Nutrition Over the Holidays

Race season is over and we are now in the base-building phase of the paddling year. Use this time to work on your stroke, your fitness level and your goals. Don’t forget the important role nutrition plays in all of these areas. The athlete’s diet can help to improve strength, optimize workouts and increase strength to weight ratio, ultimately improving your paddling performance.

During the next few months, a variety of topics will be touched upon on this site to help keep you on track this winter. Specific questions about Nutrition can be directed to Holly at pdxpaddling@gmail.com. A more detailed discussion of Nutrition will follow at Session #5.

Holiday Eating
Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas………ahhhhh, the holidays are upon us! For many, that means parties and gatherings where food and drink is the center of the occasion. The athlete’s diet does not mean treats and delicacies are forbidden. However, remember that you are still fueling your body for optimal performance. Everyday. Try to maintain your usual whole grain-rich, moderate fat, fruit and vegetable laden meals and use these occasions to enjoy favorite foods and sample new dishes and treats in moderation. Go easy on the alcohol. Listen to your body’s hunger cues to stop when you have had enough. (Remember, if you take a break from training through the holidays your calorie consumption should go down too.) For those of you whom it helps, continue tracking your intake to help you stick to your nutritional goals.

Remember, food brings most people great pleasure and should be enjoyed! But, finishing off the leftover Halloween candy before November 1 may not give you the edge you’re striving for!

Fitness & Off Water Training Homework

This seminar's focus will be about developing the tools to put a training plan together to bring out the best in the athlete over several periods. It will not be a session where you will walk away with a plan handed to you for training. Instead we will be discussing the skills needed to develop a plan on your own or with the help of a coach.

In preparation of the upcoming seminar:
Please document what you have done previously to develop your fitness and sport specific skills or if you have put together a training plan previously review the plan for areas of improvement. Consider the questions below and write the ones that speak directly to your experience in your journal with your comments/answers. The amount of detail that you enter into your journal is up to you, however, the more you document the better the overall picture will be for your plan and its follow through.

For those attending the seminar on November 8 please cut and paste the below portion into and email and send your answers/responses/observations to pdxpaddling so that we are one step ahead in understanding those that are attending.

For the Athlete:
Did workouts support and have specific goals?
Was your time spent productive?
Did you work from a Training plan? What was its outline?
Did you feel that the plan reflected your goals?
Were you able to follow the training schedule?
Did you buy 100% into the training?
Did your training plan include periodization?

As a coach:
Did you outline specific training routines for your athletes?
Did you develop a training plan targeted at the right level for the athlete?
Did you focus the training plan on the most experienced athlete in the group and support the less-experienced?
Did the workouts have goals?
Did periods have goals?
Did the athlete(s) excel? If so why or why not?
Were the expectations put onto the athletes higher/lower than the athletes were willing to commit too?
How did you connect with the athlete to drive optimal performance?