Sports Nutrient

Simple Sports Nutrition Tips

Simple Sports Nutrition Tips for Training and Competition

By Elizabeth Quinn, About.com Guide

Updated June 03, 2011

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by the Medical Review Board

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• sports nutrition
• exercise physiology

Sports nutrition doesn't have to be complicated. If you aren't interested in the details or the science of sports nutrition, but still want to get the most from your diet and fitness program, the following recommendations are for you.

Eat a Balanced Diet Each Day

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To exercise consistently, you need to provide a good supply of high-quality energy to your working muscles. The easiest way to to this is to eat a balanced breakfast and continue eating a variety of high-quality foods throughout the day.

Carbohydrate in the form of glycogen is the fuel that makes exercise possible, so adequate carbs must be eaten each day if you hope to train consistently. Protein and fat also have a place in your diet and should be consumed daily. In general, each meal should contain a varied combination of carbohydrates, protein and fat.

If you aren't sure if you are getting the proper nutrients in your daily diet, check out Calorie Count to create a profile and analyze your diet.

Several Hours Before You Workout

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The pre-exercise meal will vary depending upon your exercise style. If you workout in the evening, lunch should include easily digestible foods high in complex carbohydrates, such as pasta, breads, fruits and vegetables. A big salad with a small amount of protein works well. Select a small amount of lean meat such as chicken or fish, and experiment with what works best for you.

If you exercise first thing in the morning, you'll probably feel best if you eat a light breakfast of fruit, toast, or an egg. Again, everyone is different, so experiment with what works best for you. Regardless of what you choice to eat, you should drink plenty of water before and during a morning workout.

Thirty Minutes Before You Workout

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Depending upon the type and duration of workout you do, you'll want to eat a small snack and drink some water a half hour before you get going. Trail mix is great for aerobic workouts over 60 or 90 minutes, but if you are going hard for thirty minutes, you probably only need a half of an energy or granola bar, a large banana, a few graham crackers, fig bars, or pretzels. For a shorter workout, you may not want to eat anything at all, but can get a few calories from drinking about 8-10 ounces of a sport drink.

You should also start drinking water before your workout so you've consumed about 6-12 ounces in the the hour before your workout.

During Your Workout

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Proper hydration during exercise will vary based on your exercise intensity and duration and even the weather. In order to simplify the recommendations, a good starting point is to drink 8-10 fl oz of water every 15 min during exercise.

If exercising longer than 90 minutes, drink 8-10 fl oz of a sports drink every 15 - 30 minutes. Exercising for more than about 90 minutes usually requires that you replenish lost carbohydrates.

If your workout is less than an hour, odds are you don't need to consume anything extra.

Hydration After Your Workout

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After your workout, the general rule is simple: drink enough water to replace water lost through sweat. The best way to determine this is by weighing yourself before and after exercise. For every pound of body weight lost, you'll need to consume about 3 cups of fluid.

Another way to determine how much liquid to consume is to check the color of your urine. Dark, concentrated urine may indicate dehydration. Your urine should be relatively clear in color.

Eating After Your Workout

Your post-exercise meal needs to be consumed within two hours after a long or intense workout in order to replenish glycogen stores. Research shows that getting 100-200 grams of carbohydrate within two hours of endurance exercise helps you replenish adequate glycogen stores, but adding a combination of carbohydrate and protein seems to be an even better option. Studies have found that a 4:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein seems to the ideal combination of nutrition. And although solid foods can work just as well as a sports drink, a drink may be easier to digest make it easier to get the right ratio and meet the 2-hour window.

Diet For Athelete-Reference For School Team

Many athletes believe they need a high protein diet to fuel their muscles. Most research, however, doesn't support the idea that athletes require massive amounts of protein in their diets.

The popularity of high protein diets goes beyond athletes to those looking for fas eight loss. High protein diets that exclude carbohydrate and cut calories often show a large initial eight loss due to the water loss that occurs with muscle glycogen depletion. If you perform high intensity or endurance training you probably know that glycogen depletion is one of the reasons athletes 'bonk' or 'hit the wall' in endurance competition. Without enough easy to access energy, in the form of glycogen, we simply run out of fuel.

