How to Fuel the Young Competitive Gymnast: 5 Must-Knows for Parents

Have a young gymnast and wondering what her nutrition should look like at this stage of her journey? Parents ask me all the time, “What do I feed my gymnast?” Before practice, during practice, to prevent injuries, to give her energy, and so on.

And rightfully so. This sport is much more intense at a younger age, with more training hours than almost any other youth sport.

Parents of young gymnasts also struggle with picky eating, a gymnast who “only wants junk food,” or a child who just doesn’t eat enough to support a growing body and all those hours in the gym.

Here’s the thing: learning to FUEL your gymnast is much different than just “feeding her healthy,” and it’s the first step to keeping her happy and successful in this sport. Most gymnast parents never learn how. And if they do, it’s often after a major injury, setback and dollars wasted, all of which can be prevented with the right knowledge ahead of time.

By Christina Anderson MS, RDN, CSP, CSSD · Updated October 2026

How to fuel a young competitive gymnast: 5 must-knows

1. Fuel her with enough food.
2. Focus on balance, variety and moderation, not “clean eating.”
3. Stick to a schedule of meals and snacks around practice.
4. Understand that fueling is different than snacking.
5. Help her build a healthy relationship with all foods.

1. Fuel her with enough food

The number 1 career killer of high-level gymnasts is unintentional underfueling. And unfortunately, it often starts young, around Level 5/6, when gymnasts are training 15-20+ hours a week. It’s especially common in gymnasts who are picky eaters, have food allergies that make meal planning hard, or just aren’t that interested in food.

There are lots of reasons young gymnasts don’t eat enough to support growth, training and development. But if her body doesn’t get enough nutrition (or the right nutrition at the right times), it can’t repair, recover and adapt to training. That leads to injuries, setbacks and often burnout, and usually quitting the sport.

One of the first signs is growth. If her height or weight percentile starts to slow or drop on the growth chart, that’s a red flag that she isn’t eating enough for her training. (More in Does Gymnastics Stunt Your Growth?)

2. Focus on balance, variety and moderation

Parents of competitive gymnasts are often told their gymnast has to “eat clean” to “stay lean,” to “be successful” or to “lower inflammation.” But that isn’t the whole picture. Yes, I want your gymnast to eat a wide variety of foods, mostly whole foods. But if she isn’t eating ENOUGH, it doesn’t matter how “clean” her diet is (see #1).

Unfortunately, when parents get this advice, they often over-restrict their already underfueled gymnast, with the best of intentions! That sets her up to “FOMO” eat when she gets her hands on fun foods. This is a huge struggle for a lot of upper-level gymnasts after puberty, and it can usually be traced back to how nutrition was approached when they were younger. (More in Food Rules for Gymnasts.)

Even if you have a picky eater, keep serving the foods she doesn’t like yet. Continuing to serve a wide variety of nutritious foods, like whole grains, proteins, healthy fats, fruits and vegetables, will help expand her palate, especially with a no-pressure approach.

3. Stick to a schedule

Gymnasts training 5-10 hours a week may not need much more food than a typical kid. But it’s a whole different story once they’re training 15-20 or 30+ hours a week.

• Skipping breakfast puts her behind from the start, so she goes into practice underfueled, which hurts her performance and focus.
• Skipping lunch does the same for afternoon and evening practices, limiting her physical and mental sharpness in a dangerous, highly technical sport.
• Not fueling practice with performance nutrition short-changes her performance and recovery.

Some parents worry about feeding their gymnast at 8-9 PM after a late practice, usually because of general advice not to “eat too late.” That advice does NOT apply to young competitive gymnasts, who need to eat after practice to keep recovering and growing.

It’s easy to get off track, and a gymnast who shows up to practice underfueled is going to feel it. Some structure to her day and her meals makes a big difference. (For sample days, see What Should a Gymnast Eat in a Day? and the Gymnast Meal Plan.)

4. Understand that fueling is different than snacking

Parents are often taught to feed kids when they’re hungry and stop when they’re full. That isn’t wrong, and kids usually do a great job of regulating how much they eat. But young competitive gymnasts training 15-20+ hours a week often don’t eat enough on their own.

Hard exercise and a higher body temperature can blunt appetite. And some gymnasts get anxious or nervous before practice, which makes it hard to eat beforehand.

Most parents of high-level gymnasts tell me their gymnast “eats enough” and her “nutrition is fine.” Yet when we assess it, that usually isn’t the case. So many gymnasts have low energy availability or even REDs, and it’s the number one way to keep them injured, stuck and short of their goals. (Listen to Fueling vs. Snacking: What Every Gymnast (and Parent) Needs to Know.)

5. Help her build a healthy relationship with all foods

Parents are often told not to let their gymnast eat sugar, candy, desserts or chips if they want her to be healthy and successful.

Hear me say (or read) this: nutrition and healthy eating are very important, but what’s MORE important is your gymnast having a healthy relationship with food and her body.

So many parents unintentionally set their gymnast up to struggle with food, often for life, by instituting “clean eating,” allowing only one “cheat day” a week or never keeping fun foods in the house. She can overdo it when she finally gets her hands on those foods, especially when you aren’t around. She can become so focused on the foods she isn’t allowed that she can’t self-regulate or feel satisfied with the nutritious foods you DO want her to eat.

Now, I’m not saying it’s a free-for-all with soda, cookies and chips all day long. That would crowd out other nutrients she needs. But including fun foods in a way that satisfies her and makes sense for your family is key to sustainable, healthy eating. (More in Can Gymnasts Eat Junk Food?)

It’s also really important to sit down and eat together, cook together, learn about preparing food, and avoid extremes or calling foods “good” and “bad,” which only leads to guilt, shame and overeating.

What this means at each level

• Young recreational gymnast: I’m so glad you’re here! There’s so much to learn from this sport, and you’ll find valuable content here on our blog, on Instagram and in our newsletter.
• Compulsory gymnast (Levels 2-4): now is the time to really start thinking about her nutrition and learning how to fuel her for this sport. Our Compulsory Course is made for this stage.
• Level 5-7 gymnast: now is the time to invest in learning to fuel her for performance and longevity. This is often where the train “goes off the tracks” in matching nutrition to the demands of the sport, which can set her up for injury, setbacks and struggle when it matters most.
• Level 8-10 or elite track: you may be behind on fueling and understanding REDs, but now is the next best time to get a handle on it. You’ve already invested thousands of dollars in this sport, and overlooking nutrition can cost her big goals and dreams. Nutrition is the foundation of everything she does in and out of the gym.

Frequently asked questions

Get help fueling your young gymnast

If you want help fueling your gymnast in and around practice, start with our free masterclass or take the free Gymnast Fueling Quiz.

For Level 2-4 gymnasts: our Compulsory Course teaches you how to fuel your young gymnast now, before the hours (and the stakes) go up.

For Level 5 and up: if you want more than a generic meal plan, The Balanced Gymnast® Program is our 1:1 program, built by a former gymnast, nationally rated NCAA/USAG judge and pediatric sports dietitian who lives and breathes this sport. We build her plan around HER: her training, her growth, her appetite and the foods she actually likes, so she can close the recovery gap each and every day.