Sports nutrition for traditional team and individual sports has expanded significantly in the past decade. Many colleges and professional teams have progressed from operating with minimal nutrition support to establishing entire sports nutrition departments with multiple full-time dietitians. Similarly, research in sports nutrition has boomed, advancing the industry as a whole, how athletes fuel, and how sports dietitians guide them.
However, the growth of sports nutrition has left a notable gap when it comes to action sports, also known as extreme sports. Many action sport athletes may have never worked with a sports dietitian, and our research-based knowledge about them is limited. Sports nutrition research tends to focus primarily on relatively young collegiate, professional, and recreational male athletes in traditional sports like soccer, rugby, weightlifting, running, cycling, and swimming.
Despite this, the need for elite nutrition support for action sports is entirely valid. Action sport athletes use their bodies to execute precise maneuvers in extreme environments, requiring balance, coordination, focus, strength, power, and endurance to repeatedly conquer impressive feats. While research specifically on action sports is limited, it is growing and adding to our knowledge of what these athletes need from a nutrition perspective.
Extreme sport: designating or relating to (a version of) a sport or pastime performed in a hazardous environment or involving great physical risk.
Action sport: a sport involving vigorous activity.
These definitions, though vague, accurately encompass a diverse range of sports and activities within this category. Examples include motocross, skateboarding, surfing, kiteboarding, rock climbing, bouldering, wakeboarding, snowboarding, skiing, BMX, mountain biking, off-road racing (baja trucks, ATV, UTV), cliff diving, hang gliding, jet skiing, snowmobiling, mountaineering, and white-water rafting. Each of these sports can certainly be vigorous, involve significant physical risk, and occur in hazardous environments.
Vigorous activity and hazardous environments create ample opportunity for injury. Nutrition strategies for mitigating injury, such as hydration protocols and collagen to reduce the risk of soft tissue and joint damage, or omega-3s and creatine to protect the brain in the event of a head injury, should be a priority for action sports athletes. Furthermore, athletes who suffer from any kind of injury should consider nutrition a crucial tool for optimizing their recovery. Following a traumatic injury, poor nutrition can delay or complicate healing, hindering their return to the sport.
Action sports athletes have often been stereotyped as risk-takers with little regard for their health. However, this is contradicted by the increasing interest in nutrition and health within this population. It has been exciting to see action sport athletes speak out about their nutrition strategies, dispelling some of these long-held assumptions. While action sports events may be sponsored by snack and fast-food companies, and these foods can certainly be part of the sport's culture, athletes would be doing a disservice to their performance and recovery if they didn't prioritize nutrition. After all, the goal for any competitive athlete is to be the best and constantly strive to improve performance and win events.
To achieve these goals, individualized nutrition strategies are essential, not only to support the demands of their sport but also to improve recovery and facilitate an efficient return from injury. By integrating individual athlete demographics and sport-specific needs with insights from general and specialized sports nutrition research, practical experience, and human physiology, an effective action sport nutrition strategy can be implemented.
Factors to Consider
Several unique factors can greatly affect an action sport athlete’s nutrition needs:
- Weather: Exposing these athletes to extreme heat or cold and other unfavorable conditions (wind, rain, ice, etc.).
- Event duration: Events ranging from a couple of minutes to multiple days or even weeks.
- Event location: The unique environment and terrain can affect intensity, and accessibility can impact how an athlete fuels and plans.
- Gear and equipment: Extreme sports can involve heavy equipment, requiring effort for the athlete to maneuver, and protective gear that adds another layer of heat management to the nutrition strategy.
- Event intensity: While intensity can vary, action sports are typically exciting and vigorous, placing high demands on the athlete's body.
- Stress: Both physical and psychological stress are huge factors, encompassing performance and anticipatory anxiety, high physical impact, and mentally challenging tasks, sometimes including navigation, layered on top of physical exertion.
With these unique factors in mind, an athlete’s nutrition strategy should cover their energy, hydration, and unique nutrient needs to support optimal performance, recovery, and health. This can look very different depending on the sport and its demands. For example, while a professional surfer must strategize hydration and fueling around their time on the board, an off-road rally driver must plan for multiple days in and out of the vehicle to maintain energy and focus. Improved access to qualified sports dietitians and sports nutrition resources will help these athletes optimize fueling and hydration for their specific sport.
Action sports are long overdue for recognition in the realm of sports nutrition. Greater acknowledgment of the distinct demands these athletes face should pave the way for increased research and resources, ultimately empowering them to perform at their peak. Let's champion this essential shift in sports nutrition together.