Alise Post: Mind, Body and Nutrition Prep For Race Day

Blog by sponsored pro BMX cyclist Alise Post

Hailing from small-town Middle America, Alise Post is one of the most successful female BMX racers to ever swing her leg over a bike. Alise started racing BMX at the age of 6 after a nudge from one of her older brothers. After a few practice laps and one “chicken-out,” Alise finally entered her first race –– the rest, as they say, is history. Now 24, smart with a great humor and sensibility, Alise is confidence personified, without the conceit that you might expect from one who has achieved so much so soon. Alise knows what it takes to succeed; her drive and work ethic are unparalleled. Alise is a Klean Athlete because, in her words, “I want my body to be able to hold up through all of the travel and training and perform at optimal levels. I would never want to sacrifice competing clean and fair to do so though, so the NSF Certified For Sport® Klean Athlete products are a great solution. I want to give my body every advantage to be the best at what I do.”

Alise is fresh off winning her 6th consecutive USA Cycling BMX national title, and in December she was awarded Pull Magazine’s 2015 Golden Crank Award for “Pro Of The Year”. Pull Magazine is the official membership publication for USA BMX members and the Golden Crank Awards are peer-voted by readers. The following is a reflection by Alise on her unique approach to race day involving mind, body and nutrition, and how she gets the job done every time she hits the track.

When people talk about sport, they commonly refer to being “in the zone.” Now, everyone’s zone is different and there are various ways to get yourself into the physical and mental states that allow you to give your best effort. But, no matter what hand you’re dealt or what your “zone” consists of, there has to be some sort of plan in place to get you there.

I think when it comes to the physical aspect, the steps are easy. You have to put in the work each day in training to see the results in competition. At the beginning of a training block, there needs to be an area of emphasis identified so that relevant benchmarks can be set and tested in the beginning and end of that block to see whether the training goals were achieved. Come race day, if those boxes have been checked in training, you know that you’ve made the physical improvements necessary to perform a little better than last time. Something else to be conscious of is doing all of the little things along the way in order to give your body every opportunity to make the biggest gains it can within a short time frame. Nutrition is a critical part of this process. In sport, your body is your engine and you need to feed it the best fuel in order to be as efficient as possible. Following the food pyramid guidelines and making sure you’re covering all of your bases when it comes to both the macro and micronutrient categories is important. When you’re training schedule is heavy it can be hard to consume enough food without feeling “gluggly,” as I like to call it.

Photo: © Steve Diamond Elements

I have really gotten into blending food on training days in order to consume enough calories and nutrient variety, while also including supplements like Klean Isolate and Klean Recovery in my diet in order to make absolutely sure my body is getting everything it needs and I’m recovering as quickly as possible before my next training session.^‡ This process allows me to continue training at a higher intensity. When traveling to events, it remains important to make sure you’ve given your body and immune system enough rest and nutrients so you can perform your best come race day. That’s where I turn to Klean Probiotic, Klean Multivitamin and Klean D for nutritional support.^‡

The mental aspect of sport is the tougher part. Sometimes it can be hard to push yourself to new limits day in and day out, especially in a sport like BMX racing where so much risk is involved with any small lapse in judgement. Training your mind to zone in at critical moments, and at other times shut off and recover just like your other muscles, is the key balance. Athletes compete how they practice, so any mental routines or rehearsals should be done before competition day so that by the time you reach the start line, there really isn’t much new thinking involved that you haven’t already experienced. Good sleep, proper nutrition and checking off the physical prep boxes all help build confidence and put your mind in the best state to both focus and relax come competition day. I think sometimes the importance of a fed and rested mind is overlooked, because people think they can “will” things to happen…NEWSFLASH, if you’re tired, hungry or are lacking some sort of nutrient …you’re making your brain’s task of getting in the zone that much harder and taking away energy supplies that could be used elsewhere. In my last couple of races, I have really honed in on this part of my game, because we’ve had long, hard weekends that have been both physically and mentally draining. But with high-intensity training both physically and mentally, and special care given to mind, body, and nutrition throughout competition days and weekends, I was able to secure another USA BMX National #1 Women’s Pro season title at the end of last year, and kick-start 2016 with a few race wins and my 6th straight USA Cycling National Championship performance.

So guys, remember that you only have one energy source, fuel it well and use it wisely ALWAYS!

Read other blog posts from Alise Post:
Klean Team USA-Sponsored Pro BMX Racer Athlete Diary: Alise Post (Part 1)
Klean Team USA-Sponsored Pro BMX Racer Athlete Diary: Alise Post (Part 2)

You can follow Alise on Facebook and Twitter.