An Athlete’s Diet Guide to Ensuring Prolonged Fitness

There’s a direct link between good health & good nutrition. Nutrition’s impact on sporting performance is a lengthy science itself. No matter if you’re a competitive athlete, a sports player, or a dedicated exerciser, the foundation for improving your performance majorly depends upon your nutrition intake.

Being an athlete, your physical health is the prime component of your active lifestyle. You majorly depend on your strength, skill & endurance. Giving your best in the ring takes time, training & patience, but that is not all. The human body itself is a machine that won’t run without fuel. You must stay careful about consuming enough calories, vitamins & other nutrients for providing energy. An athletic diet isn’t much different from a normal person’s striving to eat healthily. But, an athlete is required to consume more or less of a certain type of food, depending upon:

• Type of sport he plays.
• The amount and intensity of training he is doing
• Amount of time he spends training

Daily-training dietary requirements

A simple and basic training diet should be enough to provide you:

• Enough energy & nutrients to meet the demands of exercise & training.
• Enhance adaptation & recovery in between your training sessions
• Must include a variety of foods that contain sufficient amounts of carbs, proteins, and fats.
• Enable an athlete to achieve required body weight, regulate body fat levels for optimizing his performance.
• Fulfill fluid requirements for ensuring maximum hydration before, during & after exercise.
• Promote both short & long-term health for athletes.

What an athletic diet should be composed of

An athlete’s diet isn’t much different from what is recommended to the general public. However, an athlete’s body’s fuel comes from:

• Carbs are responsible for supplying more than 55% of total energy
• Around 12-15% comes from protein
• less than 30% from fat.

Those athletes who do strenuous workouts for more than 60-90 minutes a day, might be required to increase their total amount of energy, which their body seeks from carbohydrates, it can be up to 65-70%.

 

Recent studies provide clear guidelines for carbs & protein consumption based on body weight. A general recommendation is that an athlete should consume 1g of protein for every kg of his body weight. Their fat source should be olive oils, avocados, nuts & seeds. For buying premium quality boxing gloves click here.

Path to Prolonged Fitness

Everybody’s needs are different. The amount of nutrients they need majorly depends on the age, weight, height & athletic activity they are doing. The general idea is to maintain your health you are required to replace the number of calories you burn every day. Calories are the measure of the energy your body gets from food. On average a normal person needs between 1,500-2,000 calories per day. This number increases by 500-1,000 more calories for an athlete.

You can consult your coach or nutritionist for getting a better insight into your personal needs. Nutrients come in different forms; the primary ones are Marco-nutrient; they include carbohydrates, fats & proteins.

●     Carbohydrates (carbs):

Carbs are the body’s biggest calorie source. During digestion, carbs are broken down into sugar (glucose), (your body’s primary energy source) then it’s further converted into glycogen & gets stored in your liver & muscle tissue. And gets used as a prime energy source while working out for fueling muscle tissue & the rest of the body systems. If their intake is restricted, your athletic performance will get compromised. Inadequate glycogen can result in a loss of protein tissue. Your body will break down your muscles to meet energy needs.

Simple carbs, from fruits, milk & vegetables, are easier for the body to break down. However, complex carbs take longer. They’re a more effective source of energy usually found in Potatoes, whole-grain bread, oatmeal, brown rice & kidney beans.

Athletes are usually advised to adjust their carb consumption suiting their exercise level.

• Light intensity workout (30 mins/day): 3–5g of per kg of your body weight in a day
• Moderate intensity workout (60 mins/day): 5–7g of per kg of your body weight in a day
• Endurance workout (1–3 hrs/day):6–10 g of per kg of your body weight in a day
• Extreme endurance workout (4 hrs a /day):8–12 g of per kg of your body weight in a day

 

●     Protein

Protein is responsible for supplying 10% -15% of daily energy needs. They are the prime source of retaining and maintaining muscle mass. The protein in the storage reduces muscle soreness & promotes muscle repair. It is advised to fairly distribute your protein consumption throughout the day. Rather than consuming large chunks at one time. Consuming more than safe limits of protein intake won’t help in bulking up but leaves adverse effects on your health.

Rather than taking protein supplements, try consuming high-quality protein, that comes from lean meats, poultry, fish, nuts, eggs, beans, and milk.

• An average person’s protein needs range from 1.2-1.4 grams per kg of their body weight per day. It takes up to 88g of protein for a person weighing 150-pound. A strength athlete would require up to 1.7g of protein per kg of their body weight. It takes up to 150 g of protein for an athlete weighing 200-pound.

 

●     Fat

Third, macro-nutrient (fat) is another important source of calories. It serves many functions, such as supporting hormone production, optimizing skin & hair health. Fats should make up to 30% of the daily calories.

• Fat intake for athletes ranges between 20-35% of their total daily calories. From which 10% should be monounsaturated sources, 10% should be polyunsaturated sources and 10% should be saturated fat. Unsaturated fat sources should be olive oil & nuts. Making sure you do not consume too much fat. It raises your bad (LDL) cholesterol level while increasing your risk of heart disease & type 2 diabetes.

When to eat & rehydrate

For an athlete’s health knowing when to eat is way more important than knowing what to eat. Pre-meal should be taken before 2-4 hours of the event. It should be high in complex carbs & low in protein & sugar. Hydration is the most healthy thing athletes should do. It takes their game to incredible levels. The human body is made up of almost 60% water. Fluid is the thing that gets lost the most when you work out. Don’t wait to feel thirsty for refueling your water stocks. t every 15 to 20 minutes. But, don’t drink so much that you feel full. Water is the best choice for rehydration though you can also use shakes.

 

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