Kelsey HigginsonSports Nutrition Coach and Founder at Clutch Day Coaching

Do not try to make a cupcake out of sprinkles!

15 Sept 2025 · 1 min

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In this coaching segment, Speaker A uses a cupcake analogy to illustrate the hierarchy of factors that drive athletic performance. The "cake" symbolizes the core of training and skill work, the "frosting" represents nutrition, and the "sprinkles" stand for supplements, which only contribute a marginal 1–2% of gains. The speaker cautions athletes who focus on supplement selection (e.g., beta‑alanine, pre‑workout, creatine) without first solidifying their training program and nutrition plan. He urges listeners to first dial in the foundational elements—training and diet—before considering supplements, emphasizing that the base and frosting are essential for any performance improvement.

Chapters

The number one mistake that athletes make is trying to make a cupcake out of sprinkles. If you were to look at this cupcake as your athletic performance, we have the cake, which represents your training and your skill work. Without the cake, your cupcake is gonna suck. And then you move to the frosting. The frosting, any sane person is going to know that the frosting makes the cupcake good, right? You have to have the frosting, AKA nutrition, to make it all work. And then, then we talk supplements with the sprinkles on top. This is like the final 2% of gains, 1% of gains. But I get thousands of DMs all the time of from athletes saying, what supplements should I be taking? Beta alanine, should I be taking that? Pre-workout, what about that? Creatine? When they should be asking, how can I improve my training? What should my nutrition look like? You've got to dial in the base and the frosting before you ever try to make a cupcake out of sprinkles.