Sports nutrition coaching at Nutrition for Energy is an educational relationship between coach and client. Your coach will work with you on how best to apply many of the sports nutrition best practices to your routine, lifestyle and training. These new practices will improve your performance by positively influencing these factors:

• The quality of your training 

• The speed you recover and adapt to training 

• Your mood

• Sleep quality

• Your energy levels both during and outside of training

• Your immunity, so you get less ill. 

• Confidence.

• Gain the mental edge.

• No longer second-guess your strategy. 

• Fuelling during races, so you can hold your desired intensity.  

• ENJOY THE PROCESS

Personalised nutrition coaching differs from generic nutrition advice because each client is treated differently. For example, your coach will work with you to problem-solve unique challenges that you experience. The goal is to get as close to best practice as possible within the remit of your lifestyle, routine, likes and dislikes. Ultimately you are in charge and are the one making the decisions, but you can do so from a position of knowledge.

Nutrition for Energy (NFE) coaches hold a minimum of a relevant degree and postgraduate in nutrition or sports nutrition. Coaches will also be accredited on the Sports and Exercise Nutrition Register (SENr), this means they are committed to staying up to date with the latest advice on nutrition coaching, follow a code of ethics and have to prove they are capable of practising as a sports nutrition coach to a regulatory body. NFE coaches are also trained and qualified in motivational interviewing. Having a coach with this skill set leaves clients feeling empowered and motivated to make changes after their conversation.

Sports nutrition coaching will help you achieve your specific fitness goals because you are taught how to apply the recommendations to your specific routine. Your coach will factor in your desired goal, whether that is changing your body composition by gaining muscle or losing fat. Your coach will explain the science behind their recommendations and then describe how to achieve those recommendations from food. You will be asked about specific barriers and difficulties you have, and a plan will be tailored to you to ensure you can meet your goal.

During the 18 Week Performance Accelerator, you will have ten, 30-minute online nutrition consultations. After each consultation, your coach will contact you via email providing you with your consultation summary and specific action points. Your coach will also check in with you via email between consultations to follow up and answer your questions.

The Performance Accelerator sports nutrition coaching programme will help runners, triathletes, Hyrox and Crossfit athletes as well as games players. In short, this coaching programme will help any athlete. This is possible because your coach will help you eat optimally around your training, whatever your training plan. So sports nutrition coaching will benefit you if you train two to three times a week or if you train 6 times a week or more.

You do not have to compete in your sport or consider yourself an “athlete” to join the Performance Accelerator nutrition coaching programme. The programme is best for those who exercise. This may be going to a class/gym session a couple of times a week or going for a run when you get a moment. You do not have to have a structured training plan or work with a coach to benefit from sports nutrition coaching. 

The Nutrition for Energy sports nutrition coaching process follows the structure of topics detailed in the Performance Accelerator programme. These are:

• 1. Recover Fast & Drop Fat

• 2. Fix Your Fuelling

• 3. Eat For Energy & Longevity

• 4. Control Your Cravings. Forever

  Each topic has two consultations dedicated to it. In these consultations, your coach may share their screen to explain certain principles before discussing with you how best to apply them. The goal of each consultation is to agree on three to four action points. These are commitments that you make with your coach which you know you can achieve between consultations. Your coach will ensure these commitments are realistic, and achievable and are designed specifically to help you move towards your goals. 

Nutrition for Energy sports nutrition coaching is different from other programmes on the market as it is designed to create immediate results as well as long-term success. For example, the first few consultations will have your energy levels up and ensure you are bouncing back from training feeling good. The consultations also focus on habits and sustainable behaviour change. This is key as Nutrition for Energy coaches you to be able to maintain your habits for life. It is not our goal to coach you forever, we want to give you the tools to feel confident with your diet so you can adapt it however you train.

The Nutrition for Energy performance accelerator programme is NOT a diet. So there are no rules about being strict and staying on the wagon. Our coaches realise that “life” does happen, and coach you how to manage these events which may otherwise through you off track. We are not following an ‘all or nothing” approach. Why? This is not sustainable or a long-term solution. 

What we do ask is that you do your best to follow the commitments agreed in your consultations. These commitments are suggestions from your coach which open a topic of discussion with you. You will then take the lead and while being guided by your coach you will detail how you can implement them into your routine. As you are involved in setting the commitment, it will be realistic and specific to you which means you succeed and see progress. Progress is motivating which makes you want to do more! 

At Nutrition for Energy individual dietary preferences, allergies and intolerances are asked about in your pre-coaching form. This allows your coach to plan for your consultation and provide suitable recommendations. Your food/likes and dislikes are asked for ahead of time so your coach can take the sports nutrition recommendations and apply them specifically to you.

