Peak
Performance Eating
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by Diana McNab, former Official Sports
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| overview |
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Sports nutrition is the first leg in the Peak Performance Triangle. Input determines output. Proper nutrition can affect an athlete's attitude, moods, endurance, strength, and stamina. We are an overfat society with no idea what proper nutrition is all about. How Body Fat Affects Performance Excess fat on an athlete slows down his electromuscular responses and reaction time. A sports diet should be low in fat and high in complex carbohydrates. It is not how much an athlete weighs that is as important as the percent of body fat he is carrying. An elite male racquetball player should be anywhere from 4% - 10% body fat and an elite female between 10% - 15% body fat. - How to Lose Weight Properly! In order for an athlete to lose fat weight, she needs to eat 500 calories less per day and exercise aerobically to burn off another 500 calories per day. That is a drop of 1,000 calories per day. And one pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories. The athlete will lose two pounds of fat per week. Fasting and starving don't work, as the human body will not give up its fat stores. Instead, you live off the protein stores in your muscles. Excess weight loss immediately before performance decreases one's vital oxygen uptake and cardiovascular performance. An athlete's percent body fat should be worked on long before the season begins. The Difference Between Male and Female Athletes. Male athletes differ physiologically from female athletes. They have only three percent (3%) essential body fat whereas females have thirteen percent (13%) body fat. Males' metabolisms work faster, their muscle tissue is denser, and they carry more water weight than females. This means that all chemicals and toxins affect women much stronger than they do men. How Many Calories Do We Need to Perform Well? Women athletes need anywhere from 2,000-3,000 calories per day and men can consume 3,000-4,000. Women should digest mini-meals through the course of the day to keep their blood sugar up and what you don't use for energy you store as fat. Protein, Complex Carbohydrates and Fats: What Good are They to the Athlete? Protein is not an energy food; it builds and repairs tissues and cells within the body. All 22 amino acids need to be available for growth. An athlete's protein meal should be eaten two nights before the event to allow it time to digest (8-12 hours). Food Combining and Mood Foods. Complex carbonhydrates are an athlete's energy foods. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, pasta, potatoes, pancakes, and rice, etc. take three to four hours to convert into muscle energy or glycogen. The amount of glycogen stored in one's muscles will determine the work load of that muscle. Fat breaks down into free fatty acids and supply heat, protection, and vitamins A, D, K, and E to the body. It is also the fuel for aerobic exercise, endurance events, and any activity that lasts longer than 12-20 minutes. Excess fat gets stored in one's fat cells. Males collect excess fat around their waists (Miller Lite love handle) and women fill up their excess fat cells around their hips and thighs (enlarged gluteus maximus). Light protein meals keep you mentally alert and complex carbohydrate meals make you groggy and sleepy. Incomplete digestion comes from mixing your carbohydrates with protein. Protein is digested by hydrochloric acid in your stomach and carbohydrates by bases in your saliva. To feel lean and mean, don't combine these foods. Dehydration: #1 Cause of Poor Sports Performance. All athletes should drink six to eight glasses of water per day and hydrate every 15 minutes during performance. Hydrate one's skin and one's insides. - The Effects of Chocolate Bars, Alcohol, Drugs, Nicotine, Etc. on Performance. A chocolate bar ten minutes before performance will give you a five-minute sugar high and then the insulin will bring you lower than before you started. An athlete wants to feel lean and mean before performance. Any remnants of alcohol, drugs, or steroids in one's system will slow down reaction time, decrease accuracy, speed, perception, timing, coordination, etc. It takes 48 hours for alcohol to leave your system. Beware of these negative effects. Nicotine is addictive, as is chewing tobacco, and carcinogenic. It is a stimulant and hinders an athlete's VO2 maximum, his accuracy, and his endurance. There is no place for this in sports! Muscle Cramping: Why? Muscle cramping comes from dehydration and lack of potassium, minerals, and electrolytes. Eat bananas, drink water, and allow your muscles time for recovery! - Anaerobic vs. Aerobic Sports / Glycogen vs. Fats for Energy. Anaerobic or sprinting sports less than three minutes in duration totally rely on one's glycogen supplies. Aerobic or oxygen endurance sports rely on fats for their fuel source and glycogen. Most sports are a combination of both.
The Realities of Road Trips and Why They Take Their Toll. Road trips and jet lag -- poor performance is due to dehydration from convectional water loss through our skin. Buses, planes, trains, and cars totally zap our water supply. So do high-salt, high-fat, and high-sugar food choices. Restaurants, Brown Bag Snacking. Brown bag snacking is in -- fresh fruit juice, fruit, veggies, popcorn, muffins, crackers, bagels, sandwiches, etc. Drink water all the time. Immediately adjust watches to new time change. Do an aerobic workout to cleanse and eat regularly at new destination. Italian restaurants are an excellent source of complex carbohydrates, and great during road trips. K.I.S.S. in Sports Nutrition (Keep it Simple, Stupid). This is the theme to sports nutrition. Eat a diet low in fat and high in complex carbohydrates and you'll be a winner!
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sports specific diet |
BROWN BAG SNACKS: juice, fruit, crackers, muffins, breads, veggies, cereal, dried fruits eat light and snack between events, constantly drinking water TRAVELLING causes dehydration, so keep drinking water and diluted juices and also eat water-soluble foods, fruits, veggies, breads, pastas, etc. |
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