Extreme and Rare Sports: Performance Demands, Drivers, Functional Foods, and Nutrition

‘This edited volume presents the diverse needs of extreme sports athletes in regard to motivation, nutrition, and functional requirements. Defining extreme sports as those sports that push an athlete’s limits both physically and mentally (as, for example, in an Ironman event) or that are “unusual and dangerous” by nature (for example, parkour or paragliding), the editors argue that the variability of extreme sports demands that specialized attention be devoted to ensuring that such athletes can meet the specific demands of their particular sport. The book’s 19 chapters convey unusual contrastive portraits: for example the needs of an athlete competing in an open-water endurance swim differ from those of one competing in a high-altitude mountain biking race. Discussion covers training and nutritional techniques, including use of so-called nutraceutical supplements, affecting an athlete’s pre-competition, mid-event, and post-competition experience. One chapter addresses the specific role of hydration in varying circumstances. Other chapters explore muscle development and recovery during extreme sport engagement, including recovery from “eccentric contractions.” This text is novel in providing information that is rarely encountered in resources dedicated to traditional sports. Its unique focus may enable further discovery of existing gaps in the literature.’

–C. Hauff, University of South Alabama, in Choice Connect, vol 57

Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students through faculty and professionals.

DescriptionThis book explains what extreme sports are, their nutritional and energyrequirements, their evolution and history, and the growth, market, and futureof these sports. PurposeThe purpose is to foster a greater understanding of the types of extreme sportsand the unique nutritional, physical, and mental demands of each. The bookbreaks down the different types of sports into land, water, and high-altitudeand discusses both traditional and nontraditional extreme sports. Withincreasing participation in these sports all around the world, this book is amuch-needed resource for the unique needs of these athletes. AudienceIt is intended for sports practitioners, health professionals, sportsenthusiasts, and sports nutritionists, along with food experts and researchers.It is most suitable for those looking to gain a greater understanding ofextreme sports and how to improve performance, prevent injury, and improvetraining practices for these athletes. FeaturesThis book covers topics related to the specific requirements needed by athleteswho perform extreme sports. The authors do a thorough job of breaking down thesports into different categories and expanding on the demands, both mental andphysical, that are unique to each of them. Factors such as extremetemperatures, altitude, and excessive energy demands during these events areaddressed and research-driven information on nutraceutical supplements andfunctional foods are discussed. Since these factors create an added challengefor athletes and the practitioners who work with them, they must be understoodin order to develop better training programs and ultimately improve performancein the sport. The book also reviews ergogenic and nutritional aids and theirvalue in each sport. AssessmentThis is an interesting and comprehensive look into the world of extreme sports.With the rapid growth of adventure racing, ultramarathons, and the lesstraditional diverse sports (bouldering, caving, hang gliding, etc.), moreresearch is needed to further understand the specific needs of these athletes.This book does a great job of breaking down the book into seven detailedsections. Most notable for readers probably is the physical requirements ofeach sport and the importance of nutraceuticals and functional foods for theseathletes to improve performance and prevent injury. A unique feature is thechapter discussing the use of prosthetics and limb health in extreme sports andhow technology, with improved fit and material, enables these athletes toparticipate with fewer limitations. Overall, this book is comprehensive andwell organized.

– Melissa Mellady, MS(Northwestern Medicine Executive Health)

Sourya Datta is part of the Strategic Deals team at Apple where he is responsible for managing the procurement of a number of components for Apple. He is an avid sports fan and has completed a number of marathons and Spartan races since 2007. He has been swimming since he was seven years old and has participated in and won numerous state level competitions. He has also taken active part in mountaineering and trekking since he was in elementary school. He has participated in various marathons in California and has been intricately associated with nutrition and functional food requirements for sports performance.

Debasis Bagchi, PhD, MACN, CNS, MAIChE, received his PhD in Medicinal Chemistry in 1982. He is the director of scientific affairs at Victory Nutrition International, Inc., Lederach, Pennsylvania; a professor in the Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy, Houston, Texas, and, an adjunct faculty member in Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas.