Congratulations, you found it! The website just for climbing nutrition run by a registered dietitian! This is a place where you can find resources on nutrition with a twist of body positivity. We uplift climbers by providing quality information through the lens of body acceptance and intuitive eating.
The world of nutrition is confusing. It’s easy to get bogged down in conflicting information. How do you know who is right, and what’s right for you? Welcome to Nutrition for Climbers (NFC). A space where you can learn practical, science-backed information. We take complex nutrition topics and translate them into useful information for you to crush your project, stay healthy, and fuel your climbing.
Marisa’s expertise has been featured in Climbing Magazine, Rock & Ice, Gym Climber Magazine, TrainingBeta podcast, scientific publications, international nutrition conferences, and the Nutrition for Climbers book.
We’ve got blog posts, courses, webinars, and even a book. We’re always creating more content to empower you to make the right nutrition choices for your climbing goals and health.
Created with climbers in mind, topics range from comp climbing nutrition to hacks for high altitude and anything in between. Watch courses anytime, anywhere, as many times as you want. Contact Marisa Michael at dietitian@realnutritionrdn.com for live trainings for your team or organization. This includes training for staff/coaches as well as athletes on fueling, hydration, disordered eating, and more!
This is the guide you have been looking for. The one that helps you wade through all that conflicting nutrition information. The one that gives you practical, useful information you can apply right away to support your training and crush your climbing. The beautiful layout and unique illustrations are thoughtfully designed to be readable and user-friendly.
We got you covered with any type of climber: vegan/vegetarians, adaptive climbers, adolescents, unique fueling needs for females, and more. Plus different climbing situations such as van life, traveling, high altitude, and nutrition for training phases. Even sections on supplements and 80 meal plans for different training phases. It’s all here. All for you.
Over 195 references were used to create this one-of-a-kind, comprehensive manual. This useful, actionable resource is a must-have for any climber that wants to improve health and performance.
It’s both useful and beautiful, and won the PubWest Design Award 2020 for the Sports/Fitness/Recreation category!
“This was a gift for my son who is an avid climber. He loved the sections on van life and the meal plans with recipes. Great book for anyone looking to fuel up properly prior to climbing.”
“Nutrition for Climbers has it all: details about supplements and hydration, recipes, interviews, nutrition in special circumstances (i.e. vegetarians, digestive issues, and eating while on the road), tips for injury prevention and recovery, eating disorders, and of course, nutrition recommendations for all types of indoor and outdoor climbing. Aside from the great content, this book is BEAUTIFUL. Colorful charts, photos, tables, and graphics make you actually want to READ this book! There is something for everyone in the climbing community: from newbie to veteran climbers, coaches, rock gyms, and others — this book should be on your shelf. “
“Nutrition for Climbers is absolutely gorgeous but more importantly, it’s a comprehensive resource for all levels of climbers. Marisa provides nutrition guidance for indoor, outdoor, competitive, and high altitude climbing. If you’re not quite sure how to fuel for your climbing style, Marisa has created detailed multi-day menus for you. If you’re not much of a cook, she’s also included a wide variety of easy to prepare recipes meeting your unique nutrition needs as a climber. I also commend Marisa for her ability to provide what might be considered complex information in an easy to relate to format.”
“I really enjoyed this resource. I read some sections in a block, skipped some that didn’t apply to me, and referred to others as resources to address really specific problems, like muscle cramping or bonking during a session. The beauty of this book is that it has information for every type of climber, and goes to great length to identify the specific needs required in different disciplines. I especially enjoyed the information about supplements, as I have always had trouble understanding this topic on my own.”
