Falling into Fall. Routine becomes welcome after a long summer. Cooler nights. Season passes purchased. Dreaming about new ski gear. All with the anticipation with what winter will bring.

With only 3 months to the hill being open - I bet your quads are screaming to get tuned so that they don’t have to burn on the hill.

Fitness programs geared toward skiers include balance, stability, strength and endurance. With every fitness program there should be thought put toward nutrition. Last thing you want is to burn out or injure yourself during the preseason - delaying your enjoyment on the hill.

Here are some tips for a preseason nutrition plan.

Load up I see all too often in my practice patients are not matching their calorie requirements. This happens with the diet conscious as well as the athlete. Many people think that in order to get fit that they need to reduce their calories. But remember as your weight routine increases - so should your calorie consumption. Low calorie diets run the risk of increasing your chance toward injury & dropping your lean body mass. You need that lean body mass for strong gluts and quads - the main muscles involved in skiing.

Go Heavy on Protein In my opinion - we don’t eat enough of protein throughout the day. Protein consumption should be about 1 gram protein per pound of body weight. Higher for those actively training or are injured. This can come in the form of chicken, fish, turkey, lean beef, dairy. If you aren't consuming enough, boost your protein intake with protein powders.

Fuel carbs around your workout Carbs are intended to give you power to your workout. Carbs are converted to glycogen, a form of energy stored in muscles. When you are working out your muscles can access that energy quickly. Without this energy you can't build muscle. Fruit, veggies, breads are all carb loaders.

Dampen inflammation through food Clean eating will help drop your baseline of inflammation. Benefits of eating well will improve your performance, quicken your post-workout recovery, provide you with more energy & support areas of your body that have had previous injury. This program is eating a whole food, minimally processed diet. Drop your intake of sugar, refined grains & trans fats. Eat like your great grandmother would have with lots of leafy greens, veggies, cold water fish, nuts and seeds.

Hydrate 60% of your body is made of water, help keep it that way. Make sure you are hydrating significantly - especially if you are sweating a ton during your workouts. Sometimes the simplest thing of drinking more water is a sure way to reduce injury , increase suppleness in your joints & improve pain tolerance. My rule of thumb is to drink a 1/3 of your body weight in fluid ounces, plus 8 ounces for every hour of exercise, and 8 ounces for any vice (alcohol, pop, juice or caffeine)

Mix It Up Remember to eat based on your activity level. We all incorporate rest days into our preseason life - days of walking, stretching and yoga - and those days should have a change in your nutrient needs. These rest days may be lighter intake days. Higher intensity activity days should have a matched level of carbs and dense protein. All too often I find patients stick to the same meal plan each day without consideration to their activity level.

To Wrap Up — think of your diet as a way of refueling your body helping you to recover and build muscle after a training session.