To an athlete, it’s pizza, but to an athlete’s body, it’s carbohydrate, fat, protein, vitamins, minerals, and water. Food is the vehicle by which most nutrients are delivered to the body. Exercise Nutrition 2.0 explains how the body digests food, metabolizes the nutrients contained in the food, and stores some of the nutrients for future use. This course also explores how exercise and training affect these processes. This interactive online course requires approximately six hours of online study as well as reading the text, also titled Exercise Nutrition 2.0, delivered as a pdf within the course.

In this course you will assume the role of a newly hired fitness trainer starting your six-day orientation at a company called Fitness, Inc. During your orientation, the head trainer at Fitness, Inc. will introduce you to nutrition concepts you'll need to be familiar with in order to do your job well. She will also refer you to Fitness, Inc.’s registered dietitian, who will present activities that help you apply the concepts you'll be learning. You will meet five clients: a bodybuilder, a collegiate rower, a triathlete, a recreational soccer player, and a new fitness client. You’ll work with each client to choose the proper nutrients to fuel their exercise and keep them hydrated, discuss the effects of vitamins and minerals on their training, and resolve other issues.

As you work though your first six days on the job at Fitness, Inc., you will refer often to the electronic text included in the course. Chapter 1 of the text contains three sections, each of which is devoted to the nutrients that provide energy: carbohydrate, fat, and protein. Each section begins with a description of the nutrient and describes digestion, absorption, and metabolism. Chapter 2 covers three other classes of nutrients: vitamins, minerals, and water. The text uses a unique systems approach to illustrate the critical role that these nutrients play in the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and thermoregulatory systems to give readers a practical, functional perspective of this topic. A glossary and a list of additional recommended readings round out the text.

The following are new features of Exercise Nutrition 2.0:

• Improved course functionality and visual appearance
  
• Completely updated references and recommended readings
  
• New section on daily caloric needs
  
• New section on advantages and disadvantages of using dietary supplements
  
• Updated information on timing, intake, and recommended amounts of carbohydrate, protein, and fat
  
• Updated research covering nutrition for strength and power and ultra endurance athletes, the effects of antioxidants on the cardiovascular system, and planning for individual hydration needs

This course is ideal for those looking for a practical, interactive, and engaging introduction to or review of exercise nutrition.