Sports Nutrition is the Secret Weapon among Serious Athletes

It is surprising to realise that many athletes are not eating a steady diet of protein, carbs and fats in the right proportions, tailored for their individual sporting expertise. These sportsmen and women, whose enviable physique seems to epitomise health are actually poor eaters with common misconceptions on nutrition in general, let alone for high intensity sports.

Many talented athletes perform under their optimal level not because they lack skill, but rather, they lack the needed sustenance; the right nutritional combination to give them that extra edge to power on.

Whose Responsibility is it anyway?

Athletes have a huge personal responsibility to retrieve the required information on sports nutrition and excel in their sport, but coaches and trainers should serve a bigger role in emphasising the benefits of consuming the right choice of foods for maximum results for their athlete.

Several studies have been conducted which shows that in certain sports groups, when a coach is inadequately trained in sports nutrition, their athletes under-perform.

All competitive athletes, whether they compete on an international stage or within their schools or in communities, look to their coaches to guide them on areas of focus in the game and unfortunately a healthy diet is not a main priority.

Is Sports Nutrition Necessary for Athletes?

Should there be special diet regimens for competitive athletes, different from those of a regular, active gym-goer? Most definitely; to paraphrase the analogy used by a physiology expert in reference to the special nutrient requirements of athletes: would you expect the same performance from your car that runs on super grade petrol, if you decided to fill it up with standard? I would think not, and the same analogy applies to athletes.

Peak performance necessitates the right fuel in the form of power foods. Having the right balance of meals enhances speed, agility, and endurance.

Sports Nutrition Defined

Sports nutrition is a broad and rather complex interdisciplinary field with a scientific base; it is essentially a study of the role of nutrition and diet as it relates to athletic performance.

This interdisciplinary field churns out professionals who assist the sports community with their invaluable input. They include dieticians, biochemists, exercise physiologists, cell and molecular biologists, and occasional psychoanalysts. It is certainly a field that is justified in the sports arena as it delves into a comprehensive study of the body’s use of food nutrients during athletic competitions and the need for additional nutritional supplements among athletes to ensure optimum amounts of all key nutrients at any time.

The discipline is also concerned with eating disorders among athletes. Most academic sports nutritionists hold doctoral degrees in the field of exercise physiology and are equipped to provide professional advice on problems that are psychological, physiological or other health issues.

A sports nutritionist often specialises in event sports, working with athletes in one particular type of sport, such as in track and field, cycling or swimming.

Specific Purpose of Sports Nutrition

Sports scientists recognise sports nutrition to be a vital part of the success of athletic performance. It can make the difference between winning and losing for athletes who understand the connection, and thus the discipline serves several purposes:

    To prepare athletes before performance and training
    To maintain an optimum level of performance
    To help the athlete’s body recover from training and competitions
    To provide sound information on healthy dietary practices and use of supplements
    To monitor athletes for signs of eating disorders, supplement abuse, doping, or other unhealthy nutritional practices
    To provide specialised nutritional advice to athletes following vegetarian, vegan, or other special diets
    To monitor the special nutritional needs of persons with disabilities who participate in athletic competitions

Hydration

Maintaining a proper level of fluid and minerals in the body is a critical aspect of sports nutrition. This is because loss of water and nutrients through sweating is an unavoidable problem with any sport, and must be replaced during competitions. Any level of dehydration is to be avoided or serious injuries can result. An athlete who becomes dehydrated can lose muscle strength, have difficulty concentrating, develop headaches, is intolerant of rigorous training and is ultimately unable to perform.

Muscle cramps, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and even death are serious consequences that can result from severe loss of much needed fluid and electrolytes. An adult who has lost more than 8 per cent of body weight through sweating and without replacing the lost fluids is at risk of serious injury. The greater the loss of body fluid, the longer it takes to rehydrate the body and recuperate.

Because each athlete differs in physiological makeup, perspiration rates will also differ. Therefore it takes the intervention of health experts to evaluate athletes on an individual basis to determine how much fluid is needed after training.

The most common way professionals measure this need is by weighing the athlete before and after exercise; the amount of weight lost is what is used to determine how much fluid is replaced. Intake of the calculated amounts of fluid is done before the next workout.

Assessment of Weight and Body Composition

Sports nutrition also involves the careful assessment of athletes’ weight and body composition. This knowledge helps in the creation of the best-fit physique to succeed in the sport. The use of commonplace “body mass index” to evaluate an athlete’s weight is neither recommended nor applied to sports persons due to inconsistent results from using this measurement tool.

Many athletes, because of their training regimen have a high proportion of muscle tissue to fat and may therefore be considered overweight by standard body mass charts. A better reference guide that has universal applications is one that evaluates an athlete based on body development and commonalities using percentile ratings.

An assessment can be performed to check whether an athlete falls between the 25th and the 75th percentile of weight for height by age, measured according to the National Centre for Health Statistics guidelines.

