Are You In Your Off-Season As An Endurance Athlete? Here’s Sports Dietitian Backed Guidance On How To Adjust Your Fueling!
Your fueling will depend on your what you do during your off season and future season goals. But in most cases you’ll want to eat more colors, especially veggies! 🥦 🥕 This is honestly a great time to try new foods and experiment with new recipes, especially if you’ve been in a cooking rut!
If you’re taking an extended break and not replacing it with a different type of activity, you can lower your carbohydrate intake (especially from lower fiber sources except pre-workout), but you still need them to be a functional human.
And if you’re hoping to make body composition changes, this would be the best time to do so CAREFULLY. Focusing on whole grain carbohydrate sources and colors (vegetables and fruits) to get your fiber intake up is key. Body composition changes are best done under the supervision of a dietitian and gradually otherwise you risk REDs, disordered eating, muscle loss, injuries, and/ or poor performance when you return to your sport.
Many people reading this will not take an extended break from workouts, though. In this case, go off of how many hours per week of movement you are doing to decide between rest day performance plates and base performance plates. If you’re doing more than ~3-4 hours of strenuous weekly movement (running, cycling, swimming, heavy lifting, or fast walking), a base training performance plate is what I’d recommend over a rest day plate!
If you’re feeling unsure on what you should do during the off season with your fueling, I’m happy to help! You can reach via out to me via email (amanda@amandawagnernutrition.com), my contact form, or fill out this interest form.️
I’m in network with many Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) and United Health Care (UHC) insurance plans in several states + I have self-pay options if your insurance doesn’t cover dietitian visits. Most of my insurance clients have paid $0 out of pocket to work with me! 🤩
What kind of nutrition changes are you focused on in your off season?! 👇🏻 I’m personally trying to make some new recipes to break out of a rut and add more variety to my days!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
