Christopher rarely ever got any of his recommended 6-8 pints of water a day and usually drank no water at all; some water will have been gained from food, but nowhere near enough to maintain hydration through the day. Although during the mentioned diet no competition was undertaken in MMA it is still vital for him to replace lost fluid with his rigorous exercise regime. I recommend on the days that he exercise’s to drink one more pint of water than usual on top of the RNI of water to replace the fluids and avoid dehydration and heat exhaustion.
To avoid de hydration during any of his exercise sessions I recommend that Christopher drinks a couple of mouthfuls of water every 10 minutes to avoid the feeling of thirst, as our thirst system is very badly developed, when we feel thirsty we are already around 2% dehydrated this does not sound like much but it is enough to impair performance and distract Christopher from training sessions. Following the above advice will allow Christopher to maintain hydration which can in turn help him to keep his training session duration more regular as dehydration can lead to irregular durations of exercise.
Ergogenic Aids Christopher undertakes both cardio-vascular endurance training and resistance, which opens up a wide possibility of ergogenic aids. Muscle growth hormones; may help to aid in the healing of the muscles after a resistance training session, to allow him to become stronger quicker, allowing him to progress quicker in resistance sessions, lifting heavier weights with more repetitions, this should only be taken if there is no current competition as it is an illegal ergogenic aids under most sports agencies.
At a young age of 16 this may have some negative effects, as during teen years hormone levels can be instable and adding growth hormones to the mixture may upset other hormones leading to spontaneous depression and mood swings. So the best time to take these hormones would be when all hormone levels are at there lowest of the day which is usually just before and after sleep.
Isotonic drinks; during Christopher cardio-vascular endurance sessions he will become fatigued and in order to continue exercise he will need to dehydrate him and replace fluids lost in the body, isotonic drinks are best suited to him drinking them while exercising as they diffuse into the blood stream efficiently and quickly due to them having roughly the same balance of dissolved substances as the blood does. So they will supply the body with and energy boost quickly to allow a prolonged cardio-vascular endurance work out.
Some mechanical aids may also help Christopher. Nasal strips; these act by pulling the nostrils further open making the nasal passage slightly bigger, which may help to take in more oxygen to fuel the active muscles during exercise. Christopher already undertakes the use of a treadmill, but he only runs on a flat track, tailoring his running to incorporate uphill running can improve his cardio-vascular endurance and the strength in the active muscles during running.
Th use of jogging shoes such as Nike air(tm) that have softer soles of air bubbles in the soles can make running more comfortable on the feet, and can reduce the chance of contracting shin splints and other over training conditions. Which of course will be beneficial as it is usually not possible to carry out weight bearing exercise when you have shin splints Supplementation
Vitamin and mineral supplements; there is no evidence to suggest that an intake of more than the RNI of any vitamin and mineral can improve performance or make training more effective in way. Although vitamin and mineral supplements are necessary when someone is eating a low calorie diet, or has restricted choice of food due to religion or personal beliefs, for example vegan may find it hard to get their RNI of protein.
Christopher does have a habit of missing his RNI for vitamin B1, Vitamin C and for sodium. The correct intake of vitamin B1 for Christopher will make his exercise more efficient as Vitamin B1 serves to convert food to energy and to aid the cardio-vascular and nervous systems. Christopher shows no symptoms of a vitamin C deficiency; low resistance to infection, slow healing of wounds, you easily bruise, and can get bleeding gums and dental cavities.
So although he is missing his RNI is must no be a serious amount. As observed above it is usually only missed by a few milligrams and has occasionally went over the RNI, which may have compensated for the times he missed his RNI, in vitamin C and B1. But to avoid this becoming a deficiency a small supplementation could be given to Christopher, although this would not redeem the diet permanently it may help until he can find foods he likes that are rich in the vitamins B1 and C to redeem his diet.
Christopher also had a habit of missing his RNI for sodium and also occasionally went over his RNI. He shows no deficiency symptoms; low blood sugar, heart attacks and palpitations, confusion and dehydration. Christopher does become dehydrated often but this is most likely due to the fact this his intake of water is usually nil or very little, after a few weeks of meeting the RNI for water and he still feels hydrated this would show a deficiency.
Sodium works with potassium to maintain electrolyte balance with in the body which can make exercise more efficient as make may make the consumption of isotonic drinks more efficient, as isotonic drinks are meant to be as close to the balance of electrolytes and other substances as possible, but if a lack of sodium changed the balance in the body, the isotonic drinks would not diffuse as efficiently into the blood stream. Protein supplements; Christopher may benefit from protein supplements due to his regular resistance training, although only in small amount of supplementation.
Protein supplements themselves doe not promote muscle growth, but may id I their re-cooperation, as proteins are required to repair the tiny tears that appear in the muscle during exercise, if extensive and frequent resistance training is undertaken then protein may be necessary, where as Christopher may benefit from protein supplementation, I think that and increased protein diet will have the same positive effects and may also help to increase his sodium intake too, as some meats e. g. chicken contain sodium as well as protein.
Creatine supplements; these are best suited to anaerobic exercises. So when Christopher eventually returns to MMA training, this may aid for the explosive parts of training, such as lunges and sudden attacks such as a left jab. Creating is not banned by any sports agencies as it is naturally occurring in the body. It bonds with phosphates in the body to make Phosphocreatine (PCR), which aids in the ATP production in anaerobic activities.