Kori Ellis
03-16-2005, 01:39 AM
Out goes the bad food, in comes the good when Brungardt's in charge
Web Posted: 03/16/2005 12:00 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA031605.5C.BKNspurs.nutrition.1403f47a0.html
Ten years ago, in his first season as the Spurs' strength coach, Mike Brungardt could walk into the locker room before a game and routinely find a player alternately wolfing down a Whopper and french fries.
Before long, one of the team's backup forwards would ask a ball boy to fetch him a couple of hot dogs from an Alamodome concession stand. Another player watched film while gobbling handfuls of popcorn.
Wheaties might pride itself on being "The Breakfast of Champions," but the Spurs apparently thought the fastest way to a title was a trip through the nearest drive-thru lane.
"You don't see that much anymore," Brungardt said. "Players are a lot more selective in the things they eat."
Brungardt and the rest of the Spurs' support staff have done their best to make sure. In an effort to bury the franchise's Junk Food Era, the team has recently implemented a performance nutrition program that provides players everything from scrambled egg whites to broccoli-and-rice casseroles.
"The intention and goal is not to turn them into a bunch of granola-eating food whackos," said Danny Ferry, who has helped oversee the program as the team's assistant general manager. "If that's the direction they want to take, that's fine. We just want to put them in a situation where they have healthy options in front of them."
Ferry, in his own words, is a "granola-eating food whacko." During his 13 years in the NBA, he drank wheat-grass juice, avoided fatty foods and worked out constantly.
What surprised Ferry was the type of food available to the players on the team's charter flights. In addition to the usual meal options, the Spurs typically had an overhead container filled with an assortment of potato chips. Flight attendants patrolled the aisle offering ice cream and chocolate-chip cookies.
"It's one thing if a guy wants to get a bag of Cheetos himself," Ferry said, "but I didn't think we should be giving it to him."
After listening to Ferry's concerns, the Spurs' front office decided to evaluate the team's nutrition and conditioning programs. A longtime admirer of Lance Armstrong and cycling in general, general manager R.C. Buford brought in Chris Carmichael, the six-time Tour de France champion's personal coach, to meet with his staff.
Though the Spurs ultimately decided Carmichael's emphasis on aerobic conditioning was better suited for endurance athletes than NBA players, their meeting with the performance guru proved educational. Not only did it teach Buford they would benefit from applying science to their conditioning efforts, it also convinced him they needed to better utilize the knowledge of Brungardt, athletic trainer Will Sevening and Sevening's assistant, Joe Gutzwiller.
The team hired Eddie Coyle, a University of Texas kinesiology and health education professor, as a consultant. A noted nutritional expert who heads the university's Human Performance Laboratory, Coyle has worked with Armstrong as well as the International Olympic Committee.
Coyle aimed to improve the players' energy late in games, even more so when the team played on consecutive nights. To do so, he produced a plan detailing not only what the Spurs should eat, but, more importantly, when they should eat.
"The most important thing that happens after you play or practice is there's like a 45-minute to an hour window of when you need to try to get food back into your system," Brungardt said. "Because your body is very hungry at that point, absorption to the cellular level is that much better."
As a result, the sooner an athlete eats after working out, the faster his muscles recover. In addition to the usual nutritional supplements — the Spurs have used Rebuild and Nutri-build III since their 1999 championship season — team officials also now make food readily available to the players.
For the same amount the Spurs were paying Northwest Airlines to cater their outbound flights, H-E-B Central Market now provides pre-practice, post-practice and postgame meals. A catering representative from Central Market works with Gutzwiller and one of Coyle's assistants to determine what to feed the team. Breakfast at the practice facility can feature egg-white omelets, burritos on whole-wheat tortillas, turkey sausage, oatmeal and fruit. Turkey meatloaf, chicken lo mein and different selections of fish and pasta are among the items served for lunch.
The Spurs also have begun sending meals home with each player on the mornings of games. Sandwiches have proved popular as a quick postgame snack.
Coyle has emphasized making sure the players get plenty of carbohydrates. Team-provided meals, Brungardt said, typically have a 65-to-25 percent ratio of carbohydrates to protein, with fat making up the remaining 10 percent.
"It's not so much about eating healthy," Ferry said. "It's about eating right for what you're doing."
Since implementing the program, the Spurs have seen subtle signs of improvement. Body-fat percentages have declined. The team's overall energy level is better.
From Nov. 18 to Dec. 9, the Spurs went 10-4 during a brutal stretch that required them to twice play seven games in 10 days.
"We lost some games in there, but our overall record was very good," Brungardt said. "I would attribute nutrition as being a part of that because it's part of the recovery process."
Last season, the Spurs noticed Tony Parker struggled to maintain his energy in the second game of a back-to-back. Parker didn't like to eat quickly after games, so the team began setting out specific food for him, sometimes in the form of shakes. Before long, he was also munching on a pregame snack.
