The RL diet: Matty Smith aiming to lose weight in pre-season

Drew Darbyshire 18 Jan 2020 11:30 AM

The rugby league diet is our new feature where we give you an insight in to the eating habits of your favourite professional players, in partnership with Heaven ‘N’ Health.

Widnes’ new signing Matty Smith is our latest guest…

What is your diet like, Matty?

“At the minute, I’m aiming to lose some weight. I eat quite a lot of protein early on in the week and stay away from the carbs to try and keep the weight off.

“I’m trying to stay away from the carbs during pre-season because I want to keep my weight down. I’m 32 now, so I’m getting older and I put two stone on from looking at a chip!”

Did you put weight on when at Catalans then?

“No, not while I was there. As soon as I came back from Catalans, I had 10 weeks of doing absolutely nothing and I felt like I needed time away from the game and time away from training so I could clear my head.

“I just allowed myself to do what I wanted, go away on holiday and just not think a rugby for a little bit and it has done me the world of good. I’m working very hard with Widnes now in pre-season and I’m excited for the season ahead.”

How do you prepare for games during the season?

“When I am coming up to game day later in the week, I load up on carbs for energy so I will have foods like pasta, rice and that kind of stuff so I’ll have plenty of energy for the game.

“I will have protein as well like fish and chicken but I’ll have more of that earlier in the week and then I’ll have more carbs in the build up to game day.”

Do you take any supplements?

“I just take what the club give me. I’ve never really been one to take a lot of whey protein because I’m a half-back and I don’t want to be too big to be honest.

“I feel I’m better when I’m a bit lighter and more agile. I take a little bit of the protein stuff but I don’t take any of the carb supplements.

“There are a lot of lads who will take creatine, especially the forwards if they want to gain muscle or get a bit bigger but I’ve never been focused on taking stuff like that.

“I think having having a good diet is key but on the protein side of things, I just take what I’m given by the conditioners.”