How is this for a coincidence?  Last Thursday, I wrote a blog post on how to eat properly for your August football practice (which you can click here to read).  That morning the Columbus Dispatch has an article about the new dietician for the Ohio State football team that is really changing how the football players eat.  And the early results are pretty incredible.

Athletes are always trying to get in better shape.  Whether they are trying to lose weight, gain muscle, or have better conditioning, they focus it on the wrong area.  Usually, it is exercise.  I’m not downplaying the role of exercise, but it means nothing if you aren’t changing what you are putting into your mouth.  Just cause a sleek car looks good, it won’t go very fast if you aren’t putting the right kind of fuel into it.

I’m constantly amazed when I talk with my athletes what is fed to them before games.  Parents organize the “pre-game” meals, everybody is on a rotation to serve their kids food, then they drop the ball and give them just awful foods that zap their energy.  I’ve heard of athletes having pre-game foods such as doughnuts, pizza, and fried chicken.  You are sending these athletes into battle with one weapon in their arsenal rendered completely useless.

Can you believe an elite football program such as Ohio State hadn’t had a dietician assigned to their program before?

The school has dieticians assigned to the collegiate athletes, but usually Ohio State has their own individual coaches.  The sports program has strength coaches, the football team has their own strength coach.  The sports program has a weight room, the football team has their own weight room.  The sports program has their rehab area, the football team has their own rehab area.  Get the point.

But, a dietician was not part of the program for the team.  That was until Urban Meyer came along.  Urban Meyer has a complete holistic approach to developing an athlete and that includes a proper diet.  He told his strength coach, Mickey Marotti, he approached the athletic director, Gene Smith, and not long after, the football team had their first dietician.  The honors went to Sarah Wick, an OSU dietician.

She has said that their department had been trying to make in-roads to the football program for years, but “they just weren’t ready to embrace it.”  Now that has all changed.

Since Wick started the program, the football team has lost a combined 457 pounds of fat while gaining 520 pounds of muscle mass.  Impressive!  I’ve always told football players it isn’t about gaining weight, it’s about what type of weight you have.  If all you are going to do is put on 10 pounds of mostly fat, how does that make you move faster on the field?  How does that make you stronger?  We’re in a very knowledgeable era and we know how nutrition will benefit you as an athlete.  Take advantage of it.

Wick had each player’s body composition done and then analyzed it to see how it fit his particular position.  They were then given a detailed plan to accomplish not only keeping their energy levels high to handle the rigors of the off-season workouts, but whatever else each athlete needed to do.  Some athletes needed to lose weight and some needed to gain muscle.

Jonathan Hankins is a defensive tackle that has lost 25 pounds already, but also gained muscle in the process.  His bodyfat has dropped from 28 percent to 21 percent.  He feels more energized and at the end of workouts still has something left in the tank.   Before, when he had more bodyfat, he was always exhausted.

Hankins now eats a more balanced diet.  He can still have foods he loves, like say french fries, but he now balances it with more fruits and vegetables.  He used to never eat breakfast.  Imagine that, an athlete not eating breakfast (unfortunately probably more common than you think).  And he wonders why he got so tired all the time.  Now he will eat an omelet, a bagel, fruit, water, and orange juice.

Boy, that seems very similar to the breakfast I told you to eat in my last blog post.  D@mn, I am good!!

Hydration is also key (another point I made in that last post).  Wick wants her football players drinking 75 percent of their body weight in fluid ounces per day.  For a guy like Hankins, that is at least a gallon and a half of liquid.  To get more details, you should re-read that last post I did as I give you a couple of specific numbers to attain while staying hydrated.

I think this is all good stuff and re-affirms what I’ve been trying to tell you.  Urban Meyer is one of the top 5 coaches in the country, coaching a collegiate football program that is probably in the top 5 as well.  If it is good enough for those athletes, why wouldn’t it be good enough for you??

Nutrition is the one thing you don’t have to have an athletic gift for.  Just go out and get the proper food and drinks you need and start consuming them consistently.  You’ll feel better and it will kick-start your body to newer and better things.  Trust me.

If you would like to read this article on the Columbus Dispatch’s website do it soon.  They usually archive these articles after 7 days, but I’ll leave this link up nonetheless.  Click here to read the Sarah Wick article entitled, “Buckeyes Now Health Nuts.”