The Importance Of Nutrition In Sports

What an athlete takes in before, during and after training or events is very important for keeping the body from losing energy when you need it the most. Eating the correct foods is what helps in the long run. Athletes should eat right throughout all of their training but most importantly before big events. Athletes should keep up healthy eating throughout all their years of training because it is important for them to keep their body in shape even during the off season. A pre-game meal should be consumed three to four hours before an events and be between 500- 1,000 calories. This meal is to be high in starch because this starch helps break down proteins and fats more easily. The starch should be in form of a complex carbohydrate because they digest at a rate in which provides consistent energy to the body (J. Anderson 25). Foods …show more content…
After an hour athletes should get out and replenish themselves with a carbs, proteins, water and electrolytes. Liquids to drink during practice that are not going to be as intense should be water. On the harder days of training an athlete should drink watered down sports drink or just the sports drink. These sports drink help to give you carbs, sodium, and fluids that you have lost during training. Depending on your body type most athletes should only be taking in fluids in the middle of training or a small snack with carbs. Eating protein and carbs during exercise can prevent muscles from breakdown and provides immediate fuel source. Eating during exercise is only beneficial under certain circumstances such as an athlete doing long intense training, people who are trying to gain mass or muscle, and endurance athletes. For athletes doing more than two hours, every hour they will want to consume 15 gram of protein and 30-45 grams of fat. The reason athletes can do this is because this need the extra fats to run off of as another energy