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An athlete’s main source of energy comes from the nutrition and hydration consumed daily. Energy is measured in calories. An athlete’s nutrition intake must meet the training demands of his or her sport in order to ensure that energy is in balance. There are three components to energy: 1) Macronutrients - protein, carbohydrate and fat 2) Micronutrients - vitamins and minerals and 3) Hydration - the fluids consumed through food and beverage each day.

Failing to plan is a plan to fail. Athletes who plan their meals and snacks for competition will have an advantage over their competitors. Today, lets focus on nutrient timing (a.k.a the best time to eat) of fats for athletes. Reminder: 20-35% of an athlete's calorie intake per day should come from fats, mostly from plant-based fats along with a smaller portion coming from animal based fats.

As an athlete or a parent, you might be thinking, “Why should I choose whole foods over supplements?” Good question. There are ample reasons why. Let's start with the fact that the right whole foods offer more pure nutrition than supplements. That’s because whole foods include components not available in pills and powders, like providing a synergistic value that supplements can’t match.

The other macronutrient critical to an athlete’s injury recovery is carbohydrates. If you’ve begun your rehab process from an injury, carbohydrate ingestion shortly after prolonged and/or exhaustive exercise is critical. Carbs help replenish muscle glycogen stores, provide energy to refuel muscles for the next exercise bout, and help to repair those same muscles.

Whole food nutrition is an integral part of an athlete’s success. Sadly, most athletes treat nutrition as an afterthought.  Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions regarding nutrition and athletic performance due to a lack of understanding. Today, we are going to try and clear up some of those misconceptions and discuss why proper nutrition is key for athletes.

If you compete at a high level, then you’ve likely had to deal with an injury, be it small and nagging or season-ending and significant. Regardless of its severity, there are common contributors that directly lead to most injuries. One of the main contributors is incomplete recovery from consecutive bouts of high-intensity training or competition. This scenario of incomplete recovery can result in subsequent underperformance and injury. However, proper nutrition is key to helping aid and quicken recovery. A second main contributor to sports injuries is free radicals and inflammation.

Listen – Disappointment is normal when faced with defeat. Celebrating a win is normal too. Let your young athletes experience the situation in the moment, but don’t allow them to catastrophize it. If they’re receptive, help them acknowledge any disappointment and accept their imperfection. Don’t criticize, offer advice or blame...

Failure can seem catastrophic. Magnifying or distorting fear of failure makes athletes, especially young, budding athletes, vulnerable to stress and anxiety. Overreacting to disappointment does too. Both can result in underperformance—exactly what they are trying to avoid! Thankfully, resilience isn’t a genetic trait. It’s a set of thoughts, behaviors and...

Well-rounded athletes can overcome adversity without breaking down emotionally or getting stuck in a negative mindset. They know how to manage negative thoughts, so that their performance isn’t influenced by anxiety, nervousness and stress...