What causes low energy in athletes? You need to know about RED-S

Energy is the currency by which athletes spend, save and take in fuel for optimal performance. It is key to know what your body needs to spend, needs to take in and how much to save. This is all needed to improve day-to-day with your training and to ultimately be gameday ready when the time comes.

Body’s needs (not wants)

Many of the body’s functions aren’t optional. This is where energy currency is spent first: on the things that your body HAS to spend on:

• Digestion
• Blood pumping through the body
• Learning
• Memory
• Hormone production
• Immune system
• Many more functions

Do you want science or “guesstimations”?

As great as science is, some are still are using guesses about how many calories an athlete needs to meet their energy needs. But what happens when you miss the mark in guessing how much energy you need?  You may end up with a lack of energy for day-to-day functioning, especially in sport. This is where the term RED-S came from, which stands for relative energy deficit in sport. Previously, this phenomenon was termed the “female athlete triad,” which focused more on the intersection of weight loss, amenorrhea (loss of menstrual period) and stress fractures in bones.

The hallmark article that explained and coined the term RED-S is the “International Olympic Committee’s consensus statement: beyond the female athlete triad – relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S).” This paper replaced the previous guideline on how to assess risk, treat and determine when to return to play. The position paper expanded the discussion to include male athletes, and it also included information about other functioning that is impaired by a lack of energy.  You can see by the images within the blog that this update gave a more holistic look of the athlete; not only physically, but (finally) psychologically as well.

In time with more research and athlete case studies, it is understood that both acute (daily) energy deficiency and chronic (season long) energy deficiency impacts the athlete. Moving to the term “RED-S” made energy imbalance the focus.

Find a Professional

It is important to work with a trained specialist who can help sort out if any psychological stressors either preceded or resulted from the energy imbalance. You can find a dietitian that specializes in sports by looking for the credential “CSSD” (certified sports specialist dietitian) as well as a sports psychologist at the Associate of Applied Sport Psychology.

Podcast episodes discussing RED-S on PHIT for a Queen

Want to know more about RED-S and the effects of acute and chronic energy deficiency?

Listen to this podcast interviewing Renee McGregor, sports dietitian and founder of #trainbrave. Click here to learn more about #Trainbrave, a campaign  that aims to inspire more athletes to share their stories and raise awareness of the risks of eating disorders and RED-S.

Listen to Dr. Kate Ackerman from The Female Athlete Clinic in Boston and a lead investigator in the IOC consensus statement.