Name: Ed Tooley (Twitter: @ETNutrition)
Year of Birth: 1984
Height: 1.81cm
Weight: 83kg
Job: Performance Nutritionist
Team: England Rugby League, Wigan Warriors RL, Oxford Utd FC
 

"I've been using CherryActive products with clients for a number of years now, whether it's a client who suffers from poor immunity during the winter months, a regular gym user who needs a little help with their DOM's or an international athlete preparing for a major event. They are a great natural source of antioxidants and with the range of products available you can add variety to what can sometimes be a very repetitive routine in sport".

Tell us about your work?

I am a performance nutritionist consulting to several sports teams and athletes competing on both the domestic and international stage.

How did you become involved in it?

Always grew up taking part in sport and watching sport which as a result left me with a great interest in sport. I was mainly a cross country mountain biker and one of the main game changers was when my coach at the time told me to start reading some books on nutrition to support my training and racing. What I had been doing was right in one sense but was very wrong in another. I started making changes to my diet and over time my performances improved. I then took a bit of time out during my A-Levels with the intention of starting again when I got to university. For some crazy reason at university I decided to play rugby. A little sub 70kg, 18 year old endurance athlete fancied swapping to a collision sport. So my interest in Strength & Conditioning and nutrition further increased as I had to change my body. In the end my interest was so strong that I changed degrees to Sports Science to pursue a career in sport. I started work experience with regional and national teams whilst studying, and never looked back from there. I’ve just kept on trying to learn and in turn educate athletes with information that I didn’t have access to when I was competing. 

How does the CherryActive product range feature in your work?

I predominantly work with top end athletes. I will help support their recovery leading towards competition using one of the CherryActive products, and where applicable some of my athletes use the BeetActive for endurance performance

Highlight of career?

I’ve had lots of highlights, picking one would be tough, 2011 was a great year with Wigan Warriors winning the Challenge Cup and Jenny Meadows winning Gold and Silver at the European indoors for the 800m and 4x400m respectively and also taking the outdoors 800m Diamond league, but then comes 2013 where Wigan won the Challenge Cup again, but then came back from 16-6 down in the Grand Final to win in style scoring 24 unanswered points in the second half. But the year finished off with a difficult pill to swallow with England RL being knocked out of the RLWC semi final by 2 points within the closing stages to NZ. Sport is definitely a roller coaster!!!

Who are your heroes?

My Dad; always been my hero, a great man to aspire to!!! My hero in sport goes back to rugby league and Wigan Warriors (it’s why I feel so lucky that I get to work with the team!). Although I’m from the south coast I was always a Wigan Warriors fan because of seeing Jason Robinson on TV, because of him I also started supporting Sale Sharks when he crossed codes. Billy Whizz has always been a hero; I still get a bit star struck seeing him around at some of the big games.

What are your future goals?

I want to continue doing what I do consulting to different teams and sports; I love the variety and challenges.

How do you relax away from your work?

I like to get to watch my teams and athletes compete, and I enjoy cooking, but both of those are related to work I guess!! I do like relaxing with my feet up watching a few box sets too I guess!!

Leave a comment