Sports Nutrition Courses
How To Choose the Right One

There are many reasons why you should take the time to explore sports nutrition courses. Chief among these are to ensure the choices you make are the right ones for you.

Sporting success nowadays is largely dependant on having a multi-disciplinary approach to improving performance. A key part of this process is to make the best use of all the sport sciences available to you. Sports nutrition is one of these sciences and a good sports nutritionist can be an invaluable member of a multi-disciplinary approach to a sports person or a sports team.

I have personally consulted with sports nutritionists for the athlete I coach and in my role as an elite sports coach I have seen the positive effect that a good nutritionist can have on performance. I would go so far as to say that a good sports nutritionist can literally be worth their weight in gold - gold medals that is!

Considerations

When you are looking into the types and levels of courses you should keep the following things in mind:

The course curriculum;
The level of the course;
The availability of the course – online or residential, and…
Whether or not the course is recognized by the industry.

Making Your Choice

Sports nutritionists tend to come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. For example, you may want to become a sport nutritionist because:

You are looking for sports nutritional information for your own needs i.e. you are involved in sport;
You might be a physical trainer who wants to offer a little more to your clients;
You might be a regular dietician who would like to move into the sport side of the industry;
You might be a sports coach who wants to add another string to your bow and better meet the needs of the athletes in your care;
You could be an existing sports nutritionist with CPD (continuing Professional Development) needs.

What Should Nutrition Courses Offer?

Good sports nutrition courses (depending on the level of the course), should offer information, insights and solutions to a multitude of nutritional issues such as:

Carbohydrates;
Glycaemic index and glycaemic load;
Calorie and energy requirement of athletes;
Managing weight loss in sports people;
Protein and essential amino acids and issues surrounding too much and too little protein for athletes;
Vitamins and minerals;
Antioxidants and free radical damage;
Planning and managing nutritional strategies with clients;
Hydration and dehydration issues;
Isotonic, hypotonic and hypertonic sports drinks.

Hopefully, this article answers most of your questions on the how and why you should choose your sports nutrition courses carefully.

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More information about a good sports nutrition diet in the Sports Nutrition Guide