“My gymnast just wants to feel light when competing.”

If you’ve heard this phrase, or your gymnast has said it herself, this episode is for you.

When a gymnast says she wants to feel light when competing, she might THINK she's talking about a number on the scale. But she’s really trying to describe something deeper. She wants to move faster. She wants to feel powerful and explosive. She wants skills to feel effortless instead of heavy and stuck. She wants to look dynamic, confident, and sharp under pressure.

But here’s the problem.
Most gymnasts are chasing the feeling of being “light” in ways that actually make them feel slower, weaker, flatter, and more anxious when it matters most.

In today’s episode, we break down what it really takes to achieve a faster, more powerful and dynamic way of competing. And why so many gymnasts are unintentionally sabotaging that goal.

You’ll learn the three biggest mistakes gymnasts make when trying to feel light in the gym, and what actually matters from a physiological, nervous system, and fueling standpoint.

If your gymnast has been chasing that “light” feeling by eating less, skipping meals, or fearing fuel, this conversation will shift how you think about performance forever.

Because the gymnasts who look light aren’t empty.
They’re prepared.

🎧 Listen now and learn more about why Gymnasts Say They Want to Feel Light When Competing (And What Actually Works)

Links & Resources

• Episode 77: Gymnast Nervous Stomach and Competition Nutrition
• The Ultimate Guide to Gymnastics Competition Season Nutrition
• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com

Is it “too late” to start working on your gymnast’s nutrition this competition season?

Short answer: “NO”

SO MUCH can happen in just a few weeks of proper, adequate fueling to support your gymnast’s health, recovery, and performance.

Some things can improve really quickly

✅ Heavy legs/muscles (often from inadequate carb intake/poor recovery)

✅ Fatigue/lethargy

✅ Headaches/stomachaches

✅ Poor mood/emotion regulation

✅ Energy, power, endurance during long workouts

Other things take more time

❌ bone injury healing (stress reaction/fracture/break)

❌ poor growth/development

❌ GI issues (bloating, constipation)

❌ primary or secondary amenorrhea (no period)

❌ intense burnout/overtraining related fatigue (nervous system)

❌ body composition changes

Time is marching on whether you like it or not, and underfueling is sneaky and often not seen by the naked eye

Will this add to your “mental load” this spring?

Yes and no.

Links & Resources

• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com

Does your gymnast really need to eat less when she’s injured?
This is one of the most common and most damaging assumptions parents make during time off from the gym. In this episode, we break down gymnast nutrition needs during injury and why cutting food, especially carbohydrates, often does the opposite of what parents intend.

When a gymnast is injured, her body isn’t “doing less.” It’s working overtime. And 99% of high level gymnasts have no business eating less during recovery. Under-fueling during injury slows repair and can turn a short recovery window into a long, frustrating setback. Or lead to re-injury sooner than later.

We’ll talk about:

• Why injury is not the time to “clean up” or restrict food
• How under-fueling during injury increases time out of the gym
• The critical role carbs play in repair and recovery
• Why eating less raises the risk of re-injury when training resumes
• How to fuel strategically so your gymnast comes back stronger, not depleted

If your gymnast is injured or you want to prevent a slow, incomplete recovery in the future, this episode will help you rethink how nutrition supports healing and long-term performance.

🎧 Listen now and learn more about your gymnast's needs during injury; how to fuel recovery the smart way.

Links & Resources

• Episode 135: How to Support Your Gymnast’s Nutrition When it’s a Rebuilding Season
• Episode 20: 8 Truths About Injury Nutrition for the Gymnast
• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com

Gymnast parents have been joining me for a FREE weekly webinar each week of December: the FUELED Comp Season Series. Each Tuesday this month at noon MT, I’m covering a key topic your gymnast needs to navigate competition season successfully. So today let's talk about Competition Nutrition Strategies from Level 5-10 and Elite gymnasts

With the 2026 competition season upon us, we're going to focus on the varying needs for competition nutrition strategies for gymnastics at the different levels.

Every new level brings with it new challenges and opportunities.

It's easy to get distracted with things your gymnast doesn't need yet...

Or spend years (and money!) on things that aren't what they really need in the long run. From marathon long meets, to weird session times, to nerves and pressure kicking in, there's a lot more than just gymnastics to navigate come competition time.

Things you need to think about at every level of this sport:

• Lower Optionals: Random session times = tricky fueling plans, young bodies can't hang onto fuel as well as older gymnasts.
• Level 8s: Skills are more demanding, talent is no longer enough to get through the skills, mental blocks, and where we really start seeing the underfueling injuries.
• Level 9s: BIG skills, lot more unpredictability, long sessions due to uneven group sizes plus late session times, and long meet seasons if trying to make it to Westerns/Easterns.
• Level 10: Talented gymnasts who can truly optimize every aspect of their fueling, repair and recovery, how much farther can they push performance?
• Elites: Schedules and logistics, different times zones, looong warmups and competitions, often away from their parents for most of the day.

Let's compare/contrast the challenges at each level with fueling, performance, staying healthy, etc.

What kind of competition nutrition strategies does your athlete need at their current level of gymnastics? Listen in to today's episode to dial in before season starts.

Links & Resources

• Episode 72: Fueled Gymnast Fall-How to keep your gymnast from imploding this competition season
• Episode 168: What can parents *actually* control to help their gymnast crush it this competition season?
• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com

Gymnast parents have been joining me for a FREE weekly webinar each week of December: the FUELED Comp Season Series. Each Tuesday this month at noon MT, I’m covering a key topic your gymnast needs to navigate competition season successfully. So let's talk about how every tenth matters...would your gymnast’s nutrition score an 8.0 or a 9.5+?

