FOUR-TIME IRISH National cycling champion Matt Brammeier kindly allowed us into his house for a peek inside his fridge this week.
The Liverpool-born Irishman is one of the top professional riders in the world, riding for the Continental team Synergy Baku Cycling project.
Brammeier has ridden for a host of top teams over the years, including the now defunct HTC-Highroad team as well as the Belgian outfit OmegaPharma Quick-Step. He has yet to ride the Tour de France but if he keeps up this kind of a diet he’s on the right road.
We asked Brammeier to give an account of his daily diet…
“It pretty tough to give examples of a ‘normal’ days meal plan because it varies so much depending on different factors like what training / racing I have, the goal of the training, what training I’ve done, what race I’m doing, if I’m looking to shave some weight off.. etc. The list goes on,” he explained.
Brammeier admitted he doesn’t require the use of supplements as he thinks he can get everything he needs from normal simple foods.
Breakfast
“Generally I’ll eat a breakfast of mostly fruit, a few nuts, seeds, cinnamon and a splash of almond milk. If I’m training / racing I’ll add in a small cup of oats or good quality sugar free granola (which I usually make up in batches myself and keep in the cupboard). If I’m at a stage race or in a really tough training block I might have a slice of toast with some type of nut butter. A recent favourite is an Acai bowl, a good low calorie, nutrient dense breakfast that is perfect for this time of year when the training load is light. Anyone that knows me will know of my passion for coffee, so of course this is the highlight of my morning. Usually I’ll drink a couple of 18-20gm espressos and a cappuccino if I’m having a lazy morning.
During Training / Racing
Usually any training ride / race over 2.5-3hrs I need to think about bringing a little bit of food in my pocket. I’m a big fan of natural homemade food and try to avoid packaged foods, energy bars and gels whenever I can. Of course sometimes in races it’s impossible so I’ll always try to find something natural, low GI and preferably organic. A firm favourite is a homemade rice cake, they are so easy to make, taste great and are of course great training / racing fuel.
All you need to do is cook up some sticky / short grain rice, let it cool a little, stick it in a blender with your favourite ingredients, blend it up for 5-10 seconds, squash it into a deep dish, let it cool, wrap in foil and away you go. Some of my favourites are pretty simple, Blueberries, honey & coooa – Peanut butter, Agave and chocolate chips! You can literally put what you want in there!”
Post training / Lunch
Of course again what I eat after a ride / race varies hugely depending on what I did on the bike, how I’m feeling and what I ate on the bike. On an easy day I’ll just eat a light salad with some good fats, usually from avocado or some nuts. I always eat a good chunk of protein, as close to 20gms as possible. This is normally something simple like a couple of eggs or some tuna. Depending on how hard I’ve gone on the bike I’ll add in some carbs, either some rice crackers or maybe a few spoonfuls of quinoa or chickpeas. If I’ve done a long ride / race and I can hold off until dinner I’ll just have some sort of protein shake or a bit of fruit and yoghurt.
Dinner
Again the amount of carbs always depends on what I’ve done that day, what I have the following day and what I had for lunch etc. I’ll always try to fill half of my plate with vegetables in the evening. I’ve cut down a lot on meat, only eating it about once a week, Illl eat a lot more fish and things like tofu a few times a week too. A typical / favourite evening meal before a race / big ride would be a plate of good quality, well cooked pasta (homemade if I have the time) a homemade basil and rocket pesto or pomadoro, 1/2 a grilled aubergine and a nice piece of grilled fresh salmon or tuna steak. Another favourite is some filled pasta when I have time to make it.
If I have a tough hilly race coming up ill always try to cut down on my fibre intake, opting to get some more soluble fibres from vegetable / fruit juices, swapping pasta for rice, white bread for brown bread etc.
There are so many tricks and alterations you can use to optimise performance & recovery there are too many to list!
So that’s it. We thought he said ‘simple’?
