Why You Should See a Sports Dietitian
Are you an athlete or active individual and wondered if you should work with a sports RD? There are many benefits to working with credentialed sports dietitians! You don’t have to be a professional athlete to reap these benefits. Active individuals, by which we mean those going to the gym a few times per week and trying to fuel best for their exercise and build or maintain lean muscle, are often the clients who can benefit the most from working with a sports dietitian! First we will dive into exactly what is involved in becoming a sports dietitian, next we will cover what is involved in seeing a sports dietitian, last we will finish this blog by reviewing benefits of working with a sports dietitian.
Are All Registered Dietitians Also Sports Dietitians?
The answer to this is no! To be a registered dietitian (RD) you need to complete 4 years of an undergraduate degree in nutrition and or dietetics. You then need to be accepted into and complete ~1000 hours of supervised practice in a program called a dietetic internship. As of 2024 hopeful dietitians also need to complete their masters. After an individual has completed 4 years of their undergraduate degree , their masters degree in nutrition or a related field, and their dietetic internship they can then sit for the RD board exam. In order to then become a board certified sports dietitian, a RD needs to have at least 2,000 hours of supervised practice in the sports nutrition field as well as have two years of experience as a general dietitian. Only then can a RD sit for the national board exam to become a board certified sports dietitian. Both Holly and Shelby have passed this exam and are board certified sports dietitians!
What Does Working With a Sports Nutrition Look Like?
Many clients walk in the door wanting to immediately go over what they should eat before and or after a workout or wanting to ask about a certain supplement. Yes, those are certainty things that sports dietitians work with clients on however that is not where we start at Time to Thrive Nutrition. We often refer to sports nutrition as a pyramid at our practice. The bottom of the pyramid being adequate energy intake, hydration and sleep, the middle of the pyramid being pre and post exercise nutrition, and the top of the pyramid being supplements. This is exactly how we structure our sessions as well. If you are not consuming enough energy or if you are consuming too much energy then the pre and post workout nutrition as well as supplements won’t give you the benefit they are designed to. This is why energy intake is where we start! For example, research shows us that evenly distributing protein intake throughout the day and ensuring overall adequate protein intake is more beneficial to building and maintaining lean muscle compared to just focusing on getting a lot of protein after a workout. Now that we have laid the ground work lets go through exactly what working with a sports dietitian looks like!
During our first visit we will discuss goals as well as review your current exercise plan and diet to assess your current energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate, micronutrient, and fluid intake. We will then discuss your estimated energy, protein, fat, and carbohydrate, micronutrient, and fluid needs to meet your specific goals. Throughout the following sessions we will create a meal plan that meets all of your energy and nutrient needs while also working towards your goals. We will then work on pre and post exercise nutrition, ensuring you are meeting carbohydrate and protein goals. For example, if your goal is to gain lean muscle we will ensure your post lift snack or meal has enough protein as well as 2-3 grams of a specific amino acid called leucine. Leucine is well known for its potent muscle building benefits. After we have successfully modified your energy, macronutrient, micronutrient, as well as pre and post workout nutrition to meet your goals we will then discuss and potentially add on any research backed supplements that we feel will help meet your goals or fill in any missing gaps in your diet. For example, if you are a vegetarian athlete you may need the help of a vitamin B12 supplement if we are not able to get enough vitamin B12 in your diet as animal based foods are some the highest sources of vitamin B12. Another example of a research backed supplement that may help to support the goals of an athlete or active individual would be adding a creatine monohydrate supplement to the diet plan of those with a goal to gain lean muscle.
Benefits of Working With a Sports Dietitian
Hopefully, by reading the information above, you have begun to understand that there are many benefits to working with a sports dietitian. We have highlighted and expanded on these benefits below!
- Ensure Adequate Energy Intake for Specific Sport or Body Composition Goals.
- Adequate energy intake is the foundation for achieving body composition or sport specific goals. Like we discussed above, energy intake is at the bottom of the sports nutrition pyramid!
- Improve Endurance/Delay Fatigue
- If you want to be able to go longer in your workouts before fatigue takes over or run longer at a higher performance level on the field then ensuring adequate energy intake, hydration, carbohydrate intake are key!
- Improve Mental Acuity and Concentration
- Dehydration can wreak havoc on performance. Once you have lost approximately ~1-2% of your body weight from fluid loss during exercise you will begin to experience symptoms such as poor endurance, delayed reaction times, and even brain fog!
- Improve Exercise Recovery & Injury Recovery
- Many active individuals or athletes are aware that protein is important for exercise and injury recovery however many are not aware that adequate energy intake and carb intake can be just as important if not more important in some cases! There are also other important nutrients that can be beneficial during exercise and injury recovery such as omega 3 fatty acids.
- Ensure Adequate Hydration
- Like we discussed at point number three, hydration is very important to performance, but it is just an important for recovery as well!
- Help Build or Maintain Lean Muscle/Body Composition Changes
- A common goal among active individuals and athletes is to build lean muscle and or lose fat. A proper nutrition plan paired with activity are key to achieve these goals!
If you are an athlete or active individual interested in working with a sports dietitian we are accepting new clients to work with our two board-certified sports dietitians at Time to Thrive Nutrition.
schedule with a sports dietitian today
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