Aspiring Athletes: 3 Nutrition Practices to Better Enhance High Performance Training

Whether you're preparing for a marathon, enjoy triathlons or find a passion for intense cardio classes, high performance training requires a level of dedication and commitment beyond the typical workout. While there are countless perspectives on the best supplements and diets, it's more important to adopt healthy habits for long-term success. As a Division I student athlete, I believe it's important to be consistent with your nutrition in order to prevent injuries, optimize your performance and find athletic success in the long run (no pun intended!).

Rachel Paul's article, How To Build a To-Go Lunch, gives meal prep tips for fueling with a busy schedule. When people have a jam-packed week, it's often hard to eat the right foods for a high intensity workout. Paul puts her formula to use by suggesting quick and easy recipes to make the night before a busy day. She also organizes her recipes by showing the health benefit of each ingredient. Through these simple meals, it's easier than ever to stay energized and prepare for a high intensity workout.

Image from @fuelupnu located on Instagram

And what about hydration? In Andy Blow's article, How Much Dehydration Can You Tolerate Before Your Performance Suffers?, he busts the myths and uses data-backed information to show the effects of dehydration. Blow talks about the relationship between bodyweight and sweat-loss, and analyzes the "threshold" of hydration based on the intensity of performance. But the best part of his article? The free online sweat test. Here, you can learn the best hydration regime for your training, which you can later refine through trial and error. 

Based on my experience and review of these two articles, I have developed three nutrition practices that will optimize your performance training. 

Action Recommendations: 

1. Maximize your Preparation – While it's easy to skip meals due to a busy schedule, it's important to plan ahead and intentionally select the most beneficial nutrients for an energized training session. 
2. Hydrate to Perform Great – Carefully track your water intake before, during and after a heavy training session; Track your fluid intake on an app, refill your bottle as soon as it's empty, and remember to take gulps every 15 minutes of a workout! 
3. Recovery is Serious – Strategize your nutrition immediately after training by eating a well-balanced meal, replenishing your fluids and setting goals for your next session. 

So the next time you're looking to purchase the newest and Instagram-worthy fitness trend, remember these essential nutrition practices for a healthy and strong training session.

Lily Katzman 
I am a current senior at Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism where I'm majoring in Journalism and minoring in Spanish and Integrated Marketing Communications. I'm also a student-athlete on the Women's Field Hockey team. I have a passion for the sports industry, and I'm always looking for ways to bridge my journalism experience with creating important brand narratives. Connect with me on LinkedIn and Twitter.