Nutritional considerations include pre, during and post performance needs. Nutrition is vital to bodily functions and should always be in balance. Athletes should always eat enough: vegetables, fruit, dairy, protein, fats and grains. As athletes place more stress on their bodies and use their bodies more than others, they require greater amounts of these nutrients than non-athletes. 

The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating indicates the amount of each food group that is recommended for all Australians. An athlete will require, roughly the same percentage of each food group but will consume greater amounts of them. In addition to this, an athlete may benefit from other nutritional considerations before, during and after a performance. These include carbohydrate loading before endurance events, the consumption of glucose and electrolytes during events lasting longer than 60 minutes and replacing glycogen and fluid lost after performance.

Athletes' nutritional and hydration strategies are critical to optimising performance and recovery. These requirements vary based on the nature of the sport, be it endurance, strength/power or team-based activities. Tailoring nutrition and hydration strategies to the specific demands of each sport and individual athlete is essential for optimal performance and recovery.

Before competition an athlete should ensure they are well hydrated Hydration is vital to performance and an athlete needs to ensure they drink a minimum 2-3L the day before competition, then drink 500mL in the morning of the competition, and a further 250mL 30min before competition provided hydration has been maintained throughout the day.

Before competition an athlete should not try to eat anything new. If an athlete tries new food and they have a reaction to it their performance will be negatively affected. Instead an athlete should eat complex carbohydrates in a familiar form, consuming around 100g 3-4hrs before competition. An example of this might be a bowl of porridge, a dark wholemeal bread or muesli. As competition approaches food size should get smaller, moving from a full meal to a small snack, such as a muesli bar 1-2 hrs before competition and lonely liquids after this time.

Carbohydrate loading is the process used by athletes to ensure glycogen stores in muscle and the liver are at their maximum. They do this by tapering training levels and consuming large amounts of complex carbohydrates in the week before competition. Carbohydrate loading benefits performance that would normally deplete glycogen stores and delays the onset of fatigue caused by a greater reliance on fat to produce ATP in the aerobic energy system. Thus carbohydrate loading will allow for higher aerobic intensities being maintained for longer, and can help ensure glycogen stores remain for a late burst of speed in the lactic acid energy system. Carbohydrate loading will only benefit sports that go longer than 60min, such as soccer, rugby or Australian Rules Football.

Nutritional requirements during performance include the need to maintain hydration and for extended periods of exercise, taking opportunity to replenish blood glucose levels. During performance an athlete needs to maintain hydration. Hydration aids performance and dehydration hinders performance, decreasing concentration and reducing the body’s ability to function. All athletes sweat at different rates during performance, but it is recommended that they drink around 1L spread throughout every hour of activity. The more frequent this consumption the better, so a marathon runner might drink some water every 5 min, while a rugby player may drink every 10 min depending on the events on the field and stoppages.

Athletes can also assist their performance by consuming some sugars often provided in sports drinks such as Gatorade or PowerAde during performance. These drinks provide additions glucose that goes into the blood and is transported to the muscle for use in either the aerobic or lactic acid energy systems. This delays fatigue in these systems because it spares muscle glycogen to be used later in performance. Consuming sugar during competition also allows for higher intensities to be maintained for longer during performance.

The salts in sports drinks help the body to hold fluid and replace the salt lost through sweat production. Salts lost through sweat include, sodium and potassium. Salt in blood helps to retain fluid, particularly preventing fluid loss through excrement, requiring water to remain in the blood and not be filtered out by the kidney to the bladder.

The goal of nutrition post-performance is to restore the bodies fuel stores and provide the nutrients required for muscular repair and recovery. The nutrients needed are: water, carbohydrates and protein.

Athletes sweat at varying rates, but it is important for an athlete to know their sweat rate and to replace any fluid lost during competition. Athletes can calculate their sweat rate by weighing themselves before and post-performance and keeping track of the fluid they consume. They can then subtract their end weight from their pre-performance weight; minus the fluid consumed to find how much sweat they lost during the competition. Athletes should then consume all the fluid lost over the first hour post-event and then continue to maintain hydration.

Carbohydrates are consumed in order to restore glycogen stores that have been lost in both muscle and liver. Initially high GI foods can be eaten, but a large meal of complex carbohydrates 1-2hrs post-performance is recommended. This will help replace glycogen stores. Further carbohydrates will need to be consumed over 24-48hrs in order to restore and possibly increase glycogen stores.

Protein should be consumed 1-2hrs post-performance to help repair damaged tissue. This is particularly important for power and strength based activities and contact sports, where body tissue is frequently damaged. The protein consumed is used by the body to repair the damaged tissue and may help strengthen the tissue to avoid damage next time.

In addition to this, a good sleep is vital for recovery. The body repairs itself and recovers during sleep. Sleep is still THE BEST recovery strategy available.