GOOD NUTRITION IN SPORTS
Maintaining a healthy and balanced diet is essential for any lifestyle, but it is even more important when one is dedicated to sports, since nutrition is one of the various factors on which athletic performance depends.
The Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 made the discipline of sports nutrition a key piece in sports training and performance.
The discipline of sports nutrition was born in the 1980s when its importance in sports performance was recognized. This relationship between nutrition and performance once marked the nutrition of endurance athletes. But it was from the 90s onwards, with the professionalization of training, that nutrition became an essential part of resistance training and conditioning programs and a key to recovery. It is since then that nutrition is considered part of "invisible" training.
DEFINITION : Sports nutrition is the branch of human nutrition specialized in people who practice sports. Through correct nutrition, our body's performance and recovery improves. Training accompanied by adequate nutrition will achieve greater work intensities and duration. During rest periods we must adapt nutrition to promote super compensation and adaptation to the sport. By providing the necessary nutrients we maintain an optimal state of health, which is equal to performance and recovery.
In recent years, it has evolved due to its great importance for the body and the impact it has on the physical performance of athletes. Good sports nutrition is essential if we exercise intensely on a regular basis.
Food supplements are of great help for athletes who maintain an adequate diet and do not meet all their needs. If we want to increase our muscles or simply exercise to get rid of stress and feel better, it is very important to maintain a complete and balanced diet, which provides the body with the necessary nutrients to face physical training.
Nutrition and sport always go together, since they are responsible for our muscular system functioning correctly. In addition to meeting the nutritional needs of athletes, sports nutrition also helps us stay in top shape by keeping our muscles strong, while preventing muscle and joint injuries.
WHAT FOODS ARE VERY IMPORTANT IN SPORTS?
WHICH SHOULD ATHLETES CONSUME TO ACHIEVE BETTER PERFORMANCE?
Food should be rich in:
- Carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, which provide energy and vitality so that our muscles respond to exercise and do not fatigue so easily.
In a diet for athletes, the quantities must also be taken into account, since for correct nutrition we must eat the right amount necessary for our sports day. If the intake is lower than necessary, we will feel greater fatigue and lower performance; on the other hand, if the intake is higher than necessary, we may feel heaviness and less energy.
Following a good diet is important to ensure that the body receives all the essential substances it needs to fulfill its functions, especially when playing sports and the wear and tear on the body is greater. All of this has practical repercussions, since if an inadequate diet is followed, a trained athlete may notice a decrease in performance.
The best regime📏
From Health indicate that for a regimen to be considered balanced, it must provide sufficient energy and provide all the nutrients that the person needs, in the appropriate quantities. The reason is that it must be adjusted depending on the intensity, schedule and number of sessions we practice sports per week.
In general, athletes should:
- Include fish, legumes, eggs and white meat in your diet more often than red meat.
- Regarding the rhythm of meals, the Health recommendations are: eat between 4-5 meals throughout the day to better distribute the energy intake and arrive at the main meals with less feeling of hunger or anxiety. This will prevent meals from being too large. One of the main mistakes in sports nutrition is the excessive consumption of proteins, based on foods of meat origin that are rich in fats, the high intake of these, especially saturated fatty acids and rapidly absorbed carbohydrates. The trend of muscle nutrition, which results in the consumption of too much protein, is based on the belief that a high-protein diet leads to muscle hypertrophy, that is, a progressive increase in muscle mass. Another error in sports nutrition is inadequate energy intake, both by default, as is the case of insufficient diets that are very common in mainly female sports such as rhythmic gymnastics, and by excess, which is very common in throwing or weight lifting sports such as weightlifting. *Taking more than 2.1 g of protein per kg of weight per day is not necessary nor does it present any benefit compared to diets with lower protein content.*
- Nutritional balance of minerals and vitamins 💊. From the point of view of physical capacity and sports performance, it is essential to maintain an adequate level of all the vitamins and minerals necessary for the proper functioning of the body. But typically, "deficient levels of vitamins and minerals have been found to cause decreased athletic performance," he warns. Laura Esquius, Biologist, Dietitian and Nutritionist. "A varied and balanced diet provides us with the different minerals and vitamins that are important for regulating metabolism; however, an individualized assessment of each athlete would be necessary to determine any possible deficiency.".
- Ensure correct hydration 💧. As the sports nutrition specialist warns, "dehydration in the athlete can reduce the muscle's obtaining of aerobic energy, prevent proper cleaning of the lactic acid produced during exercise as well as reduce muscle strength.".
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