Sports Nutrition & Diet: What to eat...Recent Articles (show all)
...to Boost your Athletic Endurance By Ashley Soldera Have you ever felt drained and experienced great fatigue before, during or after playing sports? If you have, there are a number of factors that contribute to this feeling: a high-intensity training session, lack of sleep, over-eating, not eating enough, dehydration, hot weather or your overall mood & well-being. What you eat profoundly affects the way you look and feel. It fuels your muscles and blood sugar levels, gives you more endurance, and affects your speed and strength. A healthy food plan combined with your physical activity levels can help create a better you to boost your fitness and quality of life. When you don't eat the right kinds of foods, or worse: don't eat at all; your muscles don't fully restock their fuel stores. Your gas tank runs low and your energy levels surge. After you eat French fries and fried chicken, notice how lethargic, sluggish and tired you feel. Why does this happen? High fat foods take longer to digest, reduce blood flow to the brain, decrease energy levels and worsen your level of sport performance. To achieve nutritional benefits, you need to eat the right types of foods at the right times. Before your workout: It is recommended that you eat a small snack 2-3 hours beforehand that contains 50-75 g of carbs to stabilize blood sugars to crank up your fuel tank (ex: 8 dried apricots or 4 whole grain crackers with 2 tbsp of jam or a small power bar with water). Bring a water bottle to prevent dehydration and drink every 15-20 minutes throughout your session. During your workout: For workouts lasting less than an hour, it is recommended that you drink water regularly every 15-20 minutes. Be sure to get a good dose of digestible carbs within an hour of your workout. For workouts lasting longer than an hour, you'll need a fluid/energy replacement bar to stabilize your insulin and electrolyte levels. Some examples include: Propel, Gatorade, a protein bar or sport energy bar to sustain your endurance and momentum. After your workout: Your body craves 2 major nutrients: carbs and proteins. Healthy simple carbohydrates include foods such as fruit, milk, non starchy vegetables, and honey. High calorie simple carbohydrates include cakes, chocolate, cookies, candies, jam and table sugar. These foods should be avoided for optimal sport performance. Good sources of complex carbohydrates include foods such as legumes, whole grain bread, pasta, rice, starchy vegetables. The best sources of complete and incomplete proteins include lean chicken, all types of fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel), tofu, beans, whey protein isolate, eggs and nuts. Have 1 serving of protein (ex: a protein shake or 23 almonds & water) within 60 minutes of completing your workout (the best absorption of nutrients and muscle repair occurs within that time window). Now that you know how to eat properly when you train, you'll never be fatigued again!! |