Rugby tour and travel: does magnesium help?
Answer
A tour widens the gap between what a player eats and what they need, so a daily intake is worth keeping. It does nothing for heat, flights or drinking, and no claim suggests otherwise.
Key takeaways
- Is it worth taking on tour?
- Keeping a daily intake through a week that disrupts everything else is the modest and honest case.
- Does it help with heat or flights?
- No. No authorised claim connects any supplement here to travel, heat or alcohol.
- What travels?
- Capsules. No scoop, no shaker, no liquid restriction and nothing to leak.
What a tour actually does
Unfamiliar food at irregular times, more drink than usual, bad sleep in shared rooms and more rugby in five days than in the previous month, usually somewhere warmer than a British winter.
None of that changes the 375mg reference value. It widens the gap between intake and requirement, which is the situation a daily intake product exists for. Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate is 300mg of elemental magnesium at 22p a day, so a seven day tour is about 1.55 pounds.
What it will not do
There is no authorised claim connecting magnesium to heat acclimatisation, to long flights or to alcohol recovery. Heat is handled by arriving early enough to adapt and drinking more than feels necessary. Flights are handled by fluid and moving. Alcohol is handled by drinking less of it.
Keeping a nutrient intake steady through a disruptive week is a modest claim and it is the only one this page makes.
The full version
- Magnesium on a rugby tour: what it costs and what travelsCosts worked through, the format comparison and why not to buy abroad.
- Supplements through the rugby seasonWhere tour weeks sit against the rest of the year.
The product
Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate
Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate is the 300mg elemental one at 22p a day. A 180 capsule tub covers 90 days, fits in a wash bag and needs nothing but whatever is being drunk at breakfast.
- 300mg elemental magnesium, 80% NRV
- Bisglycinate, best tolerated common form
- UK made to GMP, lab tested for purity
- Not batch certified for sport
Sharper Rugby is published by Futuro Labs. If you buy through this link Futuro Labs earns from the sale. Prices are set by Amazon.
Questions players ask
Does a tour change the serving?
No. The 375mg reference value does not change with travel or heat.
What does a tour week cost?
About 1.55 pounds at 22p a day.
Should I buy supplements at the destination?
Not if you could be tested. Regulation and labelling vary and strict liability does not soften.
What else is worth packing?
Futuro Labs Omega 3 Fish Oil is one softgel a day at 17p, which travels on the same basis.
Should capsules be decanted to save space?
Better not to, particularly when flying. Keep the labelled tub.