Not only will this make sure products are expertly suited to the needs of elite athletes, but the evidence suggests those products will gradually filter down to a wider market of amateur sportsmen from die hard triathletes to the weekend jogger. Collins told a recent conference there was a real thirst for knowledge out there among amateur sportsmen with access to nutritional information soaring.
So what should sports nutrition firms be looking to provide?
He said his experience at an elite level told him there was a real demand for innovations to tackle iron and vitamin D deficiencies. And where the top sportsmen lead, the rest follow. Iron deficiency among elite athletes is nothing new, but Collins said he was witnessing increasing levels of “iron drain”, particularly towards the end of a long season. At the top of practitioners such as Collins’ wishlists are "different modalities” of iron, especially in liquid form.
In relation to vitamin D, sports nutrition manufacturers are well aware elite athletes are always looking for innovation in the area. But what is perhaps more interesting is the rise in amateur athletes who are visiting sports clinics for vitamin D tests highlighting not only greater levels of awareness, but also the need for firms to develop more personalised products. On a wider level, there also appears to be a clamour for more focus on “periodising nutrition” providing products that help athletes complete both resistance and endurance activities in the same workout not individual products for both activities. The good news for sports nutrition firms is that the market is growing, knowledge is rising and, from the elite level to the hardy amateur, the demand is there. Now they have to flex their muscles and rise to the challenge.