the celtic diet

So I came across this blog post by Kenn Hallstensen, who has worked with Deila and Celtic as a nutritionist. It's pretty long because he worked with Ronny before he came to Celtic, but this is the part that's relevant (I used Google translate and edited where it was unclear, let me know if some things don't make sense):

Celtic Football Club
Summer 2014 came the shocking message that Ronny Deila was appointed manager in giant club Celtic Football Club. Stadion Celtic, Celtic Park, taking over 60 000 spectators - in a city that is smaller than Oslo. Football fever in Glasgow has almost no limits. Many believe, and there is reason to believe they are right, that Celtic could build out their stadium with at least 20,000 extra places, and been one of the world's biggest football clubs if they had been part of the English Premier League.

Eventually I followed with Ronny Deila over to Glasgow and Celtic, while the new coaches in Strømsgodset chose another diet strategy. Celtic Football Club turned out to be even bigger and more professional than I had thought, but at the same time I was surprised by the body composition of the players. Most carried unnecessary body weight, while some could also benefit from a little more muscle mass.

This was an important reason for the almost unreal results we've experienced with body composition of the players in Celtic.

After nine years in Strømsgodset both ROnny and I have good experience in how to implement an animal-based Stone Age diet in a player group. This was an important reason for the almost unreal results we've experienced with body composition of the players in Celtic. In total, the favorable change has been more than 50 kg - in just seven months. Since I started working with Celtic a good while after the beginning of the season, this change cannot be explained by "relaxation during the football holiday".

What's good for one is not necessarily good enough for another.

The history of the individual players is even more incredible. There are players, including several internationals, who have reduced their body fat percentage by 3-4 percent without losing weight. This means they have built muscle mass, while fat and excess water has disappeared. There are players who basically can be said to have been in acceptable shape in the past, but who with the new diet lost 3-4 kg in body weight without losing muscle mass. This shows just how important it is to individualise also when it comes to advice about body composition. What's good for one is not necessarily good enough for another.

Ronny Deila's gameplay requires a lot of running and aggressive pressure all over the pitch. Overweight players cannot do this, and therefore Ronny was slightly distressed at the start of the season. Now he can notice a big difference. 2-3 kilograms of extra body weight may not sound likemuch, but try running about with a weight vest weighing about 2-3 kilos. This would naturally been a negative for just straight running, but it's even worse for a footballer who is asked to stop, turn around and jump all the time. Fat and excess water is the same as a weight vest - unnecessary deadweight.

What about the training at Celtic? Do they train more under Ronny than before and maybe this is why there was a change in body composition? No, rather, the sessions are shorter, even though they are working to make them more intensive. Exercise is obviously important, but when it comes to body fat percentage this rule applies: Exercise is grams, while diet is kilograms. This applies both for top athletes and the general public


https://tunmed.wordpress.com/2015/05/30/fra-stromsgodset-til-celtic/

There's some more stuff there about the pre-Celtic era if you want to have a look

 

Interesting read

 

I keep thinking about this sentence: "There are players, including several internationals, who have reduced their body fat percentage by 3-4 percent without losing weight. "

That is actually shocking for professional athletes, it shouldn't even be possible. That's sort of what I'm trying to do in my fitness program and I'm no athlete.

 

Oh, and I made a mistake - the writer's name is not Truls Isaksen, but Kenn Hallstensen. Their blog confused me.

If a moderator could change the title of the thread, I'd appreciate it

 

It's really worrying that our staff weren't doing their job. That's an incredible turn around in a year.

It's things like this that're the difference at the top. There's no excuse for a lack of professionalism at Celtic.

 

Cheers interesting stuff and with a full pre-season to prepare we should be off to a flier.

 

Cheers interesting article

 

It is..

How were they still carrying that excess fat, when training 5/6 days a week at a top professional football club..
The diet must have been *..

 

So it's one of those paleo diets the players are following, aye?

 

It is. I googled this Hallstensen and he has a lot of articles and books about low-carb paleo diets with a lot of energy from fat.

 

its definitely the way forward, i'm starting on one as well

 

I might do some more reading in it. I'm vegan though, so animal fats are off the table.

 

Anyone got any links to these diets and what they entail?

Do you need to do serious training as well?

I just mainly play 5s etc so dunno if that's enough or if weights are essential?

 

Cheers. I'll check it out.

 

mountains of avacados

 

:smiley-laughing002:

 

Title changed.

 

Diet is definitely more important than training for managing weight and body composition I think

Cheers

 

too many thumbs up on this page