This year’s theme addresses a growing and highly relevant question:
To what extent do sports nutrition guidelines—often developed with elite athletes in mind—apply to recreational athletes? Ten internationally recognized experts will each take a clear stance on a bold statement, presenting concise, high-impact perspectives in just 3–4 minutes. Expect sharp insights, evidence-informed arguments, and lively discussion.
This session promises to be one of the most dynamic and thought-provoking events of the ACSM program. The contributing experts include Louise Burke, Trent Stellingwerff, Zan Zupancic, Anni Vanhatalo, Floris Wardenaar, Jason Siegler, Melinda Manore, Judith Haudum, Enette Larson-Meyer, and John Hawley.
The session will cover topics including:
- Are sports nutrition guidelines too “elite-focused” for recreational athletes?
- Do recreational marathon runners need elite-level carbohydrate strategies (~120 g/h)?
- Is 1.6 g/kg/day protein a universal target?
- Does nitrate supplementation benefit everyone equally?
- Should recreational athletes have structured hydration plans?
- Is bicarbonate loading only relevant for elite sport?
- Do RDAs really apply differently across populations?
- Is late-night eating detrimental for recovery?
- Are indoor lifestyles increasing Vitamin D risk in recreational athletes?
- Should recreational athletes adopt “train low” carbohydrate strategies
The PINES 10Q&E sessions have quickly become a highlight of the academic year—offering a unique blend of scientific rigor, practical relevance, and engaging debate. Whether you work with elite athletes, recreational populations, or somewhere in between, this session will challenge assumptions and refine your perspective.
If you are unable to attend the live session at the ACSM Annual Meeting,
- Members can listen to the recording on the PINES website, PINESNutrition.org
- You can read the key points in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism (IJSNEM), once they are publicised.
Previous PINES 10Q&E recap articles are here: https://pinesnutrition.org/ijsnem-pines-articles/ . They are helpful resources; please explore them!
At ECSS, PINES will host the ‘The Sports Nutrition Battles’ as a pre-Congress session. This session is designed around a structured debate format addressing current hot-button topics in sports nutrition: collagen, female nutrition and creatine. Each topic will be discussed by two invited experts, one presenting arguments in favour and the other presenting arguments against, followed by a moderated discussion aimed at critically evaluating the evidence and, where possible, moving towards a consensus or identifying key areas of disagreement..
Judith Haudum is a sports dietitian and sport scientist with over 10 years of experience working in elite sport. Her career has been characterized by “starting from scratch” building sport nutrition programs from the ground up. She will share her experiences with implementing sports nutrition services into team and federation settings. Drawing from her own experience, she will provide practical insights and strategies that helped her successfully integrate a nutrition program into a high-performance environment. Judith currently serves as Head of Nutrition for the Austrian Skiing Federation and the Olympic Centre in Salzburg, Austria. In addition, she runs her own consultancy, providing expert guidance to professional cycling teams and individual athletes, as well as recreational athletes.
