The Gymnast Nutritionist® Podcast

Have you ever asked a fellow gym parent about supplements, the best pre-competition meals, or maybe how many grams of protein their gymnast is eating? Could this potentially be dangerous advice for fueling your gymnast?!
You're definitely not alone in asking around. This is a small, tight-knit community of well-intentioned parents who have blazed the path before you. But, as a professional, my heart sinks at some of the misleading and possibly dangerous advice you might receive from other parents about fueling your gymnast. Not because they have bad intentions, but because they've also received the wrong advice.
Crowdsourcing nutrition advice for your gymnast is pretty commonplace in our community. Why? For the basic reasons of solidarity and cost to start. It's way more convenient to ask another parent what vitamin d supplement they're using than to schedule an appointment, run bloodwork, and wait for results and recommendations. All while paying out of pocket every step of the way.
But this is where crowdsourcing nutritional advice can be dangerous when fueling YOUR gymnast. Every gymnast's situation is unique and requires a nutritional plan and approach specific for their needs.
Listen to today's episode to learn more.
In this episode you'll hear about:

• The most common topics parents are crowdsourcing and WHY these can potentially be harmful to your gymnast
• What specific factors go into planning and executing the correct fueling strategy for individual athletes
• What information is appropriate for parents to share with one another when it comes to nutrition

Links & Resources

• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Episode 14: The Must Know about Gymnasts and Supplements
• Episode 62: When trying to get your gymnast to eat "healthy" backfires
• Take the Quiz
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or [email protected]

We all know that gymnastics is an incredibly demanding sport that requires a lot of strength, agility, and precision...and it's no secret that these athletes are under constant and tremendous pressure to look a certain way while performing gravity-defying feats. With the ever-increasing rate of body image issues and eating disorders (for teen females in general, and gymnastics specifically), it's important for us to make sure that gymnasts have healthy relationships with both food and their bodies.
When parents or coaches become concerned about a gymnast's body or weight, we have to remember that it's simply nature at play. Their body is changing and evolving, as it should. So when a parent or coach tries to restrict or put an athlete on a diet, they're just setting the gymnast up for failure. Not only in terms of underfueling, injuries, and other performance-related issues, but also going to set them up for more than likely major disordered eating issues.
Weight changes are often a symptom of something else going on. Are they just going through puberty? Have then had a weight "overshoot" from years of underfueling? Are they over-compensating from being too-restricted with food? Are they super stressed out, not sleeping enough, and their body is NOT happy and holding onto weight?
Oftentimes, a gentle reminder to parents and coaches that weight is NOT the same as body composition can go a long way. When a gymnast is properly fueled, especially when they have "within-day energy balance" (I go more in-depth on this in the podcast), they can help their body composition improve. Listen to learn more.
In this episode you'll hear:

• What happens when a gymnast is out due to injury or a major change in training hours and the body finally has a chance to "catch up" to years of underfueling
• How blaming a gymnast's weight as the issue gets in the way of performance, along with the negative effects it has on mental and physical health
• How diet cycling, restriction, or binge eating patterns lead to negative body composition in the long run.

Links & Resources

• Check out these episodes for further learning: Episode #2, Episode #4, Episode #5, Episode #8, Episode #10, Episode #12
• VIP Nutrition Coaching Program, for level 5-10 female gymnasts, waitlist now open
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist
• Private 1:1 Nutrition Coaching for High-Level Gymnasts

Why have a dentist on The Gymnast Nutritionist® Podcast? Often I get questions from gymnast parents about sports drinks, cavities, and dental health. So I brought in an expert for today's episode!
It’s common for dentists to warn parents not to let their children have sports drinks because of the risk of cavities and dental health. The big focus here tends to be the sugar. Which only fuels the “sports drinks are bad” camp which isn’t true. This episode isn’t just about sports drinks in and of themselves as there is certainly a time and place for those in sport to strategically refuel and improve performance.
But there’s a lot more to cavities than just sugar, and who knows what else is going on with their oral hygiene. Plus the logistical barriers to appropriate intraworkout fueling narrow down our choices of what we have in terms of fueling for optimal performance with high intensity, anerobic workouts that are 4-5+ hours at a time.
That's why I'm so happy to have Dr Craig Clayton DMD, one of the premier dentists in Meridian Idaho on the podcast today. He's worked in various dental settings and has experience working with a wide range of dental teams, patients, and practice cultures. Listen in today as he breaks down what's really going on with your gymnast's sport drinks consumption and dental health.
In this episode you'll hear about:

• What are cavities and can things like sports drinks, quick carbs (sugars) contribute to them?
• What’s the best way to prevent cavities?
• How do we balance fueling intraworkout + cavity prevention?

Links & Resources

• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Episode 48: Do Gymnasts Need Snack Breaks?
• Dr. Craig Clayton | Wellness & Biomimetic Dentistry
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com

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:

• Is fine really fine? When making assumptions can backfire or prevent reaching a gymnast's full potential
• Being a super great or "healthy" eater doesn't mean they're fueling for the work required at the upper levels
• Why underfueled gymnasts fly under the radar when parents just go off of a "look"

Links & Resources

• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Episode 23: How to Fuel through Puberty for Power and Performance with Guest Dave Tilley
• Enter the Fueled Gymnast Fall Podcast Giveaway
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or [email protected]

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:

• Is your gymnast closing the recovery gap?
• The link between immune health and sleep - and how nutrition supports this
• How to be proactive rather than reactive with your gymnast's nutrition this competition season

Links & Resources

• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Sleep and Immunity
• Enter the Fueled Gymnast Fall Podcast Giveaway
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or [email protected]