If your coach is not manipulating your nutrition to help you perform at your best, get a new coach. If your coach is not open to improved methodologies in training (and nutrition) and only does what’s been done before, get a new coach.

Holistic Training: More Than Just Workouts

Athletes don’t operate in a vacuum. Their ability to perform isn’t just about the sets, reps, and drills they do on the field or in the gym — it’s about how they recover, how they fuel, how they manage stress, and how their bodies adapt to changing demands. True performance optimization requires a holistic approach that accounts for both internal and external stressors.

• Internal stressors include nutrition, sleep, hormonal balance, immune function, and metabolic flexibility.
• External stressors include training volume, intensity, recovery strategies, environmental conditions, and psychological stress.

A well-rounded training methodology recognizes that adaptation happens at the system level, not just in isolated muscle groups or energy systems. Athletes are constantly being encouraged to push the envelope in training techniques, recovery protocols, and biomechanics. But when it comes to nutrition, many coaches suddenly throw up a mental roadblock, ignoring emerging science in favor of outdated dogma.

And that’s the problem.

The Double Standard in Training vs. Nutrition

Scientific Journal Article: “This new training protocol will increase your athletes’ lactate threshold.”
Coach: “Let’s try this and see what happens.”

Sports Science PhD on YouTube: “Try this exercise to improve your athletes’ power output.”
Coach: “Let’s try this and see what happens.”

Another coach at a weekend strength and conditioning clinic: “You have to try this equipment I just started using. It’s making a huge difference in how much volume my athletes can handle.”
Coach: “Let’s try this and see what happens.”

But when the conversation turns to nutrition? Suddenly, curiosity turns into dogma.

Scientific Journal Article: “Fat adaptation actively reduces lactate build-up and has demonstrated a higher lactate threshold in athletes.”
Coach: “You need carbs. That’s stupid.”

Ketogenic Sports Science PhD on YouTube: “Fat adaptation has shown no decrease in performance while improving VO2 max and glycolytic crossover point.”
Coach: “You need carbs. That’s stupid.”

Another coach at a weekend strength and conditioning clinic: “Once my athletes got fat-adapted, they were able to add a full day of training to their schedule without overtraining.”
Coach: “You need carbs. That’s stupid.”

This double standard is holding athletes back. Why are training innovations welcomed with open arms, yet any advancement in nutrition is dismissed outright?

Coaches and Athletes, It’s Time to Adapt

Coaches, if you pride yourself on using cutting-edge training methods, why would you ignore advancements in nutrition science? If the goal is maximizing performance, endurance, and recovery, then the way athletes fuel their bodies has to evolve alongside training methodologies. The idea that carbs are mandatory for peak performance is based on outdated models of energy metabolism that don’t account for metabolic flexibility, fat adaptation, or the body’s ability to optimize fuel utilization based on demand.

Athletes, take control of your performance. If your coach isn’t open to exploring nutrition strategies that could give you an edge, ask why. Your body doesn’t stop adapting when training is over — fueling properly is as critical as lifting, running, and practicing your sport.

The best training program in the world won’t work if your nutrition works against it. It’s time to stop clinging to tradition and start adapting to science.

If training methods are constantly evolving, nutrition protocols should, too.