Think about the difference between a power athlete like an offensive lineman and an endurance athlete like a long distance runner. The body composition of these two athletes is completely different, which requires different macro-nutrient balances and caloric loads to maintain. The type of fuel that those athletes need for performance and the timing that they need to receive it in is completely different as well.

An offensive lineman is going to make the same explosive movement ten, twenty, sixty times per game depending on the number of plays he is on the field. That movement is going to burn fuel both to be completed and to recover and reset. If that lineman wants to have as fast and as explosive of a first step off the line of scrimmage the sixtieth play as he did the first play– his body needs to have stored and processed enough quick burning fuel to use for the entire duration of the game. In many cases it will be necessary for this athlete to fuel both immediately before the game and during halftime in order to maintain proper energy stores.

Whereas the distance runner needs long burning fuel that can maintain her pace just as well through the first kilometer as it can the tenth. Not only does she need fuel that will provide energy for endurance, but when the competition is charging down the final stretch challenging for the finish line, she needs to be able to kick into high gear and sprint to the finish. The type of fuel that has been burned for the duration of the race differs from the fast burning fuel that is needed for the finish.

The explosive response of challenging a competitor in the final few meters of a race is much more similar to the fuel needs of an offensive lineman than the type of fuel the distance runner has burned for the rest of the race. Understanding the specific needs of individual athletes and the differences that exist even within the same sport is what differentiates the type of nutrition analysis that Rise Nutrition provides to teams.