Nutritionist teaching athletes how to maximize their fuel

By Cliff Kirkpatrick
Corvallis Gazette-Times

CORVALLIS — Any edge in sports can make a difference, and the Oregon State athletic program is always looking for one.

The Beavers began with improved facilities, hired top-notch coaches and improved the strength program.

Another big move happened three months ago with the hire of nutritionist Ingrid Skoog. Her impact will be noticed in the future, but eventually the Beavers should be able to see better performance with her help.

It could lead to better team success because athletes will be able to be in peak condition, practice at an increased rate and play at a higher level.

“Ingrid will be an invaluable resource for our coaches and student-athletes,” athletic director Bob De Carolis said when she was hired. “She will be providing our student-athletes with life-long wellness education as they transition into their careers upon graduation. This hire is one of the final pieces to providing comprehensive resources for all of our student-athletes with respect to my vision for our student-athlete welfare unit.”

Skoog was lured away from Oregon, where she was the nutritionist since 1999. She built the nutrition program there and wanted to do it again, but this time at her alma mater.

She graduated from OSU with a bachelor’s degree in community nutrition and dietetics in 1986, and earned a master’s degree in exercise science there in 1992.

“Nobody reaches their peak performance unless they paid attention to how they eat,” Skoog said. “Food and water are the basis for every single physical reaction of our body. It’s not like nobody knew that before I came, but now Oregon State has someone who can take that fact and merge it with athletes’ daily living, training programs and competition strategy. It allows you to take the science and apply it to individuals and their sports.”

Her duties include assisting athletes in developing strategies for eating to reach peak performance, dealing with dysfunctional eating, developing plans to eat well while traveling, body composition assessments and how to improve returns from training.

The first three months were taken up by meeting with everyone in the department and learning to work together with trainers, strength coaches and team coaches.

She showed coaches how her ideas can help them, so they support her efforts with the teams.

Many people in the department have been advising athletes on nutrition, but they offered only limited help.

“It takes a load off what I do, and what they do in the weight room,” trainer Barney Graff said. “Having Ingrid here for us to ask questions, for the student-athletes to ask questions and put it together and tie it in one strong knot is important. We share it with the student-athletes and that will make them better on the field and better in their lives. She has experience in an area where I have only surface knowledge.”

Many athletes were waiting for someone in her role. Between meetings with coworkers, Skoog has already advised individuals on their diets.

There are around 500 athletes at OSU, so just doing that keeps her busy. However, Skoog plans to have team eating plans in place to ease her schedule.

Fixing eating disorders is her first concern, but not the commonly known bulimia or anorexia. College students have irregular eating patterns with their schedule, and it is worse when they are athletes.

“Most of the rationale of bringing someone on is initially to work with eating disorders and disordered eating,” Skoog said. “But after a few years you get that in control, they realize this person can help our performance. Yes, disordered eating is an issue here but no bigger than anywhere else. It’s just one component. You start a job and fight fires, and then you get into fire prevention.”

She hopes to advise incoming athletes and show them how to eat properly in the dorms, and then help those who move into apartments to shop for healthy food that can be made quickly.

Different sports call for different energy levels. She plans to teach athletes how to fuel their bodies on a day-to-day basis so they can train at a high level without those sluggish days.

“You are not going to find a professional athlete anymore that is just naturally talented,” Skoog said. “Everybody has to think about pre-training and fueling. Everybody thinks about what they eat on days of competitions and hydration.”

Skoog will create travel plans for teams on the road. There will be a folder with restaurant suggestions, menus, maps to them and grocery stores. The plan is to take away the concern of how to feed a team while traveling.

There are many ways for Skoog’s expertise to help athletes gain that edge. She points to the response of Oregon’s teams and their success, and wants that for the Beavers.

“We saw (success) with coaches saying players are better fueled for practice and practicing better,” Skoog said. “There was less cramping and hydration issues. People were not on the sideline with IVs when we went places like Houston and other hot places. We did better in second half, not only the first half. And there were more wins. I hope I can help do that here.”