Ep. #596: Dr. Susan Kleiner on “Power Eating” for Optimal Athletic Performance

2020-07-15

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For everyday gym-goers and fitness enthusiasts, nutrition is pretty simple. Control your calories, eat enough protein, get a nice mix of carbs and healthy fats from nutritious, whole foods, and you’re basically set if you just want to lose fat, build muscle, and get healthier. This changes for high-level athletes, though. When performance is your livelihood, nutritional optimization becomes paramount because dietary mistakes have bigger consequences. For instance, not properly fueling before a big event can mean t...

For everyday gym-goers and fitness enthusiasts, nutrition is pretty simple.

Control your calories, eat enough protein, get a nice mix of carbs and healthy fats from nutritious, whole foods, and you’re basically set if you just want to lose fat, build muscle, and get healthier.

This changes for high-level athletes, though.

When performance is your livelihood, nutritional optimization becomes paramount because dietary mistakes have bigger consequences. For instance, not properly fueling before a big event can mean the difference between winning and losing, and many athletes need to carefully manage their energy balance to ensure they’re not hindering their performance with a deficit or packing on unwanted fat with a surplus.

While you and I probably don't need to micromanage our meal plans as thoroughly as athletes, we can certainly learn some useful tips and tricks for making our meal plans a little more effective for our goals.

In today’s interview, Dr. Susan Kleiner discusses how she has the professional athletes she works with eat to maximize their athletic performance, including . . .

Carbohydrate timing and fueling around training

The problems with the keto diet

Tracking calories and macros

The importance of whole grains

And more . . .

In case you’re not familiar with Dr. Kleiner, she has a PhD in Nutrition with decades of experience in the field, has consulted for various professional sports teams including the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Storm, and has written many books on sports nutrition for athletes, including her bestseller, The New Power Eating.

So if you want actionable advice on tailoring your diet to improve your performance, listen to this episode!

Timestamps:

13:05 - What’s the difference between sports nutrition and everyday gym goers?

20:14 - Why don’t you just prescribe everyone a low carb diet and how do you manipulate carbs and fat?

28:25 - Why the emphasis on carbohydrate timing?

35:11 - Where have you seen the keto diet be beneficial?

43:23 - Is there an app you like to use for tracking?

49:05 - What are some nutrients that are in whole grains that aren’t in other foods?

59:33 - What are your thoughts on supplementation and whole grains?

1:17:25 - How do you approach managing the energy balance for your athletes?

1:26:57 - Where can people find you and your work?

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