Track and Field Toolbox

Bananas to the Rescue

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This article provided by Training-Conditioning

A recently published study suggests that carbohydrates in bananas work as well as sports drinks in fueling athletes.

As reported by Appalachian Today, the study also found that bananas inhibit COX-2 mRNA expression.

“Consuming bananas with water during exercise has several advantages for athletes and fitness enthusiasts,” David Nieman, DrPH, Director of the Appalachian State University Human Performance Laboratory on the North Carolina Research Campus and Professor of Health and Exercise Science in the Beaver College of Health Sciences and author of the study, said. “Above those linked to regular sports drinks, including a stronger anti-inflammatory effect, better nutrition and improved metabolic recovery. Within an exercise context, banana metabolites that increase in the blood following ingestion have a similar effect to aspirin or ibuprofen that inhibits COX-2 activity. This makes bananas close to the perfect athletic food.”

In the study, 20 male and female cyclists completed four 75 kilometer time trials after fasting overnight. The participants ingested Cavendish and mini yellow bananas, as well as a six percent sugar beverage and water. There was a two-week period between the cycling trials.

The results showed that ingesting carbohydrates, regardless of source, helped endurance performance and contributing to lower markers of post-exercise inflammation. The results also showed that banana-derived metabolites coincided with a reduction in COX-2 mRNA expression. Typically, this reduction is related to less inflammation, swelling, and perceived pain.

“Ibuprofen is the number one drug taken by athletes to combat inflammation,” Nieman said. “Research shows that it can cause intestinal cell damage and, in some studies, was found to increase inflammation in athletes. Now, athletes know there is a natural alternative—bananas and water.”


Pre-Competition Nutrition

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Here are 7 great tips regarding what you should avoid and what you should have for pre-competition meals


This article provided by My Sports Dietitian

By Tavis Piattoly MS, RD, LDN

Which Athlete are You?
The bell just rang and school is out! The meet is 3 hours away and the coach dismissed the team to go get something to eat and be back in an hour.

 

Athlete #1
Goes to McDonalds, 2 double cheeseburgers, large fries and large coke.


Athlete #2
Two turkey sandwiches, fruit, and a low calorie drink from home.

 

Athlete #1  or Athlete #2  will experience the following?

  1. Significantly have more energy in the second half of the game?
  2. Still have large amounts of fat in their digestive system during the game?
  3. Be dehydrated and sluggish?
  4. Most likely to get abdominal cramps before, during or after the game?
  5. Recovers quicker the next day from muscle fatigue?
  6. Spent more money?
  7. Planned poorly and has no real sports nutrition goals?

 

7 Tips for a Great Pre-Game Meal 

  1. Don’t Experiment
    Don’t try new foods on a game day, it might cause unexpected problems.
  2. Avoid Soft Drinks and Candy
    Sugar is your enemy, empty calories that don’t provide long term fuel source.
  3. High Carbohydrates
    Never can go wrong with breads, pasta, rice…pure long lasting energy source.
  4. Timing
    Takes about 3 hours to empty the stomach of quality food.
  5. Fluids
    Plenty of water and sports drinks…stay away from carbonated sugary soft drinks.
  6. Avoid High Fat Intake
    Fat takes longer to digest and lots of water to process.
  7. Limit Protein Intake
    Protein is a weak energy source, great for building tissue but limit the amount prior to game.

 


Rest and Recovery

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This article was provided by Training-Conditioning
Rest and recovery are essential parts of the performance equation.Success-driven athletes push themselves harder and harder. It’s up to you to teach them that rest and recovery are essential parts of the performance equation.
By Dr. Terry Favero

Terry Favero, PhD, is Professor of Biology and Conditioning Coordinator for the women’s soccer team at the University of Portland. He has also worked with the U.S. Olympic Development Program, and can be reached at: [email protected].

Every athlete and every coach understands that hard work is a key to success. Athletes looking for an edge will train harder in an effort to outwork their opponents, teams going through a slump will try to “train their way out of it” by ramping up practices and workouts, and many athletes view working to exhaustion and beyond as a badge of courage and a sign of ultimate commitment.

But there’s another component of athletic success that’s too often overlooked, and that’s recovery. When athletes do too much or coaches push too hard, the regimen eventually becomes counterproductive–the body wasn’t designed to work without adequate rest. Evidence of this imbalance isn’t hard to find: In a recent survey of published literature, I found roughly 30 articles championing various training methods for every one article about the role of rest and recovery in the adaptation process.

Planned recovery takes many forms, from improving sleep habits and eating patterns to scheduling days away from the gym that allow for regenerating tissue and rejuvenating the mind. Too many coaches spend their time scripting daily and weekly training programs, yet fail to strategize for recovery and regeneration with the same depth and precision.

Science has proven that proper recovery facilitates faster physiological adaptation and enhances performance. Ignoring recovery today leads to tomorrow’s poor practice session and, eventually, poor recovery habits that are tough to break. It also reinforces attitudes that can lead to overtraining injuries. But by taking advantage of planned recovery and making it an integral part of a comprehensive training program, you can help athletes experience the gains that elude them when they work hard, but not smart.

STATE OF AFFAIRS
Most high school and college athletes understand at least the basics of appropriate recovery. If they haven’t learned it from coaches, health classes, or other educational sources, they’ve at least felt the soreness after overworking their muscles, the fatigue from working out without proper fueling, or the overall misery of trying to function on too little sleep. And still, most athletes fail to follow an optimal recovery strategy.

