How to Set Up Meal Plans for Athletes

Design the best meal plans for your athletes' sports and physiques.

Setting up meal plans for athletes is quite different from planning a regular diet. Because there are so many variables to consider with an athlete's diet you can't rush the planning process. In addition to careful planning, you also need to take into consideration the nutritional requirements of their particular sport and also their training regimen.

Instructions

1. Begin by assessing their nutritional needs thoroughly. Depending upon whether they are male or female their nutritional needs can vary significantly. The type of sport that they are involved in will also alter their nutritional and caloric requirements, so take this into careful consideration. For example, a male bodybuilder will have much different nutritional requirements than a female figure skater.

2. Listen to your athlete's concerns and requests. They might have certain foods that they like or dislike and it's important that you set up meal plans that they enjoy following. Some athletes require extra food at certain points during the day, or different days of the week, and they are the best people to explain this to you, so always make sure that you pay attention to them.

3. Lay out a rough draft of your plan. Using the information that you've obtained from them about their needs and requirements, take the time to lay out a preliminary draft of their meal plan. Setting up a spreadsheet on a computer works well for this because you can program it to automatically compute calories and adjust for any changes that you make.

4. Preview the plan with your athlete. You need to make sure that the plan you've created is to their liking and that they are comfortable with it. This is a good time to have them suggest and changes or modifications to the draft.

5. Make any necessary changes and finalize the plan. Once you've gotten input from your athlete you can edit the meal plan as needed and print out final copies. Don't forget to save the changes on your computer so you always have the most current meal plan on file.

Tips & Warnings

• Before planning any type of diet, make sure that you consult someone with the proper training to provide sound nutritional advice such as a doctor or registered dietitian. Don't rely on any advice that you read online to take the place of guidance from a qualified individual.

References

• Colorado State University Extension
• Eat Right from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Eat Right for Sports and Performance