High-Performance Nutrition for Masters Athletes

It’s an undisputed fact that the body’s physiological needs change as you age. But that doesn’t mean you can’t continue to compete and perform at your best. In High-Performance Nutrition for Masters Athletes, you’ll find practical advice for fueling your active lifestyle—now and for decades to come.

The key to effectively adapting your nutrition plans is first understanding how needs change over time and how expected results shift through the decades. Explore the science behind proper fueling for training and competition with the current guidelines for carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake plus advice on proper hydration, avoiding the dangers of underfueling, and nutrition for optimal recovery.

High-Performance Nutrition for Masters Athletes will then take you inside the fueling strategies for precompetition, competition, and recovery:

• Gain an understanding of the need for different types or amounts of nutrients at different times and get easy-to-follow guidance on how to meet those needs.
• Learn how to energize with carbohydrate, build muscle with protein, and meet your hydration needs for optimal athletic performance.
• Know the role vitamins, minerals, and supplements can play in a nutrition plan and how devastating underfueling can be to athletic performance.
• Understand how chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease affect nutritional needs.
• Use the sample meal plans to help customize meals and snacks and reset eating habits to meet the needs of training and competition.

Plus, throughout the book you will find accounts of amazing individuals—both well-known elite athletes and Olympians and everyday athletes—who have adapted their nutrition and training regimes to stay at the top of their game year in and year out.

Comprehensive yet practical, High-Performance Nutrition for Masters Athletes provides the latest research, guidance, and strategies that you need to train harder, perform stronger, and recover faster. Fuel smart, and never let age slow you down.

Earn continuing education credits/units! A continuing education exam that uses this book is also available. It may be purchased separately or as part of a package that includes both the book and exam.

Audience

Masters-level athletes (athletes over the age of 35) and coaches, sport nutritionists, personal trainers, or athletic trainers working with aging athletes.

Part I. Changing Physiology of the Masters Athlete

Chapter 1. Defining the Masters Athlete
Age is only a number. Masters athletes continue to compete and participate in sport in growing numbers. Masters athletes may be grouped according to age, but that doesn’t mean they have to slow down.

Chapter 2. Demystifying Age-Related Changes
Aging may bring wisdom, but it can also bring physiological changes that affect strength, maximal oxygen uptake, metabolism, bone health, sleep, and more.

Chapter 3. Nutritional Strategies to Manage and Prevent Disease
No diet can make you immortal, but research suggests that smart nutritional changes can help you manage and possibly prevent diabetes, cardiovascular disease and hypertension, and cancer.

Part II. Smart Fueling

Chapter 4. Nutrition Principles for Masters Athletes
We all know how to eat, right? But how are we to know how our food choices affect long-term overall health and sport performance in our ever-changing food landscape?

Chapter 5. Energizing Carbohydrate
Carbohydrate is key for energy during training or competition and for recovery. Learn to match your carbohydrate intake to your sport and goals, choose carbohydrates that fit your needs, and optimize intake for peak performance.

Chapter 6. Muscle-Building Protein
Activity and adequate protein intake keep muscles strong for healthy aging and impressive performance. Learn to time protein intake for maximum effect before, during, and after a training session or competition.

Chapter 7. Healthy Fat
Don’t be afraid. Dietary fat is a key part of a healthy diet for Masters athletes. Learn to incorporate it into your meals and snacks for optimum health.

Chapter 8. Supplements
Which supplements have scientific backing and which are a waste of money? Look past the hype to discover which supplements might be worth trying and which ones to leave behind.

Chapter 9. Fluid Needs
Eight glasses of water a day, right? Well, maybe not. Many factors influence fluid needs, including environment and activity level. Wade through the science to learn what to consume and when to consume it to keep tissues hydrated and thirst at bay.

Chapter 10. Underfueling
Tough competition and hard training can lead Masters athletes to unhealthy eating behaviors that jeopardize their health and sport goals. Early recognition and intervention are key to successful recovery from disordered eating and eating disorders.