Today’s student-athletes must balance demanding training schedules with complex personal, social, and educational demands. The pressures of daily life are rarely factored into an athlete’s total training or overall workload, but they’re a major factor in the individual’s health and well being.

What happens when an athlete has too many commitments and not enough time to meet them all? Recovery is usually among the first things to suffer. Rather than cut short a training session, they might skip a post-workout meal. Instead of missing practice to study for an exam or complete a class project, they’ll sacrifice a few hours of sleep that night. In the long run, these decisions take a serious toll, both physically and mentally, and performance begins to decline.

To better understand the current landscape surrounding this issue, I recently conducted an informal survey of high school and NCAA Division I athletes, examining nutrition, sleep, and recovery behaviors. While not scientifically rigorous (the sample size was only 40 people), the results provide an interesting snapshot that’s probably typical of many athletes in these age groups.

Nutrition. I found no significant differences between high school and college athletes in eating habits–both were equally poor. Half the athletes skip breakfast at least once per week, while 20 percent said they miss it several times per week. Sixty percent reported missing other meals occasionally as well. Perhaps most troubling, only 46 percent of the athletes said they regularly eat within 60 minutes after completing exercise.

Sleep. On average, most high school and college athletes get far less than the recommended eight hours of sleep per night. In fact, 38 percent of college freshman athletes in my survey get less than seven hours in a typical night. Sleep is one of the most frequently mismanaged recovery habits among athletes of all ages, and the consequences are immense.

Regular recovery activities. My survey showed that in general, high school athletes do more in terms of recovery activity than college athletes, but only when directed to do so by their coaches. Essential recovery activities include (but are not limited to) a daily cooldown, especially following demanding workouts, active re-stretching or lengthening of the most active muscle groups, and post-workout rehydration. In addition, foam rolling and deep static stretching should occur at least twice weekly apart from normal practice times.

In the survey group, 52 percent of high school track athletes used a foam roller daily, compared with 18 percent of college track athletes. And 88 percent of the high schoolers stretched daily, compared with 53 percent of the college athletes. However, I found that in general, unless the coach leads a team through specific recovery activities, most athletes are consistently inconsistent in their recovery choices.

The above data should sound an alarming note: Recovery behaviors for both high school and college athletes need serious attention. Athletes develop training habits at an early age, and most carry these habits–good and bad–into college sports. College often provides a wake-up call, since talented and healthy athletes might not have experienced any real consequences for poor habits in high school or club sports, where practices are far less demanding, competitive seasons are shorter, and athletes can get by on pure skill even if they’re not performing at 100 percent.

SET OF SOLUTIONS
Most of the athletes I surveyed said they rarely talk or think about recovery. Typically, no one tells them to monitor training and recovery activities, or to account for non-athletic stressors when planning their daily or weekly schedule. For that reason, it’s easy for them to ignore recovery habits until fatigue, underperformance, or injury set in–and by then, they’re forced to play catch-up.

To improve this situation, all coaches and athletic trainers should be aware of recovery deficiencies and work constantly to teach athletes sound recovery strategies. This is especially important for incoming freshmen at both the high school and college level, since they’re experiencing many lifestyle changes and have a great opportunity to incorporate new and better habits.

In college, most athletic programs offer some form of academic guidance to ease the transition to college. This same concept can be applied to recovery education–eating habits at dining halls and on the road, sleeping patterns amid the newfound freedom of campus life, and recovery activities that fit into the college workout and practice schedule should be essential points of emphasis.

Once an education program is in place, athletic trainers and coaches should devise a system to monitor recovery activities and reinforce good habits while modifying bad ones. (See “Recovery Scoring Guide” for one example.) A sound monitoring system can also help athletes adjust their overall workload–athletic and otherwise–to a level that optimizes recovery.

Education and monitoring are the two prongs of a successful recovery strategy, but implementing them can be a major challenge. I recommend basing your program’s recovery efforts around a specific continuum of habits to consistently remind athletes about the value of recovery on a daily, weekly, season-long, and yearly basis. Here are the essentials:

Teach the concept. Recovery is a frequently misunderstood term. Many athletes think it’s about what they do immediately after a practice session. Others think recovery is a state of being, and they’ll say they feel “recovered” after a practice or game and don’t need to do anything specific. But recovery isn’t about short-term activity or physical condition–it’s a systematic and comprehensive program designed to maximize health and performance.

Athletes must learn that true recovery encompasses several different responsibilities, including hydration, nutrition, sleep, and psychological or emotional well being. To experience all the benefits of the body’s complex recovery mechanisms, an athlete must establish and follow routines that provide consistent and adequate amounts of fuel, physical rest, and mental “time off.”

Cool them down. The recovery process should begin as soon as the active phase of practice or a workout concludes. Coaches often call athletes together to summarize the day’s work, provide guidance for upcoming sessions, or prepare the team for competition. In most cases, athletes are then dismissed and they scatter–some get water, some do extra sport-specific work, and others head to the locker room or home to get on with their busy lives. What’s missing is an essential component of promoting team-wide recovery: cooldown.

Structured cooldown activities address both physiological and psychological recovery. Most coaches recognize the physiological benefits, such as reducing blood lactate level, but few consider the psychological benefits, such as dampening nervous system activation. Slowly reducing the heightened state of the nervous system after athletic participation can lead to lower overall stress levels and more regular, restful sleeping patterns, particularly after evening workouts or practices.

