Food and drinks in sports
Eating a good diet helps you get in shape and achieve the best sports results. Here are the following tips for food and drinks for athletes:
Everyone should strive to eat a healthy and balanced diet, regardless of their activity level, because it will provide them with all the nutrients they need. The following additional tips are for people who train once a day or more:
Do you have to increase the amount of food when a lot of exercise?
If a person exercises one or more times each day, they will use more energy than if they had little or no activity. If a person is a healthy weight and does not want to lose fat from his body, increasing the daily amount of food is necessary to maintain his weight.
But there is still a need to make sure that the person eats a balanced diet. To increase your energy intake and support your training sessions, you should eat more foods rich in carbohydrates, such as bread, cereal, rice, pasta, and potatoes. It is preferable to choose varieties consisting of whole grains and to eat potatoes with their peels. Sources of essential fats should be included in the food such as fatty fish, nuts, and seeds. Protein-rich foods are also essential to help repair and build muscle.
Is it better to eat a diet rich in starchy carbohydrates or a diet rich in protein when training?
The need for carbohydrates and protein increases if you exercise regularly every day. Carbohydrates are the fuel that powers exercise.
Carbohydrates are the most important fuel for muscles, and an essential source of energy for the brain and central nervous system, and include bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, and cereals.
Carbohydrates are stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver. These stores are small, so a regular intake of carbohydrates is essential to keep them peaking. Low glycogen stores may result in poor performance and an increased risk of injury. But for some sports, such as those that require specific weights where elite athletes may have to maintain their weight within a certain weight category (such as boxing), or as in endurance sports (such as long-distance running), there can be physiological benefits Than to train with low glycogen stores in private sessions. These sessions should be carefully planned, due to the potential risks.
Most people can get enough protein from a healthy, varied diet. Good protein sources include meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products.
Athletes need protein in larger amounts and at regular intervals throughout the day for muscle growth and repair. Required carbohydrate and protein ratios vary depending on the type of exercise, so it is best to seek advice from a qualified professional about individual needs.
How should meals and snacks be timed concerning exercise times?
When eating a main or light meal, you should not start exercising before one to four hours has passed. The body needs time to digest, and the amount of this time depends on the amount of food eaten.
If it is an average meal, it should be eaten 2-3 hours before exercise. If there's only an hour or so before your workout, aim for a main or light meal that's rich in carbohydrates, low in fat, and moderate in protein, such as low-fat milk porridge, a whole-grain sandwich, or a bagel with chicken and salad. Excess protein or fat slows down the movement of foods from the stomach and leads to a feeling of discomfort.
Food and drink also play a role in recovery from training. Good recovery is important to prevent low energy levels in the middle of the week, and to help muscle growth and repair. If training is more than once a day and the time between sessions is less than eight hours, you should aim to eat carbohydrates and protein-rich foods or drinks within 30 to 60 minutes after completing the first session. If the training is less than that (meaning there is more time to recover) then eat as quickly as possible afterward.
Is drinking necessary during training?
Dehydration occurs when the water content in the body gets too low, and this can have a major impact on exercise performance. The athlete must be well hydrated before starting any training session, and this is done by drinking water regularly throughout the day.
The amount of drinking that an athlete needs during exercise depend on the amount of sweating, and this varies from person to person, and also depends on the intensity and duration of the exercise, in addition to environmental factors.
Water is usually sufficient for the most exercise of up to an hour. For longer exercise, lasting several hours, energy and fluid need to increase, and carbohydrates and sports drinks containing minerals may be beneficial.
For athletes whose training schedule is intense every day, adding carbohydrates in a sports drink can help maintain energy levels and can replace salt lost in sweat.
Do diets differ according to the purpose of training, such as losing weight or building muscle?
Yeah. To lose weight, or more specifically, body fat, the amount of energy consumed must be less than the amount of energy burned, and a diet and exercise regimen is needed to serve this end.
If the exercises are for weight loss, there are basic steps that can be taken to reduce the energy content of the daily diet. Fats, which are the most intense sources of energy, should be reduced, and alcohol consumption should be reduced as well. You should eat less sugary foods, such as sweets, chocolate, cakes, biscuits, and sugary drinks, and complex carbohydrate foods should be eaten regularly but in smaller quantities, such as whole-grain bread, rice, and pasta. You should also eat small amounts of foods that contain essential fats, such as nuts, seeds, and oily fish.
Protein foods should be included in all meals to help maintain muscle mass such as chicken, fish, lean red meat, and low-fat dairy products. And a lot of different fruits and vegetables must be increased. It is also important to adjust the proportion of protein in the diet as well.
Find out how many calories are burned while exercising!
As for building muscle, it is necessary to combine resistance training (also called strength training) with a diet that includes enough energy to enable the body to make muscle in addition to containing adequate and regular amounts of protein.
This energy should come mainly in the form of foods rich in carbohydrates, with an emphasis on foods that provide essential fats, such as fatty fish, nuts, and seeds.
Protein provides the building blocks that help make muscle, protein should be included in all meals, especially before and after a resistance training session. Low-fat or regular low-fat milk (richer in protein than regular milk) is a practical and easy way to consume protein after training.
Should I Take Additional Supplements When Exercising?
There are many different nutritional supplements on the market. Some are based on reliable research, while others are not. Most people do not need to take supplements, and athletes should view supplement consumption with extreme caution. In the past, some nutritional supplements were found to be contaminated with banned substances.
First, it must be ensured that the diet is healthy, balanced, and appropriate for exercise. A registered dietitian or dietitian with experience in sports nutrition should be consulted. They can assess diet and advise about specific supplements.