HOT ATHLETE NUTRITION By James FitzGerald
HOT = Higher Order Thinking Athletic = Skilled Action of Purposeful Physical Expression Nutrition = Food is Fuel, Food is Recovery Thinking requires planning. Planning requires thought. Thought requires knowledge. If you don t have the knowledge, keep reading and keep experimenting and searching, then search and practice some more, you ll get there.
GOT GOALS? Ask any fitness athlete what their goal is? Here are some answers to that question i have posed for years now: Place top 10 at the CrossFit Games Gain confidence in themselves through physical tests Test themselves physically to a maximum See what they are made of Feel accepted and wanted and loved Discover who they are
TRUST In order to get honest answers you need to build TRUST. Once trust is built, you will get the truth. If you feel you aren t getting the truth from your client, look no further than yourself. You are not trusted, it s that simple. Once the honest answer appears, you will have a platform from which to work. Once the priority (or goal) is identified (like in the cases above) then you can create a PLAN of attack based on the current highest priorities. When the priorities are not aligned or understood, there is so much drama and elements of confusion that surround the relationship between the athlete and coach. When there is no judgement, only investigation of what the goal is, then both can get on with the prescription required for the task at hand.
INCORRECT ALIGNMENT In most cases, problems arise in regards to athletic nutrition when the athlete or coach has not found the TRUE reason behind the prescription. When the truth is revealed, and the athlete can really mean what they say when they say, I want to do THIS! Then and ONLY then can the coach and athlete move forward with the task of ATHLETIC NUTRITION. Many times when things don t work out or arguments/tension arise, the issues can be pointed directly to the inconsistent alignment of the athlete not OWNING their priority. Somehow the responsibility of the actions required to follow though on the priority gets placed elsewhere, instead of the source of the goal - themselves!
SPECIFICS When an athlete truly owns their goals, it is quite simple to set up the action plan for nutrition. It s not that hard food is for fuel and recovery. There are specifics on protein (based on training age, gender, lean mass, intensity..). There are specifics on carbohydrates (based on fat mass, tolerance, resilience, training age, training response, training requirements ). There are specifics on fats (based on timing around training, gut health, essence..) There are also models that have been around. as seen in my practice and asking simple questions to numerous coaches and athletes AND seeing it in action. I ve been tracking and creating nutrition plans for fitness clients since 2005. Through trial and error, I started seeing the differences in requirements based on the sports demands which were A LOT different than true powerlifting, bodybuilding or running food profiles a LOT different What I have learned over the years when talking about nutrition for fitness is this: You probably have to eat more than you think you do Balanced calories to ensure recovery to training again ASAP is key Carbs are required Faster transit times for low drag and higher volume is recommended Digestion is king
EXAMPLE Someone says, I want this! and you say Tell me what you had to eat yesterday? and they say Well, err I did not have the best day or my all time favorite This is not a typical day but.. Then you say How is that aligning with your goals of accomplishing [insert goal here]? (stumped!) This is when the coach and athlete would have a conversation about their ACTIONS which are NOT in alignment with the goals they have set. Having a coach that can explain this to an athlete is a game changer. It allows the athlete to see how there is a lack of alignment in their behavior and it is NOT a judgement on behalf of the coach. The coach doesn t care about the priority or necessarily the behavior. They want alignment. It is simply a noticing of what is - a lack of alignment - and that s it! When the athlete sees and can get educated on HOW the behavior(s) they exhibit can lead them to small victories in the consistency required (as in the above example), then progress can be made towards larger victories over time. It should be noted that it isn t that athlete doesn t want it believe me, they do. It just that they were probably always judged in the decision making on the alignment of the goals. One of the best ways I have found to word it is like this: i would like your actions to show signs that you are working towards that consistency in nutrition It speaks volumes on: who is responsible here, and the action will dictate the truth in REAL priorities
DETACHED CELEBRATION We at OPEX teach about detached caring, and in our level 1 Lifestyle Coaching Course we discuss it in detail as it gets some hairs up on some peoples backs. In this case, we believe there should be no judgements around what is in the less functional behavior already exhibited and we believe there must also be the same around the opposite end of the spectrum with positive behavior change. I am a big believer in using caution around the extent and the size of the celebration of victories and behavior changes. Why? What we don t want is the behavior changes coming from a place of, Oh wow, they will REALLY like me if i do this as they can then attach this new They re all gonna love me for the changes I have made to everything they do. This will end one day and will create depression and negative behaviors.
REVIEW Ask the questions about what lights athletes up, gets them out of bed, what is on their mind always, etc THEN align how the food plan will HELP and DIRECT them at break neck speed towards the goal identified above! Once athletes get connected to the WHY and the association with the plan, it s game on and transformation occurs.