The athletes’ plates for runners, obstacle course racers, and endurance athletes
Thomas Solomon, PhD.
Reading time approx 3 minutes (800 words).
What are the athletes’ plates?
The Athletes’ Plates were developed by a collaboration between the United States Olympic Committee Sport Dietitians and the University of Colorado (UCCS) Sport Nutrition Graduate Program, and they were validated in 2019 (see Reguant-Closa et al.).
They provide a visual guide to help you learn what a variety of nutrient-dense foods look like. The birds-eye views of the easy, moderate, and hard training plates show the relative areas that different food groups should cover on your plate. Because your training load will vary from day to day and week to week depending on your training phase, eating to fuel your sessions (or races) and recover from them will depend on how hard your sessions are. So, the Athletes’ Plates provide useful visual cues about how the relative amounts of the different food groups might vary in relation to varying daily training loads.
The athletes’ plates for moderate training days
On moderate training days, your meals should aim to contain lean protein foods covering about a quarter of your plate, with the remaining three-quarters divided equally between whole-grain carbohydrate sources and vegetables. Moderate training day meals are relevant for days when your overall training load feels like a moderate exertion. This might include a short-duration tempo run, an easy to moderate exertion long run, or even a day when you train twice, with one of the sessions being with a focus on technical skills rather than running or lifting.
The moderate training day is your baseline from where you adjust your plate down for easy days, or up for hard days and race days.
Reguant-Closa et al. (2019) Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab.
The athletes’ plates for easy training days (and weight management)
On easy training days, your meals should aim to contain lean protein foods covering about a quarter of your plate with slightly less whole-grain carbohydrate sources and more vegetables and fruits. Easy training day meals are relevant for days when your overall training load feels like an easy exertion. This might include a short easy-exertion workout or days during a taper that don’t require the need to “load” calories for an upcoming long race.
Easy training day meals are also relevant for athletes during a weight management period (e.g., if you’re trying to lose weight). They are also relevant for athletes who have low daily training loads and, therefore, require less daily energy intake.
Reguant-Closa et al. (2019) Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab.
The athletes’ plates for hard training days
“Hard day meals” also contain lean protein foods covering about a quarter of your plate, but the proportion of carbohydrate sources is increased, covering about half of the plate. Furthermore, the carbohydrate sources should come primarily from grains like white rice, pasta, bread, and potatoes, with less whole grains to reduce fibre intake and, therefore, reduce the risk of stomach/intestinal issues during the session/race. Hard training day meals are relevant for days when your overall training load feels like a hard exertion. This might include a race, a long hard interval session, a long hard run, or at least 2 workouts that are relatively hard. If your race is long and, therefore, requires extra fuel from carbohydrates, hard training day meal plates are useful for carbohydrate loading before race day and on the morning of race day.
Reguant-Closa et al. (2019) Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab.
You will notice that the Athletes’ Plates do not suggest any caloric intake goals or energy availability values that would be required to maintain healthy performance. The important things to note are their:
Abundance and variety of whole foods, the
Presence of all food groups, including lean protein, at every meal, and the
Increasing contribution of carbohydrate-containing foods as training intensity increases from easy to moderate to hard.
The Athletes’ Plates are a guide, not a rule. To help put healthy eating into practice, always work with a registered sports nutritionist or dietician for the best outcome. And, for a deeper dive into the topic, the IAAF (now called World Athletics) published a consensus statement in 2019 on Nutrition for Athletics, headed by Professor Louise Burke.
Until next time, stay nerdy and keep empowering yourself to be the best athlete you can be by training smart.
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Who is Thomas Solomon?
My knowledge has been honed following 20+ years of running, cycling, hiking, cross-country skiing, lifting, and climbing, 15+ years of academic research at world-leading universities and hospitals, and 10+ years advising and coaching in athletic performance and lifestyle change.
I have a BSc in Biochemistry, a PhD in Exercise Science, and over 90 peer-reviewed publications in medical journals.
I'm also an ACSM-certified Exercise Physiologist (ACSM-EP), an ACSM-certified Personal Trainer (ACSM-CPT), a VDOT-certified Distance Running Coach, and a UKVRN Registered Nutritionist (RNutr).
Since 2002, I’ve conducted biomedical research in exercise and nutrition and have taught and led university courses in exercise physiology, nutrition, biochemistry, and molecular medicine.
And, with my personal experience of competing on the track (800m to 10,000m), the road (5 k to marathon), on the trails, and in the mountains, by foot, bicycle, cross-country ski, and during obstacle course races (OCR), I deeply understand what it's like to train and compete — I've been there, done it, and gotten sweat, mud, and tears on my t-shirt.
Disclaimer: I occasionally mention brands and products, but it is important to know that I don't sell recovery products, supplements, or ad space, and I'm not affiliated with / sponsored by / an ambassador for / receiving advertisement royalties from any brands. I have conducted biomedical research for which I’ve received research money from publicly-funded national research councils and medical charities, and also from private companies, including Novo Nordisk Foundation, AstraZeneca, Amylin, the A.P. Møller Foundation, and the Augustinus Foundation. I’ve also consulted for Boost Treadmills and Gu Energy on R&D grant applications, and I provide research and scientific writing services for Examine.com. Some of my articles contain links to information provided by Examine.com but I do not receive any royalties or bonuses from those links. Importantly, none of the companies described above have had any control over the research design, data analysis, or publication outcomes of my work. I research and write my content using state-of-the-art, consensus, peer reviewed, and published scientific evidence combined with my empirical evidence observed in practice and feedback from athletes. My advice is, and always will be, based on my own views and opinions shaped by the scientific evidence available. The information I provide is not medical advice. Before making any changes to your habits of daily living based on any information I provide, always ensure it is safe for you to do so and consult your doctor if you are unsure.
