'Sleep was so important on tour, we need it for good mental health'

As the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia kicks off, ex-international Joe Marler talks about catching enough Zs and getting back into shape

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After retiring from rugby last November, Joe Marler admits he has put on weight and got out of A shape. For 17 years the international's life was strictly controlled with a training, fitness and diet schedule.

ex-England "Your life is so regimented, eat here at this time, do this then," says Joe, 34.

"You moan about it at the time, but now that I don't have it, I'm waiting for someone to send me a schedule... That lack of structure, which I've been used to for the last 17 years, stimulates the erratic nature in me."

The lack of structure has led to him being the heaviest he's ever been and given him, he says, the physique of a "melted wheelie bin". It's quite the image.

"I struggled for the first couple of months because I just carried on eating the same as I did as a rugby player," says Joe. "That was up to 7,000 calories a day.

I was fortunate that I was at a club where they just want you really heavy.

But I wasn't doing anywhere near the same amount of exercise. My weight was ballooning" In order to get himself back on track, the former Harlequins prop started looking at the three pillars of exercise, diet and sleep.

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"I'm currently trying the Dukan diet to try and shift this weight. It's just meat and protein for the first seven to 10 days and then you start introducing vegetables. You can eat as much protein as you want."

After retiring, Joe says his training also went out of the window. "I went on a break for about three or four months. But then I wanted to exercise and get back into it to appreciate how good it is for me. Since getting back in the gym, I have felt better."