Dr Burke dubs the AIS the ‘factory for generating medals’ as all her work is purely based on the performance of the athletes, most of which have participated in the Olympics. ‘If they do well I have done my job’, she says. But, every athlete is unique and so is every competition. No matter how much preparation has gone into an athlete and their specific event, ‘anything can happen on the day!’ stresses Burke.
Throughout her talk Burke made clear that her research is based on ‘how quickly you can do something, not for how long.’ Also, after numerous muscle samples it is has been shown that the way someone is built does not determine whether they will win. She emphasises the need to concentrate on the individuality of each athlete, as different athletes require different methods of preparation, and ‘conditions are not always ideal for sports people’. She is always testing how an athlete would perform under different conditions.
As is commonly the case in sports nutrition research, Burke’s studies are heavily based around the performance of carbohydrates in an athlete’s diet. She went onto explain the conception that if an athlete’s diet is high in carbohydrates they will perform well. This is not always the case. Burke says, ‘Before an event choose a meal that you are comfortable with’ whether it be high in carbohydrates or low in carbohydrates. She advises ‘it is important to consume carbohydrates but do not base it on the glycemic index’. Dr Burke works closely with the Nestle Research Centre, Switzerland and says the trends in sports nutrition will be concentrated around betaglucans, antioxidants and protein – ‘Only about 25g per meal is necessary’ she says, ‘the rest is oxidised’.
To the surprise of the scientifically minded in attendance, Burke went onto say ‘just because you can measure it doesn’t mean it’s important!’ And although this may be true for much of what she does, after blind testing, the benefits of caffeine to endurance athletes are conclusive. We have all used caffeine as a booster in our personal lives, having a cup to get is up in the morning, and one in the afternoon for that last stretch of work. And even our very own Bruce Fordyce reputedly drank flat coke, not sports drinks, when running the comrades. Burke researched this theory and discovered that caffeine was indeed a booster! ‘Only 60ml drunk in the last third of a race demonstrated a 3% improvement in performance’ she says.
With any form of additive comes controversy, especially in the world of sports and caffeine comes with a lot of bad press. And so, soon after this research was completed, further caffeine research was not permitted and The World Anti- Doping Agency banned it from the sports scene. Along with restrictions such as these Burke commented on the many other restrictions she faces, such as continuously having to ‘win’ the support of coaches, who obviously deem training far more important than eating. ‘My research must be supported by the coaches of the athletes otherwise it is not done!’ she says. One thing she has more than enough of, are willing athletes. ‘Athletes love to think they are trying something new!’ Burke laughs, as was clearly demonstrated at the Beijing Olympics 2008.The high temperatures called for ice vests and specially formulated sports slushies, that soon became the flavour of the day at the cycling, rowing and swimming events to mention a few. However, ’after months of research and preparation the hot weather we’d expected turned to a mild day,’ and the vests were put aside. Ultimately, all the winning is left up to the athlete.
Australian Institute for Sports (AIS) website
