Fueling the Young Athlete

Fueling the Young Athlete

-Carbs are essential, but it’s important to have them at the right time.

          The most important time to load up on carbohydrates is immediately after a hard workout. This will replenish the glycogen (stored energy) in the muscles that were just worked.  For example, many teams and athletes eat a high carbohydrate (usually pasta) meal the night before a big game, which is good but a more important time to eat that high carbohydrate meal would have been immediately following their last practice or game. Immediately after intense exercise the muscles are “wide open” to store carbohydrates for future use. If the athlete waits more than 1-2 hours post exercise to consume his/her carbohydrates, he will have missed the valuable “window” of opportunity to load up his fatigued muscles. Carbohydrates taken in later than that window are much less effective at loading the muscles.

TAKEAWAY- Ingest a high carbohydrate meal immediately following all intense games, practices and workout sessions. A good meal would consist of bread, fruit, pasta and juice. Keep fats relatively low during this meal (ie: if having pizza, limit sausage and pepperoni, stick with toppings of just cheese and if desired, some veggies.)

-Sugar is not always the enemy- There is a time and place for it.

          Immediately following a hard training session or game, as mentioned above, is the ideal “window” to load carbohydrates and replenish stored energy (glycogen) in the muscles. Sugar is a very fast acting carbohydrate that can help accomplish this goal quickly. With that in mind, immediately following a game or workout is the best time to take in sugar, like juice or even some homemade cookies (see recipe here: Homemade Oatmeal Cookies). Knowing that young athletes often have a taste for sweets, it is not necessary to forgo them completely, but simply to eat them when they will actually be beneficial to their performance, which is during that post-workout window.

TAKEAWAY- Sugar in the young athlete’s diet should be limited, but is allowed and actually recommended during the post workout (post game) window. This can be in the form of juice, Gatorade, fruit or homemade cookies.)

-Hydration is key. Game day water could arguably be the most important factor in performance and endurance that day.

• Even a slightly dehydrated athlete will see their performance and endurance significantly impaired. One of the easiest things to do to increase performance is to ensure that the athlete takes in 16-20 fl oz. of water 2-3 hours before exercise and an additional 8-10 fl oz. of water 10-15 min before exercise. It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that but it is VERY important.

“All men are created equal, but some men work harder in preseason.”- Emmitt Smith

-Protein is important to include in a growing athlete’s diet, but it is not important in the pre-workout meal.

·        Healthy proteins like eggs, turkey, chicken, etc. are important to fuel a growing body but a pre-game meal of chicken breast and salad is a big mistake. Keep the protein meals for all meals other than the pre-game and post-game meals. Keep those meals predominantly carbohydrate based (potatoes, breads, fruits, etc.)

Scott Baumann

Strength and performance coach

Ironwillstrengthstudio@gmail.com

www.ironwillstrength.blogspot.com

www.ironwillstrengthstudio.com

Common Concerns on The PROGRAM nutrition protocol

Common concerns-

 Let me take a minute to address some of the common concerns with The PROGRAM nutritional protocol and similar diet plans. One of the most common common and obvious concerns is the high intake of fat in this plan. This is an understandable concern since we have all been brainwashed for years about the supposed hazards of fat. Fortunately for us, there is more and more research every day coming out that dispels this myth. Here is a link to several articles on that topic. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/07/27/saturated-fat-cholesterol.aspx

In a nutshell, it has been proven that saturated fat intake is not related to heart disease and cholesterol problems and in fact, it is more likely that the traditional low-fat diet has led to the majority of heart disease in this country. When following a low-fat diet, the result is usually high carbohydrate diet which has been shown to have a more adverse affect on heart health. In addition, trans fats (http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/trans-fat/art-20046114) have always been and continue to be a problem and they are found in margarine and in most processed foods and baked goods. Fortunately for those of us On The PROGRAM we limit the intake of those products so we should have a diet that is free of trans fats. Again, I am no doctor, but I can relay the information out there and try to make sense of it for you. Another common concern on this diet is occasional episodes of low blood sugar. This typically happens when the client is not eating enough fat throughout the day or in a particular meal. If you experience symptoms of low blood sugar, you should take a look at the meal prior to the incident and most likely you will find it was either a lean protein and a vegetable, without a substantial amount if fat or it was a simple carbohydrate meal (which should never happen in The PROGRAM) which left you in a reactive hypoglycemic state (http://www.fitnessandfatlossguru.blogspot.com/2013/02/reactive-hypoglycemia.html?m=1). Either way,  episodes of low blood sugar should not be an issue on THe PROGRAM if you are following the recommendations. This includes the recommendation to avoid or at least limit alcohol intake. Alcohol intake is strongly related to hypoglycemic episodes (low blood sugar). Again, the most common cause of a low blood sugar episode is not having enough fat with your meals.

