Proper nutrition is one of the most important factors affecting the sports performance, body weight, and exercise capacity of a person practicing sports daily. The nutritional program of a physically active person should undoubtedly be personalized by their individual needs. Factors such as dietary preferences, the specificity and uniqueness of regular exercise, exercise capacity goals, and individual responses of the organism should be taken into account.
A rational, properly balanced diet that covers the increased demand for energy helps to improve exercise capacity. It is worth remembering that protein, fluids, vitamins, and minerals are super important when you want to increase your body’s potential and optimize the effects of training.
Every athlete requires adequate nutritional support before, during, and after training. In this article, we’ll show you how to properly plan an athlete’s diet, considering individual needs.
The Individual Needs of the Athlete
Everyone has different nutritional requirements, and you need to find an individual approach to meal planning. Athletes often suffer from iron deficiency or hormonal fluctuations that can be successfully regulated through diet. Below we present a few conditions in which special attention is required when selecting nutrients:
Hormone Imbalance – Women can experience severe hormone imbalance after a complete hysterectomy. You will need hormonal support and a proper diet in such cases, especially if you want to return to training quickly. It would be better to limit coffee, even if you love it. Unfortunately, the truth is that too much caffeine can wreak havoc on the endocrine system. Besides, try to avoid toxins and use organic products.
Iron Deficiency – Dietary iron deficiencies often lead to anemia. When planning iron-rich meals, you should remember about factors that limit and improve its absorption. The form of consumed iron is essential here. The so-called heme iron, found in animal products, is more easily absorbed than non-heme iron from plant products. However, vegetarians don’t have to worry. An extremely important vitamin C comes to the rescue. The presence of it in a meal significantly increases the absorption of nonheme iron.
High Cholesterol – People with high cholesterol are often overweight, and they want to get rid of the fatty tissue through exercise. However, they should also eat healthy food to get the desired results as quickly as possible. High cholesterol can be very dangerous, so it is best to exclude animal fats such as butter, meat, and eggs from the diet. Instead, a plant-based diet rich in vitamins and minerals would be a great idea.
Pre-Training Meal
Its purpose is to accumulate sufficient energy reserves that will be used during exercise. The meal must be easily digestible and have a low to moderate glycemic index. We should also consider the right source of the protein. Before the training you can also drink coffee if your individual diet plan doesn’t exclude it. Caffeine will provide you with the energy boost to achieve better performance.
The ideal solution is to consume it 2-3 hours before planned physical activity. Such a meal can include whole-grain cereal products and lots of vegetables. In the morning, it can be porridge with milk, fruit, and nuts.
Diet During Training
The task of such a meal is to provide carbohydrates that will be quickly absorbed and easily digestible, so that they can quickly reach the working muscles. If your workout is shorter than 60 minutes, a glass of juice is enough to improve your body’s performance. If you exercise longer, you can use an isotonic drink for athletes, which, thanks to the appropriate osmolarity, hydrates the body better than water and replenishes electrolytes and carbohydrates.
During long-term exercise all kinds of aqueous glucose solutions are recommended, which should be consumed at 15-20 minutes intervals. Energy bars, protein bars, and energy gels are also recommended, but you should check whether they do not contain too much fat in their composition; otherwise they can cause gastrointestinal discomfort.
Post-Workout Diet
After exercise, you need to rebuild your glycogen stores and prepare your muscles for the next activity. In this case, products with a high glycemic index that contain quickly digestible simple sugars are recommended. The meal should be eaten immediately after training – preferably 15-30 minutes after its completion. It should contain protein and carbohydrates – because such a combination replenishes glycogen stores in the fastest way. Remember, the fastest recovery of glycogen occurs up to 2 hours after physical activity. A good solution is a carbohydrate snack: for example, an energy bar or fresh fruit like a banana.
Conclusion
A proper diet is the basis of every athlete’s life because this element is responsible for the body’s optimal functioning and allows us to provide the right amount of nutrients every day.
The proper selection of nutrients is involved in the manipulation of body composition components and is of great importance in the process of renewal and post-workout regeneration. Nutrition is also crucial for the results achieved during training!
