Blog Takeover: Meet Amy

The Evolution of Nutrition in the Sport of Gymnastics

Gymnastics has been my life since I was 9 years old, and from the early years, it was drilled into my head that gymnasts were small and skinny. Although I was very successful, I battled this stigma for my entire career.  The common thread was that nobody cared how you stayed thin, just as long as you were actually thin.  Nutrition was never discussed other then, “Just eat a salad” and that caused many of us to really struggle. I entered college on a scholarship, and my letter of intent included a weight that I was to report at in order to keep my scholarship.  Yes, a signed contract that I would weight a certain amount. I felt like I was more of a number, and less of a human.

I was 5’6.5’’ tall and had a muscular build. My freshman year was a nightmare struggling to maintain the weight that my coach “assigned” to me. I actually survived on canned green beans and yogurt- it is no wonder that my performance suffered! My sophomore year, the Physiology department took on our weight and conditioning program.  For the first time we were given input on sensible and nutritionally sound foods to eat, hydration, timing of meals, and the IMPORTANCE of eating. That was a whole new approach. Unfortunately, an injury cut my career short, but when one door closed another opened.

Amy second from the right, with her assistant coaches.

When my competition career ended, at the age of 19, I jumped right into coaching, as well as triathlon.  This is when I really started understanding the link between what you eat and how you compete. As a coach,  I was able to be a much better resource and counselor to my athletes on nutrition and weight maintenance than anything I ever received, and it created a much healthier and happy environment for the athletes.  The whole idea of EATING became a priority instead of something that was to be avoided.  We talked a lot about WHAT to eat to best refuel their physical bodies, and what foods were best before competitions, after competitions and everything in between. I think this can serve as an important reminder to coaches of just how huge of an impact you have on your athletes. I don’t take this responsibility lightly to try and help them create as healthy and balanced a foundation as possible

I am very happy to see that the sport of Gymnastics has evolved from a sport that only includes little gymnasts that are 5 feet tall and 90 pounds, to a sport that includes much more diverse body types from the beginner to the most elite gymnast. Nutrition is most definitely a huge aspect of it, but it is seen as a necessary tool to help fuel your body, rather than something to limit and avoid.

-Amy