Finally, you feel like you found your rhythm this summer...
You've caught up on sleep...
You've figured out when and what to eat to fuel your summer training...
You're having fun with your friends and teammates...
You're enjoying the absence of school and homework...
Maybe you went on a vacation or attended a gymnastics camp or two...
But...
Just as things got comfortable, now somehow it's August! Which means school is right around the corner and your daily routine will have to change once again....
This time of year can be really overwhelming for both gymnasts and parents. After finally settling down and getting used to a more relaxed summer schedule, school starts right back up again, and suddenly it seems like there just isn’t enough time in the day. This transition can have a major impact not only on your gymnast's fueling routine, but in their energy levels, ability to practice well and get ready for the upcoming competition season, and recovery.
As a registered dietitian for gymnasts, many of my families share a lot of the same challenges as they head back to school, and many relate to fueling. Here are the four biggest struggles gymnasts face when heading back to school and how to overcome them.
The 4 Biggest Struggles Gymnasts Face Heading Back to School
1. Your Schedule Changes...Again
Each new school year brings a lot of changes and challenges—new faces, new commitments, and a new schedule. Just as quickly as you got used to your summer schedule, school goes back into session, bringing yet another schedule change. More early mornings and late nights. Back-to-back commitments. This shift from a laid-back summer break to a structured school routine can be trying for both gymnasts and parents.
However, with some preparation and planning, this transition can be made as seamless as possible. Meal planning and prepping may feel daunting, but it doesn’t mean you have to cook all your meals for the entire week ahead of time or eat all your meals out of a container.
For the busy gymnast and their family, meal planning and prepping can include tasks like packing school lunch the night before, thinking about what you will have for breakfast the following morning, or even re-purposing food from the day before. For example, if you have leftover chicken from dinner, you could make it into a chicken sandwich or wrap for lunch the next day. Meal prepping/planning doesn’t have to be fancy! It should make your life easier on your busiest days!
Gymnasts who are active participants in their fueling strategy—such as being involved in tasks like weekly menu planning, putting breakfast and snacks together ahead of time, and packing their own lunch—are more likely to buy in and do what needs to be done. This involvement reduces arguments about eating and decreases the likelihood of being under-fueled.
2. Having Enough Hours in the Day to Do EVERYTHING (Including Eat...)
During the school year, many gymnasts have incredibly long days with jam-packed schedules. It's not uncommon for a gymnast to leave the house before 7 am with breakfast in hand and not come home until 8 or 9 pm after practice. There's barely enough time to get a full night's sleep, complete homework, or socialize with friends, let alone eat 6 or 7 times a day.
Taking time to look at your schedule and finding where meals and snacks fit in can be extremely helpful for a gymnast preparing to head back to school. For many busy families, failing to plan when meals and snacks need to happen sets them up to miss important fueling opportunities, leaving gymnasts tired, hangry, and under fueled. This can be detrimental to a gymnast's health and goals, especially if it becomes routine. Reviewing your day and finding times to eat meals and snacks can alleviate stress and ensure your body is properly fueled.
3. The Logistics of Packing Meals and Snacks
To be adequately fueled for the school day and gymnastics practice afterward, gymnasts often need to eat 4 or 5 times before even setting foot in the gym. Most of those meals and snacks will happen at school. One of the biggest challenges in staying adequately fueled during the school day is finding a breakfast that fits the craziness of school mornings and the logistics of packing enough food for a long day.
Breakfast before school is a common conversation I have with gym families as a registered dietitian. Between gymnasts not feeling hungry, not having enough time, or simply not wanting to eat, breakfast can feel like a constant battle. The best breakfasts need to be quick, simple, and planned or made ahead of time.
Some simple examples of quick, fueling breakfasts for gymnasts to eat before school include:
Overnight oats
Breakfast sandwich or breakfast burrito with a side of fruit
A chocolate milk or protein drink, protein bar, and piece of fruit
School snacks need to fit various criteria: be shelf-stable, low mess, backpack safe, allergen-friendly, and often able to be eaten quickly (even snuck in the halls or without a teacher noticing).
Some of my favorite school day snacks include:
Trail Mix (store bought or make your own)
Protein Bar or Protein Bites/Power Balls
Shelf Stable Nutrition Drink
Lunches also need to be portable, easy to open, and quick to eat. Additionally, there's often a stigma among teenagers about bringing a lunchbox, having "too much" food, or even eating at all.
One of the most important things to remember when packing school lunches and snacks is that they don’t need to be “perfect.” Nutrition is cumulative. Your gymnast will get their nutrients they need throughout the day from different foods. Aim for a performance plate with foods that check each box.
Here are some simple school lunch ideas that follow this plate:
Turkey sandwich with sliced apples and chocolate milk
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich with carrots and fruit snacks
Pasta salad with grapes
4. Having Enough Energy to Just Make It Through
Once the school year really gets into gear, many gymnasts start to notice that all the rest and relaxation from the summer has disappeared. The constant fatigue feels permanent. Gymnasts' energy levels often tank during the school year due to a busier schedule—more activity with less time to relax and fuel properly. This combination can lead to an under-fueled, fatigued, and burnt-out gymnast.
However, it doesn't have to be!
Gymnasts, you can head into the school year and fall practice schedule prepared by remembering the keys to being at your best during practice:
6 Tips to Feel Confident Heading into Your School Year Schedule
1. Know Your Schedule Each Week:
With school starting back up, your schedule each week is probably going to be busier and your to-do list is probably going to only get longer (between homework, extra-curricular activities, family obligations, gym, and more). Keep yourself organized with a planner or calendar (either physical or electronic) to write down everywhere you have to be, when you have to be there, and what you have to do each day can help alleviate some of the stress in a busy schedule. Additionally, having a written down schedule and to-do list can help you find the times in your day to fuel, along with reminding you when you should eat, since it's built into your day.
2. Plan A Meal or Snack Every 2-3 Hours
As I mentioned before, having a schedule for each day and week with all of your activities and tasks for the day can help to alleviate some of the stress of a busy schedule. It can also help you figure out when to eat your meals and snacks to stay fueled and keep your energy up throughout the day. Fall schedule likely means that your practices will shift to the afternoons, so it's important for gymnasts to make sure they eat enough throughout the day to make sure their energy levels are high for practice!
Gymnasts, you should be eating at least every 3 hours. Whether it's a full meal or a snack, it's critical that you find the time in your schedule to eat this often to ensure you have the fuel and energy you need for practice to maximize your training and performance! Additionally, remember that you should be eating a snack (or meal depending on timing and if your stomach can handle it) before practice, a snack halfway through practice, and likely a meal (or a snack depending on the timing of your practice and your commute home) after practice! These are especially important to your fueling plan and training performance!
Remember, there's no such thing as "perfect nutrition". Be flexible with your nutrition. Make sure you're eating enough by eating often enough and getting enough protein, color, carbs, and fat throughout your day, and you will be fueling for success.
3. Stay Hydrated:
Hydration is always SUPER important for a gymnast! As your schedule changes and you head back to school, it's easy to forget to drink, making it more likely you could show up to practice dehydrated.
Dehydration can increase your risk of injury or a serious medical emergency. Symptoms of dehydration include feeling tired, thirst, decreased performance and energy, headache, dry or sticky mouth, dark yellow urine or not able urinate, dry cool skin, muscle cramps, dizziness, or a rapid increase in heartbeat or breathing. If you're dehydrated, you will be unable to perform your best in the gym and struggle to reach the goals you want during your training.
You should be drinking at least 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water each day. Make sure you bring a water bottle with you to school and any other extracurricular activities to help you stay hydrated (and refill it when needed).
Gymnasts also need extra fluid for training: In the 2 hours before practice, try to drink between 12-24oz of water (or an electrolyte drink). During practice, you should be drinking about 8-16oz every hour. Within 1 hour of practice ending, drink another 16-24oz of water.
Water, electrolyte drinks (like Propel, Gatorade 0, Nuun, or Liquid IV for example), and carbohydrate drinks (Gatorade, Powerade, or 100% Fruit Juice for example) can all be great sources of fluids for gymnasts during practice. Additionally, carrying your water bottle around with you to each rotation can make staying hydrated during practice easier!