Sports nutrition coaching is likely to help significantly with feelings of fatigue, muscle soreness and recovery. This is because fatigue is often caused by an incorrect fuelling strategy. Your coach will help you eat the right food at the right time to achieve the intensity you want in training and also have energy for the rest of your day. Nailing protein intake will provide enough amino acids to support the increased muscle turnover you are experiencing from training. This will result in reduced muscle soreness and improved recovery.

That said, nutrition is not the only factor that can influence issues of fatigue, muscle soreness and recovery, which is why your coach may also ask you about other lifestyle factors such as sleep, stress and your training. Addressing these in combination with alterations to your diet will give you the best chance of long-term success.    

The Nutrition for Energy sports nutrition coaching programme is suitable for all levels of experience. If you are just starting, applying some sports nutrition tips will make training feel easier which will make your new habit more likely to stick. If you are an experienced athlete then fine-tuning your nutrition with your coach during the performance accelerator programme will help you get more from your training so you adapt faster.

Sports nutrition coaching will help you start your training session with the right fuel sources available. For example, eating the right amount of carbohydrate before training to have enough muscle glycogen stores, or consuming an appropriate quantity of carbohydrate during the session for the desired intensity and duration. This allows you to achieve the right stimulus for the session or train at a higher intensity than usual. Appropriate fueling will also improve the quality of your training, so reps and form are better allowing you to develop better habits. It is the combination of this improved fuelling and subsequent higher-quality training with better recovery nutrition habits that lead to greater adaptation and performance. 

Here is an example; an athlete follows the same training plan from one year to the next, but learns sports nutrition in the second year. Although they are giving their all in training both years, their new sports nutrition fueling habits allow them to create a greater stimulus from the training, and perform higher quality repetitions, sets or bouts of exercises in the second year. When they consistently do this, they will see a much faster rate of progress and improvements in performance. 

Nutrition for Energy clients are often working towards a specific fitness goal or event. As part of the sports nutrition coaching programme, you will receive example carb load meal plans and specific sports nutrition strategies tailored to your event (for example low-fibre eating before running events, or hyperhydration protocols before endurance events or events in the heat), to ensure you start the race confident you will succeed. Your coach will discuss your event fueling strategy with you during your consultations with enough time to practise the plan. This is to ensure you have a plan that you know works for you.

If you have a specific dietary concern, allergy or intolerance you will add this information to the pre-coaching form. This will allow your coach to prepare alternative suggestions and ensure all guidance is appropriate to your needs. 

The Nutrition for Energy Performance Accelerator coaching programme is designed to be applied to a range of sports and fitness activities. Your coach will personalise their advice to you, your sport and your goals to ensure you are making progress. The goal of each consultation is to create “action points”, which are small commitments that you and the coach agree for you to implement between consultations. These commitments vary from person to person and will be tailored to you depending on your sport, goals and lifestyle.

Sports nutrition coaching can provide noticeable results as quickly as a few days. The increased focus on your diet combined with advice from qualified experts will cause your energy levels to increase. Clients often report feeling more energised in training, sleeping better and feeling less tired after as little as 1-2 weeks. Body composition changes take a little longer than a few days, however, if your goal is to lose fat mass or build muscle mass you will see a significant improvement during the 18-week Performance Accelerator programme.

Supplements may be recommended as part of the nutrition coaching programme however, there is a food-first approach. That said, it is food first but not food only as some products have evidence to show safety and efficacy. The most commonly recommended supplements are vitamin D during the 6 winter months and protein powder to help “supplement” your protein total. Nutrition for Energy recommends brands based on quality and will provide you with options. Nutrition for Energy does not accept “kickbacks” from promoting products so there is no conflict of interest.

Throughout the sports nutrition coaching programme, you will periodically log 2-3 days of eating on an app. Your coach will review this data with you in your consultations. When being coached by Nutrition for Energy, there is no judgment and this tracking is not to “hold you accountable”. Instead, it is to be used as an educational tool for you to learn how to apply the recommendations. It is also to provide information to your coach so they can help you with specific questions and strategies based on your eating pattern. This occurs several times over the 18 weeks of coaching and the dialogue you have with your coach ensures continued progress and adaptation.

The Performance Accelerator coaching programme takes into account individual differences in metabolism and physiology by asking very specific questions in a pre-coaching form. This information is interpreted by your coach and discussed with you to personalise your recommendations. Nutrition for Energy believes it is important for you to know how these recommendations have been generated so your coach will always explain the process during their calculations. 

Coaches leading the Performance Accelerator programme will be SENr accredited so will provide evidence-informed recommendations. This means they will follow the latest sports nutrition principles which have a body of evidence supporting their efficacy. Your coach will also have been trained in motivational interviewing which is a style of consultation helping improve motivation and desire to make long-term change.