An easy and effective cooldown can involve simply modifying the dynamic warmup used to begin practice. For instance, the athletes I work with perform a warmup that generally consists of eight to 12 dynamic stretches of the major muscle groups, conducted while constantly jogging and progressing to running. For the cooldown, we perform almost the same set of stretches, but instead of transitioning from a jog to a run, we wind down from a jog to a walk. We hold the stretches for up to 20 seconds, and sometimes stretch the same body area more than once–for instance, if the day’s workout focused largely on the hamstrings, we’ll conduct two different hamstring stretches. I let the athletes select the cooldown stretches they want to perform, keying in on the body areas most in need of recovery.

Kick-start restoration. Two of the most important restoration steps are post-activity treatment, such as hydrotherapy and massage, and immediate rehydration. To promote physical restoration, athletes can take simple steps such as contrast showers (alternating between hot and cold water) or warm showers coupled with self-massage. Contrast showers provide neural stimulation, while a 10-minute warm shower with self-massage promotes blood flow to muscles and overall relaxation. These strategies can help an athlete leave the sports environment alert but calm, and ready to transition to the next phase of the day.

Hydration can best be addressed with sports drinks, which provide fluid along with electrolytes and carbohydrates. Water is an acceptable alternative, but is less advantageous because it can’t replace electrolytes such as sodium lost through sweat. The electrolytes in sports drinks also help to speed absorption of fluid from the gut after ingestion. A good rule of thumb on rehydration is that athletes should take in enough fluid to more than replenish what they lost from sweating. If it’s possible for athletes to weigh themselves before and after a workout, this provides an easy guide for how much fluid must be consumed.

Refuel for recovery. Research has shown that carbohydrate replenishment should begin within 60 minutes of the end of training in order to promote maximum muscle glycogen restoration. During this 60-minute window, muscle membranes are primed for glucose entry and rebuilding, which essentially means faster muscle recovery. Delaying the post-workout meal will mean low glycogen stores the next day, which results in decreased muscle performance and lower overall energy.

Following a heavy workout, research suggests that athletes should get between 1.0 and 1.5 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight per hour for at least two hours or until the next full meal. Some athletes don’t have a strong appetite right after workouts, so energy bars are a great way to bridge the gap until mealtime. A typical energy bar contains 40 to 50 grams of carbohydrate, and may also include protein that helps speed glycogen replacement in exhausted muscles. A 150-pound athlete is roughly 68 kilograms, so an energy bar and at least 24 ounces of a sports drink after workouts provides a great start to nutritional recovery.

Sleep matters. A growing body of research is revealing the importance of sleep for recovery and mental and physical performance. Adolescents and young adults are notorious for haphazard sleep schedules, and they probably don’t realize the negative toll it takes on their health and athletic performance.

The best advice for sleep is quite simple: Give yourself a bedtime and stick to it as often as possible. The body functions best when sleep habits are consistent. Once athletes establish a set routine that provides eight hours of sleep per night, they’ll find that they fall asleep faster once their head hits the pillow, and they probably won’t even need an alarm clock to get up at the same time each morning.

Think short- and long-term. Daily, weekly, and mid-season rejuvenation planning can make a huge difference for individual athletes and entire teams. On a daily basis, athletes need structured downtime. They should be constantly reminded that daily activities like listening to music, reading for pleasure, and taking short naps can do wonders for the nervous system, promote relaxation, and give the musculoskeletal system a break.

On a weekly basis, athletes should consider receiving a massage, performing some form of active recovery such as yoga, cycling, or swimming, and perhaps playing a sport other than their main sport to stay active but enjoy a break from structured training. In the middle of the competitive season, coaches might consider an occasional extra day off, a three-day weekend, or perhaps team activities such as barbecues or group walks during road trips. When rejuvenation-centered steps like these are neglected until stress and poor habits result in declining performance, it is often too late to change course and make any material difference.

MONITORING PROGRESS
The monitoring system (above) was initially developed as part of a program called the Total Quality Recovery System to help prevent overtraining in competitive athletes. The authors recommend that recovery behaviors be scored as a tangible indicator to help athletes avoid overstress. This particular version of the program has been modified to fit the needs I’ve discussed here.

The system addresses all the critical areas of recovery, and research suggests that athletes who average 17 daily recovery points or more experience less fatigue and adapt more quickly, while those who average 14 or fewer recovery points are prone to maladaptive habits and overtraining. I have found that athletes like using a point system and may even engage in good-natured competition to see who can score higher, pushing each other toward better habits in the process.

Implementing this system has allowed me to provide focused education about each of the components of proper recovery and its specific benefits. This makes the athletes more conscious of their recovery behaviors, and they’ve told me that when using the scoring guide, they are far more deliberate about their recovery than when not using it.

The guide can be implemented in several ways depending on what best fits a team’s schedule and routines. I use it intermittently with athletes at key junctions when I sense recovery may be compromised. With new athletes, the first step is to establish a baseline during the summer or non-competitive training season, typically with two weeks of data. Then, I’ll monitor recovery at critical times during the year, such as during the transition to the competitive season, during planned increases in workout volume or intensity, or in the weeks leading up to major competitions. It can also help athletes keep on track during stressful non-athletic times, such as midterms.

