Strngfuel Nutrition Coaching

People training for competition and performance have different nutritional priorities than the average gym-goer.

Athletes training can often involve:
Multiple sessions per day
High training volumes with demanding intensities
Limited recovery windows between sessions

Prolonged moderate-high intensity exercise significantly depletes energy stores, increases fluid losses and places great stress on the body.

For performance athletes, nutrition is not just about eating healthy, it’s about providing the body with enough fuel to repeatedly train, recover and perform at a high level.

Because of this, the nutrition needs of athletes often extends beyond what is typically outlined in the Australian Healthy Eating Guidelines.

Recovery nutrition should be strategic, practical and match the energy demands of the athlete.

Post-training nutrition should match:
✔️ training volume
✔️ training intensity
✔️ training frequency
✔️ overall goals

To put it simply:
Greater output = greater recovery demands.

An average gym-goer will generally have different recovery needs compared to a high-volume endurance athlete.

A simple post-training formula is
Quality protein -> support muscle repair
+
Carbohydrates -> replenish energy stores
+
Fluids/Electrolytes -> support rehydration
=
Optimal Recovery 🙌🏽

For most people, nailing consistent nutrition habits across the day will have the biggest impact, but some people will need much more intention than this.

Many people focus heavily on what they eat after training, but pre-training nutrition also plays an important role in performance.

In most cases, simply having a source of carbohydrates before training can help support better performance and overall training output.

Your pre-training snack does not need to be fancy, you should aim for:
✔️ easily digestible carbohydrates
✔️ lower fat, lower fibre options closer to training
✔️ foods that sit well in your stomach
✔️ convenient options that you can consistently rely on

Performance nutrition is rarely overcomplicated or extreme, it’s generally about nailing the basics 👌🏽

Rehabbing my back over the past 7 weeks has been such a humbling experience.

After having 3 weeks off any kind of exercise, to slowly introducing short walks, extremely light upper body and rehab exercises.

I am finally introducing the most basic (and I mean basic) lower body workouts you can imagine.

This is what I’m currently working with👇🏽
3x3 Bar only squats
3x5 Bar only rack pulls
3x10 Bar only hip thrusts (controlled, non-explosive)
3x5 bodyweight reverse lunges, each leg
3x10 back extensions (controlled, no weight)
3x10 seated leg press (no weight)

It’s definitely not exciting and certainly not what I was previously doing, but I’ll take what I can get 😮‍💨

Most meal plans don’t fail because they don’t work, they fail because people expect them to do all the work.

A plan can give you structure, direction and clarity, but it cannot build consistency or awareness for you.

You can have the ‘perfect’ plan on paper and still see no progress if your habits do not support it. At some point, you have to take ownership for your behaviour.

Your health and knowledge is not something that gets handed to you. It is something you build through daily choices, effort and accountability. No coach, no plan and no shortcuts can replace that.

The real change happens when you stop looking for the ‘secret’ and start doing the work.

The Crossfit Open is a high-intensity, high-stress performance block.

If your nutrition does not match the demand of these workouts, your performance won’t either.

You can’t under-eat, under-recover and expect to over-perform.

If you are participating in the Open this year, this post is for you.
Now is not the time to cut calories.
Now is not the time to suddenly ‘tighten things up’.

It is time to be deliberate with your nutrition.

Your focus should be on maximising output, maintaining intensity and recovery between workouts.

Chasing only whole foods can limit your performance, especially when your training load is high.

As training volume and intensity increase, so do energy demands. Attempting to meet those demands using only whole foods is unrealistic.

Strategically including processed foods can help because they are:
🍬 Calorie dense
🍬 Fast digesting
🍬 Convenient/portable options
🍬 A quick source of energy
🍬 Low in fibre

White rice. Bagels. Sports drinks. Lollies. Cereal.
These are not “bad” or “dirty.” Just tools apart of a performance-focused strategy.

Performance nutrition is about fuelling adequately and intentionally.

If you are training hard, don’t let the clean eating, whole foods only mindset limit your output.

This weeks lunches are looking mighty fine 🤤🤩

What are you having this week?

Health focused nutrition and performance focused nutrition often get lumped together, but they serve very different purposes.

One builds the foundation.
The other fuels the workload.

You can eat healthy and still under-fuel hard training if intake does not match your output.

Take a step back and check whether your current intake actually matches your training demands. Your body wont adapt to the work if it isn’t fuelled for.