4. Remember to Recover:
In the sport of gymnastics, injuries can happen. While some gymnastics injuries are just the result of a freak accident in a high risk sport, the majority of injuries occur as a result of poor habits over time. You can prioritize many things outside the gym to help prevent the preventable injuries and recover faster from the injuries you do face.
Remember: Recovery Requires Building Blocks, and those building blocks come from food! It is essential to eat after practice, no matter how late at night it is (or how tired you are). Ideally, gymnasts should eat a full recovery meal including all of the components of an athlete's plate. It is especially important to prioritize carbohydrates (from grains/starches, and fruit), protein, fats (from seafood or plant-based sources), as well as micronutrients like Calcium (from dairy or leafy greens), Vitamins A & C (from red and orange fruits and veggies), as well as antioxidants (like those found in blue/purple fruits and veggies). If a full meal just isn't possible, prioritize a snack with 30-60g of carbohydrates and 10-20g of protein.
Find time each week in your schedule to include a preventative or recovery practice. Try adding some extra stretching or yoga, preventative mobility training, physical therapy (as needed) and physical therapy exercises, mental toughness and visualization, and proper fueling to your week. All can help you prevent and/or recover from injuries. If you build a specific time into your weekly schedule for these recovery practices, you'll be more likely to actually complete them, so be sure to set aside this time! It's better to take the time now to prevent and/or recover from injuries than having to sit out the season to recover from an injury that could've been prevented!
5. Aim To Get Enough Sleep Every Night:
Gymnasts, sleep is SO IMPORTANT for your recovery! You should aim to get adequate sleep each night:
6-12 year olds: 9-12 hours per night
13-18 years old: 8-10 hours per night
18+ years old: 8+ hours per night
Since the body is most relaxed and doing the fewest additional functions, this is the best time for your body to recover and repair itself.
Inadequate sleep will not only make you feel tired and sluggish, but it can also lead to increased injury risk and/or increased recovery time from an injury since you're not giving your body enough time to recover. Actually, studies show that:
Teen athletes who get less than 8hrs/night have 1.7x greater risk of getting injured compared to athletes who sleep >8hrs a night.
Athletes who get 8+hrs of sleep AND eat 5+ servings of fruits and veggies per day are 64% less likely to get injured.
Prioritize sleep by going to bed early enough! If you have trouble falling asleep, building a bedtime routine can help. This may include things like:
Using blue light blocking glasses for screen time
Setting a tech curfew 60-90 minutes before bed
Taking a hot bath or shower
Writing daily gratitudes
Preparing for the next day (pulling out snacks, setting out clothes, making to-do lists, etc.)
Breathing, meditation
Stretching
Reading
6. Turn to a Professional If You Need One:
Gymnasts, it's critical that you take care of both your mental and physical health to feel and perform your best at practice. If you're struggling with mental blocks, injuries, and/or under fueling and low energy--especially surrounding this shift in your routine--you don't have to face these problems alone. Turn to a sports psychologist, physical therapist, and/or Registered Dietitian to help you face and overcome these challenges so you can maximize your training and reach your goals!
Proper nutrition is a cornerstone of success for any gymnasts heading back to school. By prioritizing balanced meals, nutrient timing, and hydration, gymnasts can optimize their performance and continue to make progress getting ready for the upcoming competition season.
When you skip meals and snacks, avoid foods, and don't make performance fueling and recovery a priority, you can't expect make the most progress in the gym this fall (and beyond). It's not just about giving 100% when you're in the gym, but also making what you do outside of the gym a priority. It's not too late to get your nutrition sorted out and see major improvements this summer!
The Fueled Gymnast Academy is the is the simplest way for busy gymnast (and those who feed them) to learn the ins and outs of fueling their body as a high level gymnast so they can
have more energy, reduce the risk of injury, and perform their best
AND
feel confident and empowered to make their own food choices (and not just have someone tell them what they have to eat).
Fueling your body doesn't have to be a guessing game. And you don't have to figure it out on your own.
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