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Summer Training Nutrition Workshop

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What if I told you there was this amazing new supp

What if I told you there was this amazing new supplement on the market that…

-Improves endurance
-Increases focus and concentration
-Decreases “perceived exertion” or how difficult a workout feels
-Decreases moodiness and emotional meltdowns
-Makes your athletes more “coachable”

Coaches and parents would say “All our gymnasts NEED that—where can we order it, we’ll pay!”

The funny thing is, this magical supplement has been right in front of you all along.

Carbs

Yep, straight from the horse’s mouth.

Sadly, gymnasts are STILL being told carbs are “fattening” and they should avoid them.

It FLOORS me that I have gymnasts who are still having to “sneak” in liquid carbohydrates (gatorade, juice) in their bottles because they’re not allowed to bring “snacks”.

It also FLOORS me that I have adults in these gymnast’s lives telling them that sugar and sports drinks are TOXIC. This is physiologically incorrect.

There’s this weird (and incorrect) thought process that older gymnasts “don’t need carbs”.

Uh, yeah…false.

Gymnastics is not “special”. It is not “different”. Gymnasts are not exempt from sports nutrition practices rooted in biochemistry, physiology, and endocrinology.

Just because “this is how we’ve always done it” doesn’t mean it’s right nor effective.

Now yes, 4 hours of gymnastics is not the same as running for 4 hours or 4 hours of cycling, but it still requires additional carbohydrate at high enough intensities to further support performance.

Carbohydrate is also essential for neurotransmitter production (hello happy hormones!), thyroid function, gut function, and more!

To learn more about what to say and NOT to say to your gymnast’s about nutrition, give episode 05 of The Gymnast Nutritionist® Podcast a listen (link in bio)

https://christinaandersonrdn.com/episode-05/

This gets me fired up....⠀ ⠀ Put yourself in t

This gets me fired up....⠀
⠀
Put yourself in the shoes of a young high level gymnast. She’s training so hard, performing well, has minimal injuries, yet then out of left field she’s told she needs to “lose weight” or more commonly “get into better shape”.⠀
⠀
Maybe she’s told this under the guise of “you’ll look more fit and the judges will score you better.”⠀

P.S. There are ZERO deductions related to body shape/size/composition.
⠀
Or maybe she’s told she needs to lose weight so her “joints won’t hurt”. ⠀
⠀
Or maybe she’s told she should lose weight for “better lines”. ⠀
⠀
Regardless of whether those reasons are true (and they’re not), offering critique without consent is so inappropriate. Dare I say...abusive. ⠀

I know it make sense to say something like this to “help”, but weight loss doesn’t guarantee anything in terms of performance.
⠀
And, with a comment like that a teen gymnast only knows to starve herself or restrict her food, causing erratic meal patterns and often weight dysregulation. Most are already not fueling their workouts appropriately, but now they’re just not eating at all. ⠀
⠀
This sets them up for poor performance, low energy availability, increased risk of injuries (both acute and overuse), and more. I could go on. Teen bodies are supposed to grow, gain weight, and have higher body fat than pre-puberty bodies.
⠀
Please watch your comments. I know that as an adult you may not think saying “you should look a little more fit” isn’t bad, but to those whose ears the words fall on they unequivocally equal “you’re fat”. And that is not helpful for anyone. ⠀
⠀
Let’s teach about proper fueling. Let’s examine whether or not a gymnast is giving her body what it needs to perform it’s best before we assume it’s her weight/shape that is causing her issues in the gym (if these are real performance issues or just aesthetic preferences). ⠀
⠀
Let’s also think about the consequences of our comments, as we cannot control how they are perceived. ⠀
⠀
Everyday I help high level gymnasts learn to fuel THEIR bodies and make nutrition work for them, all the while enjoying “all the foods” without guilt or anxiety. We keep is focused on performance. Are you next? 💕

Hey gymnast parents! Does the fall schedule have

Hey gymnast parents!

Does the fall schedule have you all up in arms over WHEN to feed your gymnast?

Does she go straight from school to gym and thus you have to help her pack ALL her food for the whole day before 6-7AM!?

Are you conflicted about whether to feed her dinner before or after practice, worrying that eating late at night will cause something harmful to performance or body comp?

Don’t worry, I got you covered in our NEW workshop coming out in September—The Back-to-School Nutrition Workshop where I’ll teach you how to plan meals/snacks for the gymnast are crazy schedules.

We’ll go through your schedule and figure out what to pack, how to send it, and what the timing is around pre/intra/post workout nutrition.

If you want more information, DM “WORKSHOP” and I’ll send you the deets.

And *this* is why we don’t do extremes. If you

And *this* is why we don’t do extremes.

If your “nutritionist” tells you that you have to eat clean, stick to a certain number of calories, or are only allowed a certain amount of “cheat meals” per week and everything else has to be chicken, brown rice, and sweet potatoes..

THAT 👏🏻AIN’T 👏🏻IT

We’re all about consistency over here.
 And eating food that *actually* tastes good is a HUGE way to “stick to your diet”…aka eat the things you know you should eat to fuel your body.

We all know that we need to eat fruit, veggies, whole grains, etc.

But it doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing.

In fact, I’d argue that strategically adding in foods that taste good and are really satisfying, regardless of their nutritional value, is essential to staying consistent.

We call this the “B+” approach to nutrition.

I want your weekend eating to be as easy as your weekdays.

I don’t want my gymnasts feel anxious or guilty about food.

