Olympian sport nutrition

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Is there a difference between Olympic sports and nutrition?

The Olympics brings some of the best sporting professionals and athletes from around the world to compete for bragging rights over the other countries for 4 whole years. I’m Mat the Dietitian, lets discuss the impact of nutrition and the differences between nutrition requirements for sporting events. Whether it’s short stints of explosive power for sprints, precision and consistency of gymnastics or long periods of endurance for marathon running, tailored nutrition plans and strategies play crucial roles in achieving athletes best outcomes.

Let’s have a quick chat on the basics

  • Protein: Essential for all cells in the body, they act as the building blocks to make your cells. As we exercise, our cells (especially muscle cells) incur damage and signal for additional resources such as protein to repair and adapt to the positive stress of training. For most athletes, a minimum of 1.2 grams per kilo of bodyweight and up to 2.2 grams per kilo of bodyweight is needed to recover effectively and adapt to the training stimulus.
  • Carbohydrates: Our body’s preferred energy source. Nearly all food that we consume eventually gets converted into glucose (including a portion of fats and protein) for our body to use as energy. This is especially important for effective muscle and neurological performance.
  • Fats: Essential for health and hormone regulation, without fats… lets just say we wouldn’t be competing in anything… Adequate fats are vitally important in training and contest prep. While fats are essential, we can continue to perform sufficiently without fats from our diet for up to a few days as we can utilise our own stores. As fats take longer to use that carbohydrates do, during the lead up to events, fats (and to some extent protein) may be reduced to make more room in our diet for carbohydrates to increase the total amount of quick to access energy for our body.
  • Fibre: Of high importance in daily life for microbiome, cancer reduction and bowel health, it may take up space in our gastrointestinal system where carbohydrates may take its place to improve the quick access of carbohydrates stores available.
  • Supplementation: This topic can be quite controversial and variable depending on the sport and event type. Rules around supplementation often change between years as our industry changes, with the line between approved and prohibited occasionally becoming a little more grey the more we investigate. Ensuring approved supplemented are not contaminated with prohibited substances is of extreme importance.
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A brief outline on key priorities for each discipline:

Endurance sports:

Examples: Marathon, Triathlon, Cycling

  • A focus on carbohydrates are essential for fuelling the body in endurance sports. Often carbs are placed at a higher proportion of dietary intake for standard training and depending on the length of event, additional carbohydrates are to be consumed intra-event (during), to ensure we are limiting the breakdown of our bodies tissue/ muscle for energy.  
  • Hydration is of very high importance for endurance athletes. Water alone is often not enough to ensure optimal output. Electrolytes hold a crucial position in ensuring the fluid we consume goes to the right places and doesn’t cause cramping or performance impeding effects.

Power and strength sports:

Examples: Weightlifting, Sprinting, Shot Put.

  • Additional supplementation from specific nutrient source such as creatine and caffeine are often used in an attempt to gain an edge in strength and power situations.  Many coaches and nutrition teams have differing opinions on what supplementation is and isn’t appropriate. It is highly important to be aware of sources of supplements and if they have been accredited by a 3rd party/ testing facility to ensure they are not contaminated for prohibited substances.
  • Protein and energy intake is of high importance for these athletes. Often requiring increased levels during preparation and training to build as much muscle/ strength as possible during the timeframe, often these individuals prioritise total strength gain over a leaner physique which is often more suited for other sporting types with the exception of sports like sprinting/ pole vaulting where total size may be desired to be lower.
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olympic Team sports:

Examples: Soccer, Basketball, Hockey.

  • Similar to endurance sports, carbohydrate fuelling is essential. An adequate source of energy for our bodies to utilise to keep us at peak performance.
  • Protein requirements may differ slightly between sports, however, there is often a priority to gain strength and muscle size during training to ensure performance is at its peak during the event. Becoming as big as some power and strength athletes may not be the priority and may actively hinder the performance of these individuals.
  • Hydration is another crucial factor. While not as essential as endurance sports, depending on the sport, pre-event hydration may be a larger priority for these athletes compared to intra-event hydration as seen in endurance.
olympic Precision and skill sports:

Examples: Gymnastics, Diving, Archery, ping pong.

  • With this category being quite mixed in optimal body composition, the nutrition requirements are additionally  quite varied. Generally, a well-balanced diet with adequate protein for recovery, carbs for energy and fuelling and fats for hormone regulation may be a great baseline to build upon and tailor to each individual.
  • Special consideration may be noted to omega 3 fatty acids from marine sources (such as salmon, herring, anchovies, herring) may provide an additional benefit to mental clarity, concentration and cognitive function. However, more data is needed to place these recommendations into concrete plans for these athletes.
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Combat sports:

Examples: Boxing, Wrestling, Judo

  • Once again, carbohydrates for fuelling is a must. Ensuring adequate pre-event fuelling is highly important to ensure peak output, and depending on the length of event, intra-event carbohydrates may also be required.
  • Protein requirements may also be elevated to ensure muscle strength and performance is continually developed through pre-event training. However, being too large may be a disadvantage, which leads us on to our next point.
  • Weight management. There are strict weight classes for majority of combat sports. Prioritising appropriate weight gain in the form of high output muscle mass in specific locations may be of high value. Ensuring adequate total energy intake is adjusted to meet the weigh-in criteria is essential to compete in these events.
  • Hydration. A controversial topic in combat sports. Due to the above weight class point, athletes may attempt to water-cut to reduce the total water stored in the body and be as close as possible to their target weight. This can be very dangerous and life threatening if done incorrectly. Ensuring you have an appropriate nutrition team behind you is crucial in making this always dangerous practice as safe as possible.
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Concluding statement

Nutrition requirements vary greatly depending on the sport and discipline. A strong foundation and balanced diet including all key macronutrients being protein, fats and carbs is essential for all sports. Nutrition plans are to be personalised to the individual and adjusted to their response and performance. A key point to remember, never ever try anything new on event day and always trial things during training!

Check out Sports Dietitians Australia for some great resources for sporting and performance

  • Matthew Rigoni, Dietitian and Sports Nutritionist.  

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