Many moons ago, maybe a full 72 moons (!!), I came across an article in one of the Sunday broadsheet newspaper supplements. The subject was Paula Radcliffe, and within the article focus was laid upon her diet. For her, one of the key components was wheatgrass juice. I promptly got in touch with her, via her agent, and after meeting her a week later, was able to supply her for over a year. She was in the habit of drinking at least five shots (150ml+) per day. That is a lot of wheatgrass juice!
Yesterday I came across an article about Americans swimming sensation Dana Torres. She’s already competed in five Olympic Games, and is considering competing in the sixth, in London in 2012, by when she will be 45! The article, in the Toronto Sun, ran through the things which she considers essential in putting herself in both the right frame of body and mind in order to compete at this level, at her age. She makes every effort to get plenty of sleep, work on her muscles around her joints, thinking like a dancer to control movements accurately, and more.
With regard her diet, the only two things mentioned were that she considers it essential to include as much raw food as possible within it, because that way you guarantee yourself of getting the maximum unadulterated nutrients within your diet. A second tip was, you guessed it, include wheatgrass juice every day. She does this in the understanding that it boosts her energy and stamina, her immune system, and provides key nutrients to drive her body forward. This is precisely the same approach adopted by my friend Pat Reeves, who has been her age band European powerlifting champion, on many occasions when biology might have suggested it was not possible.
You can be fairly certain that Dana has researched this very thoroughly, as will her advisers and trainers. I hope she makes it to London in 2012, if in no other reason than to prove that just because you’re a certain age, that you can’t do something. With the right diet and mentality, much more is achievable than most people deem possible.
Seems like wheatgrass juice may be the way forward!
