By Christina Anderson MS, RDN, CSSD, CSP
Welcome to The Gymnast Nutritionist® podcast, a free resource for gymnast, parents, and coaches to learn to fuel the gymnast optimal performance and longevity int he sport. Christina Anderson MS, R
... more
5
9090 ratings
The podcast currently has 125 episodes available.
Is your gymnast ready to crush it? Or will your gymnast implode part way through this competition season? Is there a way to predict or prevent it from happening?
Preparing for competition season begins the day after the last season ended, right? There's no real "time off" in gymnastics. And each season brings it's own challenges and struggles to focus on. "Off season" is filled with camps, upgrades, extra conditioning. And then preseason rolls around and things start really ramping up. Now, at this point of the year, gymnasts are putting together routines, working on 1st and 2nd halves, wondering if the skills are going to all come together. Wondering if they have the endurance to even make it through whole routines.
Welcome to the third episode of our series, Fueled Gymnast Fall. It's been great taking the time to address a handful of specific issues that could be affecting your gymnast at this point of the year. Now is the time to make changes and adjustments before competition season is upon us.
It's so easy during the craziness of the year for nutrition to take a back seat. Some parents and gymnasts just don't know it could be the reason they struggle during competition season. Or others think there's plenty of time to figure it out...there's just more important things to focus on first...
Until it's too late to harness the power of performance nutrition to support your gymnast reaching her full potential during competition season. Or it's too late to heal injuries or endurance issues and the season is over before it starts. But it doesn't have to be this way!
Listen to today's episode to hear the next episode in our series, Fueled Gymnast Fall.
In this episode you'll hear about:
Links & Resources
How your gymnast consumes and behaves around the sweets and treats on the holidays is indicative of their relationship with these foods the other 364 days a year.
I know that's a big statement, but stay with me. For example, if on Halloween your gymnast ate so much candy or sweets on the holiday they made themselves sick...more than likely they feel restricted and are probably underfueled and biologically hungry most of the time.
Welcome to the second episode of our series, Fueled Gymnast Fall. I'm so excited to take the next few weeks to address a handful of specific issues that could be affecting your gymnast this point of the year. Now is the time to make changes and adjustments before competition season is upon us.
If your gymnast tends to overdo it when they're around the holiday sweets and you're ready to tear your hair out, this is definitely the episode for you. Even if Halloween was a hot mess, there's still plenty of time to adjust your fueling and feeding strategy so that your gymnast can sail through the holidays. All while fueling herself like normal and remain consistent in how she trains for energy levels.
Listen to today's episode to hear the next episode in our series, Fueled Gymnast Fall.
In this episode you'll hear about:
Links & Resources
Could your gymnast be underfueled and you just not know it? What does that look like and what signs should parents be on the lookout for?
Welcome to the first episode of our series, Fueled Gymnast Fall. I'm so excited to take the next few weeks to address a handful of specific issues that could be affecting your gymnast at this point of the year. Now is the time to make changes and adjustments before competition season is upon us. And underfueling is unfortunately all to common amongst gymnasts and can wreck havoc on routines.
One of the hardest things to break through when it comes to fueling the high level gymnast is understanding that it looks so different than what we're used to. But there are signs that we can look for and assess to really know if they're getting what they need.
Because let's face it. Fueling a high-level gymnast that is training 20-30 hours a week is just not the same as fueling yourself as a parent or just "eating healthfully". And it's even different than fueling an adult athlete because these gymnasts are still in the throes of growing and developing. Their needs are unique.
Listen to today's episode to hear the first in our series, Fueled Gymnast Fall.
In this episode you'll hear about:
Links & Resources
Today's episode is all about NCAA recruiting and how nutrition will impact a gymnast in the college recruiting journey.
This is a huge topic for my junior and senior gymnasts who are actively going through recruiting. I hear a lot about their experiences in the process, and it's left me thinking about how essential nutrition is to your gymnast being successful, in the sport and in college recruiting.
Just like college recruiting doesn't start on June 15th after her sophomore year (gymnasts start working YEARS before that date to get recruited), nutrition needs to start early in her gymnastics career. Because it's not only about becoming a college gymnast. It's also about showing up at that college that chose you and being healthy enough to contribute and compete for the team.
So I'm sharing five thoughts I have about college recruiting and your gymnast's nutrition. In this episode you'll hear about:
Links & Resources
If you've been listening to the podcast for awhile but have been wondering at what age does your gymnast need nutrition support, then this episode is for you!
