E104: Tom Herbert- Supplements, fueling and nutrition tips from an elite climbing nutritionist
Jul 3, 2024
auto_awesome
Elite climbing nutritionist Tom Herbert simplifies nutrition advice, covering body composition, fueling for training, and supplements. Topics include protein & carbs importance, managing expectations, intermittent fasting benefits, debunking BCAAs, and discussing caffeine impact on climbing performance.
Consistency in pairing protein and carbohydrates before and after training sessions optimizes performance over time.
Psychological aspects of eating habits are crucial, shifting focus from mere nutrition to understanding behavior and motivations.
Supplements should be strategically chosen to enhance climbing performance, considering benefits and proper usage.
Individualized nutrition balance is essential, blending intuition and structured approaches while prioritizing health and performance goals.
Distinguishing between development and performance nutrition is vital for long-term health and short-term climbing success.
Deep dives
Importance of Protein and Carbohydrates in Training Sessions
Consistent practice of bookending training sessions with protein and carbohydrates is highlighted as a key method shared by the nutritionist in the podcast. The speaker underlines the significance of this practice, emphasizing its consistency over time in optimizing training performance.
Evolution in Nutrition Focus towards Psychological Aspects
The podcast delves into the evolving focus on the psychology of eating, showcasing the nutritionist's shift towards understanding the psychological nuances around dietary habits. This change reflects a deeper exploration beyond conventional nutrition into the motivations and behaviors influencing individuals' relationships with food.
Role of Supplements in Climbing Performance
A discussion on the role of supplements in climbing performance is featured, with the nutritionist offering insights on their benefits and ranking based on their perceived helpfulness. The podcast sheds light on the practical implications of incorporating supplements into climbing routines for enhanced performance and recovery.
Navigating Psychological Barriers and Indicators of Balanced Eating
The podcast explores navigating psychological barriers and indicators of balanced eating, reflecting on the delicate balance between intuition and mechanical approaches to nutrition. It addresses individuality in dietary habits, the impact of willpower, and the importance of finding a personalized balance that aligns with one's goals and overall well-being.
Understanding the Importance of Flexibility in Nutrition and Performance
Flexibility and curiosity play crucial roles in nutrition and performance. Exploring different dietary patterns, such as intermittent fasting or manipulating food intake, can impact immediate performance outcomes like body weight without compromising health in the long term. Recognizing the balance between health and short-term performance optimizations is essential to navigate the dynamic demands of climbing.
Navigating Development Nutrition and Performance Nutrition
Distinguishing between development nutrition and performance nutrition is key in climbing. Development nutrition focuses on fostering overall health and supporting training volume, emphasizing robust capacity and recovery. Performance nutrition involves acute manipulation of variables like body weight to optimize climbing performance, acknowledging the short-term nature of these strategies.
Balancing Health and Performance in Climbing
Maintaining a balance between health and performance in climbing is vital. Prioritizing a healthy athlete leads to optimal performance outcomes in the long run. Understanding when to emphasize development nutrition for health and performance nutrition for acute climbing goals allows climbers to navigate the complexities of optimal nutrition strategies.
Challenging Notions of Body Weight and Climbing Performance
Challenging conventional wisdom on body weight and climbing ability is critical. While body weight manipulation can impact climbing performance, focusing solely on weight optimization without considering overall health can lead to potential pitfalls. Addressing the nuanced relationship between body weight and climbing performance requires a holistic approach that balances short-term gains with long-term well-being.
Collagen Supplementation
Considered a 1%, collagen supplementation may benefit those recovering from injuries if budget allows. While previous data suggested minimal impact, recent studies indicate some potential benefits, possibly due to signaling peptides' effects on tissue recovery. The lack of strong evidence makes collagen's efficacy uncertain, but it poses no harm other than potential financial and ecological impacts.
Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs)
BCAAs are deemed unnecessary, offering little advantage over essential amino acids (EAAs). EAAs, containing BCAAs and additional amino acids, are considered a more effective choice compared to isolated BCAAs. Using BCAAs, especially in excess or as a standalone supplement, may not align with optimal performance and can lead to oversupplementation of vitamins and minerals.
Tom is back! Tom is a nutritionist that has worked extensively with climbers from all across the grade spectrum. He has a huge wealth of knowledge with all things nutrition but he also has a gift for cutting through the sciencey mumbo-jumbo and offering well simplified and usable advice. We cover a bunch of topics relating to body composition, how to fuel to maximise your training time and we also run through a bunch of supplements to see which ones we should be taking and which ones are best left to the people who are getting them for free!
If you're enjoying our podcast and would like to support us please do consider checking out our Patreon, where amongst otherthings you will find an extra half an hour of content from this episode!
