Fueling the Strength of Student-Athletes – Boston University

ia week, Terrier Fueling Station serves more than 500 protein-packed smoothies to hungry student-athletes. “And that’s just our most popular item,” says Sarah Gilbert, station director and nutritionist specializing in sports nutrition for BU student-athletes.

Gilbert says the station also goes through an average of 10 pounds of granola and 40 boxes of Honey Stinger Energy Waffles, another favorite.

The station in the BU Strength and Conditioning Center was established in 2018. A collaboration between Sargent and BU Athletics, the Terrier Fueling Station offers free pre- and post-workout snacks to more than 600 athletes who come several times a week to lift weights. In 2020, he also established an outpost at Agganis Arena for the men’s and women’s ice hockey teams.

Pre-workout offerings include bananas, applesauce, goldfish crackers, pretzels, energy waffles, fruit snacks, and allergy-friendly options like 88 Acres granola bars and gluten-free energy waffles. “It’s a very easily digestible carbohydrate,” says Gilbert (’18). After a workout or workout—when the body craves “carbs for energy and then protein for muscle repair and recovery,” she says—athletes can enjoy smoothies, Greek yogurt with muesli, cheese sticks, chocolate or soy milk and Clif bars.

Our athletes have great needs and busy schedules, and if we can just put something right where they are when they need it, it makes their lives so much easier.

— Sarah Gilbert

“We use [the station] and as an educational center,” says Gilbert. “So we have signs that speak to why we recommend these things before or after exercise.”

The station is open Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. throughout the school year and for more limited hours in the summer. Between 20 and 25 students are served each semester, including undergraduate and graduate practicum students from Sargent’s nutrition programs, health science and human physiology interns, and other Sargent students who volunteer their time.

“They all bring a unique perspective and have different backgrounds — not always nutrition — but they all have these overlapping interests that culminate in athletic performance and health,” Gilbert says. “A lot of the student-athletes are Sargent students and they’re going to work with us and get to see both sides, which I think is really nice.”

Drew Marocello, BU’s director of athletics, says he has seen the station’s positive effect on athletes. “The genius Terrier station was a major resource,” he says. “Provides the necessary nutrition and healthy regimen training to student-athletes so they can optimize their performance.”

Gilbert has heard from athletes how much they appreciate the convenience of the station. “Our athletes have great needs and busy schedules,” she says, “and if we can just put something right where they are when they need it, it makes their lives so much easier.”