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Friday 4: Mastering Nutrition Calculations for Athletes
1. Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) aka Maintenance
There are several ways to calculate TDEE, but remember that these numbers are estimates. However, you can still predict an athlete's maintenance calorie range even through estimation.
There are 2 key steps to calculating TDEE:
- First, you'll need to calculate the athlete's Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)
- Then, you'll multiply their RMR by an activity level
When it comes to the CSCS, if you're studying for the exam, you will definitely need to know how to calculate an athlete's energy needs using the Cunningham equation 500 + (22 x Lean Body Mass in kg)). Keep in mind the Cunningham only gets you their RMR. You must multiply their RMR by their activity level to get their TDEE.
Here's an example of how to use the Cunningham Equation & Activity Level Multiplier:
- An in-season 60kg female athlete 20% body fat, trains 2x per week, plays basketball x3 per week, & gets an average of about 10000 steps per day
- Calculate lean mass
- 60kg x 0.20 = 12kg of body fat
- 60kg - 12kg = 48kg lean mass
- Apply the Cunningham Equation
- 500 + (22 x 48kg))
- 22 x 48 = 1056 (calories)
- 500 + 1056 = 1556 calories as a RMR
- 1.2 = little or no exercise per week, < 5000 steps per day
- 1.375 = light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week, at or under 10,000 steps per day
- 1.55 = moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week, 10,000 steps per day
- 1.725 = hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/week, 10,000 steps per day
- 1.9 = very hard exercise/sports & physical job or training 2x per day, 10,000 steps per day
- 1556 (calories) x 1.55 = 2412 estimated TDEEMultiply by an activity factor
If you want to read more about TDEE & check out some more examples, this blog article covers 3 different ways to calculate TDEE.
2. Calculating Deficit, Maintenance, & Surplus Protein Needs for Athletes
For athletes who are looking to change their body composition, you'll need to know that their protein intake range will be different. The difference is based on where their intake will fall compared to their TDEE.
- Deficit = below estimated TDEE, with protein at 1.8-2.7g/kg of body weight per day (or 2.3-3.1g/kg of lean body mass per day)
- Maintenance = near estimated TDEE, with protein at 1.4-1.8g/kg of body weight per day
- Surplus = above estimated TDEE, with protein at 1.5-2.0g/kg of body weight per day
If we use the same example from above, a 60kg female athlete who is looking to maintain, we'd probably recommend that her daily protein intake fall between 84g & 108g per day.
Ideally, we want the timing of protein intake to be evenly spaced throughout the day. Meaning, meals and possibly some snacks if needed:
- at least 3 meals of 30g of protein or more per day in healthy young adults
- older adults, 3 meals with at least 40g of protein per day
3. Calculating Carb Needs for Athletes
Once you have your protein level set, you'll move on to carbs. Just like protein, carbs are also set using g per kilogram of body weight. In 2023, NSCA changed their recommendations for endurance and strength athlete protein intake to a single range (the maintenance range of 1.4-1.8g/kg body weight). However, carb recommendations have not been changed. Carbs are still set based on the activity level of the athlete.
In general, NSCA recommends the following ranges for athlete carb intake:
- Endurance Athletes: 8-10g/kg of body weight
- Strength Athletes: 5-6g/kg of body weight
In the protein example above, you might have been surprised that the upper range of her protein intake was 108. When we look at maintenance intake, though, we'll want to be mindful that carbs will be the priority. Carbs help provide quick energy to the body through glucose to anaerobic (and aerobic) glycolysis.
- Keeping with the 60kg athlete above, we would use the strength athlete range and recommend that she set her carb intake anywhere from 300g to 360g per day.
- Note: For carb loading, endurance athletes can increase carbs to 10-12 g/kg BW/day
4. Calculating Fat Needs for Athletes
Fats are unique because we set these levels based on a percentage, not on g/kg of body weight. So, we just follow the RDA recommended dietary allowance of 20-35% of an athlete's total calories to fats.
As we did with all of the other sections above, let's calculate the 60kg female athlete's fat intake based on her estimated TDEE of 2412 calories, which we calculated in section 1.
- 2412 x .20 = 482 calories per day
- 2412 x .35 = 844 calories per day
Don't forget that you'll want to convert those calories to grams for the athlete. So in this case, 482 calories/ 9 calories per gram of fat = 54g and 844/9 = 94g
Bonus: TDEE + Macronutrient Ranges
If we put everything together from all 4 sections, here's what it might look like:
- 2412 calories per day
- 84-108g of protein per day
- 300-360g of carbs per day
- 54-94g per day
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