Your gymnast SAYS she wants to do well this competition season...but does her nutrition really reflect her goals?

Most gymnasts' fueling would score in the 8.0 range... they're "giving tenths away" by missing out on the right foods, in the right amounts, at the right times to help them perform their BEST

Learn how your gymnast's nutrition score can go from that 8.0 to 9.5+ range when it comes to their fueling SO THAT they can reach their big goals + dreams this season (and for many after)

I'm talking about some of the most-over-looked aspects of fueling that gymnasts miss that are like literally "giving away tenths" in their routines.

And trust me, I'm a judge (actually, I really am. Going on 17+ years and a Nationally rated/NCAA USA Gymnastics judge so I do know a thing or two about how nutrition can level up your gymnast's performance.

If you want this to be the year your gymnast stops giving away tenths during her routines, this episode will show you what needs to change now. Before comp season chaos catches up.

Links & Resources

• Episode 72: Fueled Gymnast Fall-How to keep your gymnast from imploding this competition season
• Episode 168: What can parents *actually* control to help their gymnast crush it this competition season?
• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com

ICYMI… this week we launched our new, FREE, 4-week Zoom webinar: the FUELED Comp Season Series. Each Tuesday this month at noon MT, I’m covering a key topic your gymnast needs to navigate competition season successfully. First up: injuries, immune health, endurance/performance issues, and REDs during comp season.

In this episode, we’re diving into the overlooked connection between why so many gymnasts struggle with injuries, illness, and performance decline right when it matters most and REDs (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport).

This episode is especially for parents who:

• Have a gymnast training 20–30 hours a week, ideally Level 5/6 through Level 10 and elite (male and female gymnasts welcome).
• Have a gymnast with big goals and big dreams—whether that’s D1 college gymnastics or elite—and know they need to stay healthy, strong, and progressing over the next several years.
• Have watched their gymnast deal with injuries during comp season, repeated illness, or frustrating endurance/strength/power issues that don’t match their work ethic.
• Want to prevent the performance-limiting issues that silently build in the background and eventually derail progress.

Competitive season is a high-stress window for gymnasts—physically, mentally, and physiologically. When fueling isn’t adequate for the training load, this is often when REDs symptoms show up loud and clear:

• Never-ending fatigue
• Decreased strength or endurance
• Chronic or overuse injuries
• Poor recovery
• Back-to-back illnesses
• Inconsistent performance

Parents often assume these problems are “just part of season,” but they’re not. They’re warning signs.

If you want this to be the year your gymnast stops falling apart mid-season, stops getting injured or sick right before big meets, and finally performs to their true ability, this episode will show you what needs to change now. Before comp season stress catches up.

Links & Resources

• Episode 150: When denial gets in the way of nutrition for gymnasts [Replay]
• Episode 04: Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport and Gymnastics
• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com

In this episode, we’re having an honest conversation about gymnast bodies, growth, and the persistent (and harmful) belief that adults can (or should) control how a gymnast develops.

You cannot tell where a gymnast is in their growth trajectory just by looking at them or comparing them to their teammates. Growth is completely individual. It's shaped by genetics, prior growth patterns, and the adequacy of nutrition.

And yet, the sport continues to act like height, weight, or body type determines success. Spoiler: it doesn’t. Sure, being extremely tall may make certain events more challenging. But what will definitely hurt a gymnast's success is career ending injuries due to REDS. Can we just stop with adults making assumptions and “predictions” about gymnasts' bodies that often have no basis in science?

What’s even more frustrating? It’s almost 2026, and we STILL have coaches telling parents not to “overfeed” their gymnasts out of fear they’ll get “too big.” Nearly every time we hear this, it’s coming from an elite coach claiming they “know” everything about gymnast growth and development. Meanwhile, the gymnasts receiving this advice are commonly underfueled, behind in growth, and nowhere near the trajectory needed for long-term success.

Listen in to hear more about:

• Gymnast bodies need to grow in a way that’s right for them.
• And here’s what happens if you try to stop it.
• Strategies for supporting gymnasts' nutrition and growth

Links & Resources

• Episode 112: Is your “tiny gymnast” actually underfueled, or growing normally for them?
• Episode 157: Why your gymnast needs a pediatric/adolescent sports dietitian
• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com

Welcome back to Fueled Gymnast Fall, a podcast series on what you need to know about fueling your gymnast as we move into this next competitive season. Today, we’re tackling a major issue I see EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR: the mid-season implosion.

A lot of gymnasts start the season in one of two places:
✔️ Looking strong but already running on fumes, or
✔️ Already dealing with nagging injuries, chronic fatigue, or inconsistent training.

By January or February, the wheels start to fall off. And parents are left wondering, “How did we get here again?”

A mid-season implosion isn’t random. It’s predictable—and preventable—when you understand the warning signs and support your gymnast with the right fueling strategies.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know exactly how to help your gymnast avoid the mid-season implosion—the fatigue, injuries, illnesses, and burnout that derail even the most talented athletes.

We’re breaking it into three focus areas that matter most this time of year. In this episode you'll hear about:

• Closing the recovery gap (and what the recovery gap is!)
• Protecting immune health and sleep + biggest nutrition mistakes hurting immune health
• Being proactive instead of reactive: Creating systems that support consistency all season long

Links & Resources

• Episode 176 – Fueled Gymnast Fall: Are so many gymnasts really underfueled?
• Episode 168: What can parents *actually* control to help their gymnast crush it this competition season?
• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com