"I don't feel a big change," Parker said. "But I'm playing every game and I'm healthy, so it's got to be doing something."
Web Posted: 03/16/2005 12:00 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA031605.5C.BKNspurs.nutrition.1403f47a0.html
Ten years ago, in his first season as the Spurs' strength coach, Mike Brungardt could walk into the locker room before a game and routinely find a player alternately wolfing down a Whopper and french fries.
Before long, one of the team's backup forwards would ask a ball boy to fetch him a couple of hot dogs from an Alamodome concession stand. Another player watched film while gobbling handfuls of popcorn.
Wheaties might pride itself on being "The Breakfast of Champions," but the Spurs apparently thought the fastest way to a title was a trip through the nearest drive-thru lane.
"You don't see that much anymore," Brungardt said. "Players are a lot more selective in the things they eat."
Brungardt and the rest of the Spurs' support staff have done their best to make sure. In an effort to bury the franchise's Junk Food Era, the team has recently implemented a performance nutrition program that provides players everything from scrambled egg whites to broccoli-and-rice casseroles.
"The intention and goal is not to turn them into a bunch of granola-eating food whackos," said Danny Ferry, who has helped oversee the program as the team's assistant general manager. "If that's the direction they want to take, that's fine. We just want to put them in a situation where they have healthy options in front of them."
Ferry, in his own words, is a "granola-eating food whacko." During his 13 years in the NBA, he drank wheat-grass juice, avoided fatty foods and worked out constantly.
What surprised Ferry was the type of food available to the players on the team's charter flights. In addition to the usual meal options, the Spurs typically had an overhead container filled with an assortment of potato chips. Flight attendants patrolled the aisle offering ice cream and chocolate-chip cookies.
"It's one thing if a guy wants to get a bag of Cheetos himself," Ferry said, "but I didn't think we should be giving it to him."
After listening to Ferry's concerns, the Spurs' front office decided to evaluate the team's nutrition and conditioning programs. A longtime admirer of Lance Armstrong and cycling in general, general manager R.C. Buford brought in Chris Carmichael, the six-time Tour de France champion's personal coach, to meet with his staff.
Though the Spurs ultimately decided Carmichael's emphasis on aerobic conditioning was better suited for endurance athletes than NBA players, their meeting with the performance guru proved educational. Not only did it teach Buford they would benefit from applying science to their conditioning efforts, it also convinced him they needed to better utilize the knowledge of Brungardt, athletic trainer Will Sevening and Sevening's assistant, Joe Gutzwiller.
The team hired Eddie Coyle, a University of Texas kinesiology and health education professor, as a consultant. A noted nutritional expert who heads the university's Human Performance Laboratory, Coyle has worked with Armstrong as well as the International Olympic Committee.
Coyle aimed to improve the players' energy late in games, even more so when the team played on consecutive nights. To do so, he produced a plan detailing not only what the Spurs should eat, but, more importantly, when they should eat.
"The most important thing that happens after you play or practice is there's like a 45-minute to an hour window of when you need to try to get food back into your system," Brungardt said. "Because your body is very hungry at that point, absorption to the cellular level is that much better."
As a result, the sooner an athlete eats after working out, the faster his muscles recover. In addition to the usual nutritional supplements — the Spurs have used Rebuild and Nutri-build III since their 1999 championship season — team officials also now make food readily available to the players.
For the same amount the Spurs were paying Northwest Airlines to cater their outbound flights, H-E-B Central Market now provides pre-practice, post-practice and postgame meals. A catering representative from Central Market works with Gutzwiller and one of Coyle's assistants to determine what to feed the team. Breakfast at the practice facility can feature egg-white omelets, burritos on whole-wheat tortillas, turkey sausage, oatmeal and fruit. Turkey meatloaf, chicken lo mein and different selections of fish and pasta are among the items served for lunch.
The Spurs also have begun sending meals home with each player on the mornings of games. Sandwiches have proved popular as a quick postgame snack.
Coyle has emphasized making sure the players get plenty of carbohydrates. Team-provided meals, Brungardt said, typically have a 65-to-25 percent ratio of carbohydrates to protein, with fat making up the remaining 10 percent.
"It's not so much about eating healthy," Ferry said. "It's about eating right for what you're doing."
Since implementing the program, the Spurs have seen subtle signs of improvement. Body-fat percentages have declined. The team's overall energy level is better.
From Nov. 18 to Dec. 9, the Spurs went 10-4 during a brutal stretch that required them to twice play seven games in 10 days.
"We lost some games in there, but our overall record was very good," Brungardt said. "I would attribute nutrition as being a part of that because it's part of the recovery process."
Last season, the Spurs noticed Tony Parker struggled to maintain his energy in the second game of a back-to-back. Parker didn't like to eat quickly after games, so the team began setting out specific food for him, sometimes in the form of shakes. Before long, he was also munching on a pregame snack.
"I don't feel a big change," Parker said. "But I'm playing every game and I'm healthy, so it's got to be doing something."