When athletes focus on their recovery as a team, with support and guidance from coaches and athletic trainers, they can experience tangible gains in the weightroom, during practice, on the scoreboard, and in virtually every aspect of their lives. By teaching them that what they do when they’re not running drills, lifting weights, or competing in their sport is just as important as the time they spend training and developing their skills, you can change the culture of an entire program and put athletes on the road to greater success.


All Day Fueling: Nutrition for Performance

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Nutrition can be a big factor in the performance of high school athletes. Factoring in puberty, packed days, and the pressure to look a certain way, the nutritional considerations of high school athletes differ from other age groups.

The following article is from Training & Conditioning.

By Emily Edison

Since 2005, Emily Edison, MS, RD, CSSD, has coordinated the Washington Interscholastic Nutrition Forum (WINForum.org), a sport nutrition resource and educational program geared toward high school athletes. She is also the owner and founder of Momentum Nutrition in Seattle and spent seven years as the consulting Sports Dietitian for the University of Washington athletic department. She can be reached at: [email protected]

 

Pertaining to the hard-to-get-out-of-bed, fast food-eating teenagers who spend their days learning calculus and American history and then tear up fields and courts after the final bell rings. These growing and developing creatures require nutrition above and beyond the offerings of most high school cafeterias, drive-through windows, or convenience store snack aisles, yet few are meeting their unique dietary needs.

High school athletes face similar fueling challenges as their collegiate counterparts, such as limited time, minimal motivation for meal prep, and frequent travel. However, they have a few more hurdles to consider. For instance, many inhabit bodies that are rapidly changing, and the population as a whole is generally less likely to take responsibility for food choices.

In addition, as high school athletes grow and change, they often struggle with their body image, self-esteem, and self-acceptance. To address these concerns, some look to lose fat, while others try to gain muscle. Attempting to meet either of these goals without a corresponding nutrition plan can be detrimental to performance and health.

The available research on nutrition for high school athletes supports a meal plan that incorporates eating multiple times a day and balancing macronutrients to maintain performance. This often requires fueling and hydrating in a creative manner.

For the past 10 years, the Washington Interscholastic Nutrition Forum (WIN- Forum), a science-based sports nutrition resource geared toward high school athletes, coaches, athletic support staff, and parents, has supported high school athletes in creating fueling game plans to help them succeed in sport. In my experience, science-based education and a bit of planning up front can go a long way in meeting the fueling challenges for high school athletes. (See “Fuel to Win” below for more on the WINForum.)

BASIC NEEDS

When it comes to macronutrients like carbohydrates, protein, and fat, it’s important that high school athletes are getting adequate intake. To start, they should get more than half of their daily calories from high-quality carbohydrates, such as grains, fruits, and dairy.

Unfortunately, this does not always happen because many high school athletes misunderstand carbohydrates. They are quick to adopt fad diets that restrict carbohydrates or cut out whole food groups, such as dairy or grains. Of course, athletes with medically diagnosed conditions, for example, Celiac disease, should follow their prescribed diet. But for all athletes, carbohydrates play a valuable role in their growth and performance.

Protein is also a crucial part of a high school athlete’s diet to maximize muscle growth and repair. Generally, teenage athletes require between .7 and .9 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight each day. Because the body can only utilize approximately 25 grams of protein per feeding interval, athletes should focus on consuming small, high-quality doses throughout the day. Dairy, eggs, meat, chicken, fish, tofu, edamame, and soy milk are all high-quality sources.

Additionally, new research suggests that a pre-bed snack consisting of 20 to 25 grams of high-quality protein can help the body assimilate muscle tissue during sleep. Acquiring muscle while they sleep? This should be an easy sell to high school athletes.

It can be hard for teenagers to figure out how to consume protein throughout the day, so I find it helpful to provide them with ideas and examples. Here’s a sample eating plan I drew up for Sara, a 16-year-old, 5-foot-11- inch, 150-pound basketball player. She needed 120 grams of protein per day to maintain stamina and gain muscle during her offseason training.

Breakfast: Two-egg scramble on two pieces of toast with avocado and tomato and eight ounces of milk=24 grams of protein

Snack: Six ounces of Greek yogurt and fruit=12 grams

Lunch: Three ounces of tuna on two slices of bread, granola bar, carrots and hummus, and fruit=24 grams

Pre-practice snack: Half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a fruit leather=7 grams

Post-practice snack: 12 ounces of chocolate milk=12 grams

Dinner: Three-ounce portion of grilled pork tenderloin, baked sweet potato, steamed broccoli, and fruit salad with yogurt=25 grams

Pre-bed snack: Cottage cheese and fruit=15 grams.

Finally, high school athletes need fat—the heart-healthy kind. Be sure to educate them on the importance of consuming fats from fish, nuts, vegetable oils (e.g., olive and canola) and avocados. These support energy, muscle growth, immune function, and recovery.

TAILORED TO TEENS

In my years of working with high school athletes, I’ve learned to conquer the three main roadblocks of getting them to fuel properly. The first is convincing them to eat a quality breakfast.

I’ve yet to meet a teenager who willingly wakes up earlier than they absolutely have to, so it can be difficult to convince high school athletes that consuming a morning meal is more important than a few extra minutes of sleep. It helps to explain that those who skip breakfast won’t have enough gas in the tank for a focused afternoon practice. This missing fuel can lead to muscle loss—not to mention the potential loss of a starting spot on a team.

