Olympics and Nutrition

First off I hope everyone is enjoying watching the Olympics as much as I am. I can't get enough of these athletes putting it on the line - and if you can go online and look at some of the training these athletes do.

It goes without saying that most all of us would kill to have physiques as lean and muscular as the skiers or speed skaters. But look at how they train - trust me that they are not doing slow jogs, light weights for high reps, and cardio classes. These athletes train for performance so they lift heavy, and do alot of specific power training. Which means they move fast, and with challenging loads.

Bottom line is to look and move great don't do what most people do in the gym.

Now that rant is over I'll look at some nutritional research concerning performance from the latest Strength and Conditioning Journal.

A few studies separately look at popular energy drinks and potential benefits. Both studies, which reviewed other studies come to the general consensus that caffeine and taurine, two active ingredients most often found are what give a slight boost concerning muscular endurance. They do not, however, show any benefit to power or strength.

Another aspect most people need to think about when choosing a drink is sugar. Alot of popular drinks such as Monster or Rockstar have 27-30 grams PER SERVING of sugar. Keep in mind that you are getting more than one serving in most cans.

That is a lot of sugar which will likely be stored as fat if the rest of your diet is not absolutely on point. People have to account for this when calculating caloric goals if your goal is to be leaner.

So seeing as how caffeine is the active ingredient why not drink green tea (iced is great in the gym) or coffee? No calories, sugar, or other mystery ingredients often found in popular energy drinks.