[ProblChld32]

This are these guys profession, its what they do for a living. im positive they know what to do and eat to keep there bodies in performing order

[jskinnz]

Nutrition may be at the heart of many of the injuries, not found in the strength training program Has anyone looked into the nutritional program of the Colts?

Don't think it has been looked into. I have heard that they really only eat fried food at the training table and wash it down with regular coke. And what is not fried is a bunch of red meat. Plus there are sweets galore too.

[HtownColt]

Do people really believe the team is this negligent?

[Ja'Crispy]

Maybe they should try more ....

and

Are you implying the Flintstones vitamins they are currently taking are the problem?

[21isSuperman]

Do people really believe the team is this negligent?

I don't think people think the team is negligent.  In all truth, the team probably goes into further detail than most fans think.  However, with so many injuries year after year, fans just try to look for anything that could cause it.  So it's not really that the fans think the team is negligent, more like desperate for health and looking at all possible factors, I guess

[Smonroe]

As long as Marvin Harrison isn't our food buyer and dietician, I think we're okay.

[Gavin]

The teams has cooks, They know what the players can and cant eat, who has what allergies (yes who would of thunk it, football players are also human and not immune to everything), They plan meals and how much they are to eat and such...The problem lies not with the team if a diet is not upheld to but the individual who sneaks stuff...easily done...The players do have personal lives outside of football, The Holmes injury happened just because a player for the Jets fell and rolled up on the back of his leg and Holmes got bent backwards

[lollygagger8]

Are you implying the Flintstones vitamins they are currently taking are the problem?

 

Maybe they are taking Centrum or maybe they need to substitute the Gatorade for milk! 

[21isSuperman]

[BOTT]

McDonalds 3x a day and all the sweet tea you can drink

[bavanlan]

If there is food that can hold together a quad or Achilles tendon, I'm guessing we'd know about it.

[Malakai432]

Maybe they should try more ....

and

I think you are on the right path but I was thinking perhaps the Flinstones vitamins would be much better..... They turn bone to steel, tendons and ligaments into invincible rubber bands & humans into Terminators. I'm pretty sure Luck takes the Flinstone vitamins....

[LockeDown]

Someone is sneaking hot pockets in the dorms at night and microwaving them too hot

[Malakai432]

Are you implying the Flintstones vitamins they are currently taking are the problem?

Nice, being a dietary specialist, and ultimate game film specialist I was under the impression they were taking Centrum Silver Cewables for adults 50 & up... I have concluded that to be the culprit.

[HGRekks]

If there is food that can hold together a quad or Achilles tendon, I'm guessing we'd know about it.

Gum

[Coffeedrinker]

If there is food that can hold together a quad or Achilles tendon, I'm guessing we'd know about it.

Can you eat duct tape?

[PrincetonTiger]

Can you eat duct tape?

You can chew on it but cannot swallow it

[Superman]

If there is food that can hold together a quad or Achilles tendon, I'm guessing we'd know about it.

 

That's what they want you to think.

[bavanlan]

Can you eat duct tape?

You can chew on it but cannot swallow it

Yeah, PrincetonTiger is right.

Everyone knows it had to go up the other end.

[CoachLite]

I have no doubt that the Colt's nutritionists *believe* they are providing the right kind of diets for their athletes. But as a scientist, there are alternative hypotheses that may need to be tested - and the guys on IR may give us some data to validate or refute particular diets with particular physiologies.

You'd be surprised how much we don't know. But, as Will Rogers once said, "It's not what we don't know that gives us problems, it's what we know that ain't so."

[Superman]

I have no doubt that the Colt's nutritionists *believe* they are providing the right kind of diets for their athletes. But as a scientist, there are alternative hypotheses that may need to be tested - and the guys on IR may give us some data to validate or refute particular diets with particular physiologies.

You'd be surprised how much we don't know. But, as Will Rogers once said, "It's not what we don't know that gives us problems, it's what we know that ain't so."

 

So what you really want is for the Colts training staff to make scientific breakthroughs with regard to nutrition in order to prevent injuries to our players. I want that, too, but I'm not holding my breath.

[funktacious2]

Nutrition may be at the heart of many of the injuries, not found in the strength training program Has anyone looked into the nutritional program of the Colts?

Fleener did a blog once about the Colts' nutrition. I'm not feeling up to the task, but you might find it if you search!

[CoachLite]

So what you really want is for the Colts training staff to make scientific breakthroughs with regard to nutrition in order to prevent injuries to our players. I want that, too, but I'm not holding my breath.

Part of the problem, as I see it, is most nutrition research (if it is really research) has focused on strength and performance - not preventing injuries. Whether that comes from within the Colts organization, or elsewhere, I would think the Colt's would be interested. They are monitoring sensors for muscular-skeletal stress and strain (see Odegard, Haut Donahue J. Biomech Eng), but the combined effects of nutrition and rehab therapies is a lot like voodoo.