Finally, because of our many long-standing beliefs about nutrition, there is concern that this diet may not be healthy. I would strongly disagree with that notion and again, look to the research. A diet high in healthy (non-trans) fats, high in vegetables, moderate in fruit, moderate in high-quality protein and very low in refined carbohydrates can only be good. There is a ton of research to support this notion. Additionally, for anyone who is still concerned about their health, I would ask them to pay close attention to their moods, their energy levels and the way that they look and feel. It is reasonable to assume that if you have good energy, are feeling great mental clarity, losing body fat and have good energy that this is a good way of eating for you. If you do not feel that way, then perhaps this is not a good program for you. But in all honesty, I have yet to meet someone who does not feel better, look better and have more energy on this program.

Some popular reader questions and the answers.

"Is it okay to run for 30 minutes after weight workout? Or is it counter-productive?"

 Great question and, like usual, a relatively complicated answer to a relatively simple question. Here goes-First we need to know what the goal of the cardio is. If the goal of cardio is conditioning and "wind", like in the case of an athlete or someone who is training to be faster, to last an entire basketball game, to complete a stairclimb or 5K, that is a different story than someone who is doing cardio to lose weight or lose fat. The second factor is if that someone is following The PROGRAM Nutrition Protocol. Let's assume that someone is on The PROGRAM. Cardio for conditioning and sport needs to be of high intensity (ie: sprinting, boxing, jump rope) and can be performed just about anytime, including post-workout. If the goal is weight loss and body fat loss, then the cardio should be done in a low glucose, low insulin state, like first thing in the am before food and done in a relatively low intensity fashion (ie: incline walk, slow jog).

I've been getting some cramps at night in my feet and calves. What's that all about? 

Cramping is usually a combo of dehydration and mineral/vitamin deficiency or imbalance. So, we need to stay hydrated (hence the importance of the Week 1 Success Challenge of 2 glasses of H2O first thing) and we need to eat a variety of foods (especially greens and fruits) to get all of our nutrients and take a whole-food based multivitamin/multimineral. Remember, fruits are ok as this is NOT a no carb diet. It is a reduced or restricted carb diet, so many of your snacks and meals can have a small piece of fruit or berries, etc. Here is a list of some common vitamin/mineral deficiencies associated with reduced carb diets and sources to get those vitamins and minerals.

Thiamin - The best source is pork - a 3.5 ounce serving provides a day's supply of thiamin. Other excellent low-carb sources are nutritional yeast, tuna, lamb, and sunflower seeds. Other good sources include asparagus, soy beans and other legumes, and some nuts. Also, a wide variety of foods contain smaller amounts - this is true for most nutrients.

Folate - Basically, "green stuff" - spinach, collards, lettuce, other greens, broccoli, asparagus, avocado, cabbage, and artichokes.

Vitamin C - Many non-starchy vegetables and low-sugar fruits have high amounts of Vitamin C, including broccoli, red Bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, strawberries, cauliflower, kale and other greens, cantaloupe, and raspberries.

Vitamin E - Sunflower and other seeds, nuts (especially peanuts and almonds), peppers, broccoli, olives, pumpkin, and, yes, greens.

Iron - Organ meats (e.g. liver), wild fish, clams, beef, spinach, soy beans, pumpkin seeds, and chard.

Magnesium - Fish, spinach (and other greens - I'm not kidding when I say greens are nutritional powerhouses), flax seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, other nuts and seeds, soybeans and other legumes, squashes and their seeds (including pumpkin) and (yippee!) chocolate.

Moral of the story: Eat a variety of foods; load up on greens, fish, and broccoli; include nuts and seeds.

What about these "Quest" protein/meal replacement bars? Are they good? Can I eat them on The PROGRAM?

 Great question.  First off, based off of the label, these look pretty good, as good as a processed food bar can look. Good ingredients, with the exception of Isomalto-Oligosaccharides (Prebiotic Fiber). Why do I say that is the exception? Because I don't know what the hell that is or how to pronounce it. A good rule of thumb is that if you don't recognize the name or can't pronounce it, probably not a good thing to put in your body. So, assuming that is not going to kill us, I'd put the Quest bar as an "ok", but not recommended. Good to keep in your bag or at your desk in a "once in a while" situation, but nothing to eat regularly. The best way to eat is to think this way- The goal is to eat nothing processed. That means, if it is available in nature, 1000 years ago, eat it. If not, don't eat it. I don't think we could find a Quest bar in the woods. Now remember, before you think I'm a big downer, my goal for all of you is for you to be f*cking awesome and incredible, not ok. So, if you want to be f*cking awesome and incredible, don't eat that crap. Eat real food. If you are ok with being ok, then that's a different story but I know I want to create the best "you" possible. Now go get after it and have an incredibly awesome day.