There's definitely no one hard rule when it comes to what age gymnasts should seek out nutrition support. It would be unrealistic to say the perfect age to start is 10, 11, or 12 years old. This is because 10, 11, 12 years old can look different for everyone. You could have an 11 year old level 6 training 15 hours a week or an 11 year old junior elite already training 25+ hours a week. While they may be the same age, their fueling needs are going to be vastly different.
But, we also don't want gymnasts putting off learning how to properly fuel until they start experiencing injuries or setbacks happen. So much time can be lost in trying to recover from underfueling when it's already affected growth and development or caused a never ending cycle of injury after injury.
So today, let's discuss the different ages and stages of gymnastics and the nuances in each group. And address the big questions of "at what age does your gymnast need nutrition support?".
In this episode you'll hear about:
Links & Resources
We have a super special episode on the podcast for you today with some of our alumni parents who went all in with nutrition for their gymnasts.
We asked parents who were once in your shoes all about how they've seen nutrition work for their gymnasts. Hear answers to your burning questions about our signature TBG Program. Our panelists, who are all experienced TBG Alumni, address a variety of topics that you might find helpful like injury, recovery, growth and development, gymnast buy in and much more.
What You’ll Learn:
We invite you to listen to our alumni share their stories and experiences with our program. Their insights can provide you with valuable perspectives on the benefits of making nutrition a priority for your gymnast this season.
The replay is a MUST listen, full of wisdom from level 9/10/NCAA parents who have been where you are, faced what you're facing, and went all in with nutrition and never looked back!
Don’t miss out on this chance to learn from those who were once in your shoes. Their stories might just inspire your own fueling journey!
Links & Resources
Today's podcast topic is all about how sometimes parents and athletes are in denial when it comes to their gymnast's nutrition. It's not a unique state as we all engage in it. But what's normal isn't always what's best; especially when it comes to making sure your gymnast is properly fueled.
This is a topic that's so relevant to the parents of gymnasts, particularly during the super busy and intense competition season months. But struggles and denial regarding your gymnast's nutrition is only going to lead to more struggles in the gym when it matters most.
So today, let's address some of the reasons why I see parents and gymnasts put fueling on the back burner. Because at the end of the day, the sooner you get the nutrition help you know you need, the sooner things will improve.
In this episode you'll hear about:
Links & Resources
Today I'm peeling back the curtain to discuss a very nuanced topic that definitely deserves a spotlight of it's own: the role of vitamins and minerals in your gymnast's diet. I'm taking you into the world of minerals for gymnasts and the impact they have on their overall long-term health.
Here at The Gymnast Nutritionist, I talk a lot about addressing adequate fueling first; and that will never change. Too many gymnasts are underfueled and are ticking time bombs as a result. But once the underfueling issues are fixed, the work doesn't stop there...
We know that minerals are the spark plugs that influence everything in the body, especially hormone function, muscle function, neurochemicals and so on and so forth. And there is a delicate balance of how these minerals interact and are absorbed by the body. So it's not just a simple fix of buying ALL the supplements at the store and hoping to see results.
In this episode you'll hear get a quick primer into minerals for gymnasts:
Links & Resources
I'm sharing 6 surprising benefits from fixing your gymnast's fueling issues that they might see over the course of weeks, months, and years of nailing their nutrition. Of course every gymnast is different, effort into fueling is different, and overall baseline of where they're starting varies.
But after years of working exclusively with gymnasts, I want to share with you six common health and performance issues that we often pleasantly see resolve when a gymnast gets appropriate nutrition. And we're not just talking about less injuries (which of course is a big one). I'm talking about some of the subtle nuances your gymnast just thought were part of the sport and along for the ride.
In this episode you'll hear about six results we see when your gymnast fixes her fueling issues:
Links & Resources
There is NOTHING worse than feeling behind in Pre-Season, especially if your gymnast is injured and unsure if they'll even have a competition season.
There are 3 main reasons we see gymnasts and parents (and coaches!) alike panicking this time of year, and nutrition has to do with all of them.
1. Poor energy, poor focus (accused of not trying hard enough)
2. Not ready bc injured, sick, etc
3. Ignoring nutrition as comps seem too far away or you're "too busy"
Links & Resources
The podcast currently has 125 episodes available.
1,431 Listeners
11,381 Listeners
14,433 Listeners
30 Listeners
16,547 Listeners
9,075 Listeners
163,879 Listeners
2,092 Listeners
177 Listeners
172 Listeners
920 Listeners
4,287 Listeners
40,451 Listeners
13,188 Listeners
3,190 Listeners