If you’re keen to become an athlete or you’re already an athlete, your target always remains to maintain a tough physique. Being an athlete you work extremely hard in building muscles, biceps and triceps. You remain physically fit and healthy by jogging and running for an hour, or hitting the gym with distinct exercises or hook up to aerobic classes. But most important for you as an athlete will be the right amount of intake of nutrients in your diet because you burn out more and lose sweat too excessively than a normal person will do.
You have to be cautious in planning out the variety of nutrients in food such as proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates etc. The selection of food and its quality matters most important in the diet that should be taken on regular basis. If you’re competing for certain sports, you perform workouts for few hours, but at the same time diet plays an exclusive role in developing more well-built body. We’ve listed 6 valuable nutritional diet tips for the athletes.
6 Nutritional Diet Tips For Athletes
Carbohydrates
Your body needs carbohydrates of 50-60 percent calories for your body. Carbohydrates are changed into glucose that gets accumulated in the muscles in the form of glycogen which further converts into energy. While you exercise for around two hours, the glycogen stimulates the high-intensity activity.
You can gain carbohydrates from the cereals, breads, fruits, vegetables and pasta that will enhance your stamina further. Before 3 to 4 days of the main event, you should start eating carbohydrate foods and on that particular day you should ingest your last meal 3-4 hours before you start exercising so that your stomach remains empty.
Protein
Protein intake is equally essential for an athlete as they need to ingest 15-20 percent calories in their body. As protein aids in erecting the muscle tissues they should intake the appropriate amount. A strong athlete may require up to 1.7 grams/kilogram of body weight; thus 150 grams of protein is necessary for 200-pound athlete. Higher quality of protein includes lean meat, poultry, fish, nuts and milk. As milk contains excellent amount of protein and it also has calcium, it upholds tough bones in your body.
Fat
Your body also requires fat for gaining energy when carbohydrates fall short or lessen in your body. You should daily eat unsaturated fats such as fatty fish like salmon and tuna; olives, avocados, nuts and vegetable oils. You should eat fish 3 to 4 times a week as it has rich amount of fat in it.
Vitamins
Vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin E contains antioxidants that help in strengthening the body of an athlete, and it also counterbalances free cells that can smash up their cells. Therefore you should eat vitamin-rich foods such as broccoli, papaya, red bell pepper, peanut butter, carrot juice, sweet potato, lentils, orange juice, asparagus, chicken, banana, Sockeye salmon and beef.
Minerals
Athletes also require minerals like iron and calcium for reinforcing their muscles. They can have stress fractures in between, but if they’ll have calcium in their diet it will help in stopping them.
Calcium rich foods include eggs, skimmed milk and milk products. You should also intake iron rich foods such as beef, chicken liver, salmon, oyster, cooked beans, wheat germ, baked potato, spinach and rice which will generate more oxygen in their body.
Fluids
Athletes shouldn’t allow their bodies to dehydrate which may spoil their performances. Thus they should drink extreme amount of fluids such as water, juice and drinks. After their practice session the athlete should have plenty of fluid intakes. As they sweat a lot during exercises drinking fluid is most vital for them. Therefore all the athletes can follow the above nutritional tips and remain muscular always.