Two other ways I’ve had success getting athlete buy-in are through visual aids and by organizing team breakfasts. I use Pinterest to create visual boards that I share with athletes, so they can see how easy it is to make a microwave egg sandwich or toaster waffle “Big Mac” (layer toaster waffles with peanut butter and banana). For team breakfasts, I suggest making oatmeal in a large slow cooker and assigning players to bring their favorite toppings, such as nuts, granola, milk, and fruit.

Just because breakfast is the most important meal of the day, doesn’t mean it has to be the most complicated. There are tons of quick, high- carbohydrate, moderate-protein options that will keep athletes energized and their muscle tissue intact. Some I recommend are a bagel with eggs, banana, and milk; yogurt, oatmeal, and an orange; and whole grain waffles with peanut butter and strawberries.

You’ll notice that none of my go-to options include a bowl of cereal. This common breakfast item for high schoolers is often loaded with sugar and rarely provides long-lasting energy. Advise athletes to ditch their corn flakes and honey-nut O’s for some- thing more substantial. If they must have cereal in the mornings, remind them that it should serve as an appetizer to a heartier breakfast.

The second challenge is getting high school athletes to snack throughout the day. Approximately 25 to 30 percent of their total calories should come prior to lunch. For the athlete who needs 3,000 calories per day, this means 750 to 1,000 calories should come in the form of breakfast and a morning snack.

Snacks for the rest of the day should contain carbohydrates for energy and protein for repairing muscles and keeping athletes satisfied. Since time between classes is short and many schools limit eating and drinking, good snack options should be nonperishable and easy to store in lockers or book bags. (See “Snack Time” below.)

One of my clients, Luke, a freshman cross country runner, recently learned the benefits of all-day fueling. When we started working together, Luke complained of fatigue and felt his performance was lacking. His eating habits reflected, well, a typical high schooler’s. His breakfast consisted of one bowl of cereal (“if there was time”). Lunch was finely crafted cafeteria pizza or chicken nuggets, chips, fruit snacks, and a carbonated drink, and he capped off the day with a home-cooked dinner after practice.

Together, Luke and I developed a performance nutrition game plan that better suited his dietary needs. Here’s what it looked like:

Breakfast: Waffles with peanut butter and bananas, yogurt, and coffee

Snack: Trail mix

Lunch: Sandwich, veggies, fruit, goldfish crackers, and a granola bar

Pre-practice snack: Dried fruit and peanut butter pretzels

Post-practice snack: Chocolate milk and an energy bar

Dinner: Grilled fish, veggies, salad, bread, and milk

Pre-bed snack: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich with fruit.

After a short time practicing his new meal plan, Luke reported significant improvements in his performance. He broke two freshman school records, made first team all-freshman in his conference, competed in the state championship meet, and is now ranked nationally.

Finally, the third challenge of working with teenage athletes is accepting that they won’t always make healthy choices. Remember, good nutrition doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Creating rules like “no sweets” or “no fries” sets high school athletes up for failure and increases the likelihood of binge eating and secretive eating behavior.

Instead, try to balance high-performance fueling with realistic expectations. I recommend high school athletes follow the 80-20 rule. If they focus on high-performance foods 80 percent of the time, 20 percent is left for eating “cheat” foods.

I also tell athletes to use some of their favorite treats to fuel performance. For example, if an athlete loves his mom’s chocolate chip cookies, I suggest including them as a pre- practice snack with milk. This way, his body can use the carbohydrates and protein for energy and muscle growth, and he feels guilt-free about his choice.

LOSING AND GAINING

High school athletes do a lot of looking in the mirror, and they aren’t always happy with what they see. Like most teenagers, high school athletes can struggle with self-esteem, and some may want to make their bodies look a certain way through fat loss or muscle gain. It’s important that they pursue either option in a healthy manner.

Athletes’ weight and body composition desires are influenced by coaches, athletic trainers, media, teammates, parents, and their own athletic and aesthetic goals. These influences and pressures can tempt young athletes to restrict calories and eliminate food groups in order to lose weight.

I recently worked with a high school swimmer, Ciera, who wanted to lose weight after she heard her coach say that dropping a “few pounds” can help athletes swim faster. She quickly put his blanket statement of, “Stop eating sweets to lose weight,” into action.

Ciera removed all things with sugar in them from her diet, including her pre-practice snacks, which cut about 800 calories from her daily intake. The frequent praise she received on her appearance once she started losing weight encouraged her to continue with her calorie restriction. She created a new rule, “No White at Night,” and cut out all carbohydrates that were white, such as bread, pasta, and rice.

For an athlete with extremely high carbohydrate needs like Ciera, restricting these foods can lead to low energy availability, amenorrhea, fear of eating with friends and teammates, and the potential for developing an eating disorder. With a starting body composition of 19 percent body fat (already low for a teen swimmer), Ciera did not need to lose a few pounds, and the calorie restriction was too great for her to maintain muscle and bone mass, as well as energy.

While I worked alongside Ciera’s physician and therapist to adjust her eating habits, she took a break from training and competition. After six months, she was able to face her fears around eating, get back to a healthy, strong weight, and gradually return to the pool. Ciera also regained her menstrual cycle and is now swimming faster than ever.

