How to Eat for the ACFT
This guest post is brought to us by Jenna Stedman, MS, RD, CSSD. Check out her full bio at the end of the article, or visit her Master Nutrition Lab page HERE
Do you have a personal goal for your next ACFT? Nutrition is your secret weapon here. Having a solid nutrition strategy for test day can significantly improve scores. I have seen it countless times in my practice. Some Soldiers do not eat before the test and are disappointed with their scores. Then six months later they come back with better nutrition habits and hit their test target. Hearing success stories like this from my Soldiers is my favorite part of the job.
Just like with training for this test, one workout will not prepare you for it. Nutrition requires the same daily attention. Your meal before the ACFT is very important. However, your overall nutrition pattern will have the biggest impact. I hope everyone is training and eating for long-term physical and cognitive health, but I know Soldiers might be waiting til the last minute to prep for it.
Your nutrition strategy for the test is going to include a few things: dinner the night before, breakfast the morning of, and a snack to top off energy stores right before. So here is what you want to consider:
Before the ACFT
Dinner the night before the test should be a balanced meal. The Power Plate in the Warfighter Nutrition Guide is a great example of this. On the days before the test, be sure to consume three balanced meals each day giving you enough whole grains or starches, produce, and lean proteins. Missing meals or missing food groups could hinder recovery from workout to workout. You do not have to force yourself to eat any foods that you do not like to be healthy but you do need to eat each food group.
During the weeks leading up to the test, use these workouts to do your own personal food experiment. Find a couple of simple carbohydrate foods (lower in fiber). Eat one 30-60 minutes before your training session. Note how you feel and how well that session went for you. Repeat this for a few sessions with the same food. The more data the better. If you found a food that feels good for most workouts, then great. Stick with that food as your pre-ACFT fuel. If that food did not feel good, either you didn’t perform well or you had any gastrointestinal upset, then repeat this process with another simple carbohydrate until you find a few foods that work for you.
Another option is to try a sports drink instead of food. Often this works well with my Soldiers who complain that eating food makes them nauseous or they feel like it is just sitting in their stomach while they’re working out. Do not get a no-sugar or low-sugar sports drink. You need the sugar; the purpose of a sports drink is to provide quick-digesting simple carbohydrates. Added electrolytes are not going to help you before the ACFT but they also will not hurt you. They are only needed after sweating to replenish lost electrolytes.
There is no need to “carb load” for the ACFT. Carb loading three days before can help with endurance events lasting several hours. Since the ACFT is intended to be completed in less than 70 minutes, carb loading will not help you out here. It also will not hurt you, so do what feels best.
On the morning of the ACFT, you need to eat something depending on how much time you have before it. If you have several hours, please eat a full balanced meal. If you only have an hour, please eat at least a simple carbohydrate-rich food. The key is to give your body enough time to digest and utilize that energy. An easy guideline for nutrient timing is the following:
On the day of the test, choose foods that are familiar to you. This is not the day to try something new. Make sure you are well-hydrated going into this test. If you start drinking water when the test begins, it is already too late and you may risk dehydration.
During the ACFT
Do not chug water or sports drinks. Sip water in between events as needed. Some find that having a lot of liquid in their stomach while running can cause stomach discomfort and can affect their run time. Eating during the ACFT is not necessary to improve performance. The test itself is not long enough to need to refuel and most foods will not digest quickly enough to provide energy in time. If you feel like you need something more than water, you can try a sports drink.
After the ACFT
This is the time to refuel and recover with a full balanced meal. Be sure to include both carbohydrates and protein. You may feel like you need a snack right after the test, such as peanut butter crackers or a piece of fruit, before you can sit down for a full meal. The sooner you eat something, the sooner the recovery process starts. Keep hydrated and sip on water throughout the rest of the day too. If you were sweating heavily during the test, you may need a salty snack or an electrolyte drink to replenish the sodium lost in sweat. Do not force yourself to eat or drink too much. After hitting your ACFT target is an excellent time to celebrate with a sweet treat or one of your favorite foods too. Food is much more than fuel.
It is important to understand that the ACFT and nutrition strategy have not yet been studied. Any nutrition guidance that we have so far is based on other operational performance events and from sports science research. Experiment with your own nutrition strategies and see what works best for you. Listen to your body. And always check in with a Tactical Dietitian if you need some help.
About the Author
Jenna Stedman, MS, RD, CSSD has helped hundreds of SMs reach their ACFT goals, achieve their desired body composition, and prepare to fuel for schools and field trainings.
She received her Bachelor of Science in Dietetics and Nutrition Science from the University of New Hampshire and her Masters in Nutrition and Human Performance from Logan University. Jenna completed her Dietetic Internship at the White River Junction VA Medical Center. She is a Board-Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics. She is a candidate for her Doctorate in Clinical Nutrition from Kansas University Medical Center, expecting to finish her research and graduate in 2023.
Jenna is part of the O2X Human Performance H2F team as the Tactical Dietitian for the Massachusetts National Guard and absolutely loves her job. She was the first H2F Tactical Dietitian for the Indiana Army National Guard.
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