The following are key points that are common to hard working athletic populations:

Step 1) Anti-Oxidant Key Points

One of the most disturbing trends I have experienced is the alarming number of athletes who have grown up not eating fresh produce. We are talking about athletes who just flat grew up eating on the fly, often in one parent households and literally have never gotten a taste for vegetables and even have limited taste for fresh fruits, nuts, seeds or olives. Eventually, when we feed these athletes over time at a well-organized training table, we eventually make some inroads. Bottom line: just because you look lean and muscular in the mirror, don't think you can survive the grind of sports as the level of competition escalates, when your diet is virtually devoid of natural anti-oxidant sources. When everyone is lean, muscular, powerful and fast, you will quickly realize that you have little to no margin for unnecessary down time due to illness. Chronic illnesses cost big time athletes their jobs every week of the year. At the next level, coaches absolutely do not have to put up with a player who cannot hold their end of the deal up when it comes to durability.

Step 2) Carb Key Points

Make sure you have a game day plan for what kind of carbs you tolerate the best. On cold days most of our athletes would rather eat a solid source of carbs vs. drinking sports drinks and vice versa on hot days. Don't bank on the game day event supplying the carb sources you are accustom to using. Come prepared as an individual or team. When exhaustive bouts of work occur an additional carbohydrate snack may be necessary a couple of hours after the post workout meal. Often we just hold dessert back for later when this situation occurs. It's important to remember that we are not all wired the same way when it comes to our metabolic rates. The more gifted love handle builders will most definitely need to tighten up their simple sugar intake when they are inactive (maybe even day one of inactivity). Some of our leanest athletes might be able to get away with multiple days of liberal starch and sugar intake before laying down any significant body fat, but believe me when I say this. It catches up to everyone eventually! I have tested over 25,000 body composition assessments in 25 years of practice and even the most gifted athletes lay down body fat when their diet and lifestyles are reckless.

Step 3) Protein Key Points

When we have a diverse supply of protein sources available for athletes in a training table environment we see the following trends at the collegiate and professional ranks.   Animal Dairy Vegetable Male Athletes 60% 30% 10% Female Athletes 40% 40% 20% Certainly we see variations between power sports vs. endurance populations on these trends, but in the end male athletes typically go cave man when it comes to animal protein sources. Often we struggle to get the iron sources in our female athletes they require to avoid problems like anemia. In the end it would be nice to see more vegetable protein in our male athletes and more iron rich sources of protein in our female athletes. The stories about vegetable protein sources like soy escalating body fat in males has just never panned out in any legitimate clinical trials. Try some boiled soybeans (edamame) next time you hit a sushi house.

Step 4) Hydration Key Points

On the sidelines of a team sport we have to take every opportunity possible to get fluids into athletes when breaks in play occur. Oddly enough, attitude has a lot to do with how successful we are at keeping athletes hydrated. When a team is doing well, they drink in a more liberal fashion than when the momentum of a game has swung the direction of the opponent. So your back is against the wall and you are working harder then usual under the pressure of the opponent, all the while dehydrating at a faster rate and what do you do...stop drinking? Don't let all that teeth gnashing set the stage for premature fatigue and heat injury. Make a conscious effort to drink more when your back is against the wall in a big competition.

Step 5) Caffeine Key Points

No doubt that one of the favorite ingredients of the dietary supplement industry is some form of caffeine. If you feel your nervous system being stimulated by caffeine you might give the credit to the supplement while in reality it was just the caffeine in the supplement. And while Chronic consumers of caffeine eventually adapt to the dehydrating effects of caffeine (to some degree), it's just as common for athletes to adapt to the stimulatory effects. So one cup of coffee or energy drink becomes two, then three and the potential for dehydration and heat injury persists. The combination of dehydration, caffeine and other stimulants, like ephedra, has resulted in some catastrophic outcomes. Long term high blood pressure and enlargement of the heart is a potential outcome. And we even see athletes who use stimulants to get up for activity more prone to use alcohol to unwind. These athletes quickly self-destruct as they tend to sleep in vs. eating breakfast or doing in-season maintenance training. Eventually they detrain (lose muscle and gain body fat) and if that is not the end of them, then their in ability to get along with their teammates will be the end of them. The smartest way to come out of the fog that comes with travel and competition might be some low caffeine green tea and a good warm-up. For sure the use of stimulants is a slippery slope that will cost you in the long run.

Step 6) Body Composition Key Points

Often athletes wait until the preseason practices start to begin weight lifting, conditioning and cleaning up their diets in an effort to gain muscle or lose body fat. In reality all of the big moves on body composition changes are taken care of in the off-season for Olympic and Professional athletes. When it's time to practice in front of the coaches, little is done that could cause an athlete to lose a step like cutting calories or lifting so hard that you have dead legs. When athletes report overweight for preseason camp it spells trouble in that many experience muscle pulls and heat injury. You have to pay the price in the off-season to make necessary changes in your net body composition that might help your compete for a spot on the roster. Keep this in perspective: Diet is how you minimize the accumulation of body fat... Activity is how you unpack the luggage! How you eat when inactive is going to be key in minimizing the chances of yo-yoing up and down during your athletic career and I must warn you. You cannot validate eating, sleeping or socializing the way most of your peers are (especially in college)! As an athlete you are on a very different mission than those around you, so choose your roommates, friends and team leaders very carefully as they will have a profound impact on you no matter how disciplined you are. For more information, check out USADA's Optimal Dietary Intake Guide and www.fuelingtactics.com.