SPORTS
NUTRITION

“There is little point in training hard without taking advantage of the opportunities
that nutrition support can offer” (Maughan and Burke 2011). This statement started
the first edition of this book and remains equally valid five years later. Our knowledge
of the human body, its responses to exercise and the nutrition-related factors that
enable an athlete to become fitter, faster and stronger have evolved substantially
over the past three decades. Present-day recommendations are individualised to the
athlete’s specific goals and periodised according to the time of the week, macrocycle
and stage of an athlete’s development and sporting career. The core goals are to
maximise the adaptations to training in order to then optimise performance on the
day of competition. These outcomes are underpinned by the need to achieve an
appropriate body composition, promote health and well-being, minimise the time lost
to illness and injury and maintain the enjoyment of food. The goals of sports nutrition
can be applied across the spectrum of athletic endeavour, from the developmental
athlete through to the “elite” performer, as well as the individual who exercises for
general fitness and weight control. In this way, our definition of athlete is an expansive
one that describes any individual who is undertaking regular exercise or involved in
sport, regardless of the intended outcomes.