Book Review: Nutrition Periodization for Athletes

Time for another book review, this time we’re talking about “Nutrition Periodization for Athletes: Taking Traditional Sports Nutrition to the Next Level” by 2008 Olympic Dietitian Bob Seebohar published by Bull Publishing Company.
This is the kind of reading we love here @TheIronYou, as it underscores all the things we believe in.
If you’re looking for something to read that eventually will help you with your training (and life) well, this is the book for you.

First of all the author points out how the traditional belief that the nutritional element is only important around the time of athletic competition has to be consider old-school and should be left behind in the past, where it belongs.

The so-called “new school” approach instead calls for a year-round, periodized nutrition plan and to the health benefits that this can bring. The body has different “fuel demands” depending on the training period. Such demands shall be addressed by adjusting your nutrition throughout the year. That’s why we’re talking about nutrition periodization: each period of time shall have its “personalized” nutrition plan. However, that’s not all, because in the wellness equation other several factors should be considered: body composition, weight management, metabolic efficiency, and maintaining a healthy immune system. When all these factors are weighted in you can finally built a personalized nutrition plan that will make your engine (i.e, your body) run at optimal efficiency.

A variety of training cycles are outlined in the book (that at some points sounds almost like a guide) accompanied by specific physiological goals such as increasing endurance, speed, strength, and power and improving technique, tactics, and economy.

Covering every sport from football and golf to track and field and martial arts, this book addresses the true needs of athletes who are training and competing on a consistent basis.
Nutrition Periodization for Athletes shows you how to gain a competitive edge by using the newest techniques that sports science and research has to offer.
Depending on your sport, your nutrition goals may include losing or gaining weight, decreasing body fat and increasing lean muscle mass, reducing inflammation and free radical production, or improving blood lipids. This "guide" provides athletes with everything they need to understand the concept and implement it during daily training.
Within six chapter the author gives you all the tools to apply the strategy to a variety of sports and no matter what level of athlete you are, the book covers optimal fueling plans for everyone striving for peak health and performance.

But that’s not it, the book also goes beyond nutrition periodization and offers guidance on supplementation, nutrition travel tips, understanding inflammation, iron deficiency and sweat and sodium losses.

The author “immense” knowledge and years of experience working with all types of athletes as a sports dietitian, coach and exercise physiologist are unique.
Also, the fact that Bob Seehobar also practices what he preaches (being an athlete himself) makes the whole process much reletable to us @TheIronYou (where we are our own rat-laboratory).
Even if you don’t consider yourself an athlete (but let me tell you just surviving today’s world makes you an athlete) consider reading this book. At the end, even if you won’t make it to the next Olympic games, you’ll probably be left with a better understanding of how your body works and what are its need.

The Iron You

You can get a copy of this book at amazon.com