Performance Nutrition

Book excerpt: Optimize training, enhance recovery, and improve performance with Performance Nutrition: Applying the Science of Nutrient Timing. Based on the most current research in nutrient timing, Performance Nutrition blends theory with applied content and real-life examples to help nutritionists, athletes, and coaches design nutrition plans based on each athlete’s individual needs and the specific demands of the sport. While other texts may provide a brief discussion of nutrient timing as a tool for improving sport performance, Performance Nutrition: Applying the Science of Nutrient Timing focuses solely on this newly developing facet of sport nutrition. Distinguished authors Krista Austin (a physiologist and nutritionist) and Bob Seebohar (a sport dietitian and USA Triathlon elite coach) share their extensive practical experience with athletes at all levels from recreational through professional. They provide specific nutrient timing recommendations for a wide range of sport types, including endurance, strength and power, combative (weight classified), and team sports. In particular, you will learn information on using nutrient timing theory to counteract altitude, heat and humidity, cold exposure, and air pollution. A chapter devoted to competition-day guidelines will help you keep your athletes hydrated, energized, and ready to perform. Plus, nutritional timelines, highlighted in special callout boxes and placed at the edge of the page for quick reference, offer visual plans of what athletes should eat in the hours leading up to and during competition. Practical and user friendly, this text also includes “In Practice” application exercises, mini-case studies, and four extended case studies to assist in translating the information to your own practice. Incorporating nutrient ingestion timing into your athlete’s training program can promote enhanced recovery, create positive training adaptations, improve body composition, support immunity, and ultimately enhance performance. With Performance Nutrition: Applying the Science of Nutrient Timing, you will gain the foundational knowledge and practical techniques to develop individualized nutrition programs to improve training, performance, and recovery.