1. Understanding Food as Fuel

As a teenage athlete, your body is like a high-performance engine: it needs quality fuel to run well and reach its full potential. 

When we think about food as fuel, we shift the focus from "good" and "bad" foods or worries about weight to the benefits food brings to the body and performance. 

Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats each play a key role in supporting endurance, strength, and recovery. 

Instead of restrictive diets, the focus should be on eating a wide variety of nutrient-dense foods that support both training and growth.

Broccoli and candy are both carbohydrates; only one of those helps support you in your health and fitness! 

We don’t want to focus on weight management. 

We want fueling to be holistic and healthy. 

2. The Challenges: Fueling Growth and Endurance

One of the biggest challenges young athletes face is eating enough to fuel both their active lifestyles and their growing bodies. 

Growth and development during the teenage years require more calories, vitamins, and minerals than at any other time of life, and endurance training on top of this increases these needs even further. 

Proper fueling helps prevent fatigue, supports immune function, and keeps energy levels consistent for both school and training.

Protein is the one nutrient that many athletes are not getting enough of. 

Junior athletes should strive for roughly one gram per pound of body weight, which can be a lot! 

3. What to Eat Before, During, and After Workouts

Preparation is the key to eating healthy foods that fuel workouts. 

You can do meal prep work to get your ride and run fuel dialed in before you do your workouts. 

Again, it takes some time and planning, but working ahead generally gives the best results. 

Before Workouts

Goal: Fuel up for performance.

• Timing: 1-3 hours before a workout.
• What to Eat: A meal or snack rich in carbohydrates and moderate in protein. For example:
  • A bowl of oatmeal with fruit and nut butter.
  • A sandwich with lean protein (like turkey) and whole grain bread.
  • A smoothie with a banana, berries, yogurt, and a scoop of oats.
• Why: Carbohydrates are the body’s primary source of fuel for endurance exercise. Protein supports muscle function, and too much fiber can slow digestion and make pre-workout meals feel heavy.

During Workouts

Goal: Maintain energy levels for long sessions.

• Timing: If workouts last longer than 90 minutes.
• What to Eat: Quick, easily digestible carbohydrates such as:
  • Energy gels or chews. (While these are easy to eat, the simple sugars are bad for general health. That’s why I recommend using them only for racing.)
  • Bananas or other easily digestible fruit.
  • Sandwiches like peanut butter and jelly. 
  • Sports drinks (especially when training in hot conditions).
  • During short workouts that last 60 minutes or less, even intense ones, you generally don’t need to eat anything since your glycogen stores should last that long. 
• Why: During prolonged exercise, the body’s glycogen stores get used up. Carbohydrates during a workout keep energy levels up and prevent early fatigue.

After Workouts

Goal: Refuel, rehydrate, and rebuild.

• Timing: Ideally within 30 minutes to an hour after training.
• What to Eat: A combination of carbohydrates, protein, and fluids. For example:
  • Chocolate milk (provides carbs, protein, and fluids).
  • A turkey or hummus sandwich on whole-grain bread.
  • Greek yogurt with berries and a drizzle of honey.
  • Rice cakes with almond butter and a piece of fruit.
• Why: Carbs help replenish glycogen stores, protein aids in muscle repair, and fluids rehydrate the body. This combination kickstarts recovery and sets athletes up for their next workout.

4. Foods to Avoid

When we’re discussing nutrition, I ask athletes to keep a food diary in My Fitness Pal that they can share with me. 

We inevitably discover foods that don’t work well as fuel. 

While balance and variety are important, certain foods can hinder performance and recovery:

• High-sugar snacks: While tempting, candies, sodas, and sugary snacks can cause energy spikes and crashes.
• Heavy or greasy foods: These can be hard to digest, causing discomfort during training or reducing energy.
• Highly processed foods: Often lacking essential nutrients, these can fill you up without providing the vitamins and minerals needed for growth and endurance.

The focus here isn’t on strict avoidance but on understanding which foods help performance and which don’t.

5. Changing a Junior Athlete’s Nutrition is a Family Affair

One of the challenges facing junior endurance athletes and their nutrition is family habits. 

If families eat a lot of fast food because of ease and timing, it’s more of a challenge, for example, for junior athletes to eat more nutritious meals. 

The bottom line is that good nutrition for juniors means eating more whole foods, like meats, vegetables, and fruits, and less processed foods. 

Junior athletes may need to work with their family to change family eating habits so that everyone is eating better. 

Instead of cold cereal for breakfast, as an example, a junior athlete might learn to make oatmeal with eggs or add scoop of protein powder to a smoothie. 

Teaching young athletes to view food as fuel rather than something to restrict helps build lifelong habits that support both sports performance and a positive body image. 

By focusing on a balanced, nutrient-rich approach, teenagers can learn that healthy food is a tool to empower their growth and training.

Three Things to Know About Fueling for Junior Athletes

1. Listen to your body: Hunger is a sign that your body needs fuel, and teenage endurance athletes need to make sure they’re getting enough calories.
2. Focus on fueling for performance, not weight management: Shift your focus to "fueling" rather than weight can help you make positive food choices that support your athletic goals and growing body.
3. Plan ahead: Make it easier to fuel well by planning snacks and meals, especially around training times.

Need more? 

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Paul Warloski is a:

• USA Cycling Level 1 Advanced Certified Coach
• RRCA Running Coach
• Training Peaks Level 2 Coach
• RYT-200 Yoga Instructor
• Certified Personal Trainer