Performance Nutrition and SFAS
Performance Nutrition and SFAS
The best way to fuel performance is balanced whole foods, mostly unprocessed, focused on proper protein intake.
I’ve had a bunch of queries recently on nutrition, particularly at SFAS. The above advice is what we developed for SUAR to fuel the prep process and it has served us well. We’re just 6 months post debut and we’re starting to get lots of reports of how guys are progressing, and even a few from post SFAS. Most guys are reporting that they aren’t losing a bunch of weight, but they are seeing significant improvements in body composition. The workouts are intense, and the focus is on building performance. So you gotta fuel that effort. A little more on SUAR below.
But first let’s start with a little peak at the Standard American Diet. Take a look at the attached picture and tell me if that is the sort of stuff that will fuel high performance. I pulled that from Reddit just recently and the OP posted it with some perverse sense of pride. The comments indicated that this was a fairly normal morning meal for lots of guys. Let’s review the macros and a few key indicators:
Total Calories – 1130
Fat – 46
Carbs – 160
Protein – 25
Sugar – 113
Caffeine – 300
In one meal this “tactical athlete” gets a little over half of his daily calorie allowance (assume a 2,000 calorie goal) 65% of his carbs (assume 250 grams total), 65% of his fat (assume 70 grams total), and only 12% of his protein (assume 200 grams total). One meal, almost no protein, virtually no fiber, way too much sugar, and 300 mg of caffeine. In order to make the daily protein goal and stay within the calorie goal he would have to eat pure protein. Nutrition-wise, the best thing on the menu is the smokes. How well will this sort of food fuel high performance…or any performance? A massive blood sugar spike followed by immediate crash. Then a “little” caffeine to combat this inevitable slump. Now the sleep cycle is screwed, your muscles are getting virtually no nourishment, and you’re probably hungry again in an hour or two. And you just blew about $12. This is trash and will only fuel trash performance. It doesn’t even satisfy you!
Contrast this with some hard-boiled eggs, some fruit, and maybe some oatmeal.
For less than half of the calories you get half the fat, almost a 1/3 of the carbs, more protein, 1⁄4 of the sugar and a bunch of fiber to slow digestion and it will actually fill you up. And it would cost well less than half. It’s not hard to be better than average and its damn near impossible to not be better than donuts, Starbucks, and Gatorade. The above example probably isn’t truly representative of the average aspiring candidate, but I’d bet that it’s not too far off. Try to eat your first meal of the day at home so you don’t have to rely on sub-par foods that won’t energize you for training or support a strong body composition. Food from home before heading out for the day needs to be your baseline habit, and you need to plan for it. Don’t skip on breakfast foods when you are getting groceries every week. If you do have to stop and buy breakfast in the morning, then swap the donuts for a protein bar. If you’re a big guy (200+ lbs) then grab a MET-RX Big 100 bar - or something nutritionally equivalent - for 400 cals and 30 grams of protein. If you’re smaller than that or need to watch your calories, then get a Power Crunch Bar or a Quest Bar/Built Bar that’s around 200 cals and 20 grams of protein. Just because you’re eating out doesn’t mean you can’t build your meals around protein. We know that lean body mass is predictive of success for SFAS, so this might be a good benchmark. It's very difficult to fuel for maximal performance, like the sort you want for your SFAS prep, and also lose weight. Losing weight is actually pretty easy. For the most part it’s a matter of taking in less calories than you expend. That’s an oversimplification, but it can be pretty simple. Gaining weight is similarly simple; consume more calories than you burn. But you don’t really want just weight, you want useful weight. You want muscle. And to build muscle you need protein. And you need the right carbs to help your body properly process the protein. So, avoid the donuts, Gatorade, and Starbucks. Focus on balanced whole foods, mostly unprocessed, focused on proper protein intake.
Eating at SFAS
That’s prep, but what about while you’re at SFAS? For this, I consulted fellow Green Beret and performance nutrition guru Coach Stephen (stephenmannersfitness@gmail.com or on Instagram @nutritioncoach_stephen). As he accurately describes it, good nutrition programming is about controlling what you can control, and while at SFAS there is very little that you can control. First, stay hydrated. Proper hydration will impact everything from satiation, to recovery, to sleep quality, and even your night vision (night land nav is an issue!). Next, eat everything that you can. You’ll be surviving on MREs, which have a particular “flavor profile”. I can’t stand MREs. They taste too chemically, and they give me gastro-duress. I went through Ranger school without eating a single MRE main meal. I was able to trade crackers and cheese or peanut butter for every meal and I survived. I only missed about 50 calories. But Ranger school isn’t SFAS and I’m not sure that’s a valid model for Camp Mackall. So eat your full MRE. Finally, this is a combo of point 1 and point 2, is salt. Use your salt packets in your MREs and take advantage of the Oral Rehydration Salts (recent classes are getting DripDrop) when you get access to them. Drink and eat as much as you can whenever you can.
Coach Stephen also made an interesting observation that I hadn’t thought of but makes perfect sense in the analysis. He notes that one of the best ways to set nutritional and metabolic conditions for success during SFAS is to follow a disciplined, balanced, and focused nutritional plan during prep. In your train up you should eat to 1) fuel your immediate performance and recovery, 2) build a resilient body that is more robust to defend against metabolic distress. In other words, if you begin the journey strong, then will likely finish the journey strong. If you fueled your prep with donuts, Gatorade, and Starbucks then your body won’t adapt well to the demands of the Selection. Eat strategically.
So, back to the SUAR guidance: The best way to fuel performance is balanced whole foods, mostly unprocessed, focused on proper protein intake. Don’t follow the standard American diet. 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. Eat the right foods at the right time to support performance, recovery, and sleep. The only supplements you really need are creatine (5 grams per day) and protein powder if you’re struggling to get your daily goal. Finally, drink half an ounce per pound of body weight per day. That’s it. I think that a consult with a performance nutritionist is one of the best investments that you can make. Keep a food journal for a week and then schedule an appointment with someone like Coach Stephen. I was lucky enough to have Halley Burkhardt (@boulderfitperformance or @neurostrongcolorado) help me develop the SUAR model. But if you spend some time with one of these nutritionally smart people you will quickly realize how interconnected your nutrition is with your performance. You can’t out train a bad diet.
