Lukas Znosko

In the world of sports, an athlete is constantly being pushed to their breaking points. They
put their bodies through constant stress and abuse in order to achieve their goals as athletes. With
all this going on, many can wonder, how do they do it? How can they possibly keep their bodies
maintained well enough to continue with their sports? A common idea could be that nutritional
habits can contribute a large amount to an athlete's success. But in all reality, do athletes know
what their nutritional habits are throughout the season, and do they know how it effects their
bodies? Through conducting research, I will attempt to answer this question. I will try to attempt
to do this by posing some key research questions, stemming from the Stasis Theory. In this
theory, it is said that these questions aim to answer the existence, cause and effect, value, and
action of a topic. My question of existence would be what can nutrition in sports be defined as?
The question of cause and effect will be what caused athletes to consider or not consider their
nutrition? The third question of value will be, what are the causes of this lack of knowledge, and
how can it effect the health and performance of an athlete? Lastly, my question of action will be,
how can we make sure athletes are better aware of what is happening to their bodies as their
seasons progress?
Sports nutrition is a very important and key component to the length of an athlete's
career. But how exactly can nutrition in sports be defined? Sports nutrition can be defined in
many ways, and can hold many different definitions. The problem with the definition is that it is
constantly changing and evolving to further expand on what it is and the importance of it. The
reason for this constant change is because of the research that goes into finding out the best ways
that athletes can stay in their best shape. Due to this, athletes are constantly having to adjust to

their habits of nutrition, and further seem to have trouble understanding what exactly it is that
nutrition does to their bodies. A great finding in my research that could help find an answer to
how to define sports nutrition was through the findings of S. Alderton and L. Chambers (2014) in
which they found:
After detailed consultation with the athlete, it was decided that a rapid reduction in body
fat and body mass was required to reduce the load through the knee, ankle joints and
connective tissue to avoid injury. (p.140).
This is an incredible finding as it allows insight into the vitality of nutrition in sports. Athletes
are required to put so much stress on their bodies, every advantage, and decrease of risk in injury
is huge! Therefore, sports nutrition can be best described as a strict dietary plan and habit that
drastically decreases the chances of an injury in athletes. The more athletes understand this, the
better chance they have of prolonging their careers and increase performance. Now with this
knowledge, what causes athletes to not have a better understanding of what nutrition does to their
bodies?
The idea of what athletes understand about nutrition is something that is growing and
growing in awareness every year. For instance, back in the days when it was considered "old
time hockey," most NHL players had no idea what they were fueling their bodies with. In those
days, players would show up to the rink, play their games, and go straight to the bars afterwards.
Night in and night out they were causing harm to their bodies by eating unhealthy. But that was
basically just because that was the way the game was played. Guys paid absolutely no attention
to anything. Even the gym, and a proper exercise protocol was not even a big thing! But even
now, looking at a majority of athletes, can the same still be said? In research conducted in

Montreal with the hockey team at McGill University, researchers used questionnaires to find out
if the athletes could see a change in their bodies without a proper meal plan and exercise plan for
a three month period. The results of these questionnaires were basically what the researchers
hypothesized. Their hypothesis was that the players would have had difficulty identifying the
amount of fat and lean tissue gained and lost. The statistics proved this as Prokop, Duncan, and
Andersen (2015) found:
No player had an accurate perception of the amount of total whole-body fat mass gained
or lost during the first semester (i.e., no player accurately identified his correct fluctuation
cate- gory, which were categorized by tissue mass changes of 2.5% (i.e., the equivalent to
5 lbs on a 200 lb person)). Only one-quarter of players perceived the accurate amount of
total whole-body lean tissue change. The players best perceived composition changes in
the arm region, with 20.8% and 37.5% of players identifying the correct amount of fat
and lean tissue, respectively. (p. 1058).
The players were asked in these questionnaires their perceived change in their full bodies. The
fact that these players have so little of an idea of what is happening to their bodies can be a pretty
clear indication as to why so many players are fatigued at all times.
I know myself personally, I am the same way. Losing weight in season has always been
an issue of mine. Playing hockey myself, I understand the stress of a hard fought season, but how
is it that athletes could know so little about what is happening to them? One possibility can be
found again in the research done by Alderton and Chambers (2014) which states:

Dr Currell highlighted several challenges for sports nutritionists when trying to advise
athletes, including competing opinions from other information sources (particularly the
Internet), as well as the common desire for a simple pill or potion, rather than long-term
dietary changes, to enhance performance. He described how a performance backwards
rather than nutrition upwards approach is taken by sports nutritionists at the English
Institute of Sport, which firstly focuses on the athletes performance to understand
precisely what is required of his or her sport and what he or she needs to achieve to win;
this information will be used as the framework for diet planning.
The fact that there are so many variables in the lives of athletes certainly makes it difficult for
nutritionists to be effective in advising athletes on how to properly take care of their bodies. Can
that lack of knowledge in the athletes stem from the very individuals that are responsible for
instructing these athletes on how to look after their health? Can that be the cause of the large
increase in injuries over the years? I mean, look at how many athletes now a days are suffering
from knee and ankle injuries. Are we providing athletes with the correct means of knowledge so
that they can better take care of themselves?
A big question that is still being attempted at being answered is how is it that we can fix
this problem? How do we provide athletes with a way to understand the way that their bodies are
being effected throughout their seasons and careers? A possible solution could be seen according
to Pelly (2007) with the following:
The first apparent advances in nutrition support occurred at the Sydney 2000 OG where
dietitians worked with caterers in the menu planning phase through to the implementation
of a broad range of services, including a website that allowed athletes to view the menu

before arriving in the village, education sessions for catering staff, design of nutrition
labels and a kiosk staffed by expert sports dietitians in the main dining hall. (p. 640)
In this example, it is clear the extensive measures that these dietitians took to ensure that the
athletes were properly informed on what they were consuming, and well educated as to how they
should also be taking care of their bodies. It is a huge investment, but one that is well worth it for
everyone involved! It creates that awareness that is so very much needed, and provides the
athletes a way to maintain their form.
In conclusion, I believe that sports nutrition is a topic that is in large need of addressing
to athletes. The way that it influences bone strength in such a way that can prevent so many more
injuries from taking place, and just how it overall changes the way and athlete produces in their
sports shows that it is with out a doubt something that needs to be changed. Through the hard
work of dietitians and coaches, I strongly believe that athletes need to hear the messages that
these individuals have for them as it can be the difference between a long career and a short one.
Bottom line, it is just that important.