Is your good enough, enough?

Over the past decade, hundreds of athletes have come to me for help with daily nutrition, sport nutrition and training assistance. Most of these athletes have identified a specific limitation that is preventing them from optimizing performance, maintaining good health and/or advancing fitness in preparation for an athletic event.

But I also hear statements like the following from athletes who are not comfortable with change. 
"I eat good."
"My workouts are good."

Why be good when you can be great? 

Last week we had our athlete Kaley in town for 2 days. Kaley traveled to us from the DC area and she is a developing triathlete athlete who is a super speedy swimmer and is very strong on the bike. However, she hasn't been able to master the bike/run combo to her potential so she made a trip to us to update her bike position on her tri and road bike and to work on bike handling skills.

The first day of Kaley's trip was dedicated to Karel fitting her on two bikes (road and triathlon). This process took all afternoon. The second day we ventured outside for 2 hours and focused on terrain management and mastering basic bike handling skills for safer, smarter and stronger riding on hilly terrain. We started off on gentle rollers and wide turns to practice shifting, standing and interacting with the bike. We then rode up and over Paris Mountain to practice climbing, descending, tight turns, body position and proper gear shifting. The end of the ride took us through the punchy hills, twists turns and technical terrain on the backside of Paris Mountain. Although we only covered 30 miles in 2 hours, we covered almost 2000 feet of elevation to help Kaley take her skills from good enough to even better. 

But this trip was not all about Kaley. I was so excited to have Kaley in town because she is a great swimmer. Since we both come from a similar swim background, I was really looking forward to having her push me in the pool. Although I have a great swim partner in town (Kristen), Kaley is just a bit faster than me so I knew I would need to work extra hard to keep up for her. 

Wow - I have not been that tired in such a long time. I also haven't swam that fast in a very long time. For such a long time, I had been trying to break 36 seconds in a 50. And then with Kaley pushing me, I was coming in around 34 seconds. I knew I had it in me but I wasn't willing to let myself suffer that much on my own. Not only did I realize that I had more in me that I was not giving during the faster/all out sets but I also need to eat a bit more after the swims to ensure that I was recovering well from these really intense swim workouts on Thursday and Friday. 

I believe that every athlete has somewhere in their life and/or training where improvements can be made. Sure, things may be good but I bet they could be even better. Just like Kaley could have settled for her good skills and I could continue to settle for good enough in the water, we all have more in us that we are capable of.....If we are willing to take the necessary steps to go from good to great. 

Consider the following examples: 
-You don't eat before your workouts but you feel like you have good workouts. What if you ate before and had even better workouts? 
-You don't do mobility before your workouts but you feel you have good workouts. What if you did mobility and had even better workouts? 
-You sleep ok and you eat low carb and you feel like you have good workouts. What if eating more carbs could help you sleep better and you could have better workouts? 

Perhaps it's fear of the unknown, fear of failure, not having the right tools or being a bit stubborn, when you choose to settle for less than what you are capable of, you are limiting yourself and restricting your own potential. 

Take a moment and ask yourself if you have been settling on being average instead of taking the steps to become the best possible version of yourself. 

If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting the same results. Raise your standards for yourself. 

Don't let good enough be good enough. 

Hydration and Performance

The first step to optimizing performance is mastering your daily hydration needs to maintain proper body functions. Fluids are critical to optimal health. They replenish what has been lost through normal physiological processes, such as respiration, sweating and urination. To optimize cardiovascular and thermoregulatory functions, it's important to subscribe to a comprehensive fluid-replacement program. Identify the best beverages to consume and plan your fluid intake - frequency and volume - around and during exercise. 

To help simplify this confusing topic, I highly suggest to listen to the Purple Patch Fitness Podcast with Andy Blow from Precision Hydration.  Matt and Andy go into the specifics of hydration and why athletes should pay more attention to hydration needs on a daily basis and during training. 

If you are like most athletes and desire specific guidelines and strategies for optimizing hydration intake, I feel you'll really find my book Essential Sports Nutrition practical and useful. Within the book, I provide several sport specific strategies on how to hydrate (and fuel) for better results.

I start the book by discussing fluid and electrolytes and how to identify dehydration (and overhydration) symptoms. I then discussing fluid balance - specifically fluid loss and fluid intake. With so many different types of fluids -from coffee and tea to sport drinks - I discuss several different types of drinks and the pros and cons. Within part two of the book, I spend three chapters discussing how to best hydrate (and fuel) before exercise, during and after exercise, on rest days and during competition. Respective to every type of workout or competition scenario, I give specific guidelines to help you fine-tune your hydration and fueling strategies. 

To fully understand and apply sport nutrition concepts, it's important to have a great understanding of exercise science, exercise physiology and sport nutrition. I feel Andy and Matt did an exceptional job dissecting this complicated topic and I hope my book can serve as a comprehensive - yet easy-to-read guide - to help you optimize your performance and maintain optimal health.

If you already have my book, THANK YOU! Because most online consumers are influenced by reviews when purchasing a product, after you read my book, it would be great if you could leave a review on Amazon. Click HERE and scroll down to Review this product. 

Fuel for performance adaptations

Every morning, no matter the workout volume or intensity, I eat a pre-workout snack of carbohydrates with a little protein/fat. Sometimes it is a rice cake w/ nut butter, syrup and banana slices.
Sometimes it is a banana w/ nut butter.
Sometimes it is a waffle w/ nut butter, banana slices, honey and a scoop of Greek yogurt.
Sometimes it is oatmeal with raisins, berries and chia seeds. I am well educated in the field of sport nutrition and exercise physiology. I am a Board Certified Sport Dietitian with a master of science in Exercise Physiology. I understand the benefits of manipulating the diet and training regime in an effort to metabolize different fuels for energy.  With many different well-researched fueling strategies marketed toward endurance athletes, it's important to understand that the best fueling strategy in the lab or for another athlete may not be the best strategy for you to function and perform well in training and in your life.  When it comes to prescribing an effective fueling and training plan to boost fitness and to change the physiology of the body for performance adaptations, the best dietary and training regime is the one that will work best for you. The best dietary strategy to optimize endurance performance is the one that allows YOU to complete high-quality training sessions to maximize fitness, on a consistent basis, without risking illness, injury or a more complicated health issue. That is why I choose to eat before every workout.
I train better when I eat before a workout. I recover better when I eat before a workout.
I think better when I eat before a workout. I eat better throughout the day when I eat before a workout. I sleep better when I eat before a workout. I can go longer and harder when I eat before a workout. I am happier when I eat before a workout. I feel more energized when I eat before a workout. The moment you let yourself get fixated on one style of fueling or training, you will likely overlook the many different strategies that are effective for maximizing fitness and helping you achieve optimal health. Be honest with yourself. Don't let weeks and months go by, hoping that you need to just "give it more time" for your claimed fueling (or lack thereof) strategy to work for you. If you don't know what will work best for you, reach out to a sport nutrition professional who can help you better adapt to training stress. Whether you are a professional or age group athlete, if you want to achieve favorable performance and body composition results, learn how to train and fuel smarter so you don't have to train any harder than needed.