[CoachLite]

Chip Kelly of the Eagles has introduced a "Sports Science" approach. I don't know anything about his approach, but ...

The Daily News reported that during the season, the Eagles had 14 players who started every regular-season game. That was more than any other NFL team.

“We put a huge emphasis with the Eagles on recovery,” center Jason Kelce told the Daily News. “I think that's one of the things that helped us stay injury-free last year, for the most part. A lot of that came down to luck, too -- it's just kind of the way it goes."

[CoachLite]

I'm sure it has been looked into.

 

Let me guess, you just happen to be a distributor of all natural nutritional products that will help them. ;)

Nah, I'm a HPC computer geek.

[pacolts56]

I have no doubt that the Colt's nutritionists *believe* they are providing the right kind of diets for their athletes. But as a scientist, there are alternative hypotheses that may need to be tested - and the guys on IR may give us some data to validate or refute particular diets with particular physiologies.

You'd be surprised how much we don't know. But, as Will Rogers once said, "It's not what we don't know that gives us problems, it's what we know that ain't so."

But with a roster of 53+ players, don't you think the team can only fine tune nutritional factors so much?

 

I'm no doctor, but it seems like the tipping point of strength development versus the level of strength their joints and soft tissue can actually support....all of it against the backdrop of the violent collision sport they play....is a far bigger factor in injuries than nutrition, assuming the player isn't hitting Cracker Barrel 4 times a day.

 

I'm not saying nutrition should be ignored or that more can't be learned....but factored into the number of injuries an NFL team suffers, it just seems unlikely to be a primary cause.

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

Nutrition may be at the heart of many of the injuries, not found in the strength training program Has anyone looked into the nutritional program of the Colts?

I

I think you have a good point. Who is to say it has been looked into? Who is to say they are eating healthy? All one has to do is go and look at Marvin Harrison, an elite WRs diet and you can see it is unhealthy. It's really awesome to train guys! And go on diets for when it's football season, but if it's not a lifestyle, your bones will be more brittle than the next guy, who takes his eating lifestyle seriously.

Sorry guys but I don't have faith in the worlds eyes when it comes to eating healthy, whether you train for football or not.

So yes, OP, I think it could be a very major possibility.

Which brings up an interesting conversation I had with a very large man, who looked very built, and healthy. I asked him what he did to gain his muscle mass...?

His response was very unexpected, for so many take these "nutritional" supplements, I was expecting to hear the name of whatever was helping him. He told me, that he eats his fruits and veggies, and juices any kind of fruit he can get his hands on, and he does it hard core.

I would like to see this experiment in the NFL, when it comes to injuries. But how can you test the strength of a healthy vs unhealthy bone? Without breaking it?

[Superman]

Part of the problem, as I see it, is most nutrition research (if it is really research) has focused on strength and performance - not preventing injuries. Whether that comes from within the Colts organization, or elsewhere, I would think the Colt's would be interested. They are monitoring sensors for muscular-skeletal stress and strain (see Odegard, Haut Donahue J. Biomech Eng), but the combined effects of nutrition and rehab therapies is a lot like voodoo.

 

Is there really any indication that nutrition can help prevent injuries? Sure, what you eat aids in muscle recovery, so for hamstrings and other muscle injuries, it can help prevent minor strains, or even help you recover faster. Nutrition can help guys bounce back after a game, so they can practice and play the next week. But we're still talking about football. Injuries are going to happen. There is no nutritional plan that will keep an ankle from twisting when a 300 pound man lands on it.

 

Also, you mentioned the Eagles and Chip Kelly. Whatever they're doing is somewhat proprietary; Shaun Huls has been working on his program for a long time (some of which was funded by the US military when he was training Navy Seals), and the team is somewhat secretive about the whole thing. The players have personalized protein shakes after practices. The Eagles have a different weekly practice schedule from other teams. They obviously want to be ahead of the curve. It seems like some of the technology and bio-monitoring has made its way to the Colts practice field; I haven't heard anything about nutrition, but it's hard to imagine that the team would neglect that area.

[AntonMcG]

Is there really any indication that nutrition can help prevent injuries? Sure, what you eat aids in muscle recovery, so for hamstrings and other muscle injuries, it can help prevent minor strains, or even help you recover faster. Nutrition can help guys bounce back after a game, so they can practice and play the next week. But we're still talking about football. Injuries are going to happen. There is no nutritional plan that will keep an ankle from twisting when a 300 pound man lands on .

You are dealing in extremes to prove a point. Not all injuries can be prevented, but many can, particularly muscle and tissue injuries. There is plenty of evidence that nutrition can help prevent injuries. Unfortunately, as a science, it is in its infancy, and the great scientific minds of the world are not breaking down the college admission doors to take it up, it's the same reason a lot of people attribute to geologies lack of advancement.

