Gymnastics is truly a year-round sport; the cycle of summer training to an intense preseason to an even more vigorous competition year never really gives gymnasts a break. Sustaining this training no matter what level you are at takes a toll on your mind and body. Gymnasts put emphasis on our physical preparedness by doing things like rehab and weight training as the year ramps up, but, we are most likely not giving the proper attention to nutrition and how big of a role this plays in our performance and career overall.
Throughout the back half of my NCAA career, I struggled with my nutrition and disordered eating and how much this affected me in ways I could actually see. Looking back, I am able to understand more of how these patterns might have been looming since I was young, and coming out in less obvious, but still physical ways, like injuries, fatigue, or feeling heavy during practice.
For this piece, I was able to speak with Kerry Bair, a former division 1 gymnast, now registered dietician, who primarily works with gymnasts, educating our community about how much our nutrition matters and the amount of attention and intentionality that needs to be given to this to be our best selves, in and out of the gym. Working with a nutritionist, like Bair for example, who knows the ins and outs of gymnastics, and what gymnasts’ bodies are expected to do in each season of the year would be the most beneficial first step in setting yourself or your gymnast up for success as the year goes on.
One of the most common misconceptions gymnasts have about their nutrition is not understanding how much they need to take in to have enough energy to do gymnastics each day. The output of energy for each sport looks different, but, specifically for gymnastics, it’s high intensity for a short period of time. A vault might only be a couple of seconds, but doing that for an hour rotation of practice every day, with this event only being a fraction of practice, ends up being exhausting.
“Gymnasts need to fuel differently than the average person or any other athlete,” said Bair. “Healthy doesn’t necessarily mean adequate for a gymnast. The way we fuel our gymnasts might look different from mainstream nutrition information we are being given.”
The more nutrient-dense foods that we are told are healthy, but take a longer time to break down, might not be the right option for every gymnast who needs that quicker burst of energy at practice. And that is okay! There is not a one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition and fueling your body. What you need to be at your best may be completely different than the needs of your teammates. Figuring this out is arguably the most important, yet difficult, task when it comes to nutrition.
Gymnastics doesn’t ever slow down, so ensuring your body is at its best through each cycle of the year is crucial. During the preseason, especially for NCAA when the training increases, this is the time to figure out what works best for you.
“Talking about the what and the when are the two most important things,” shared Bair. “What kinds of foods are on your plate, and when are you eating them?”
As you go through preseason and the hours of training significantly increase, your energy levels need to be able to keep up with this. “Figuring out these two frameworks, what works for you personally, what might be missing from your routine, and determining throughout the day when to fit in these meals leading up to practice is necessary,” said Bair.
As season begins, numbers increase and competition nerves take a toll on your body; your energy levels need to be able to keep up with these changes. Meet days are an all-day event, and you need the fuel to be able to sustain this.
“We want gymnasts to be able to maximize and store their energy for a long meet,” Bair said. “The body thrives on consistency … so building up to this the week before, slowly increasing portion sizes and adjusting your proportions, instead of carb loading overnight and not feeling great for the day of the meet, is much more effective.”
Bair shared the example of if the serving size of pasta per se is a cup, then four days before you increase it to a cup and a quarter, two days before a cup and a half, the night before, a little bit more. Implementing this consistency and not doing it overnight is going to make you so much more prepared to store this energy for a long day, instead of expecting your body to simply adapt to these changes in 24 hours.
Bair emphasized the importance of consistency with nutrition and learning how to train your body to be consistent by implementing small things throughout the day that eventually become permanent routines you notice the absence of.
For example, something so many people struggle with is eating breakfast; they aren’t hungry in the morning, they feel nauseous when they eat, or they simply don’t have the time as they are running out the door. Even though you might not be hungry when you wake up, your body for the rest of the day is then trying to catch up with your energy needs.
“Breakfast is a tone setter for the body; you wake up and your body uses what was left yesterday to repair and recover. Now in the morning, the tank is empty,” explained Bair. “If you wake up and [eat this first meal] your body will feel safe to use this energy, … and to trust it will get more later.” Without this, Bair explained how your body is playing catch up all day. This is when the afternoon nap in the car before practice hits, or you are starving when you come home even after you’ve eaten a meal. “Your body might physically be full, but your brain is still trying to meet these needs for the day,” said Blair
The last two things Bair and I spoke about were truly lightbulb moments for me in talking about the links between injuries as well as mental blocks and nutrition. When I was 12, I had been a level 10 for a year, and going into my second level 10 season, I suffered an L5 spinal fracture in my lower back. I didn’t ever really remember one turn or a weird landing making the difference. After I had this conversation, one of the things Bair brought up was how common these “freak injuries” are, especially around this age. When I started writing this and thought back about how some of these patterns might have unconsciously been looming, this was the first instance that came to mind.
“A lot of these [injuries] brew under the surface,” Bair shared. “When you are ten, you have endless amounts of energy. You could probably have a sip of water and a Rice Krispies treat and be okay. We don’t start to see these issues until around puberty. … There has been an extended time [as a younger athlete] where there’s not enough energy or nutrients that have been prioritized, so the body can’t be strong. If the body doesn’t have enough energy to grow, it can’t repair your bones and ligaments and tendons. These early years are so formative in being able to build your body to handle upper levels … Not giving nutrition from a young age this attention is almost a ticking time bomb as you age.”
Hearing this really made me think back on how many times in my early career I have had weird injuries without a real explanation; being pushed at a young age without really taking time to heal because you didn’t feel like you needed it or your body wasn’t feeling sore or tired, accumulates and shows up in the toughest ways.
The last thing I was able to talk with Bair about looks at how nutrition and your mind interact in the sport. There was always that one skill each of us had a mental block on when we were younger (mine was not tumbling forward or backward so that was a journey), but even as we get older, we might be more hesitant on certain skills, even though our bodies know how to do it. While you need to have the mental coping skills to figure out how to work past these anxieties, these feelings might also be presenting themselves because of nutrition.
“The brain is an organ like any other part of our body; it requires energy to work. In terms of gymnastics, the brain’s job is to think through things, to be able to work very quickly through combinations and routines, and it needs to sort through safety versus danger,” said Blair. “When the brain is out of energy, none of this works… your brain enters this fight, flight or freeze mode. Anxiety and fear is much more heightened when it comes to mental blocks, everything feels so much scarier, so much more dangerous, and if the brain doesn’t have enough energy, it can’t think through these hard things … and that’s when you start to see athletes shut down.”
Nutrition quite literally links to every aspect of gymnastics, and it starts from the very beginning! It begins with getting the kids who come in at a young age set on the right track in order to prevent injuries in the future and to show them what a healthy relationship with food looks like. Nutrition influences your career in the way you are able to practice each day, the way you perform at competitions, the progress you make, and ultimately the way you care for your body.
For me personally, I should have asked for help with this aspect sooner because I didn’t understand what to do, and I didn’t think I was “sick enough” to ask for help. There is no such thing as “sick enough”. If you need help, there are so many people willing to give this to you in order to ensure you are not only caring for your body during gymnastics but setting yourself up to be healthy in the future. I am continuing to learn the importance of nutrition in my everyday life, and for a lot of athletes, especially gymnasts, who grew up in an environment where body image is a large part of the sport, this is extremely difficult. However, opening up this conversation, being willing to ask for help, and acknowledging the ways this impacts everyday life is the most important first step.
For more information on Kerry Bair’s mission and how to get this support, visit https://www.foodforfuelrd.com/services.
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Article by Julianna Roland