To prevent a frustrating and potentially damaging battle against the scale, encourage athletes to ask themselves three important questions before they start a weight-loss plan:

Why do I want to lose weight? There are many reasons athletes think they need to lose weight, and improving their overall health is not typically one of them. Some think it will increase their athletic performance, but many are fueled by a desire to look “better.” As Ciera’s case shows, calorie restriction for the wrong reason can be dangerous.

Do I need to lose weight? Athletes frequently hear losing weight improves sports performance, but that is not al- ways the case. In many circumstances, cutting calories can lead to nutrient deficiencies, muscle loss, and performance declines if energy needs are not met.

Communicating best practices and choices for an athlete’s health and performance should be a “team” effort that includes coaches, athletic trainers, parents, nutritionists, and family physicians. This will help ensure athletes reach their goals without compromising well-being.

Is this the right time to lose weight? Optimal timing for weight loss is in the offseason to ensure it has minimal effects on performance. In addition, periods of high stress (e.g., finals weeks, family conflicts) and times of growth (puberty) can make weight loss more difficult to attain.

If athletes want to lose weight for the healthy reasons and the timing is right, recommend they fuel every three to four hours, as research on nutrient timing says eating smaller meals more frequently minimizes excessive caloric over-feeding (fat storage) and excessive caloric deficit (muscle loss). Learning to be self-aware of hunger and satiety can help athletes stick to this fueling schedule. Remind them to listen to their bodies for true hunger cues, such as a growling stomach, rather than eating because they are bored, lonely, or sad. Some may benefit from keeping a hunger and full- ness chart (rating hunger and fullness on a scale of one to 10 throughout the day) or setting an alarm on their watches or phones to eat every few hours.

High school athletes looking to gain weight may think their road has to be paved with muscle-building supplements. Contrary to popular belief, simply consuming extra protein in the form of powders and pills and hitting the gym on occasion is not enough to gain muscle. To see results, high-quality protein must be consumed in multiple small portions (20 to 25 grams) throughout the day and combined with a well-planned strength program.

I advise a three-step “Ready, Set, Go” approach when working with athletes who are looking to increase muscle mass:

Ready: Have athletes start a strength-based, sport-specific lifting program designed to maximize muscle gain. Then, create an eating plan to support growth that includes a meal-snack-meal-snack pattern and caloric distribution spread around practices and games.

Set: Be realistic when helping athletes set goals for muscle gain. A good target is to add 400 to 500 calories per day, which will build half a pound to a pound of muscle per week when following their strength program.

Go: Provide consistent support for athletes to fuel and train. Remind them to fuel during training by consuming extra energy sources.

It is vital to remind high school athletes about the importance of recovery and repetition in a muscle-gaining program. Encourage a recovery snack after each training session that includes carbohydrate and protein. Stress that staying consistent with eating and training habits will ultimately help them reach their goals.

High school is the perfect time and place to engage athletes in sports nutrition. Building a solid nutrition game plan in their teens will help them continue to enhance performance as they move along in sport.

 

Sidebar: SNACK TIME

To build a winning snack that combines carbohydrate and protein, high school athletes should pick one item from each column.

CARBOHYDRATE ……………. PROTEIN

Fresh fruit ………………………. Yogurt

Bagel …………………………….. Turkey

Bread …………………………….. Almond butter and jelly

Crackers …………………………. Cheese sticks

Granola bar ………………………. Milk

Energy bar ……………………….. Peanut butter

Tortilla …………………………….. Smoothie

Fig Newtons ……………………… Nuts

Applesauce ……………………… Greek yogurt

Oatmeal ………………………….. Shredded cheese

Cereal

 

Sidebar: FUEL TO WIN

The Washington Interscholastic Nutrition Forum (WINForum) is a science-based sport nutrition resource for high school athletes and their coaches, parents, and athletic support staff. Its online platform offers free downloadable sports nutrition presentations and handouts, practical tips, a blog, and a quarterly newsletter—all written by board certified sports dietitians. We also conduct on-site sport nutrition clinics for teams, coaches, and parent groups.

Through the WINForum, we’ve discovered that high school athletes enjoy a hands-on approach to learning about nutrition. At our clinics, we offer lots of interactive opportunities. For instance, we’ll prepare green smoothies and have athletes taste-test them. Other events include creating team meals for athletes and their parents and providing sport nutrition education while they eat, supplying post-practice snacks while we talk to athletes about their fueling challenges, or answering athletes’ sport nutrition questions in a Q&A.

In addition, WINForum helps facilitate sports nutrition clubs in high schools. Recently, we helped create one at Bothell (Wash.) High School with the assistance of Head Athletic Trainer and Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Dan Newell, ATC, CSCS. The club meets bi-weekly to talk about nutritional challenges faced by high school athletes and solutions to enhance performance. The meetings usually involve some sort of sport nutrition snacking opportunity and distributing handouts to pass along to teammates, coaches, and parents.

Dan says the sports nutrition club has been successful in getting athletes to pay attention to what they eat, which in turn has helped improve performance. The proof is on the field—the Bothell football team won the program’s first state title in 2014.


Nutrition: The Final Piece

by

This article was provided by Training and Conditioning

Could your athletes’ nutrition be the final piece to the puzzle for success? As the Texas A&M University track and field team found out, time spent creating individualized diet plans was well worth it.
By Amy Bragg

Amy Bragg, RD, CSSD, LD, was recently appointed Director of Performance Nutrition at the University of Alabama. She previously held the same position at Texas A&M University.

