#608: Performance Nutrition in Elite Rugby – James Morehen, PhD

Performance nutrition in elite sport is often discussed in terms of meal plans, supplements, and macronutrient targets. However, effective practice in professional environments depends just as much on education, trust, communication, and the ability to translate scientific principles into decisions athletes can act on under real-world constraints.

In this episode, Dr James Morehen discusses his work across elite rugby, football, and combat sports, with particular attention to the demands of professional rugby. The conversation explores how practitioners support athletes in a high-impact collision sport, including fuelling for training and match play, managing body composition without reducing athletes to arbitrary numbers, addressing recovery from muscle damage and injury, and developing practical systems around game-day nutrition.

The episode also provides insight into the realities of building a career in performance nutrition, including the importance of applied experience, interdisciplinary collaboration, and learning how to coach athletes rather than simply prescribe to them.

Timestamps:

• [03:31] Interview starts
• [10:26] Educating athletes on nutrition
• [13:55] Breaking into elite sport
• [26:26] Physiological demands of rugby
• [30:53] Energy needs and timing
• [38:28] Body composition measurements: utility?
• [46:16] Game day fuelling strategy
• [01:07:09] Key ideas (premium-only)

Links:

• Go to episode page
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• Enroll in the next cohort of our Applied Nutrition Literacy course
• James' Instagram: @morehenperformance
• James' LinkedIn: Dr. James Morehen
• Related episodes:
  • #573: A Philosophy of Elite Performance Nutrition – Daniel Davey
  • #286: Fuelling Elite Sport – James Morton, PhD
  • #506: Sports Nutrition: Translating Research to Practice – Andreas Kasper, PhD