3 Reasons Nutrition Is Important For Athletes
Understanding nutrition and having regular consultations with a nutritionist is imperative for athletes of any type. What you eat can be more important than your training regimen and make you a better athlete.
Bulking/Cutting Cycles
Fine-tuning your nutrition is important for both bulking and cutting cycles. During a bulking phase, you will consume more calories to increase muscle mass, while minimizing the amount of body fat you gain. Your diet will contain a higher percentage of carbohydrates, protein, and fats than you would normally eat during maintenance. When you are cutting, you typically drop both your carbohydrates and fats slowly until you reach your target weight. Cycling between bulking and cutting can prevent unnecessary loss of muscle during cuts and can prevent crash diets and water-cutting to meet a weight class. Being careful about your nutrition is much safer and can help you avoid damage to your metabolism.
Performance Enhancement
Although people often think about banned substances when considering performance enhancing products, you diet can be just as influential on your performance. Your overall diet is important during training and when you are competing, but nutrient timing is equally important. Depending on when you exercise or compete, you may have a meal or snack that is high in carbohydrates and protein, while low in fat, an hour or two before an activity. This is used to provide your muscles with the necessary energy to perform at optimum levels. Carbohydrates throughout your workout or event can help with sustained energy. Other nutrients, such as proteins or branch-chain amino acids may be taken after workouts or within a certain time limit after a workout or competition, since there is a window of time when these nutrients are quickly absorbed by the muscles and can aid in recovery or muscle-building.
Injury Recovery
Most athletes will face an injury at some point in their career and a good nutrition strategy can facilitate recovery and prevent unnecessary weight gain while you are inactive. Eating a diet that is rich in vitamins and minerals, more so than usual, can help your body with its natural healing process. An illness or injury often places more demands on your body, so your nutrient intake will need to be sufficient to support your body during this time. Depending on the type of injury, focusing on higher protein and dairy can be important for rebuilding lean body mass, such as muscle, bone, and supporting structures. Additionally, protein can be used to retain muscle mass when exercising is not an option.
Whether you are a full-time, professional athlete or compete as a hobby, your nutrition is critical to perform at your best and remain healthy. When in doubt, consulting a nutritionist can help you reach your goals in a safe manner.
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