S1:E8 – Optimizing Daily Performance with Registered Sports Dietician Elizabeth Inpyn
Show Notes:
James Mayo:
Hi, I’m James, and welcome back to The Most Hydrated Podcast. I’m your Chief Hydration Officer, and today we’re talking all things hydration. I am honored to be joined by the Chief Performance Optimizer, who’s a qualified sports performance nutritionist, to discuss hydration and fueling. Elizabeth Inpyn, massive drumroll. Welcome to the adventure.
Elizabeth Inpyn:
Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. Very happy to be here.
JM:
Well, I’m excited to learn a little bit more about all things fueling, performance, hydration, and I greatly appreciate the insights you’ve given me along the way since we got to know each other. For those of you that haven’t listened before, it’s ten questions in ten minutes, so you have a bite sized version of performance optimization. What do you wish everybody understood about being a sports performance optimizer?
EI:
I wish they knew how much fun it is. No two days are the same. No two athletes are alike. The variety of ability, age, performance goals—it’s a constantly evolving science. We are always learning new things, and as an education nerd it is my favorite thing to constantly be learning. It’s a lot of fun, and I wish that people understood how much variety there is in the day-to-day, but also how important it is for an athlete’s performance long-term.
JM:
A lot of athletes think it’s all about the shoes and all that fun stuff. Most of them don’t think about nutrition. I know I didn’t when I was a pro athlete. How do you get inside their heads to ensure that [they know] “this is what you need, and it’s actually more important than a pair of shoes?”
EI:
No offense to the shoemakers, yes it really is. You’re training fifteen, twenty, maybe twenty-five hours a week. All the rest of the time is when you are fueling, hydrating, recovering. So, all those other hours are what’s going to make those training and performance hours a success, and if the nutrition is off, the fast shoes, the great clothing, the perfect training plan isn’t going to matter. You’re only as good as the fuel and hydration that you put in your body.
JM:
Do you think that staying hydrated is important to an athlete’s overall performance, both physically and mentally?
EI:
I would use the word crucial, in capital letters. I cannot state it enough how important hydration is. It helps cardiovascular function, helps dissipate heat, helps with recovery, helps with mental clarity, reaction time, your ability to make decisions, your motivation. When we’re dehydrated and under fueled, we lack that ability to push to that next level. It’s crucial. Can’t be a top performing athlete without it.
JM:
How do you stay healthy?
EI:
I would say recently the thing that’s had the biggest impact is strength training. The older I get the more I realize I don’t want osteoporosis; I don’t want sarcopenia. I want to be a strong athlete, and I found the most incredible strength coach. He’s a genius, and he makes it fun, and I think long-term it’s going to have a huge impact on my health. In terms of what everyone really wants to hear, I would say don’t believe what you see on Instagram (it’s rubbish), have a plan, which is partially why we have the Fuelin app, know what you’re going to do for your nutrition and your training. And then get your blood tested, understand what’s going on inside your body so you know you’re not taking crazy supplements you don’t need; you’re addressing issues. If you’re low in iron, you’re not going to have energy to run and train hard. If you’re low in vitamin D, you might have signs of depression. So it’s important to know on the inside [what’s going on] – that “test, don’t guess” mentality makes a difference.
JM:
That plays quite nicely to my other adventure, which is SM24, which is going to be measuring glucose.
EI:
I can’t wait until we can chat about that!
JM:
Bring that on! So, Fuelin (fuelin.com) is a cool tool for any type of athlete to look at so that you can help manage all your nutrition, and you’ve got the likes of awesome people like Elizabeth to help guide you through the process. It’s a very simple, easy to use user experience where you can sign up and basically optimize everything.
EI:
That’s it in a nutshell.
JM:
What was your nutritional journey and what surprised you the most?
EI:
Personal nutrition journey was that the basic foods are what makes the most difference.
JM:
Ice cream, burger?
EI:
There’s room for ice cream. Burgers are pretty essential. Oatmeal is great. I’ve tried all the things along the way, the hacks, the different performance things. At the end of the day, whole food as close to how Mother Nature intended it is going to be the best. Simple, in the right amounts, and you’re pretty much good to go.
JM:
And the odd glass of wine?
EI:
Absolutely. Odd glass of wine. Not daily.
JM:
That’s good to know. How do you tailor for each specific sport?
EI:
Understanding the requirements of each sport. Triathlon is very different than football or soccer. And then understanding the athletes’ mentality. What they’re thinking in their different competitions. What they need to fuel them throughout and hydrate throughout versus what they need on daily training. So, it’s very specific, and you really have to have an understanding of the requirements of each sport.
JM:
Makes sense. What’s your secret talent?
EI:
I don’t know if it’s actually a talent but knowing song lyrics. I have this ridiculous ability. It’s a game my family plays. Any song that comes on the radio, on any station, 99.9% of the time I can sing every word to that song.
JM:
That’s pretty cool. Can you sing well?
EI:
No. I do not have the voice of an angel. It is horrible. But it doesn’t stop—well, as we talked about earlier, how much wine or tequila I’ve consumed dictates how much singing.
JM:
At least you know the words, which is 99% of karaoke.
EI:
And then the performance elements. So I can put on a good show, but the song itself isn’t pretty to listen to. At all.
JM:
Well that’s a cracking talent, so I might test you the next time we chat. What’s the toughest aspect of your lifestyle?
EI:
The mental component. Not that I’m specifically qualified, but I’m as much therapist as I am helping people fuel their performance. I had no idea the connection, before I started doing it, between what we eat and how we feel about what we eat and all the social conceptions around it and food rules people have and emotions and mental roadblocks that go along with it. It’s difficult.
JM:
SOS Hydration—obviously something that’s very close to my heart. Have you tried it and what’s your opinion of it?
EI:
Life necessity. Honest to gosh, it is a part of every day without fail. And not just when I’m training. It is the most important product that I have, and I’m not saying that because it’s you that’s interviewing me. I tell this to everyone; I recommend it to everyone. My eighty-year-old dad takes SOS with him to the golf course. My nieces—twelve and thirteen—use SOS on a daily basis, and all of my athletes, all of my friends. I give it as gifts. It’s essential, and I tell people, “You don’t know how dehydrated you are until you’re properly hydrated”. And then it’s this world of difference, which is why I fell in love with SOS to begin with—I had no idea.
JM:
I appreciate that, and it’s not like an energy drink where you get that massive sugar rush. When you don’t have it after you’ve had it, you feel like toilet. What’s your favorite hydration hack?
EI:
Make it a regular habit so it’s second nature. And for those consuming, I have not had a hangover in eight years since I started taking SOS. One bottle with SOS before bed that night, maybe one and a half depending on how much you drank. It’s essential. You’ll thank me later. It is the best hack—athlete or not—for hydration.
JM:
You heard it here first—we’ve got a performance optimizer telling you to optimize your performance the next day by being hydrated when you wake up. Elizabeth, that was wonderful. I greatly appreciate you joining and talking all about your adventures in life.