Teenage athletes have unique energy demands due to their growth, development, and increased physical activity.
They place significant demands on their bodies. Consequently, it’s imperative they fuel their bodies adequately to support all the demands of growth, recovery, and performance.
Recognising the diverse demands placed on teenage athletes, our Sports Nutrition Coaching approach is comprehensive. Focussing on healthy habits for planning & preparation, ensuring energy availability, hydration, recovery, sleep, and stress management.
Meet Orla, a promising and determined 14year old multi-event athlete at Cheltenham & County Harriers whose journey epitomises the essence of client success.
With Orla feeling sluggish and struggling with her sleep, her parents harboured concerns about her energy levels and overall vitality, prompting contemplation about potential underlying issues.
At this point they turned to Aliénor for advice.
Orla’s Journey Empowered by Sports Nutrition Coaching
Despite her low energy and her parents concerns for her health, from the get go Orla’s aspirations were clear: she aimed to enhance her athletic prowess.
In addition to her club athletics, Orla is also involved in other sports activities in and out of school. She is very active, with 15-19hours of intense activity or competitive preparation each week, and this on top school work! Not to mention the demands of significant physical and mental growth that is part and parcel of being a teenager.
Unveiling the Sports Nutrition Coaching Approach: Nourishing Body and Mind
It’s important the teenage athlete is in control of their journey, not their parents or sporting coach.
At Aliénor we are athlete led. We don’t direct or prescribe. We secure buy-in through discussion and encourage athlete ownership of their journey with our guidance and support. Our goal is to empower the teenage athlete. Enabling them to learn about how different habits and fuelling strategies affect their energy levels, performance and recovery.
How we worked with Orla
To understand Orla’s energy imbalances, we encouraged Orla to delve deep into her lifestyle choices. We helped Orla examine her dietary habits and training regimen to document a baseline for Orla.
The family enjoyed a generally healthy diet. However, Orla wasn’t properly hydrating or consuming enough calories to fuel her demanding training regimen and active lifestyle. She was also topping up her energy needs with the hollow calories of sweets and ultra-processed foods.
The information Orla provided indicated she was running an energy deficit and she showed signs of Low Energy Availability. Confirming the concern that Orla’s parents had rightly flagged. We were able to illustrate to Orla how her lifestyle choices were impacting her performance and wellbeing.
Embarking on Sports Nutrition Coaching with Orla, we initially focused on improving habits to support her hydration and calorie intake.
The actions that Orla opted to take, with our guidance, were all discussed and agreed with her. Including what success looked like, how it was measured and how it tied back to her personal goals.
Actions are framed as experiments and opportunities to learn. Orla was encouraged to notice how she felt before during and after a period of taking specific actions. Enabling her to connect how she felt with the behaviour she was practicing.
Small changes in a structured and methodical manner helped Orla understand specifically what worked well for her, and what didn’t.
With an upcoming event we explored specific fuelling strategies to help her manage her energy availability and support improved performance.
Conscious that the most compelling evidence is that which we witness for ourselves. We knew that the tangible results would demonstrate to Orla the power of the work she was doing with us.
During the competition Orla achieved no less than five personal bests across the seven events!
Orla and her mother, attributed the success to the changes Orla had made as a result of Sports Nutrition Coaching.
In a subsequent competition Orla unfortunately struggled, but why? Well, her mother tells us that for a variety of reasons Orla had reverted to some old behaviours. Orla hadn’t taken her fuelling as seriously and as a result her performance suffered.
The contrast between the performance in the two events provided a powerful contrast. Understanding what she had done differently confirmed to Orla the power of the habits developed through nutrition coaching.
Orla’s personal bests stand as tangible markers of Orla’s progress. Each PB and Orla’s subsequent experience is emblematic of the competitive advantage Sports Nutrition Coaching brings.
Success isn’t solely measured by victories on the field or track; it’s about the profound changes experienced within.
For Orla, success began with the realisation that optimal performance extends beyond physical capabilities. When the actions she was taking were causing her to feel better in herself her engagement shifted gear.
Embracing Growth
Orla’s journey serves as a beacon of inspiration. Illuminating the transformative potential of personalised Sports Nutrition Coaching in unlocking peak performance and fostering lifelong wellbeing.
We are extremely proud to support Orla as she continues her journey in pursuit of her ambitions.