Athletic Nutrition Plan
Nutrition, and even more so supplements, has been plagued with myths from the innersports circles and more importantly the media for years. Not only have we been given a plethora of information on the subject, there has also been a plethora of misinterpretation. I feel that there are too many writers who try to capitalize on certain extremes in the nutrition arena, and fail to put together a cohesive and coherent nutritional plan. The goal of a nutritional plan is to instill basic guidelines to follow throughout your athletic and lifelong career, not follow an eight week diet consisting of cabbage soup! In the following article, I plan on outlining the basic principles of a good nutrition and supplementation program that will allow you to achieve optimal performance.
The Goal Of Nutrition In A Sports Program
Nutrition is paramount to athletic success. Nutrition provides the energy for sporting events, the nutrients for muscle growth, and overall performance. Nutrition allows for optimal body fat for our sport as well. Let's start with the guidelines: The Macronutrients Protein: This is the main macronutrient athletes should be concerned with. Protein helps build muscle, and help protein synthesis. This is prevalent in meats and dairy products. Carbohydrate: This is a main energy source for the body. No, carbohydrates are not diabolically evil. Carbohydrates can be good, if you eat the right types. A type of carbohydrate that athletes need to be aware of is fiber. Fiber helps with digestion, and keeps you "regular", if you catch my drift. Carbohydrates are prevalent in grains. Fats: Gasp! The dreaded fats! Actually, fats can be extremely helpful in nutritional plans. I am talking about certain oils that have preferable benefits to other junk fats, usually found in fried food. I will elaborate on this later on in the article. Fats are prevalent in oils, dairy products, and