Sports Nutrition – For The Active Athlete

What is Sports Nutrition and how it can Help your Sports career?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines “Sports Nutrition as the intake of food, considered in relation to the body’s dietary needs”

“Sports Nutrition is the specialized branch of Nutrition that studies food with relevance to athlete performance” 2010 IOC Consensus statement

Let’s Look Closer At Sports Nutrition 

Sports Nutrition and Diet significantly influence an athlete’s performance because it provides a source of energy required to perform the activity.  The food we eat has an impact on our strength, training, performance, recovery, and injury prevention.

If you are a professional athlete or a weekend warrior, nutrition is fundamental to your athletic performance.

I think you get the picture of why Sports Nutrition is important. Whether, by intake from the wide range of commonly available foods or supplements, you can still meet the carbohydrate, fat and, micronutrient requirements.  This also helps with weight control and the volume of fluids consumed to prevent dehydration.

Nutrients That Your Body Needs :

• Vitamins
• Minerals
• Supplements
• Organic substances include Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.
• Hydration (fluids)

Good Sports Nutrition And Sports Training:

Good nutrition is important when you are active, especially if you have just started your training regime. You need to pay attention to your energy and Dietary needs if you have started participating in any of the following:-

• Walking to get the metabolism going
• Weekend Warrior
• Strength sports (weight lifting and bodybuilding)
• Endurance sports (cycling, running, swimming, rowing, gymnastics)
• Competitive sport

Your Body’s Nutrient Needs During Exercises

When your body doesn’t get the nutrients it needs, your immune system becomes weak and your risk of illness goes up.  Food is the body’s fuel. proper nutrition leads to better performance. Provide your body with the right nutrients, and you’ll be rewarded with higher energy, more muscle, and faster recovery.

Sports Nutrition Advisers And Athletes

The aim of a Sports Nutritionist or Adviser is to create a Nutrition plan  for an individual’s Athlete needs to:

• Increase energy levels
• Promote good health
• Help manage weight and food diary
• Improve muscle and recovery time
• Improve concentration
• Develop body composition and growth
• Enhance recovery
• Improve nutrition with the best Supplements
• Assessment and analyse to support you with your long and short-term goals

It Helps

Good nutrition in Sports is extremely important, but it is not everything. Athletes sometimes ascribe magical powers to nutrition, believing that if they just “get it right”, their performance will zoom and their fitness will be transformed. Good nutrition can help performance. Poor nutrition will worsen performance.

Alcohol, Overweight, And  Long Life

Alcohol, overweight and Long Life are just not good roommates. Long Life just doesn’t hang around with them. It is all about risk and odds.  HealthySportst Nutrition does lower the risk of cancer, heart disease, and a host of other diseases.  It helps many of us live a healthier, stronger life.

“I used special diets, vegetarian diets with lots of vitamins.  Then I’d see the East Germans gorging themselves on greasy French fries and Wiener Schnitzel then go out on the track and set world records.  It makes you wonder about diet”  – Mark Gorski – Olympic Gold Medallist, Cycling

The Risk Of Not Maintaining Fitness

• Future weight problems and your body shape changes
• Joints and back problems
• The big risk of disease and health problems,
• When you get older your mobility reduces

WHO Global Exercise Recommendations: 

To improve cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, bone health, reduce the risk of disease and depression.

During my career, I took part in different sports disciplines and reached a professional level, from school to my working career.  Many productive hard exercises went into my sport daily.  Later years, after my knee operation I stopped all exercises and concentrate more on gardening and my art.  I told myself that this was more than enough exercise daily.  Well it’s not, you must keep your muscles in shape to prevent injuries and joint operations.

Stop Sports Injuries Right Now

If your motor vehicle has no fuel or does not receive any maintenance, will it run?

Just like proper Physical Techniques, basic nutrition and hydration should be part of an athlete’s everyday safety routine. By following basic Nutritional tips, athletes can stay at peak performance before, during and after exercising and competitions.  It is about pre-exercise, during-exercise and post-exercise nutrition. Of course, caloric mix, quality, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients have important roles to play in general or overall Sports Nutrition.

Remember that not all sports have the same exercise programs, however, warming up is very important to all different types of sports.

The 3 Pillars Of Physical Fitness? 

• Our Engine: Heart and Lungs (Aerobic/Anaerobic)
• Our Structure:  Muscles (Strength/Mobility)
• Our Overall Appearance:  Body Composition  (Muscle to Fat Ratio)

Why Do I Have To Eat Before, During And After Exercises?

Your body needs the energy to function and to perform daily. Where does this energy come from?  Food

The three main nutrients  that  supply the body with energy are:

• Carbohydrate
• Fat
• Protein
• (These can be obtained by eating foods from the five Food Groups).
• Hydration

Total Energy Needs Are Based On The Type And Level Of Exercise:

Most equations for calculating an individual’s energy needs are based on:

• Gender
• Weight
• Height
• Physical activity

It is very important to ensure that your body gets the correct nutrition to perform at optimum levels if you want to achieve your goals. You need to ensure that you are eating well-balanced meals to sustain your energy levels during the event, keep hydrated and top-up when you can to sustain the energy levels on long events.

Supplements

Supplements tend to be treated with grave suspicion by a lot of athletes, and I understand why but, there is definitely a place for high-performance supplements with the best, legal ingredients. The secret is doing the due diligence to ensure that you are buying the best supplements that have been tested and certified to be free of banned substances.

Follow the top athlete’s example:

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