The Look of Health

Sports nutritionists can help give you that look of health determined by acquiring the ideal ratio of lean muscle mass to body fat. Although the ideal body mass ratio is still debateable sports nutritionists strive for this ideal. A nutritionally healthy athlete is said to have lean muscle masses above the 25th percentile. Regardless of this goal pursuit, male athletes should not have less than 7 per cent body fat as part of any value.

The Relationship between Performance and Poor Nutrition

Several studies have been done in recent times that show a startling correlation between sub-standard performances in athletes and the lack of attention paid to nutrition. Also, a number of misconceptions previously abounded between athletes and their coaches due to insufficient knowledge on the subject of nutrition. Fortunately, recent scientific studies have now clarified and emphasised its importance.

These studies have highlighted the significance of tailored-made, high quality sports nutrition and its impact on performance.

Tailored-made Nutrition

The misconception that all athletes require the same type of nutrient combination is viewed as a mistake by some experts. This error in application is partly due to the fact that sports nutrition is still a relatively new discipline, in which its influence has not fully made its mark on the athletic elite.

Many sports nutritionists also believe that the common practice of a coach being the all-in-one person has to go; it is regarded as one of the primary reasons for the lack of priority placed on an athlete’s diet and ultimately affects performance.

Diet Specific to the Sport Event

The nutritional need of a tennis player is different from that of a 100-meter runner or a triathlon competitor. Each player requires a separate type of training and diet with suitable nutritional values provided to execute the skills to win.

When an athlete trains to build and tone muscles according to the demands of a specific sport, and adds to the regimen a diet that matches the rigours of training– while honouring physiological needs–then this is where sports meet science.

The Impact of Quality Foods on Performance

Sports nutrition is the secret ingredient to high level performance. Trainers already know that the right balance of sport-specific training, skill, and mental acuity are enough to get you to the finish line, but is it enough to win? Only one athlete will emerge the victor. Although winning itself, is not totally defined by nutrition, the more factors that are taken into the equation the better the chances of the athlete to be successful. In modern sports events the endeavour to save hundredths of a second from finishing times or to gain more power or efficiency of the body, nutrition must not be overlooked.

While there is no such thing as a magic diet or nutrition plan, there are many ways in which carefully selected food choices can allow athletes at all levels of performance to achieve the special goals of their training and competition event.

But what must not be forgotten is that all athletes are talented, highly-motivated, and well-trained, and when they meet up at events especially momentous ones such as the Olympics, the margin between victory and defeat is very slim. Skill and execution can make that vital distinction. Diet will affect this performance and it will show in the end results.

A healthy diet plan will influence how well an athlete trains and will determine outcome at events. The right balance of complex carbohydrates, protein, and fats will make the biggest impact on training and this will be displayed on the field. A good diet will help support consistent intensive training while limiting the risks of illness or injury due to lack of specific nutrients.

Yet, no single diet plan will meet the needs of all athletes; therefore it is incumbent upon all sports players to be aware of his or her personal goals and to select an eating strategy based on fine adjustments to protein, carb and fat ratios, to achieve these goals. A sports nutritionist can be an important support toward your plans.

Surveys have shown that despite the gruelling training endured by athletes, many do not meet their nutritional needs; instead common behaviour patterns emerge in various social settings, such as:

    Poor or out-dated knowledge of sports nutrition
    Poor choices when shopping or dining
    Limited knowledge of the impact of different types of foods and inadequate cooking skills
    Complaints of limited availability of good food choices
    Indiscriminate use of supplements and sports foods
    Busy lifestyle leading to inadequate time to consume appropriate foods

On the other hand a well-chosen diet offers many benefits to all athletes in these ways:

    Consistency in achieving high-level performances
    A reduced risk of injury and illness
    Optimal gains from the training programme
    Enhanced recovery between workouts and events
    Achievement and maintenance of an ideal body weight
    Confidence in being well prepared for competitions

Additionally, all diets must include a daily ratio of carbs, protein and fats as well as high amounts of liquids. The right ratio of foods is unique to the individual and his or her sport category. Food ratio may tilt towards higher protein, carbs or fats depending on the individual’s metabolic type, physiological needs and training regimen.

Foods rich in protein are important for building and repairing muscles. Timing of protein intake is also important, such as taking a small amount right after training will help promote muscle adaptation and recovery.

Carbs fuel the muscles and brain to meet the stresses of training. How much and when these foods are eaten is also very important during times of competitions and requires professional guidance.

Healthy fats provide the energy store needed to perform well. The right balance of fats for the athlete is ascertained according to training requirements. Consuming too much high energy type foods will naturally increase body fats and therefore affect performance.

In essence the guideline for coaches and athletes is:

    Obtain a unique sports nutrition plan, developed for the specific categories of sport, that caters to the body weight, gender, and energy needs of the athlete

Consequently, the prescription for athletes who want to stand out from the crowd and gain recognition as an extra-ordinary player is to understand the importance of nutrient-dense foods in performance, then utilising the knowledge of a specialist in sports nutrition to help.