In 2 weeks, women’s football will be completely dominated by Euro 2022 in England. The professionalization in Belgian women’s football continues there as well. In addition to support and training, the use of good nutrition also contributes to better sports performance. Nutritionist Gino Devriendt sheds light on the nutritional policy of the Red Flames.
Gino Devriendt has been active for ten years at the Royal Belgian Football Association, where he tackled the Red Flames with everything to do with food.
“In the early days I noticed that the diet was well developed in the men’s team, but not at all in the women’s team,” says the national women’s nutritionist. “We’ve addressed that.”
“Where the players used to take it as a ‘hobby’, we then started measuring body weight and body fat to transform them into real top athletes.”
“Thanks to this major evolution, you can see that the Red Flames have become real top athletes today”
In 2016, Devriendt started a solid data analysis to keep up with the trend in body measurements.
In 2022 you will see that the average body fat has decreased remarkably. In addition, you can see that the sum of the eight skin folds has also decreased from 84 to 65 millimeters.
“Thanks to this major evolution and the professional support and guidance, you can see that the Red Flames have become real top athletes,” explains Devriendt. “This was really necessary if we have to compete against top countries like France and England.”
“For that, a “mind switch” had to be done a few years ago at the national women’s team.”
Due to this major evolution and the professional support and guidance, you can see that the Red Flames have become real top athletes
Four types of activities determine what goes on the board
It is important to be well informed. Devriendt’s team explained to the Red Flames which are the right basic nutritional nutrients – the right fruits and vegetables (green group), proteins (blue group), carbohydrates (red group) and fat (yellow group) – in function of their physical activity during the day.
“We label each group according to color at the buffet to make it more visual for the players,” says Devriendt.
With regard to fats, it was initially important to make it clear not to skip all fats from their diet.
“As an athlete, they need the good fats to provide energy to the body,” says the nutritionist.
Devriendt and his team distinguish four types of activities (see photo above, from (very) low to (very) high): from consuming little to no carbohydrates to training days with very high activity where the plate is filled with carbohydrates by more than half.
“It is important that not only pasta is eaten during the tournament, because otherwise they will accumulate fat. Which is clearly not the message.”
Individual nutritional advice according to body type
It is also important to inform the Flames about what body type each athlete has. There are 3 body types: endomorph, ectomorph and mesomorph. Depending on the type, you will burn more or less body fat during an activity.
“That’s why I give each player individual nutritional advice according to her body type,” explains Devriendt.
In the beginning it was difficult, because some players are allowed to eat more than others.
“For example, at the buffet you saw a type like Justine Vanhaevermaet, who was clearly allowed to eat more than others. Now every player is so professional that they know exactly how much to take on their plate.”
What to drink during a training or match?
In addition to using the right diet, drinking is equally important. Research has shown that with a loss of 4% moisture, the performance capacity decreases by 20 to 30%.
The Red Flames use an isotonic drink during the warm-up and rest of a match and during intensive training days.
“It is important that this drink is also used during rest, because it not only replenishes water in the body. In those 15 minutes of rest, the drink provides the energy they need for the second half,” explains Devriendt.
Isotonic drink also provides the necessary salts that the Red Flames have lost during the match or training.
“In an individual sweat analysis, it turned out that there are 4 “saltier” sweaters among them. For them – on days when it is warmer than 25 degrees – we had an adapted drink bottle composed with slightly more salts in it,” concludes Devriendt. .
After an intensive training or match, the Flames also drink a protein shake, which will speed up recovery considerably.
