Sports beverages are marketed heavily – to adult athletes as well as youth athletes. Some athletes drink them nearly every day while other athletes won’t touch them. So what makes sports beverages good and what makes them bad? And should they be a part of your sports nutrition strategy?

Most young athletes deal with some level of dehydration before practice or competition even begins. Without proper hydration before activity, no athlete can perform at his or her peak potential. And it doesn’t stop there.

Without proper hydration during activity, your performance can drop significantly. Dehydration can bring on heat illness and decrease your strength, power, speed, and endurance.

Elite athletes fuel their bodies differently.

They know that filling their plates with the right combinations and portions of foods makes a difference – in preventing illness and injury and performing at their peak potential during training and competition.

By following guidelines established by the NCCA and the United States Olympic Center, elite athletes fill their plates based on how hard they are training and competing.

Your body needs you to provide it with the proper nutrients to refuel and repair. If you give your body what it needs, it will reward you with increased strength, speed, and power as you continue to train and compete. You may be surprised to learn that many optimal nutrients for recovery can be found in low-fat chocolate milk!

Eating for recovery is critical to replenish your energy stores and repair the muscle tissue you damaged during activity. Done correctly, “recovery eating” will help you maintain high energy levels, achieve better results from your training and practices, and build the lean muscle mass necessary to increase your strength and speed. Done incorrectly, you’ll feel tired, sluggish, and increase your risk of injury and illness.

From the moment you start to train or compete, you gradually deplete your energy source. How you eat during competition can have far-reaching impacts, so knowing the best practices is critical for any athlete striving for optimal results.

If you don’t understand what to eat and when, it can mean the difference between delivering your BEST performance or getting sidelined with a stomach ache. A player’s worst nightmare is being stuck in the restroom midway through the big game! So what are the rules on eating before competition?

Many athletes put themselves at a disadvantage before competition even begins by not fueling properly. Learn which foods provide energy to your muscles to you can be fast and your energy will last.

There is no shortcut to properly fueling and hydrating your body for optimal energy and recovery. Don’t expect to achieve peak performance in your sport if you’re eating like everyone else and simply adding a few supplements to your diet. It’s time to shift gears. And here’s why.