Performance Nutrition
Training breaks you down; nutrition decides whether you rebuild stronger or just accumulate damage. We work on fuelling around sessions, recovery between them, and the nutrient gaps that quietly cap performance — energy availability, iron, vitamin D and magnesium chief among them — with injury rehab built into the same plan.
The first conversation is always free — 15 minutes, no obligation, and we will tell you honestly if we are not the right people for it.
You might recognise some of this
- Training hard and going backwards
- Soreness that lasts days longer than it used to
- The same injury, for the third time
- A heart rate that will not come down, or sleep that got worse as training got harder
- Sessions that fall apart in the last third
- Weight or body composition that will not shift on a big deficit
- Periods that stopped when training volume went up
Under-fuelling is the most common problem we see
Low energy availability — not eating enough to cover training on top of everything your body has to do anyway — is behind a surprising share of stalled progress. It does not announce itself as hunger. It shows up as poor recovery, disrupted sleep, a suppressed immune system, low mood, stress fractures, and in women, disrupted or absent periods.
It is common in endurance athletes and in anyone chasing body composition, and it is regularly mistaken for needing to train harder. Training harder on an energy deficit is how a plateau becomes an injury.
Fuelling around sessions, not just across the day
Total daily intake matters, but so does when it arrives. Under-fuelling a hard session then eating well at nine in the evening is not the same as eating adequately around the work, even if the day’s totals match.
So we plan carbohydrate around the sessions that need it, protein distributed across the day rather than loaded into dinner, and enough fat to support hormone production. Then the practical layer: what to have before an early session, what actually works during long efforts, and what to get in when you arrive home too tired to cook.
The nutrient gaps that cap performance
Iron first, particularly in women and endurance athletes — ferritin can be low enough to limit performance while a full blood count reads as normal, so it needs testing specifically. Vitamin D, which affects muscle function and bone as well as immunity, and which is low in a large proportion of people training indoors through a British winter.
Magnesium, used up faster under training load and involved in muscle function and sleep. Then energy availability itself, which is not a nutrient but is the one most often missing. Testing these rather than guessing is usually the fastest gain available.
Injury: nutrition and rehab in the same plan
Connective tissue repair has nutritional requirements — protein and collagen precursors, vitamin C, zinc, and enough total energy, at a point when many people cut intake because they have stopped training. Under-eating through an injury slows the repair you are waiting on.
Niki’s background is as an injury specialist as well as a naturopathic nutritionist, so the rehab timeline and the nutrition plan are built together rather than in separate rooms. Loading, timing and fuelling get planned as one thing, which is how they actually work.
What working with us looks like
- A full picture of training load, sessions, sleep and recovery — not just food
- Energy availability assessed properly, since it underpins the rest
- Testing for the markers that cap performance: ferritin, vitamin D, thyroid, inflammation
- Fuelling planned around your actual sessions and your actual week
- Injury and rehab nutrition built alongside the rehab itself
- Competition and event-day planning, practised in training rather than improvised
Not sure if this is the right starting point?
That is exactly what the free call is for. Fifteen minutes, no cost and no obligation — we will work out whether performance nutrition is where you should start, or whether something else fits better.
Common concerns we work with here
- training fatigue
- slow recovery
- recurrent injury
- low energy availability
- iron and vitamin D status
- body composition goals
- competition preparation
Performance Nutrition — your questions
Do I need to be competing for this to be worth it?
No. Most of the people we do this work with are not competing — they train seriously, want to keep doing it into their fifties and sixties, and want to stop getting injured. Same principles either way.
My periods stopped when I increased training. Is that a problem?
Yes, and it should not be treated as a normal consequence of being fit. It is a common sign of low energy availability, it carries real bone health consequences, and it is worth addressing promptly — with your GP as well as with us.
Which supplements actually help?
A short list, mostly correcting measured deficiencies rather than adding performance on top. We will go through what you are taking and tell you which are doing something for you and which are not.
Can you work with my coach?
Happily. The plan works better when the fuelling matches the programming, and it is much easier to do that with the training plan in front of us than around it.
Further reading
Body Ballancer Pro for Athletes & Gym Members: The Recovery Tool Your Clients Need
Gym owners and PTs in Southport — discover how partnering with Charnock Farm Organic Wellness gives your clients access to medical-grade Body Ballancer Pro lymphatic drainage therapy: faster recovery, fewer injuries, and better results, without any extra investment from you.
Wired but Tired? A Naturopath's Full-Day Energy & Blood Sugar Reset
Straight from one of Niki's live workshops: a full day the naturopathic way. How morning light, meal order, magnesium and gut health work together to lift your energy, steady your blood sugar and calm cravings — plus the products she reaches for.
Why Your Vitamin D Level Matters More Than You Think
Over the past few years, working closely with many clients — especially those dealing with immune challenges and cancer — one thing I keep seeing again and again is low vitamin D. It’s one of the most important markers I look at on a blood test. Yet many people don’t realise just how powerful vitamin D is for protecting their health. When you next go for a blood test please ask your doctor to check for this as well.
You might also be looking for
- Anti-Ageing & LongevityNext-level protocols for people who want to stay well, not just avoid being ill
- Functional TestingOrder tests through us as your practitioner, so someone reads and explains the results properly
- Diabetes, Blood Sugar Control & Weight ManagementWork out which triggers are actually driving your insulin, your stress hormones and your weight
Or see all our nutrition services.
Last updated: 8 September 2026. Written by Niki Charnock, Naturopathic Nutritionist (CNM/ANP registered) and Injury Specialist. We advise on nutrition and lifestyle — we do not diagnose, and nothing here replaces care from your GP or specialist.