Protein supplementation is big business today, with mass food producers jumping on the bandwagon, but how much protein do endurance athletes really need? This is one area about which Athletic Mentors’ clients routinely ask when in training. One thing that folks often forget is that whatever the source, protein = calories, so there’s a trade-off when training.

According to one Vanderbilt University study, endurance athletes do use protein as a source of 5%-10% of total energy expended due to the duration of their training sessions. This protein needs to be replaced as well as protein that is used for tissue repair, thus an elevated level of intake can be beneficial. However, a point exists at which any more protein taken in is no longer beneficial, and exceeding that point means unnecessary calories.

In her book, “Sports Nutrition Guidebook,” author Nancy Clark points out that many athletes eat more protein than they require just through standard meals. That is, a 150-pound recreational athlete who burns 3,000 calories can easily consume 300 – 450 protein calories. This equates to 0.5 to 0.7 grams of protein per pound, which is more than the RDA of 0.4 grams per pound.

Meanwhile, research shows that protein intake exceeding 0.9 gram per pound would offer no further benefit. Clark suggests that adult enduarance athletes aim for an intake of 0.6 – 0.7 gram per pound of body weight.

So, if you’re a 140-pound bike racer, you’d need to consume between 85 – 98 g protein each day.

Low Cal, High Protein Food Choices

In terms of food that have high-protein-to-calorie ratios, leaders include egg whites at 20 grams per 6 egg whites (100 calories); chicken breast at 18 grams per 2 ounces, tuna at 20 grams per 3 oz, haddock at 21 grams per 3 0z and cottage cheese at 15 grams per 1/2 cup. For vegetarians, extra firm tofu nets 12 grams per 4 oz, and Boca burgers net 13 grams per 2.5 oz.

For more information: Check out Nancy Clark’s Book or contact us to schedule a nutritional counseling session with us today!

When Amy Bross crossed the finish line at the Boston Marathon amidst the frigid rain and high winds in personal-record time (3:29) April 20, she was not alone.

She had an angel drafting her.

The 37-year-old triathlete who trains with Athletic Mentors and represents Team Stellafly decided to run the Boston Marathon to keep a promise she made to honor her mentor and friend, Jim Kelley, who was killed while running in November of 2013.

“The reason I was in Boston was because of Jim. I crossed the finish line and I was walking back to Athlete’s Village, freezing cold, and I was all choked up because I would not have been there had it not been for him. The frozen hands, beat up legs, purple lips, and soaking wet feet didn’t matter at that point. He believed so much in me and in my potential. All he wanted was to see me run Boston. And I had just run Boston,” Bross said.

Amy with running mate and mentor Jim Kelley.

It was a beautiful finish to a running legacy that started with Bross’s father, burgeoned with Kelley’s inspiration as a running partner, and flourished under the high-science HRT training and nutrition plan of Mark Olson at Athletic Mentors.

“Boston was definitely tough!  It’s a very difficult course and while you have to be physically strong, it can mentally break you too…the hills hit hard and you’re tired…but the fans and the spectators were just incredible – even in the pouring rain,” Bross said.

Bross’s father, Ron, turned her on to running when she was a freshman at Grand Valley State University in 1996. The father-daughter duo ran together through 5ks, 10ks, half-marathons, and finally their first marathon together – Chicago Marathon in 2000.

After knee surgery six years ago, Bross thought her distance running days were over. During recovery, she got hooked on triathlons while cross training and in ensuing years made several trips to the podium. Not to be outdone, her father joins her in local triathlon events despite breaking his back last year in an accident.

Amy with her Dad

It’s fair to say there’s an unstoppable gene in the family. Bross Sr., in his late 60s, recently competed in Florida’s St. Anthony triathlon.

“They say I’m clearly my father’s daughter,” Bross says. “We both work very hard with training and put our entire hearts into everything we do, and it’s so inspirational to see my dad pushing through it…he just won’t quit! I’m always so proud of him just as much as I know he is so proud of me.”

Amy spent a year training speed and tempo work with Kelley, and he paced her through a 10k PR as well as a half-marathon PR. Just before Kelley died, he’d texted her after a race he had just finished, telling her she needed to run Boston with him. She had said no, she was finished with marathons, and only wanted to race triathlons.

Ron Bross at Florida’s St. Anthony Triathlon

After Kelley’s tragic death that rocked the local athletic community, Bross changed her mind. She would run Boston after all, to memorialize all he’d given her. After she ran a tough Boston qualifier race, she knew that as a “Type A” personality, she’d need some training in order to avoid over-training while she continued to focus on triathlons.

Enter Mark Olson, wielder of a data-based coaching regime that included slowing down in order to very precisely meter her energy use, reserves, and capacity for recovery.

 “I’ve improved significantly as an athlete and the difference has been heart rate training with Mark. It’s made a huge difference for me. He keeps me locked in my ‘zones’ and ‘benches me’ — as I like to refer to it — when he knows that I need a break,” Bross said.

A fully admitted “pace junkie,” Olson’s challenge was to slow Bross down to stay in her ‘zones’  so that she was able to improve her aerobic capacity, by throwing ‘pace’ out the window. The result, says Bross, was a vastly increased capacity to sustain a pace for a longer period of time. The pair are still working together to capitalize on this kind of improved endurance for triathlons.

A second training phenom Bross credits with making all the difference in distance is nutrition.