Part III. Nutrient Timing

Chapter 11. Precompetition Fueling
Is carbohydrate loading necessary? How much fluids and protein should you take in? Learn to prepare your body for competition by feeding it what it really needs.

Chapter 12. Competition-Day Fueling
Proper fueling on the day of competition leads to better performances and happier, healthier Masters athletes at the finish line.

Chapter 13. Recovery Nutrition
After the competition, you need to feed and rehydrate your cells for proper recovery. After all, there’s always the next training session or competition to look forward to.

Lauren Antonucci, RDN, CSSD, CDE, CDN, is the owner and director of Nutrition Energy, where she creates individualized plans that fit the lifestyle of each client, helps them develop a healthy relationship with food and their bodies, and guides them to reach their nutrition and health goals. She is a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN), is certified by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics as a specialist in sports dietetics (CSSD), and is certified by the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators as a diabetes educator (CDE).

Antonucci has been running, swimming, and cycling for as long as she can remember and has completed 13 marathons (PR 3:09), three Ironman Triathlons, and countless other running and triathlon races. She is a sought-after presenter on the topic of sports nutrition and hydration, and she has presented at many professional conferences, including American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), USA Triathlon International Coaching Symposium, the Greater New York Dietetic Association (GNYDA), and many New York Road Runners (NYRR) events and New York City Marathon Expos. She has also presented to numerous collegiate athletic teams, most running and triathlon teams and clubs in New York City, and many corporate organizations.

Antonucci wrote a nutrition column for Triathlete magazine for three years and wrote for New York Road Runners magazine for over a decade. She has appeared on several television programs to provide practical advice on a wide array of nutrition and health topics, and her advice has also been featured in Runner’s World, Ironmanlive.com, NYTimes.com, Diabetes Self-Management, Time Out New York, Metrosports, and many other publications.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychobiology from Binghamton University, was awarded a fellowship in nutritional biochemistry at University of California at Berkeley, and earned a master’s degree in clinical nutrition from New York University. She lives in New York City with her husband and three children and is a proud Masters athlete.

“From my personal experience in the NFL, I know choosing high-quality foods and supplements impacted my recovery and longevity in the game. The expert guidance found in High-Performance Nutrition for Masters Athletes will help you learn how to meet your changing nutritional needs as you pursue your athletic journey.”
—Connor Barwin, Special Assistant for the Philadelphia Eagles and Former NFL Outside Linebacker

“I wish I’d had Lauren’s book 50 years ago . . . in the days when we'd have a cup of black instant coffee and a piece of cold pizza before our long Sunday run . . . in the days when road races were not ALLOWED to have water stations before 10 miles in an event. With the knowledge from High-Performance Nutrition for Masters Athletes, how much more effectively could we have prepared, how much better could we have performed, and how much healthier could we have been?"
—Kathrine Switzer, Author of Marathon Woman, First Woman to Officially Register for and Run the Boston Marathon, and Cofounder and Board Chair of 261 Fearless Inc.

“Nutrition becomes even more important as we age. High-Performance Nutrition for Masters Athletes gives you expert advice on how to fuel smarter, recover quicker, and enjoy moving at any age.”
—Meb Keflezighi, Winner of the Boston Marathon, the New York City Marathon, and an Olympic Medal

“Lauren Antonucci’s advice is grounded in both science and real-world experience. High-Performance Nutrition for Masters Athletes will be a valuable resource for all athletes who are looking to get the best from ourselves as we get older.”
—Gordon Bakoulis, Five-Time U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier, Running Coach, and Editorial Director of New York Road Runners

“It’s about time we have a fact-based bible for master athlete nutrition! Thank you, Lauren, for sharing your knowledge and experience. From the interviews with master athletes to your science-supported explanations and examples of what we really need, this book will help every master athlete do what they love with more energy and less injury, staying, as you highlight, competitive and active throughout their lives."
—Heidi Skolnik, MS, CDN, FACSM, President of Nutrition Conditioning LLC and Author of Nutrient Timing for Peak Performance

Benefits of Additional Protein Intake by Masters Athletes
Food and Mood: Carbohydrate Is Not Just for Muscles
Sample Prerace-day Meal Plan