If you are an athlete, you are very aware of the nutritional needs you need to optimize your performance, avoid exhaustion and injuries. Thus, each type of sport is linked to a different type of diet adapted to the energy, power and resistance needs it requires. The need for an extra supply of energy has to be reflected in an adequate diet that guarantees a nutritional balance between macronutrients and micronutrients, in addition to fiber and fluids, and it is also necessary to replace everything consumed during exercise and what is lost via perspiration.
The sports nutrition is a specialized branch of applied nutrition food to people who practice intense sports or endurance sports. Planning a diet is necessary to perfectly coordinate energy intake and energy expenditure, achieving a perfect nutritional balance. If you want to achieve this, in this article we show you how you should plan your diet according to the exercise you do.
What is a sports diet plan?
A dietary planning sport involves designing a diet that meets the n ends dietary-nutritional and hydric athletes for perfect support of a program of training and competition. In each sport, and depending on the athlete, there are a great variety of dietary goals and needs for the maintenance of health and the optimization of sports performance.
Thus, for the preparation of this planning of your own diet, it is necessary to take into account a series of factors related to the nutritional status of the athlete, in addition to taking into account how to reduce problems related to hydration and nutrition during training and exercise. Competition, as well as the assimilation of training loads and recovery after it.
How to prepare your diet according to the physical activity you do?
When planning a diet, it is necessary to cover all the energy needs that arise from exercising, thus avoiding all the negative repercussions that could affect the performance and the athlete’s own health. Thus, according to specialists, the best diet according to the exercise you do is the one that:
1. It is planned logically
It is about avoiding as much as possible those miracle diets or fast diets that promise to gain muscle mass or lose weight in a short period of time, but nothing solid that manages to maintain constant energy and end up decreasing performance, becoming more fatigued or not meeting requirements minimum energy to maintain sports activity.
2. Get involved in diet planning
Another of the basic points to plan your diet well is that you involve yourself in the preparation of your diet and be able to communicate to the coach or nutritionist if you really feel comfortable and well with these foods or are you going to be able to maintain it throughout weather. Thus, it is recommended that food planning also take into account what your tastes are and make the diet much more bearable.
3. Make a study or evaluation of our food and nutritional needs
It must be taken into account how much energy we spend and what type of nutrient, vitamins and minerals we need to do training and competition exercises without losses or negative consequences. These types of studies are carried out following scientific methods in which the total energy expenditure is measured. Per day and hours. The method is called METs, the MET being a metabolic unit that measures how much energy is expended depending on the activity to be performed. It will not be strange that an athlete must eat a large amount of food, even higher than 3000 kilocalories. Thus, for example, an intense exercise and if we are in a training stage before a major competition may require more than 3,000 kcal.
A type of diet that goes beyond a normal diet and in which it may be necessary to add dietary supplements (depending on the case) to achieve these levels without damaging the stomach. In this type of diet, it is recommended to take 5 daily intakes in which the intake is divided by 10% at breakfast, another 10% at lunch, between 25-30% at lunch, 10% at snack and 25% at dinner.
Do not forget to consult your doubts with your nutritionist or your personal trainer. Only a qualified professional will be able to tell you how you can organize your exercise diet and what recommendations you should follow according to your fitness goals and needs.