Nutrition for TRITON Athletes:
Fueling for Optimal Performance
Heather McCracken Cohen, MPH, RD
UCSD Student Health Service
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Topics to be covered
• Everyday nutrition
– Protein and carbohydrate needs
– Meal planning basics
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Pre-/post- workout meals
Pre-/post- competition meals
Eating on the road
Fluid needs
Supplements
Alcohol
“Disordered eating” concerns
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Everyday Nutrition
• Calorie Needs
– Healthy, active college women need
approximately 1800-2800 Calories/day
– Healthy, active college men need
approximately 2600-3400 Calories/day
– Individual needs may be higher or lower
depending on metabolic rate and level of
physical activity
• Sample meals plans (handouts)
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Everyday Nutrition continued
• Calorie Composition
– ~55-65% Calories from high-quality
carbohydrates
– ~15-20% Calories from lean proteins
– ~20-30% Calories from mostly unsaturated
fats
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Everyday Nutrition continued
• What is a high-quality carbohydrate?
– Whole grain breads, bagels, English muffins,
tortillas
– Whole-wheat pasta
– Brown rice
– Whole-grain cereals
– Fruits
– Vegetables
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Everyday Nutrition continued
• “Mostly unsaturated fats”
– Limit saturated fats to less than 20 grams per
day or less than 10% of Total Calories
– Avoid trans fats whenever possible
– Obtain majority of fats from vegetable oils,
nuts, lean proteins and non-/low-fat dairy
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Everyday Nutrition continued
What is lean protein?
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Grilled chicken breast
Tuna and other fish
Turkey
Lean cuts of beef
Lean ground turkey or
beef
– Eggs/egg-whites
– Non-fat/low-fat milks
and cheeses
– Cottage Cheese
– Non-fat/low-fat yogurt
– Beans
– Tofu
– Hummus
– Edamame
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Protein Needs
• Athletes require more protein than sedentary
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individuals.
Strength athletes require 1.6 to 1.7 g/kg/day
– Adequate caloric intake is more important than
elevated protein intake.
– One pound of muscle per week requires only 14
additional grams of protein per day.
• Endurance athletes require 1.2 to 1.5 g/kg/day
– The high carbohydrate diet recommended for
endurance athletes spares protein.
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Three Basic Keys to Healthful Eating
• Variety – there is no one magic food
• Moderation – all foods can fit into a wellbalanced diet
• Wholesomeness – choose natural or lightly
processed foods as often as possible
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Breakfast?
• A balanced breakfast provides a significant
amount of Calories and other nutrients in the
daily diet of the physically active person.
• A breakfast high in fiber with an average
amount of protein will also help prevent the
onset of mid-morning hunger.
• Skipping breakfast could produce
hypoglycemia with resultant symptoms of
weakness and possible impairment of
training.
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Meal Planning Basics
• Athletes MUST eat breakfast!
• Spread Calories out throughout the day for
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maximum energy – ideally, 3 meals plus 2-3
snacks a day.
Planning is paramount.
Frozen fruits and vegetables can come in handy
during times when getting to the store is
impossible.
Canned goods like tuna, fruit in juice, no-salt
added vegetables, and beans are also good
staples to have on hand.
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Pre-Workout Meal
• Eating balanced meals and snacks throughout
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the day will result in adequate energy during
workouts.
To avoid cramping or stomach problems during
workouts, athletes should avoid eating
immediately before a workout.
This is the time to experiment with meals and
snacks, not right before a game or match.
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Post-Workout Meal / Snack
• Goal of post-workout meal/snack: to replenish
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glycogen stores and provide adequate protein to
repair muscle tissues
Should be consumed within 30-60 minutes of a
heavy workout
Mostly carbohydrate with a small amount of
protein. Examples include:
– Yogurt and fruit
– Bagel with peanut butter
– Energy bar
• Follow the post-workout snack with a balanced
meal (lunch or dinner) within 60-90 minutes
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Night Before Competition
• The meal eaten the night before (or even two
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nights before) competition is more important
than the meal eaten right before competition.
The meal the night before competition should be
heavy on carbohydrates, light to moderate in
protein and low in fat.
Examples include:
– Stir-fry with chicken over rice
– Pasta with lean ground meat sauce
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Pre-Competition Meal
• It is a well-established fact that the ingestion of
food just prior to competition will not benefit
physical performance in most athletic events.
• However, the pre-competition meal should do the
following:
– allow for the stomach to be relatively empty at the start of
competition
– help to prevent or minimize gastrointestinal stress
– help avoid sensations of hunger, lightheadedness, or fatigue
– provide adequate fuel supplies, primarily carbohydrate, in the
blood and muscles
– provide an adequate amount of body water
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Pre-competition Meal cont.
• In general, a solid meal should be eaten about 3
to 4 hours prior to competition.
• Composition of meal:
– high in carbohydrate, low in fat, and low to moderate
in protein, providing for easy digestibility
– avoid gas formers (beans), spicy foods, and bulk foods
(bran products)
– 500-600 Calories
• Meals other than the pre-competition meal eaten
on the same day should not be skipped.
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Pre-competition Meal and the use of
liquid meals and sports bars
• Advantages of liquid meals over solid meals for precompetition nutrition:
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well balanced in nutritional value
high carbohydrate content
no bulk, easily digested
practical, may be taken closer to competition
• Advantages of sports bars:
– good source of carbohydrate
– convenient
• Liquid meals and sports bars should not be used on a
regular basis to replace healthy meals and snacks.
