The following is an excerpt/concept from my The Applied Nutrition for Mixed Sports Book/DVD examining what I call the sport continuum, the training continuum and the adaptation continuum. These are separate but related concepts linking the requirements of specific sports, to their training, to the adaptations that are being sought.
These continuums are relevant because it impacts on the nutritional requirements for any given sport. Too often I see dietitians give essentially the identical diet regardless of sport. A good friend, a strength coach in Ireland, once told me a story about sending two of his athletes: one a track sprinter and the other a rugby player to some local nutrition type. Both were given the identical nutritional program. That’s absurd.
Clearly optimal nutrition for any given sport will depend on the demands of that sport and the adaptations being sought. Determining those means first looking at where sports fall on the continuum.… Keep Reading