Sports Nutrition: Effective Weight Management for Athletes- Guest Post
Check out this guest post from writer Randolph Ray, sports trainer and sports health expert for some guidance on thoughts you should consider in order to succeed as an athlete when it comes to nutrition and health. Make sure to work with a sports dietitian for all of your athletic nutrition needs or, if you choose to work with a gym nutritionist, ensure that you do not have any additional health issues that they do not specialize in. Check out the rest of the post below to find out these great starting tips for your sports health and nutrition journey in regard to weight management.
Description: For a boxer who wants to qualify for a bout, they need to maintain a particular weight. Out here, people are either trying to lose or gain some weight; but do we even give a thought to those who want to maintain? So what sports nutrition recommendations should you follow?
A Sneak Peek of the Situation
3 groups suffer from weight issues;
- Overweight who need to cut off the extra pounds which can be achieved by reducing the intake of specific foods and increasing the intensity of activity that they take part in.
- Underweight which is the group of those who need to work on adding some figure on the scale reading and their solution would be proper diet and reducing the burn out of fats.
- Healthy weight individuals who need to strike a balance between the intake and output of energy.
From the above list, the latter is usually set aside because they are thought of as being well-off compared to the other two. However, doing math with your energy usage is not a walk in the park. Let’s find out why.
The Dos to Achieving Success
So what is sports nutrition? This is the monitoring of the type and quantity of foods consumed by an athlete to help with performance. For an athlete to strike a balance on their input and output of energy within their body, a couple of aspects need to be put into consideration. Remember, we are trying to maintain an equal amount of both ends, so these are what should be in your sports nutrition arsenal:
Consider the Off-Season
If you find yourself in a position where you have put on some extra pounds, then you can use the free time you get during the offseason to properly address those issues. Tips like strategic balance and food consumption along with smart exercising will allow you to be successful in losing that weight. Many sports nutrition articles advise this as you will use the majority of the time almost to the competitions to get fitter since your body would have fully adapted to the new changes.
Diet Intelligently
Don’t just do it, do it smartly. Following a sports nutrition regimen doesn’t require you to immediately cut down the consumption of the foods that you take. However, be sure of the way you approach that matter. The body requires different amounts of specific nutrients to survive and if you get this wrong, then you might end up messing up your efforts. Consult with both your coach and nutritionist to be able to find the right way to cut your diet without getting negative results. Avoiding foods with added sugar and replacing them with higher fiber can be a smart approach.
Follow Rules on Training Sessions
A routine should help you cover ground to reach your fitness goals. Nonetheless, it can either make or break you. Following good training methods will help get you places. Marrying sports and exercise nutrition is something most athletes have a hard time managing. A routine should have a pre-snack that will help with boosting your energy to push yourself to the limits. Moreover, eating something balanced after a routine is very necessary as well. This ensures that the energy you spent throughout the workout is regained.
Think Outside the Box
There are two scenarios an unfit athlete can find themselves in;
- Holding on to extra pounds
- Being weight deficient
An athlete should act fast to prevent further issues than the already existing ones. So the right actions to be taken are:
Burning Up
As easy as it might be showcased all over the internet, losing weight is tough, especially if you have no proper direction, support, and information on what you’re doing. Opting for natural sports nutrition will work best for you and incorporating cardio exercises to shed the pounds.
Adding Up
This part will require you to commit to strength training and potentially incorporating some nutrition sports supplements to get you to cut more easily. It is important to note what kind of supplements you take since a wrong call can be the end of your career.
What are the Pros to Sports Nutrition
You cannot talk about sports nutrition and fail to mention how it serves important purposes. The importance of sports nutrition includes;
- It gives you the zeal to train for longer and push yourself to the limits
- It retains your energy and enables you to fight fatigue
- It helps one to propel a great immunity
- Boost the general activity performance
- Shortens the time used for recovery
- Gets your body in shape
- Helps the body become more injury-proof
- Improves your concentration and focus while doing your sport
Conclusion
It is very important to consider the state of your body if you are an athlete. Your weight, level of fitness, and injury resistance ability are very crucial to your overall performance in sports. Something to also take home is the fact that sports nutrition is very important to follow if given by a specialist instead of getting something online and settling for it.
Holding that thought, are you an athlete? How fit are you? What do you need to incorporate in your training? What kind of eating plan do you follow? Leave a comment!
Author’s Bio:
Randolph Ray is a training coach and a sports health expert. In his days as an athlete, maintaining the right level of fitness and the proper weight were his prime goals. He passes that determination to his students as he pushes them hard. Randolph owns a sports gym where he holds nutrition sessions as well.
Feel free to comment or message with any questions!
Wishing you success in your training,
–Ricci-Lee Hotz, MS, RDN
Denver’s Dancing Dietitian
A Taste of Health, LLC
“Improving Quality of life one bite at a time”