Sports & Performance Nutrition Flashcards

What is the primary mechanism by which sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) loading can enhance high-intensity exercise performance?

Answer: Acts as an extracellular buffer, reducing blood acidosis during intense efforts

Sodium bicarbonate raises blood pH and bicarbonate concentration, buffering hydrogen ions that efflux from contracting muscle during intense glycolytic activity.

In the NTP model, what is 'overtraining syndrome' nutritionally characterized by?

Answer: Chronic energy deficiency relative to training load, leading to hormonal and immune disruption

Overtraining syndrome involves persistent negative energy balance that impairs recovery, suppresses testosterone, elevates cortisol, and degrades immune and neuroendocrine function.

Which ergogenic aid has the strongest evidence base for improving strength and power output across multiple training modalities?

Answer: Creatine monohydrate

Creatine monohydrate has decades of consistent evidence showing it increases phosphocreatine stores, enhancing power output, training volume, and lean mass gains.

A masters athlete (age 55+) needs more dietary protein than a younger counterpart primarily due to which phenomenon?

Answer: Anabolic resistance — blunted muscle protein synthesis response to a given protein dose

Anabolic resistance means older muscle is less sensitive to amino acid stimulation, requiring higher total protein intake and leucine content to achieve the same synthetic response.

How does altitude exposure change an athlete's iron requirements?

Answer: Iron needs increase because hypoxia stimulates red blood cell production, consuming more iron

Hypoxia upregulates erythropoietin (EPO), stimulating erythropoiesis and increasing iron demand for hemoglobin synthesis in new red blood cells.

Which dietary pattern best supports mitochondrial biogenesis in endurance-trained athletes from an NTP perspective?

Answer: Nutrient-dense whole foods with adequate polyphenols, CoQ10, and B vitamins

Mitochondrial biogenesis requires cofactors from whole foods — polyphenols activate AMPK/PGC-1α, while B vitamins and CoQ10 support electron transport chain function.

What is 'nutrient timing' and why does it matter less in everyday NTP practice than once believed?

Answer: Precise timing matters primarily in fasted or back-to-back training contexts; total daily intake has a much larger effect on outcomes

Research shows that unless athletes are training twice daily or fasted, total daily protein and carbohydrate intake exerts a greater influence on performance and recovery than timing precision.