HOW TO STAY ON TOP OF NUTRITION IN THE OFFSEASON


Although a reduced training load may mean that it is a great time to kick back and relax, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is a great time to pack on excess body weight via body fat or reduce nutrient density intake. here are major topics coaches should consider when making offseason nutritional recommendations to their athletes. For many athletes, the offseason matches


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quite well with the holidays, meaning that it tends to be even more difficult to stay nutritionally sound and control body composition. For most athletes, a reasonable upper bound weight gain from the previous season’s leanest body weight should be no greater than about 10 pounds, and no less than four pounds. From a body composition perspective, this range does a couple of things to help the athlete enter the following season in a beneficial way. it ensures that it will not be too difficult


t’s a tough time of year — many athletes take a bit of downtime from their training and are tempted by nutritional pit falls.


to obtain a lean body weight, because an excessive amount of body fat was not gained. This also helps to reduce the risk of injury upon returning to training, because of the reduced load on soft tissue, joints and bones. Lower isn’t necessarily better either; many folks who were very lean the previous season require weight gain to fully recover from both systematic and peripheral system standpoints. During the offseason, athletes should


take care to include foods high in nutrient density, alongside the treats they typically deny themselves in-season. After all, they are trying to recover from the previous season that was, undoubtedly, stressful to the body and therefore requires some foods that are nutrient dense. in general, these are my top five tips to


help athletes navigate their time off and reach the objective of controlled body fat with adequate recovery from the previous season:


By Jesse Kropelnicki USA Triathlon Level II Certified Coach


1) CORE RATIO When not at a holiday party, try to focus on what we, at TheCoreDiet.com, call the Core ratio. The Core ratio is a means of evaluating any packaged foods, that come with a nutritional label (i.e. not fruits, vegetables, lean meats, nuts, or seeds). it is calculated by finding the sum of the total carbohydrates and added sugars, and then subtracting any dietary fiber. This number is then divided by the sum of the product’s fat and protein. A ratio below two represents a product that is lower glycemic, and therefore a more suitable choice for maintaining stabile blood sugar throughout the day. Unnecessary surges in blood sugar can potentially cause an increase in the storage of unwanted body fat. eating within the “core” during periods of the week when you are not in a situation where you feel you need to splurge, can really help mitigate the potential “damage” of the holiday season.


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