Episode 128: Does your injured gymnast need to “manage her weight”?

Injury and time off is by nature stressful for the athlete and parent. But unfortunately, in an aesthetic sport like gymnastics that is steeped in backwards thinking, navigating weight gain or management in an injured gymnast takes it to a whole other level of stress.

I know gymnasts fear gaining weight or growing will cause them to loose their skills when they’re back to full training. So, to manage weight in an injured gymnast, a lot of well meaning coaches and parents will think their athlete needs less fuel since they’re not training at the same level.

While this might be the case for some, most high level gymnasts aren’t fueling enough in the FIRST place. They’ve been training for YEARS underfueled, and that lack of nutrition is probably contributing to the injury in the first place. First and foremost when a gymnast is injured, now is the time to repair and recover.

 In this episode you’ll hear about: 

• The three categories injured gymnasts fall under
• Why some gymnasts go through major growth during injury time off and why its necessary
• The worse thing you can do with nutrition during injury time off

 Links & Resources   

• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts 
• Episode 125: [Fueled Gymnast Fall] How to help your gymnast with nutrition if they’re stuck, struggling, or injured
• Episode 89: Why we focus on performance versus weight in gymnasts
• Episode 20: 8 Truths About Injury Nutrition for the Gymnast
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com