The pieces are in place: A highly decorated and successful coaching staff, beautiful facilities, and most importantly, an outstanding group of elite athletes. When a team is already poised for success, what can you add to make it even better?

Not long ago, the Texas A&M University track and field coaches asked themselves this question, and the answer they arrived at was an emphasis on sports nutrition. “Paying attention to nutrition enhances our student-athletes’ opportunities to be successful, and when integrated with coaching, it leads to greater achievements,” says Head Men’s and Women’s Coach Pat Henry. “We have great coordination between the coaching staff’s and nutrition staff’s educational message, and we position nutrition as a lifestyle commitment.”

Of course, the main challenge in providing nutrition guidance for track and field is the sport’s great diversity–sprinters, distance runners, throwers, and jumpers all have different needs and goals. It may seem impossible to provide customized advice for so many different types of athletes, but that is exactly what we strive for every day. Doing so means evaluating the demands of each type of athlete, optimizing their eating environment, and formulating nutrition goals that individuals can work toward throughout the year.

FUELING WITH PURPOSE
In our program, we want to link daily food choices with performance outcomes. We tell athletes that they train a certain way to achieve a desired result, and they should eat a certain way for the same reason. They need to understand that lifestyle and nutrition habits have a cumulative effect that produce tangible changes in performance, energy level, body composition, and injury recovery.

Body comp testing provides a nutritional scorecard we can analyze and interpret along with nutritional habits. We use it regularly along with 24-hour food logs as a starting point for talking with an athlete about making changes.

Most track athletes at Texas A&M undergo body comp testing four or five times per year. During a couple of those testing periods, we will also record the student athlete’s nutritional intake over the 24 hours prior to the testing appointment. Accuracy is stressed since a nutrition professional is taking this information directly from the athlete while prepping the body comp exam. Timing, recovery choices, and sleep and wake time are included along with the quantity and quality of food items. Simply holding this discussion in tandem with the body comp testing is educational, but there’s a wealth of information taken in during those appointments.

For instance, if a body comp test reveals that dropping fat would help an athlete improve performance, we’ll look at one or more 24-hour logs to see if there’s an especially problematic time of day or a poor choice in food quantity or quality that needs addressing. Other times, an athlete will tell us that they eat healthy most days, but an occasional “off day” of high fat and calorie consumption throws them off track.

Education is another essential part of our approach, so we use team presentations to help convince athletes of the value of optimal nutrition. Food logs might tell us that only 40 percent of the team is getting adequate nutrition at breakfast and lunch. There’s a target message for a quick team presentation: importance of breakfast in energy level, weight maintenance, and performance, along with 10 easy breakfast options so the athletes can see how simple it is to make an improvement.

On other occasions, we may administer a poll over the course of a full day of team body comp tests. This leads to customized team presentations, and allows student-athletes’ interests to drive a portion of the content.

For example, armed with that information, I can go to the coaching staff and report that 70 percent of the team members are dining at campus eateries for the majority of their meals and 68 percent of their athletes are interested in learning more about using nutrition to boost immunity, while only 12 percent feel they need guidance in the grocery store. To me, it sounds like this team needs a mini nutrition talk at the start of flu season and a nutritionist to visit a couple of campus dining facilities to show them optimal menu options.

The questions that arise from these sessions are always encouraging, because they show us the athletes are taking our message seriously and are truly interested in finding ways to better fuel themselves. Some recent examples include:

• Each year at the same time, I seem to struggle with fatigue–why does it happen and what can I do?

• I’m focusing on a certain aspect of my performance right now. How can nutrition help me with it?

• I had an injury last season. Is there anything I can do with my nutrition to help prevent a recurrence?

Fueling for performance means different things to different athletes at different stages of development. So once they’re armed with a foundation of knowledge, we delve into specifics through individual consultation. And if the athletes follow our advice, we let the results speak for themselves.

CASE STUDIES
The examples below illustrate how I’ve been able to convert broad sports nutrition concepts into targeted advice for different types of track and field athletes dealing with various challenges. Each case is unique, and I find that one-on-one counseling is by far the best way to achieve success.

Tired jumper. In the middle of last season, one of our jumpers came to the nutrition staff complaining of low energy levels. His food logs revealed that his meal selections were consistently very good, but the overall quantity of food was too low, leaving him with inadequate amounts of total calories, carbohydrates, protein, and fat. In addition, he kept pre-activity nutrition very light due to a preference for feeling “weightless” at practices and meets. His body comp history evidenced a tendency to lose weight and lean mass toward the end of the season, and the lower quantity of food was the likely culprit.

Our first intervention strategy focused on increasing food intake and calorie density throughout the day. After discussing the times of day when he didn’t want to eat (particularly before practices), we decided to target breakfast, the recovery period after workouts, and the evening.

He added more calorie-dense foods to his breakfast, such as peanut butter and granola. After working out, he had a snack consisting of other calorie-dense options, such as whole grain breads, guacamole, and peanuts to kick-start his recovery. (This was in addition to his normal lunch and dinner.) At night, I encouraged him to eat a snack such as frozen yogurt with toppings. Foods like these support weight maintenance without requiring large portion sizes, which was important for someone who wasn’t interested in adding a lot of food to his diet.

It seemed like we had solved the problem, but before long, the athlete came to me again and reported “never feeling good” on this new eating pattern. The breakfast changes weren’t a problem, but he told me that snacks didn’t “sit well” for him. After more discussion, we determined that frequent eating made him feel undisciplined, as if his intake was excessive. The issue was as much mental as it was physical.