I want them to feel calm and peaceful around all foods, feeling confident with how to fuel their bodies and use their nutrition intuition. ☺️

If you’re the parent of a level 4-7 gymnast and you want to learn HOW you can help your gymnast fuel for optimal performance AND have a healthy relationship with food (especially as she gets older)…

Link in bio to join our Fall 2022 VIP Group Coaching. We start Tues Aug 8/16, so don’t miss out!

https://christinaandersonrdn.com/lower-level-vip/

Unpopular Opinion: Salad is not a meal for the gym

Unpopular Opinion: Salad is not a meal for the gymnast without CARBS 🥖

I said what I said ☺️

And, a salad also needs fat + protein at minimum!

I like to always make sure there’s a source of calcium (HELLO cheese), especially bc gymnasts need 4+ servings a day (milk, cheese, yogurt) to get adequate calcium for their bones 🦴

Carbohydrates are what fuel the gymnast.

I’ve met with SEVERAL clients recently who are complaining of fatigue, dizziness, headache, and nausea during 4+ hour workouts.
 Why?  
They are ALL underfueled.

Some of them aren’t eating before gym.

Others aren’t eating enough carbs (looking at you plain salad with lettuce only).

It’s no wonder they feel like garbage during training!

Your brain uses the equivalent of 8 slices of bread (in carbohydrate) PER DAY just on it’s own. And you can double that for the high level gymnast’s overall needs at minimum.

Nothing wrong with a great salad, but be mindful. I probs wouldn’t eat something like this right before gym…too much fiber which can bloat and delay the carbs from getting into your body for when you need them.

If you’ve got a few hours before gym or want to enjoy something like this post-workout, no problem!

Want to learn more?

Learn to build meals/snacks that FUEL the gymnast…Join our free training to learn how: https://christinaandersonrdn.com/masterclass-1/

You don’t know what you don’t know. High lev

You don’t know what you don’t know.

High level gymnasts are so incredibly tough that when you ask most of them how they feel at gym they’ll say “fine”.
 If you dig a little further they may fess up that on certain events at certain times of a workout (often towards the end) the don’t feel as great.

They can still do the gymnastics, it just take a lot more effort and isn’t as pretty.

But then, when high level gymnasts we work with utilize performance nutrition AND fuel adequately…

It’s like they hit a whole new level.

All of the sudden they have WAY more power, explosiveness, and actually have the energy to train the skills they’ve been trying to make.

For example…

One of my rockstar gymnasts has been working on her Geinger for a bit. She’s been close for a few months, but hasn’t caught. When we started working together she was massively underfueling and tired at gym.

With the proper nutrition, she’s making huge gains in her tumbling and vault…and guess what!?

She caught her release! You have to have a certain amount of strength and energy to even get yourself on the equipment…and proper fueling plays a crucial role in this.

Want to learn more? Listen to our latest episode on the NEW Podcast—Does Your Gymnast have RED-S? Link in bio to listen and don’t forget to rate and review for a chance to WIN one of our Competition Season Toolkits ($197 value).

Tired of the same old dry wheat bread, rice cakes,

Tired of the same old dry wheat bread, rice cakes, brown rice, or sweet potatoes?!

Gymnasts often fall into the trap that they have to eat 100% “clean” to be successful…i.e “healthy, “lean”, etc.

Here’s the deal…

All carb foods break down into the same basic building blocks (glucose).

Sure, some are more “nutritionally dense” and have a smidge more vitamins, minerals, etc. And yes, we do want to incorporate these most of the time. I like to include these at a lot of my meals.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t include something more “fun” like a fluffy dinner roll, white bagel, etc as part of a meal/snack to keep things interesting.

And…when it comes to pre-workout, we don’t want too much fiber as this can delay the carbs and/or cause GI distress.

If you’re gymnast is stuck in a food rut, mix it up!

Need more ideas?

Listen to Episode 3 of our NEW podcast for some quick tips on planning meals/snacks for the gymnast.

Link in bio to listen…and don’t forget to rate/review on iTunes for a chance to WIN a free Competition Season Nutrition Toolkit which includes a 60 minute video workshop + jam-packed PDF guide to help you fuel your gymnast this season.

Just send us a screenshot of your rate & review to support@christinaandersonrdn.com to be entered to win.

Giveaway is not affiliated with Instagram in any way. Deadline to enter 8/12/22.

The intense fear of weight gain and body change of

The intense fear of weight gain and body change often gets in the way of us doing what’s best for our gymnasts.

We can thank #dietculture for this.

We are SO concerned with what gymnast’s bodies look like that we’re willing to allow them to be underfueled, injured, and suffer all kinds of mental and physical pain + anguish.

This isn’t often meant in a malicious way. Parents, coaches, medical providers, etc are only doing what they think is right.

They worry that by a gymnast being fed and thus growing, gaining weight, etc…that something bad will happen (i.e., they’ll lose their skills, won’t be successful, etc).
 The irony is that when a gymnast IS properly fueled, that’s when they do better.

And, it’s the only thing that gives them a fighting chance of staying healthy.

Do you KNOW how many injuries can be prevented by proper fueling?

Did you know that adequate growth and development is a crucial indicator the gymnast is getting enough nutrition to repair/recover?

I talk about gymnasts eating enough because this is literally the root cause of so much of the struggle.

It’s not just about “healthy eating”.

There’s no such thing as “eating healthy calories” and that being what’s important.

Learning to fuel your gymnast with the right foods at the right times is the most important thing.

And the gymnasts we work with find that when they’re properly fueled, their body is no longer the issue.

These are really hard conversations to have. It’s really hard to unlearn and relearn what we’ve all be taught for years in our larger culture and in the sport. It’s hard to trust the process and allow gymnast’s bodies to do what they need to do according to their genetic blueprint.

If you have a compulsory through level 6/7 gymnast and want to learn to fuel the gymnast for optimal performance and LONGEVITY in the sport (aka not be so broken by Sophomore year that college gymnastics starts to fad)…

Join us for our FREE training this Thurs—Fueling the Growing Gymnast. Link in bio to sign up!

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