Glycogen is the stored energy in muscle, and it helps muscles retain water. This combination is critical for high intensity athletic performance. Depleting these energy stores is hardly something that will improve athletic performance. For a more details about the nutrient needs and the best fuel for endurance exercise, read Eating for Exercise.

Protein and Strength Athletes
While endurance athletes are easy to convince of the need for a high carbohydrate, low fat diet, strength athletes are a bit harder to convince of the need for adequate carbs and moderate protein. Strength athletes have long adhered to high protein diets in order to build muscle. This idea of high protein = more muscle is a bit overstated.

According to the research of sports nutritionists, strength athletes require high carbohydrate and adequate glycogen stored in the muscle. They point out that all high intensity, powerful muscle contractions (such as weight lifting) are fueled with carbohydrate. Neither fat nor protein can be oxidized rapidly enough to meet the demands of high-intensity exercise. Adequate dietary carbohydrate must be consumed on a daily basis to restore glycogen levels.

In fact, research shows that high protein/high fat diets can hurt performance. An inadequate amount of carbohydrate in the diet can result in:

·         Reduced muscle glycogen stores in the muscle and liver

·         Decreased endurance

·         Decreased maximal effort

·         Decreased serum glucose levels

·         Increased risk of hypoglycemia

High protein/high fat diets can also have a negative overall impact on health, including the following:

·         Increased risk of certain cancers

·         Increased calcium excretion and increased risk of osteoporosis

·         Reduced intake of vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals

But Don't Strength Athletes Need More Protein To Build Muscle?
Research hasn't shown this. In fact most strength athletes get far more protein than is necessary to promote muscle synthesis. The current protein recommendations for optimal muscle building in a strength athlete is 1.6 - 1.7 gm protein per kg of body weight. For a athlete weighing 90 kg (200 pounds) that is a total of 145 - 154 grams of protein a day [about 3 small chicken breasts]. There is no scientific evidence that more than 2.0 grams of protein per kg of body weight has any additional benefit in muscle strength or size.

How Much Protein is That?
Not much, as it turns out. Here is a list of some high protein foods.

Food, Amount, Protein
Fish, 3 oz, 21 grams
Chicken, 3 oz, 21 grams
Turkey, 3 oz, 21 grams
Beef, 3 oz, 21 grams
Milk, 8 oz, 8 grams
Tofu, 3 oz, 15 grams
Yogurt, 8 oz, 8 grams
Cheese, 3 oz, 21 grams
Peanut butter, 2 tbsp, 8 grams
Eggs, 2 large, 13 grams

So What Should an Athlete Eat?
The recommendations of sports nutritionists continues to show performance enhancing benefits. These general guidelines are:

·         12-15% of daily calories from protein.

·         25-30% of daily calories from fat.

·         55-65% of daily calories from carbohydrate.

·         An athlete's nutrition plan should be individualized to meet the needs of training and competition.

·         Carbohydrates are the primary fuel for intense muscular efforts, and should be the cornerstone of an athlete's diet, regardless of the sport they play.

Many athletes believe they need a high protein diet to fuel their muscles. Most research, however, doesn't support the idea that athletes require massive amounts of protein in their diets.

The popularity of high protein diets goes beyond athletes to those looking for fas eight loss. High protein diets that exclude carbohydrate and cut calories often show a large initial eight loss due to the water loss that occurs with muscle glycogen depletion. If you perform high intensity or endurance training you probably know that glycogen depletion is one of the reasons athletes 'bonk' or 'hit the wall' in endurance competition. Without enough easy to access energy, in the form of glycogen, we simply run out of fuel.

Glycogen is the stored energy in muscle, and it helps muscles retain water. This combination is critical for high intensity athletic performance. Depleting these energy stores is hardly something that will improve athletic performance. For a more details about the nutrient needs and the best fuel for endurance exercise, read Eating for Exercise.