Why We Personalise Sports Nutrition Education for Young Athletes

Dana Ryan, PhD, MBA, M.A. – Director, Sport Performance and Education, Herbalife Nutrition

The LA Galaxy, several triathletes from around the world, a rugby player from the Philippines and the Western Sydney Wanderers here in Australia– these are just a few of the athletes I work with as part of my job at Herbalife Nutrition, which is to help these elite athletes improve their performance through good nutrition.

I get to play a part in their journey by providing them personalised sports nutrition education.

All Proteins, No Carbs: A Common Mistake

Focusing solely on protein is not the best way to build muscle. For improved results, protein intake needs to be combined with enough good-quality calories from carbohydrates. The body utilizes protein more effectively if carbs are available. Plus, carbs are important for replenishing glycogen stores.

The Importance of Personalising Sports Nutrition Education

I believe it’s important to begin sports nutrition education at a younger age, especially for young athletes. This education has to be personalised, not only because every body is different and has unique needs, but because that way, athletes understand that everything that is going in their bodies has a purpose.

This is exactly how our Herbalife Nutrition Independent Members are trained to coach their own customers. Whether they are working with people who only exercise on weekends, teenage athletes, parents, rookies, triathletes or someone looking to make regular exercise a part of their lives, the first thing they do is complete a personalised evaluation to better understand their customers goals. Do they want to build muscle? Improve speed? Endurance?

Whatever their goal is, Independent Members provide product guidance to help their customers prepare and achieve their fitness goals. Without proper guidance, you can end up wasting your money buying a product that doesn’t fit your goals or that will provide you too much or too little of some nutrient.

Inspiration to Get Started

Nutrition goals are often hard and require commitment, but the results are worth it. If you are looking to become more active, remember you don’t have to change everything overnight. Start small, make little changes, but don’t wait until you feel in super good shape to add in sports nutrition. As soon as you start working out and stressing your body, you’ll want to make sure you’re fueling and taking care of it properly from day one.

For further details visit our Member Events Page https://sopba.com.au/events/list