Sports Nutrition

Today is the day that you begin to enhance your game.  As an athlete, you already know that you need to work hard at insuring that your skills on the court, field or track are the best they can be. 

You want to insure that your body is doing everything in the correct manner from start to finish.

You may spend hours perfecting your movements.  You may work to build your muscle to enhance how well you can throw that ball. 

Or, you may spend countless hours pushing your body to just get past that race line by a fraction of a second better. 

All of these things are essential parts to being a successful athlete. There is no doubt about that.  But, that is not all that you need to handle either.

Off The Court Work Outs

Besides planning your next routine, your next set of reps and your next game, you should be concentrating on your nutrition.  Think about it.

What your body eats is what makes it move. 

What you put into your body is the fuel it will use to do the things that you want it to do.

What you do not put into your body can not help you to succeed either.

While it may sound hard to determine what the right products are, it does not have to be.

As an athlete, you need to focus your time on sports nutrition as much as you focus it on your workout. 

You should take the time to learn about what your body needs, how it reacts to the foods you put into it and how well it will perform based on the fuels you provide it.

The good news is that sports nutrition can be broken down into a much less difficult thing especially in comparison to the workout that you know that you need.

Aspects Of Sports Nutrition

There are several aspects that you need to consider when it comes to sports nutrition.  This is the overview of what we will cover here.

• Hydration:  Your body needs fluids first and foremost.  It needs the right type of fluids and they need to be provided at the right time.  This may be a bit tricky at first, but ultimately, without fluids, your body is completely limited in what it can and will do for you.
• Carbohydrates:  No, we are not talking about any type of diet here.  In fact, carbohydrates are an essential building block for your body’s workout. 

You need to know when to eat them, what they will do for you, and how much to consume.  Luckily, you will find that information here.

• Proteins:  Protein is the building block of our body’s muscle.  Without the right types of proteins in your body, your body can not successfully build muscle groups to accomplish tasks that you want it to. 

You need to learn what you need, when you need to consume it as well as the right products to provide.

• Fats:  Are they good or bad?  Do you know?  Your body does need fat, no matter what those diets tell you. 

But, you need to know what fat is good fat and your body needs to have them delivered at the right time for them to be useful to you.

Doesn’t One Diet Work?

Something that is often misunderstood is the reason why there is not just one diet out there that is used for sports nutrition. 

If you need certain amounts of foods, specific foods and at the same time, wouldn’t everyone be able to follow the same plan along the way?

The answer to this is no.  Each and every one of us has a very different body make up.  In that, we need various amounts and specific planning in our food consumption.

Another contributing factor to this is our age.  Let’s face it.  Our needs change as we age and our bodies need us to provide them with foods to compensate for those needs. 

Even when you are young and fit your body needs something different as you age.

Additionally, the race that you are matters too.  Various cultures need various types of foods, minerals and vitamins.  Remember, bodies developed over time in various ways. 

Therefore what you need is not the same as what someone around the globe (or right next door!) would need.

Finally, your body’s size matters too.  Obviously, the larger you are, the more calories your body needs to feed your body’s cells.  But, that does not mean that you can just take on a little bit more here and there.

Even more so, what you plan to do with your body will effect what you plan to consume.  Will you physically exert your entire body or will you simple exert just your arms?  These are plenty of differences that lie here too.

It All Sounds Confusing

There is no doubt that sports nutrition is a bit complex, but that is only until you break it down and determine what it is that your body truly needs.

When you take the time necessary to balance out all of these factors through a solid sports nutrition plan, you will ultimately be able to succeed at what you need to do, no matter what it is.

Your Goals:

Your goals will follow these needs specifically:

1. Learn what foods your body needs to ingest to succeed.
2. Learn when you need to feed your body those foods.
3. Learn what amounts your body will need to be successful.
4. Develop a plan to help you to succeed at sticking with the goals.
5. Work the plan and find success.

That makes it sound easier, right?  Throughout the next chapters, things will get easier, we promise!  Soon, you will be well on your way to a successful sports nutrition plan that will provide you body with excellent fuel to give you the winning edge you want.