Male Youth Nutrition for Endurance Sports: A look into the risks of Low Energy Availability

Endurance sports have a risk of the athletes developing intentionally or unintentionally LEA (low energy availability) which has higher prevalence in females, but should we be monitoring males, especially youth males for relative energy deficiency in sport (aka RED-S). An interesting study examined the special energy analysis of youth cyclists in season which occurs during hotter weather for possibility of LEA. By definition LEA is when daily consumption of <30kcal/ kg fat-free-mass. Eight subjects (age 16-17) who were elite road cyclists with an impressive mean VO2max of 67mL/min/kg underwent investigation. A 4-day food journal log was completed by the participants to obtain normative average caloric intake. Astonishingly, 100% of the cyclists had LEA based on their default diet and any peri-training nutrition.

In season total training volumes can elicit peak daily energy needs, which naturally

makes perfect sense. Interestingly, the associated heat did not affect energy balance significantly. Thus, to help alleviate the prevalence of LEA, two different interventions where performed. One strategy involved added CHO during exercise and the other variable was implementing a customized individual daily nutrition/ diet plan. Results of these two interventions found that adding CHO peri-training sessions only reduced the prevalence of LEA in one of the athletes.

However, when the suggested individualized daily diet was implemented, 7 of the 8 athletes were no longer in a state of LEA. Thus, a major takeaway is simply trying to add a few hundred kcal with CHO during training is not sufficient to meet the total caloric needs of elite youth male cyclist. Instead, to help mitigate the deleterious health and performance effects of LEA, a valid intervention is to educate and provide the athletes with dietary suggestions so adequate energy intakes are met.

Suggestions for how to apply the findings of the article to a youth road or mountain bike athlete would be as follows. According to recent research the odds are anywhere from 10-60% chance that you are currently experiencing LEA and higher risk when in-season compared to off-season training. Some athletes may intentionally restrict energy, but more often are simply not well informed or tracking nutrition accurately. Calculations should caloric intake that their sport demands additionally to their own growing body’s requirements.

Avoiding LEA is vital for both short-term and long-term health and sports performance. In fact, over the course of the study above, 1 of the 8 cyclists had to withdraw from the study due to “overuse” injuries. This athlete was in LEA in all phases of the study. Research with LEA in sports has demonstrated increased risk of injuries when LEA exists. In conclusion, research strongly suggests it vital for both health and performance in youth cyclists to avoid LEA in all phases of training and not be afraid of overconsumption of calories by adjusting CHO daily intake in the range of 6-12g/kg/day depending on the volume of training.

 References:

Tarocchi, M., Pellegrino, A., Skroce, K., Zignoli, A., Cavadini, L. C., Bodini, C., Pagliai, G., Toncelli, L., Stefani, L., Vanni, S., Boddi, M., Modesti, A., & Modesti, P. A. (2024). Assessing Energy Availability and Glucose Dynamics in Adolescent Cyclists: Implications for Nutritional Interventions During the Competitive Season. Nutrients, 16(22), 3824. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16223824

https://www.proquest.com/docview/3133173918?pq-origsite=primo&accountid=7971&searchKeywords=Nutritional%20Strategies%20for%20Endurance%20Cyclists&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals3)