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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Sport and Exercise Nutrition
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1448197
This article is part of the Research Topic Food and Nutrition for Athletics: Redefining the Role and Application View all 5 articles

Dietary intake, energy availability, and power in men collegiate gymnasts

Provisionally accepted
Nicholas Kuhlman Nicholas Kuhlman 1Margaret T. Jones Margaret T. Jones 2*Andrew Jagim Andrew Jagim 3Meghan Magee Meghan Magee 4Luke Wilcox Luke Wilcox 5Jennifer Fields Jennifer Fields 1
  • 1 University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, United States
  • 2 George Mason University, Fairfax, United States
  • 3 Mayo Clinic Health System, La Crosse, WI, United States
  • 4 Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, United States
  • 5 Springfield College, Springfield, Illinois, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The purpose was to examine the prevalence of low energy availability (LEA), explore dietary behaviors in men collegiate gymnasts (n = 14), and investigate the relationships between energy availability (EA), body composition, and plyometric performance. Body composition was measured using air displacement plethysmography. Lower-and upper-body peak power (PWRpeak) and modified reactive strength index (RSImod) were calculated from countermovement jump (CMJ) and plyometric push-up (PP) assessments. Energy expenditure was tracked over 3 days, while daily energy and macronutrient intake were recorded. EA was calculated and used to categorize athletes into LEA and non-LEA groups. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to examine relationships between EA, body composition, and performance metrics. 85.7% of athletes (n = 12) exhibited LEA (20.98 ± 5.2 kcals/kg FFM), with non-LEA athletes (n = 2) marginally surpassing the <30 kcal/kg of fat-free mass (FFM) threshold (30.58 ± 0.2 kcals/kg FFM). The cohort (n = 14) consumed insufficient energy (30.5 ± 4.5 kcal/kg/d) and carbohydrates (3.7 ± 1.1 g/kg/d), resulting in LEA (22.36 ± 5.9 kcal/kg/FFM). EA was not correlated with body composition or performance metrics. A high prevalence of LEA may exist in men gymnasts, largely due to a low relative energy and carbohydrate intake.

    Keywords: Low energy availability, Body Composition, Reactive strength index, power output, Gymnastics

    Received: 12 Jun 2024; Accepted: 06 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kuhlman, Jones, Jagim, Magee, Wilcox and Fields. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Margaret T. Jones, George Mason University, Fairfax, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.