You’re training hard, but recovery feels impossible. Your performance is declining despite your best efforts.

When athletes start feeling this way, many assume they need to push harder, train more, or become even more disciplined. But what if you’re actually making training harder than it needs to be?

Often, the underlying issue is underfueling. If you were planning a long road trip, you wouldn’t expect your car to make it across the country without gas. And if you owned an expensive sports car, you’d probably choose high-quality fuel to keep it performing at its best.

So why do we ask our bodies to perform, recover, and adapt to hard training while running on little to no fuel?

This is a common phenomenon with athletes called RED-S, or Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport. RED-S occurs when athletes do not consume enough energy to support both training demands and normal physiological function. In simple terms: the body does not have enough fuel available to keep up with what is being asked of it, especially if you are a high performing athlete.

So what actually happens when your body doesn’t have enough energy? Your body is smart. When energy intake is too low for too long, it starts prioritizing survival over performance. Recovery slows, hormones become disrupted, bone health suffers, immune function decreases, performance declines and injury risk increases. 

How can you tell if you’re breaching RED-S territory? Here are some signs and symptoms to look out for: 

• Physical: 
• Consistent fatigue or low energy
• Frequent illness or getting sick more often
• Trouble sleeping or feeling unrested
• Feeling cold frequently
• Loss of menstrual cycle or irregular periods
• Low libido
• Frequent injuries 
• Increased soreness
• Bone stress injuries or stress fractures
• Digestive issues or bloating
• Increased soreness and slower recovery

• Performance-related: 
• Declining performance despite continued training
• Feeling “flat” or heavy during workouts
• Difficulty building strength or endurance
• Poor recovery between sessions
• Decreased power, speed, or stamina
• Hitting plateaus in training
• Struggling to complete workouts that previously felt manageable
• Increased perceived effort during exercise
• Burnout or inability to tolerate training volume

• Mental/emotional: 
• Irritability or mood swings
• Increased anxiety around food or body image
• Difficulty concentrating or brain fog
• Feeling mentally drained or unmotivated
• Increased stress levels
• Obsessive thoughts around exercise or nutrition
• Feeling disconnected from training or sport enjoyment
• Emotional exhaustion or burnout

Many athletes don't intentionally underfuel, some simply struggle to keep up with the energy demands of training, work, school, family responsibilities, and everyday life.

The good news is that RED-S is often reversible. Small changes in energy intake can make a meaningful difference in recovery, performance, mood, and overall health.

If any of these signs and symptoms sound familiar, it may be worth taking a closer look at your fueling habits. The solution may not be training harder, pushing through fatigue, or finding the next supplement. Sometimes it's simply giving your body the fuel it needs to do the work you're already asking it to do. 

Your body can only perform at the level it is supported. Fueling isn't a reward for training hard. It's what allows you to train hard in the first place.

Reach out to Victoria to schedule a consultation to optimize your health and performance.

PS - If you want help in optimizing your performance nutrition plan, check out our Optimal Performance Nutrition Program. It is a 6-week program that helps you periodize your nutrition, nutrient timing and supplements to optimize health and performance.