“What I learned from Mark is that nutrition planning is a huge factor that will make or break my performance. The scientific data we have on me is down the exact point at which my body stops burning off fat for fuel and switches over to carbs, which is when I need to take the nutrition — even if I don’t want it or feel like I need it. I have struggled with nutrition issues for a long time and it’s really affected me, but Mark has made it a priority to fix it,” Bross said.

The result of her rigorous adherence to his race nutrition planning was not only endurance during the marathon, but fast recovery thereafter even in her hard training sessions that he gives her.

“I couldn’t have done this without him. He had a plan laid out for me and told me to go execute it ‘as is,’ because he knew that I could. He reminds me when I struggle to believe in myself, to just trust him…and so I do, and that trust has never failed me,” Bross said.

The real joy for her isn’t the competition, despite her tendency to be a competitive athlete. It’s the sense of community shared among runners and triathletes.

“I have never met a more selfless group of people than runners and triathletes,” Bross said, recalling a time when she blew a tire in a Ludington triathlon and several people were willing to throw their race to help her, or the numerous times Kelley and others gave up their own races to pace her through tough runs and races.

“The sense of community, support and camaraderie found in both running and triathlons is incredible. It’s said in Boston “We Run Together” — and that is exactly how it felt and how it should feel.””

Now that Boston’s behind her, Bross will be training for the local summer triathlon circuit, with her focus on the Ironman 70.3 Miami — which will be her “A” race, among other endurance feats including an Olympic distance race in Iowa. Bross represents Team Stellafly, a multi-sport team focusing on health, community and inclusivity. The team consists of a diverse range of athletic abilities including professional and elite athletes, ultra runners, cyclists, swimmers, as well as media professionals. Athletic Mentors is a sponsor of Team Stellafly.

You might find Athletic Mentors hockey camp alumni Stefan Noesen suited up for the Anaheim Ducks this spring, or wearing an Athletic Mentors Coaching Jersey, depending on the day. It’s been a long strange trip from Plano, Texas to the NHL, but for unstoppable two-way right-winger with the “high hockey IQ,” the ride is worth the fare.

Noesen was called up from the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals to log ice time in the bigs with the Anaheim Ducks earlier this month.

“I definitely had a little bit of jitters in the beginning,” said the 22-year-old.

“As the game went on, it starts to be hockey and those feelings go away. It was a dream come true.”

Noesen’s NHL agent, Eddie Ward, predicts his April debut won’t be his last time in suit, and credits Athletic Mentor’s Pro Hockey Camp with Noeson’s ongoing development and steady progress toward the top of his game.

“Training with coach Mark Olson has given Stefan the edge to up his game and get the call,” said Ward. “He has made outstanding gains in terms of strength and conditioning in the two years he’s trained with Athletic Mentors. The program’s pro-style focus on speed, strength, skills and diet is unparalleled,” Ward said.

Noesen, at 6’2” and 205 lbs, was a first-round draft pick in 2011 for the Ottawa Senators and remains in the NHL’s top 35 prospects in central scouting rank. His proving ground in the OHL and AHL was protracted when he was sidelined by injuries, including a torn ACL that had him sit out the 2013 season, and an Achilles tendon injury last fall. But Noesen has battled back to top form, a feat Ward calls “inspiring.”

“It’s been amazing what he’s gone through. I’m really proud of Stef. There are two ways a story like this can go. Instead of sitting around feeling sorry for himself, Stef’s continued to get himself in phenomenal shape, trained really hard in the summer, had a great training camp…It is just amazing how he’s persevered,” said Ward.

Ward is teaming up with coach Olson this summer to unveil the Athletic Mentor’s On-Ice Ultimate Skills & Conditioning program. Noesen is joining the team as an assistant coach, a role for which Ward says he was made.

“Stefan pays attention to detail and knows all about focusing on the little things to ratchet up his play. I think our young athletes will really benefit from his experience and his incredible attitude. He’s a smart, competitive player with a high-energy, two-way game.”

The team’s excited to provide something different that hasn’t been available to serious players who want to get to the next level.

“This is a camp that’s going to be focused on attention to details; a high-end program that’s really going to push the athletes. In other words: not your typical camp,” Ward said.

As an agent, he feels serious pro contenders need to train year-round to remain competitive players. Increasingly, those who make the pro circuit are one-sport athletes from an early age and are committed to hard work at strong summer programs.

But quantity does not beat quality, he warns.

Even those players who’ve trained year-round from an early age — like Noesen — can use a boost with elite strength and conditioning training and the kind of on-ice skills best mentored by those who’ve played pro or at elite levels.

Noesen is the product of early Dryland training as a former 10-year member of Dallas’s Ice Jets hockey program, where he helped lead his team to a U-12 Tier 1 national championship.

Dryland training has historically been an innovative approach to training all aspects of an athlete, from nutritional counseling to explosive power through strength conditioning. A handful of programs across the US have been pioneers, Athletic Mentors among them.

Noesen, the son of two college basketball athletes, fell in love with hockey at the age of 3 when his grandfather taught him the “motions” of ice skating in the living room. Since then, he’s been driven for ice time.

Despite the hot, humid climate in Dallas, Noesen trained year-round since he was 8 years old. He moved to Northville, Michigan to spend two seasons in the Compuware Under-16 Team, winning a national championship in 2009. After his first-round draft selection, he played with the OHL Plymouth Whalers until traded to Anaheim.

His advice for young athletes who want to make the play to go pro is “don’t stop believing – or improving!”

“Every game I push myself to be better and better, and the more I push myself, the higher I go in the standings,” Noesen said. “Play big and train hard.”