Greetings!
My name is Vance Voetberg.
Growing up as a competitive athlete focused predominantly on distance running throughout high school, I was constantly looking to improve my speed and overall performance. I believed wholeheartedly that if I worked hard enough, my efforts would yield all the personal records and medals of achievement I yearned so deeply for. I was convinced that the more challenging the workout, the better my results would be in competition, no matter what.
While I was able to achieve personal success utilizing many of these typical methods of training, there was one major piece of the athletic puzzle that I was consistently overlooking: the power and vitality of athlete-specific nutrition.
My flaws in philosophy weren’t as simple as overlooking or downplaying the importance of nutrition as an athlete. I was actually very religious in my commitment to adhering to a diet that nearly all endurance athletes follow; A regimen that prioritizes high carbohydrate intake and discourages dietary fat consumption.
Now after two years of avidly researching sports nutrition, I’ve come to the realization that nutrition’s role in sports performance is much more significant than I ever thought possible. And to my great surprise, I’ve come to the understanding that the large majority of the sports nutrition world is advising athletes erroneously. In addition to this realm’s obsession with carbs, leading sports nutrition advisors perpetuate the ideal that the most important factor for athlete’s food consumption is primarily HOW MUCH we consume as opposed to WHAT we consume. Sure, phrases like “eat the rainbow” or “avoid added sugar” are commonplace, but the quality of food is still far undervalued compared to the quantity of food.
I’ve come to discover that when the importance of food quantity supersedes the importance of food quality, these diets can unfortunately become a vehicle of regression that inhibit an athlete from performing to their greatest potential.
My goal with this blog is not to be provocative nor is it to taint the ideals of the traditional sports nutrition narrative. My hope is that I can help bring another, more holistic perspective to the table that is rooted in nutritional science and common sense. In all honesty, this blog will work as an outlet for me to write out my thoughts and musings as I continue in my journey with you through the vast and ever-evolving world of sports nutrition.
For this season in my life, I’ve shifted my passion for athletics from distance running to CrossFit and as I’ll always be competing in sports in some shape or form, I believe wholeheartedly that nutrition’s position will remain a constant “make-or-break” component of my athletic performance overall.
Excited to learn, share, and eat plenty of butter with you all,
Vance
You are an icon!!! How many talents can one man have?!?!
Yes! This will be so helpful and inspiring!
YES! So good! Pumped about this blog.