So because of the many contradictions and therefore lack of credibility, some organisations may put more stock in it than others. Sure, the Colts have a nutritional team, but how stringently is adhered to? The players don't spend their lives at the team facilities. To Smonroe's point, Marvin Harrison ate fast food every day, did that contribute to his quick decline in his last few years as a Colt? Some Front Offices may put more stock into it than others... Vitamin and anti-oxidant balances are proving to be more and more important.

[CoachLite]

In addition to such technologies as OptimEye, Polar, and OmegaWave - monitoring stress, strain, heart rate, and recovery - I would think that correlated nutritional information would be an important part of the data matrix.

My point - it may not be vitamins, supplements and magic potions that are important, but something as simple as "blueberries, avocado, 2% milk and vanilla protein", for example.

[dudeski]

You are dealing in extremes to prove a point. Not all injuries can be prevented, but many can, particularly muscle and tissue injuries. There is plenty of evidence that nutrition can help prevent injuries. Unfortunately, as a science, it is in its infancy, and the great scientific minds of the world are not breaking down the college admission doors to take it up, it's the same reason a lot of people attribute to geologies lack of advancement.

So because of the many contradictions and therefore lack of credibility, some organisations may put more stock in it than others. Sure, the Colts have a nutritional team, but how stringently is adhered to? The players don't spend their lives at the team facilities. To Smonroe's point, Marvin Harrison ate fast food every day, did that contribute to his quick decline in his last few years as a Colt? Some Front Offices may put more stock into it than others... Vitamin and anti-oxidant balances are proving to be more and more important.

marv ate fast food every day? Where did you hear this?

[AntonMcG]

marv ate fast food every day? Where did you hear this?

 

It was some player profile video they did on him.

 

http://vimeo.com/23422447

[LockeDown]

As someone (a runner) who has experimented (with my own body) for many years with health food store products, I don't think nutrition(lets call it super nutrition) plays as important a role as most think.  I saw virtually no difference when I ate health food vs a regular diet as long as I didn't overeat and I worked out.  Jack Lalanne (the legendary health innovator) said nutrition is the queen but exercise is the king.  From my wife's 103 year old grandmother who used lard to cook with, to the man who had to eat hot dogs for every meal his whole life, to the Marvin Harrison's of the world and to myself (I'm over 50),...if you just control your weight with exercise and/or working in the yard, and keep your mind healthy and positive (no stress), you will probably be okay... 

 

People who are into super nutrition, basically maintain a healthy weight which I think is giving them the benefits not the fact that they have more copper in their system and are avoiding mercury fillings in their teeth.  All of those fads I tried in health food stores never did one thing for me except cause me to maintian my weight giving me the ability to move around well.  Strength training and conditioning is waaaay more important.  I also believe yoga is too only because it keeps you flexible.  Lalanne also believed that when working out with weights, you needed to perform flexibility movements so that you don't become muscle bound.  I think that's what our team needs more.

 

Just my opinion.

[IndyD4U]

My point - it may not be vitamins, supplements and magic potions that are important, but something as simple as "blueberries, avocado, 2% milk and vanilla protein", for example.

Add some spinach and kale and replace the 2% with almond milk you have my breakfast smoothie that I have everyday...

[Superman]

You are dealing in extremes to prove a point. Not all injuries can be prevented, but many can, particularly muscle and tissue injuries. There is plenty of evidence that nutrition can help prevent injuries. Unfortunately, as a science, it is in its infancy, and the great scientific minds of the world are not breaking down the college admission doors to take it up, it's the same reason a lot of people attribute to geologies lack of advancement.

So because of the many contradictions and therefore lack of credibility, some organisations may put more stock in it than others. Sure, the Colts have a nutritional team, but how stringently is adhered to? The players don't spend their lives at the team facilities. To Smonroe's point, Marvin Harrison ate fast food every day, did that contribute to his quick decline in his last few years as a Colt? Some Front Offices may put more stock into it than others... Vitamin and anti-oxidant balances are proving to be more and more important.

 

I acknowledged that nutrition can help muscle recovery. And proper muscle recovery can prevent strains and eventual tears, so yeah. Anything more than that is inconclusive, at best.

 

As it pertains to the Colts, and the devastating injuries we've dealt with the past couple of seasons, what impact would the absolute ideal in nutrition have had? Assuming the players who were injured were on the very best diet they could be on, what difference would it have made? It's highly speculative, at best, so expect any nutritional advancements to have prevented injuries to or sped up the recovery of guys like Thomas, Ballard, Allen, Wayne, Toler, Bradshaw, Reitz, Moala, Angerer... To use your example, how does great nutrition protect 35 year old Marvin Harrison from his knee injury, or help him recover from it? You say it's dealing in extremes; I'm only trying to apply this nutrition angle to the team we're all concerned about. 

 

That's not to say that better nutrition isn't important. I don't know what kind of program the Colts have, or how strictly it's adhered to. Ideally, their nutrition would be top-notch, tailored to their specific needs. I'm all for that. But I think it's a great stretch to suggest that the answer to this injury problem will be found in nutrition (and that's exactly what the OP suggested).