“This book is packed with evidence-based nutrition information on a variety of nutrition topics associated with climbing- from nutrition at high altitude, cold and hot weather, van life, youth/adolescent climbers, injury prevention and recovery, and even supplements. It’s a great guide to eating to perform. If you’re someone who is easily distracted and frustrated by endless nutrition info out in the world, buy this book! This would also make a great gift for a teen athlete. “
“As an adaptive climber I know the importance of maintaining my body both on the inside and out. We are more prone to health issues and injuries so it is highly imperative that we give our bodies the nutrition it needs to maintain and to heal. Nutrition for Climbers | Fuel for the Send is the book that will give you the tools and knowledge to perform better and maintain the body that lets you climb at your best. I highly recommend it!”
“Well-researched, helpful information. There are few resources in the climbing world that are so comprehensive and thorough. Plus, the book is absolutely beautiful. A must-buy for any climber, parent of a climber, or wanna-be climber.”
“With such a limited amount of resource out there for nutrition for rock climbers, this is a real gem! Full of helpful information in what to eat for each style of climbing, this will be my go to book for a long time!”
“An amazingly written book with actionable information on how to hone your diet for climbing. Explanations range from cellular processes to real-life examples of meal plans for different occasions (indoor weekday session, indoor all day weekend session, outdoor session, comp, etc). She includes all important macro and micro nutrients, where you get them, why they are important, and how to incorporate them into your day (ie what kind of food do you eat in morning? for lunch? before you climb? how long before you climb should you eat? what to eat after a climb? etc).
Especially helpful for me is that she lays out what nutrients vegans/vegetarians can be lacking in to make sure your body is getting everything it needs to perform at a high athletic level.”
“This book has such great information about food as fuel, and it addresses many specific types of climbing or nutritional needs. It was easy to read, easy to understand, and full of beautiful and informative graphics and charts. Absolutely check out this sensible, well researched and enjoyable book!”
This is a great question! Unfortunately we don’t have a precise answer. There are several ways to estimate calories expended while climbing. But before we get to that, you may want to consider WHY you’d need to know how many calories you burn while climbing? There could be a number of reasons: You want to …
What one researcher thinks about climbing and eating disorders Mattias Strand, MD, PhD, recently published the manuscript “Attitudes towards disordered eating in the rock climbing community: a digital ethnography.” As a dietitian that specializes in both climbing and eating disorders, this caught my attention. The climbing community has been talking about eating disorders recently, from …
Who is at risk for developing RED-S? Anyone can develop RED-S, which is a syndrome caused by under-fueling. Not eating enough to match your activity level can cause RED-S. Athletes and active people are more at risk, especially athletes where the sport may require (or the culture requires) a thin body, such as ballet, gymnastics, …
Training for coaches & organizations on RED-S, eating disorders, and climbing nutrition
Expert review and consultation for gyms, organizations, and teams
Workshops are a great way to reach a large audience. I’ve hosted engaging, fun, and informative workshops for climbing gyms, athletes, and climbing organizations. Keep your athletes healthy and safe by arming them with expert fueling information to stay strong, climb hard, and prevent eating disorders.
Some of my clients include:
International Olympic Committee
Ontario Climbing Federation
Mesa Reno Climbing Team
McCallum Place Eating Disorder in Sport Conference
Local climbing teams
She Sends Collective
USA Climbing
International Sport and Exercise Nutrition Conference
Topics include:
Training for coaches, staff, and climbers
Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport
Eating disorders: How to identify, prevent, and foster good team culture
Fueling for competition and training
Female climber fueling needs
Consultations for teams/organizations: Keep your organization or gym safe from liability by utilizing a sports dietitian to run workshops, do staff/coaching training, and/or help set up safety protocols for what to do to prevent and address eating disorders.
Marisa and co-researcher Dr. Lanae Joubert presenting their research at the McCallum Place Eating Disorders in Sport conference in Berkeley, California. Marisa imparting all the nutrition wisdom to the ClubSport comp team in Portland, Oregon
Contact Marisa to get help with individualized nutrition coaching, workshops, or content for your publication at dietitian@realnutritionrdn.com
You can find out more and book an appointment online at her business website, Real Nutrition, LLC.