Because he understood that he still needed more calories to improve his energy level and prevent unwanted weight loss, we decided to try other options besides the calorie-dense ones he had been using. He started snacking on fruit frequently throughout the day. Because it was whole food and not something out of a package, he could snack on things like apples, oranges, and bananas and still feel like a “disciplined” eater. We also increased the amount of 1% chocolate milk he drank after workouts, which boosted his intake of calories, carbs, protein, and fat. As a result, he’s been able to maintain his weight, particularly near the height of his competitive season.

This case was a great learning experience for both sides of the consultation. Sometimes the assessment and advice is totally on point, but it just doesn’t work in practice for the athlete. Just as a coach continues to develop the athlete’s workouts, so does the sports nutritionist adjust the nutritional plan. This athlete needed several touch points with the dietitian to build trust and try alternative strategies. His nutritionist needed knowledge of body comp history at her fingertips, a rapport with the athlete, and an appreciation for the psychological aspects of nutrition and performance.

Combo platter. Combined-event athletes train and compete in a wide variety of venues. The decathlon, heptathlon, and pentathlon comprise a mix of running, jumping, and throwing events such as the 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400 meters, 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1,500 meters. The athletes compete in multiple events on consecutive days, and in many ways, it is the ultimate test of strength, speed, agility, and endurance.

Recently, a young woman joined Aggie track for combined events. She had previously competed exclusively as an endurance athlete, burning a massive amount of calories due to the prolonged aerobic nature of the sport. When she switched to track and field, the lower overall energy requirements meant she was eating too much.

In her first year in our program, she was able to maintain her muscle mass but also experienced an increase in fat mass and body fat percentage. The pattern continued the following year, so we scheduled a meeting.

Early in the discussion, it was clear that food and weight were sensitive subjects for this athlete. Based on her food log, I observed that she was overusing energy bars, eating three to four each day in addition to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and pre-training and recovery snacks.

“But I’m doing what I’ve been told: fueling frequently throughout the day to maximize my energy,” she said. She obviously understood the basics of nutrient timing and consistency, but her eating habits weren’t tailored to her actual energy needs–a common problem for athletes who switch sports but don’t change their diet accordingly.

With this athlete, I offered a lot of positive feedback on the good food choices she was making at mealtimes, and focused on the bars as the source of unwanted extra calories. Because she was used to those frequent energy boosts, we talked about spreading out her calories by eating a little less at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, while adding healthy snacks throughout the day in place of the bars.

For instance, instead of having fruit salad as part of her lunch, she would save it for an afternoon snack in place of her usual pre-workout energy bar. At breakfast, she would eat a slightly smaller meal, then have a muffin or bagel with cream cheese in mid-morning instead of a bar. I threw out suggestions, and let her preferences determine the strategies she pursued. Using this approach, we were able to decrease her overall calorie intake without creating periods of the day when she felt tired or hungry.

In time, she realized that she ate the same portion sizes at meals whether she had an energy bar or not. For this athlete, the bars didn’t give her any satisfaction, and with her mastery of meal timing, they really weren’t serving any purpose. “I’m just eating them because they’re here,” she realized.

MUCH TO GAIN
How far-reaching is nutrition’s role in performance? Texas A&M athletes who sharpened their focus on quality and consistency of nutrition choices have seen benefits including improved energy level, better management of inflammation, higher peaks in training, faster rehab, and even a reduction in injuries.

And besides all that, a great nutrition regimen feeds their confidence in competition. When athletes see nutrition as a performance optimizer and know they’ve done all they can to fuel themselves for competition, they get a valuable mental boost that complements all the physical effects. They also start to take pride in their smart decision making.

In the words of longtime Assistant Coach Vince Anderson: “The longer I coach, the more I believe it’s impossible to measure how critical nutrition is. I’m fascinated by the fact that it’s so often the ‘last frontier’ for athletes who are struggling to push their limits. So many athletes will do everything else before they truly focus on their nutrition, but once they do and they experience all the benefits, they never go back.”

Sidebar: OPPORTUNITY THROUGH INJURY
Injuries happen. And for a determined sports nutritionist, they could be a blessing in disguise. Even the most noncommittal athlete may finally become receptive to nutrition coaching during rehab or injury downtime. The
I-can-eat-whatever-I-want-and-never-gain-too-much-weight guy and the fast-food-got-me-here-so-fast-food-will-fuel-me-here girl may suddenly feel a need to change their nutrition habits.

Connecting with the athlete during rehab is not only ideal for a speedy return to play, but also provides a touch point with those athletes who may have viewed nutrition too narrowly in the past. Simply working with an athlete through an injury recovery process offers them support, both psychologically and medically, and in many instances I have found it’s a great entry into working with a resistant athlete. The support you offer during that process will always be remembered, and can completely change the dynamic of how nutrition’s role is integrated in the athlete’s overall performance.

Focusing interventions on relevant nutrients is a great way to start, with a more global assessment of calorie and protein needs falling in behind. Are you getting enough vitamin C and calcium? What about protein? Knowledge of weight history easily segues into recommendations for limiting calorie and protein intake, which may even need to be higher to support the recovery process for an injured athlete. In short, the time to improve nutrition is always now, and in whatever mode most resonates with the athlete.