Sports Nutrition: Are You Eating Right As An Athlete?

As an athlete you have a slightly different diet than the average person. Since you are moving more, you need enough energy for your activities.

For the average person, the American Dietary Guidelines recommends the following:

• Consume a variety of nutrient-rich foods and beverages within and among the basic food groups and choosing foods that reduce the intake of saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, added sugars, salt, and alcohol.

• Meet recommended intakes within energy needs by adopting a balanced eating pattern.
As an athlete, you must follow these dietary recommendations not only for your health but also for your athletic performance.

Protein is an important part of an athlete’s diet. However, you are not encouraged to eat more than your recommended protein intake because your body will store that excess calories in the form of fat tissues. If you want to develop muscle mass, you have to do strength training and take in just a little more than your recommended intake of carbohydrates as well as small amounts protein, but not too much or you’ll end up developing love handles.

Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy and as an athlete you need to eat more energy-giving foods to sustain you. Even desserts are a green-zone for athletes since most of these are rich in sugar and are good sources of carbohydrates.

Fats or lipids are also sources of energy, just like carbohydrates. It is a common misconception that fats are bad for you. There are good fats and there are bad fats. Good fats are the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats whereas the fats you should avoid are saturated and trans fats.

Some of the American Dietary Guidelines recommendations on fat intake are as follows:

• Consume less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fatty acids and less than 300 mg/day of cholesterol, and keep trans fatty acid consumption as low as possible.

• Keep total fat intake between 20 to 35 percent of calories, with most fats coming from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, such as fish, nuts, and vegetable oils.

Proper nutrition is as essential as constant practice for an athlete. Your body must be able to respond to the demands you make and that means eating the rights foods at the right amounts to be able to fully achieve your competitive potentials.

In addition to eating right, you must also be well-hydrated. Adequate water intake is vital to your body as you continuously lose fluids and electrolytes through perspiration, urinating and defecating, as well as in breathing.

Remember that water is important in nutrient transport. You need water to carry those nutrients you get from the healthy foods you eat to the muscles, organs, and cells where these nutrients are most needed.

As an athlete, you should even be more attentive to what you eat because you also demand more from your body than the average person. Therefore, you should supply it with the nutrients it needs, and in the right amounts, of course.

When you’re out there on the field, in the middle of an intense competition, sometimes it can come down to what you’re eating as an athlete. Proper nutrition is very important for an athlete. Like a sports car which needs high-octane fuel for optimum travel velocity, an athlete must also be eating the right foods to fuel peak athletic performance.

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Building Muscles and Gaining Weight

When you want to build muscles, your first consideration is the food you eat. Eating the right foods at the right amounts is important in developing lean muscle mass and gaining weight.

Yes, weight gain! Don’t cringe! The weigh gain we’re talking about here is the gain of lean muscle mass and not excess fat.

Did you know that muscles weigh more than fat?

It only follows that if you’re going to build muscles, you’re also going to gain weight but good weight.
If you want to build muscles you will have to eat more carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy although 20% of it must also come from fats.

Yes, you heard it right – fats. There are the good fats, and of course, the bad fats and we all know all about the saturated and trans fat, don’t we? But what do we know about monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats? Not much…But there are good sources of energy as well as good for your heart too!

There is the common misconception that when loading up on protein will help you gain lean muscle mass faster. The excess protein you eat will only be used as energy if you don’t perform weight or resistance training exercises.

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The Mental Game: Just One More!

Preparing for a competition or just doing your everyday workout routine can be quite a challenge especially when you’re not up to it anymore and you just want to stop.

Here’s a great approach to that problem: the “Just One More” approach of doing your training exercises or your workout routine.

Sometimes, there comes a point when running or doing weights prove to be downright boring and unproductive. We all go through this phase once in a while and it could mean that we’re getting too comfortable with our training or fitness exercises.

Pushing yourself just beyond your capacities ensure that you are continuously improving yourself. However, there are limits on how far you can push your body and knowing to read the signals your body sends you is important so that you’ll know when to stop, and when to pusher harder and step it up.

Who ever said you’ll only need to be mentally prepared when going into a big game? Practice and
training also needs the same level of mental preparedness.

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In sports, proper hydration is important not only to the athlete’s physical condition but also to his/her athletic performance.

Water has four main functions in the body: circulation of nutrients and elimination of wastes, regulation of body temperature, lubrication of joints and tissues, and facilitation of digestion.

When in training or during competition, the body’s demand for water increases considerably. Hydration and fluid replenishment, which in sports are used interchangeably, is therefore an important part of the training and competition. Water intake and hydration strategies must be in place to prevent dehydration.

Typically, a 15-minute interval for water intake is recommended and water is best absorbed by the body at a temperature range of about 4-7°C.

The importance of hydration in sports has given rise to the production of sports drinks which, in addition to water, also contains electrolytes and small amounts of carbohydrates in the form of glucose. These are not readily absorbed by the body as quickly as water but they can be helpful in replenishing electrolytes lot through perspiration and in providing energy in the form of glucose.

Here’s another power truth about water…

Proper hydration facilitates blood circulation. The fluid component of the blood known as plasma is made up of about 90% water. Hydration ensures that water in the blood, which is lost as a response to the body’s attempt of regulating its temperature, is replaced continuously throughout the periods of intense activity. This can translate to a continuing proper function of the cardiovascular system.

Now that should keep you refilling that water bottle every time!

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Steroids and Sports Performance

Performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) are very controversial and many schools, collegiate conferences, professional or amateur sports leagues as well as international sports committees have regulated or altogether banned the used of PEDs among their athletes.

Athletes are under great pressure to achieve peak performance and sometimes the drive to win is so strong that they resort to regulated or banned PEDs.

Anabolic steroids are one of these PEDs. Anabolic steroids are compounds which are closely related to the male hormone, testosterone. Testosterone has two main effects on the human body – androgenic and anabolic.

Androgenic changes are primarily seen on the development of the male sexual characteristics while anabolic changes involve muscle and bone growth.

Anabolic steroids are manufactured with improved anabolic properties and reduced androgenic properties of these drugs. However, the direct link between using anabolic steroids and performance is unclear.

Most reports of enhanced performance in relation to taking anabolic steroids are purely anecdotal. Clinical studies are few and far in between with little significant data tying anabolic steroids to enhanced performance.

Researchers, however, have data on the effects of abusing anabolic steroids. These include liver problems, jaundice, fluid retention, and increased blood pressure.

Other side effects also include the following: “for men shrinking of the testicles, reduced sperm count, infertility, baldness, development of breasts; for women growth of facial hair, changes in or cessation of the menstrual cycle, deepened voice; for adolescents: growth halted prematurely through premature skeletal maturation and accelerated puberty changes.”

Next time you consider taking an anabolic steroid in the hope of achieving peak performance, well, think again.

Peak performance can be achieved through proper training, the right nutrition, and a positive attitude. Believe in yourself and your abilities!

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