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Nutrition During Competition
• There is no need to consume anything during
most types of athletic competition with the
possible exception of carbohydrate and water
(events lasting greater than 60 minutes).
• Carbohydrate may provide additional supplies of
the preferred energy source during prolonged
exercise (ex. glucose in Gatorade, energy gels,
etc.)
• Water intake may be critical for regulation of body
temperature when exercising in warm
environments.
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Post-competition Nutrition
• In general, a balanced diet is all that is
necessary to meet your nutrient needs and
restore your nutritional status to normal
following competition, or daily hard physical
training.
• Simple sugars eaten immediately after a hard
workout may help restore muscle glycogen
fairly rapidly, but the addition of protein to the
carbohydrate source may be even more
effective.
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Eating on the Road
• Planning, planning, planning!
• Decide ahead of time when and where the
meals are going to be during the road trip.
• Call ahead and order so the meals are
ready when you arrive. Most chain
restaurants have online menus.
• Place breakfast order the night before
from local bagel shop and deliver them to
the athletes’ rooms.
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Eating on the Road continued
• Good examples of healthful restaurant choices:
– Sandwich shops (Subway, Quiznos, Togos)
• Encourage lean protein with lots of vegetables, baked chips
– Bagel shops (Bruegger’s, Einstein Bros., Noah’s)
• Bagel with cream cheese or egg for breakfast with fresh fruit or
juice
– Salad bar restaurants (Souplantation, Fresh Choice, Sweet
Tomato)
• Encourage non-creamy soups, pasta, salads, breads, low-fat muffins
– Italian eateries
• Encourage pasta dishes with non-creamy sauces, non-fried items
– Supermarkets
• Salad bars, bagels, fruit, delis, yogurt, lunch meat, bread and
peanut butter
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Introduce a “Team Cooler”
• For long bus rides, purchase a team cooler and
assign one or two athletes to purchase food for
the team before you leave UCSD.
• Fill the cooler with healthy snacks such as
apples, bananas, bread, peanut butter, carrots,
hummus, edamame, lunch meat, string cheese,
gogurts, pretzels, rice cakes, dried fruit, nuts,
bagels.
• This same cooler can be re-filled for days where
there are multiple games/matches throughout
the day/weekend (tournaments).
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Fluid Requirements for Performance
• Water’s most critical function for athletes
is the regulation of body temperature.
• Thirst is not an adequate guide to
hydration.
• Most athletes only replace 50% of their
fluid losses during exercise.
• Regulate fluid intake by drinking according
to schedule rather than by perceived
thirst.
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Hydration Guidelines for Athletes
• 12-20 oz 2-3 hours prior to exercise
• 6-12 oz every 15-20 minutes during exercise
• 16-24 oz for every lb of body weight lost after
exercise
• Add glucose and electrolytes (ex. Gatorade) to
increase absorption and replenish losses
(anything over 60 minutes).
• Dehydration is not to be tolerated!
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Supplements
• Not regulated or standardized
• “Natural” does not mean “safe”
• Possible side effects
• Know what substances are banned!!!
• Only recommended supplements:
– Multivitamin and mineral supplement
– Additional calcium if needed
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Alcohol
• Normal part of the college experience???
• It may not be realistic to eliminate the use
of alcohol altogether; however, intensive
efforts should be made to reduce the
amounts of alcohol consumed and to
educate students about the possible
deleterious side effects.
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Side Effects of Alcohol
• Dehydration
– Diuretic, severe dehydration due to excess alcohol
can require several days to a week for full recovery
• Testosterone
– Decrease serum testosterone levels which can lead to
a decrease in lean muscle mass
• Performance
– Impair reaction time and mental acuity for up to
several days after consumption; increased risk of
injury
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Side Effects of Alcohol continued
• Increase in body fat
– Increase in excess calories, increase in body fat,
decrease in performance
• Social
– Central nervous system depressant, can lead to
injuries
• Sleep
– Detrimental effect on both the quality of sleep and on
daytime attention
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Disordered Eating Concerns
• A spectrum of harmful and ineffective methods
of weight control, which occur on a continuum
of severity
– Eating Issues & Body Image Continuum (handout)
• Inadvertently failing to meet caloric needs for
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activity level
Voluntary starvation/fasting
Binging and purging
Use of diet pills, laxatives or diuretics
Excessive exercise (above and beyond practice)
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Female Athlete Triad
• What is it?
– Disordered eating
– Amenorrhea
– Osteoporosis
• Why?
– Cultural pressures to be thin
– Belief that low weight = higher performance
• Who is at risk?
– Any physically active woman
– Individuals with a competitive nature and strong selfdiscipline
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Campus Resources
• Student Health Service
(858) 534-8089
• Psychological & Counseling Services
(858) 534-3755
• Heather McCracken Cohen, MPH, RD
(858) 534-2058
hmccracken@ucsd.ed
• Matt Kritz, MS, CSCS – Director of Athletic Performance
(858) 822-2115, strength@ucsd.edu
• Triton Training Room (858) 822-2572
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Next Steps…
• Return to the Triton Nutrition Programming webpage.
• Use the calorie calculator to figure out your daily caloric
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needs
Refer to the meal plan that corresponds to your daily
caloric needs
Start your Triton Sport Nutrition Program Today
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