5 Best Advice For Nourishment To Athletes
5 Best Advice For Nourishment To Athletes: For any athlete to perform at his highest potential he needs to be super fit. That is why athletes are often considered fitness role models. When you are a young athlete then you are in a growing stage physically too. Thus, not only exercise athletes have special dietary requirements also.
The right amount of nutrition means the correct quantity of macronutrients, micronutrients, and fluids in the proper amount providing the exact amount of energy requirements for growth and physical activities.
The Important constituents of any athlete’s diet are:
- Protein
- Fat
- Carbohydrate
- Vitamins
- Minerals
All these components are necessary to fulfill the energy and other metabolic needs of the athlete. Here is 5 best advice for Nourishment To Athletes:
Balance The Nutrition –
5 Best Advice For Nourishment To Athletes: Healthy food means it has all the needed nutrition in ample amounts. This could be possible only when you include a variety of foods in your diet. Normal people forget this important point and are busy eating the same 4-5 staple food again and again. This means one needs to follow the 80-20 rule, which implies eating well at least 80% of the time by leaving some space for deterring from this. That means you can go for your taste rest 20 percent of the time by eating sweets, coffee, and jelly beans, etc. Food should have more of nutritional value than any pleasure value to be of more use to the body.
Hydrate And Keep Water Level Balanced –
Well, more than 70% of our body is made up of water and every cell of our body needs water to carry out its metabolic activity. For an athlete, it is equally important to keep self-hydrated by drinking water along with every meal or snack taken. Also, remember you are losing water during exercise and practice sessions. Never forget to drink water during and after exercise. Water is also necessary for the better utilization of nutrients in the body as they help carry them.
Eating Before The Exercise –
Exercise requires energy and carbohydrates are the main source of energy for athletes. Carbohydrate is converted into glucose in the body and is stored in the muscle as glycogen to be utilized during the exercise. However, remember not to eat 30 minutes before any physical activity as that will speed up the process of dehydration. Always eat at least 3 to 4 hours before exercising to give your stomach time to empty. During breakfast eat a carbohydrate with a small amount of protein. Fat should be less and fiber moderate in amount.
Eating And Weight Management –
Many times young athletes obsessed with fitness worry too much about the weight that they tend to reduce their diet which leads to many other health issues. Always, pay attention to hunger cues and body needs. However, this does not mean that you fill yourself up whenever you get an opportunity to eat. You can develop a habit to rate your hunger on a scale of 1 to 10 and then decide.
Eat As Your Body Also Need To Recover –
Rigorous physical activities and strengthening exercises lead to wear and tear of muscles and tissues. Also, during the events many times athletes get injured. The best way to speed up recovery is by rehydrating immediately. Consume carbohydrates within the first 30 minutes of any heavy workout. The best foods during these are fruits, vegetables, yogurt, cereals, and milk. Make sure you eat every 2 to 4 hours time duration.
