How should an athlete eat? Sports and nutrition when recruiting and cutting

Permitted and prohibited products

The sports diet menu includes the following products:

  • Low-calorie red meat.
  • Poultry and rabbit meat.
  • Fish (freshwater and sea).
  • Shrimp, squid, mussels and other seafood.
  • Eggs.
  • Whole grain or yeast-free bread, bran.
  • Cereals of all types, pasta made from low grade flour.
  • Dairy and fermented milk products with low fat content.
  • All varieties of legumes, including soybeans.
  • Vegetables with low starch content.
  • Not very sweet fruits and berries.
  • Nuts and seeds.
  • Vegetable oils are not refined.
  • Fresh juices.

Prohibited for use:

  • pork;
  • duck and goose meat;
  • sausages and smoked meats;
  • stewed meat and other canned food;
  • fast food and ready meals;
  • everything fried;
  • bakery and confectionery products;
  • semolina;
  • ice cream, chocolate;
  • sugar, honey, dry fruits, salt;
  • coffee Tea;
  • fish caviar

How to eat during competitions, we draw up the diet of athletes during competitions and after

Products containing food additives are also not recommended.

Menu for every day

Proper nutrition - six meals a day. At the same time, the athlete is provided with a constant flow of energy, he is not able to overeat, and food is absorbed much more fully. Seven meals a day are considered optimal. But you should first get used to six meals.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=embed/n_VnMx6Hcf8

It is important to maintain a weight balance between carbohydrates and proteins in a 2:1 ratio. Drink at least 2 liters of water per day. You should drink before meals or an hour after it

Before your first breakfast, drink a glass of water with squeezed lemon juice. This will help the body cleanse itself of harmful metabolic products much more effectively.

First breakfast: protein shake made from highly purified hydrolyzed whey protein isolate. This cocktail is digestible in 15 minutes. You can drink a glass of fruit or vegetable juice instead of a cocktail.

The first breakfast should launch metabolic processes in the body. Before it, do a morning jog or light exercise, and take a contrast shower. In the first half of the day, the main volume of carbohydrates and proteins is consumed in the menu. These energy providers will start the work of the whole body. If the diet is followed, the athlete does not feel hungry.

Second breakfast: a portion of oatmeal porridge, an omelet of 4 eggs, 2 slices of bread, 1 fruit, a multivitamin tablet.

At this time, you should have a thorough snack. The amount of food is the same as at lunch. In the first half of the day, the athlete can afford those foods that are prohibited for dinner, for example, fruits can be included in the menu. You can replace a multivitamin tablet with a glass of milk.

Lunch: 150 grams of veal (any lean meat), 300 grams of rice, 100 grams of fresh vegetables.

Second solid meal. Fruits are no longer consumed as natural sweets after lunch.

Afternoon snack: a portion of oatmeal, a glass of milk.

The main difficulty in organizing an afternoon snack is the ability to find time for it and prepare the necessary products in advance. The way out of this situation is to develop a conditioned reflex to fractional meals.

Dinner: 200 g turkey breast, 300 g boiled potatoes, 100 g vegetables.

Dinner must be no later than 18.00. Although many nutritionists do not agree with this statement and allow dinner 2 hours before bedtime. But physiology dictates its own laws. The human digestive system does not work around the clock; it needs time to digest food and rest. Therefore, after 18.00, the hormones responsible for the absorption of food cease to be produced. If an athlete follows the natural cycles of his own body, the health benefits will be greater.

Evening snack: a glass of kefir or 4 eggs.

A small snack is designed not so much to suppress hunger as to ensure an even supply of nutrients throughout the day. A glass of kefir at night is a classic of Soviet nutrition. Considering the amount of nutrition research being done at the time, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. It's better to follow good advice.

The role of proper nutrition for athletes

For the full functioning of the human body, which is intensely involved in sports, proteins and carbohydrates are necessary. Proteins begin to break down much faster with increased physical activity in order to provide the body with the necessary amount of energy.

If reserves are not replenished, a loss of strength begins. During intense training, the body is under stress. At this moment, the central nervous system sends a distress signal to all organs and systems, trying to understand the current situation.

The adrenal glands begin to produce increased amounts of the hormone cortisol, the level of glucose in the blood rises, and the heartbeat quickens. This is how the adaptation process begins. If it is successful, the body regains strength and works in a new mode, otherwise health problems begin.

Without a stable, balanced diet, the athlete’s body cannot recover, because it has nowhere to get resources from.

The role of proper nutrition for an athlete’s body is extremely important:

  • increased performance;
  • accelerating the development of the muscular system;
  • restoration of the functionality of nerve fibers;
  • rapid adaptation of the body to increased stress;
  • strengthening bone tissue;
  • stabilization of metabolic processes.

Read more about the best vitamins for bodybuilding.

The importance of proper nutrition for an athlete

When playing sports professionally or semi-professionally, it is necessary to remember that nutrition makes up 80% of success, while the remaining 20% ​​depends on physical activity and a properly designed training regimen.
Since during intense physical activity the body needs an increased amount of energy, the athlete’s diet must be sufficiently high in calories so that he does not experience a loss of strength.

Regardless of what sport a person engages in, there are a number of nutritional requirements:

  • the number of calories corresponding to the load;
  • a sufficient amount of nutrients and water;
  • the use of dietary supplements to enhance metabolic processes;
  • a clearly planned menu that corresponds to the athlete’s goals, for example, gaining or losing muscle mass, reducing the amount of fat in the body, in professional language called cutting, etc.

Specialized sports nutrition

Properly structured nutrition is a powerful stimulus for activating regenerative processes in the body and increasing performance after training and other serious physical activity. But training systems in various sports are constantly evolving, and this is often associated with increased energy costs and an increase in the calorie content of the sports diet.

The need for a high-calorie menu is often associated with practical difficulties, because in order to provide athletes with the required amount of calories, food is oversaturated with fats. Because of this, the nutritional balance is disrupted, which means the athlete’s performance decreases and the time he needs to recover increases. It also happens that in order to compensate for energy costs, athletes are offered quantities of food that are very difficult to digest, which negatively affects the performance of physical activity.

When organizing a sports menu, it should be taken into account that during the digestion of regular food, energy potentials are released rather slowly; It also takes time for the body to absorb nutrients. Thus, a number of products can be digested from 3 to 5 hours. Actually, many microelements are not broken down quickly at all. But a different result can be achieved by consuming useful substances that enter the body ready-made.

It is for this purpose that specialized products with increased biological value, nutritional mixtures and drinks have been developed. When using them, the athlete’s body is immediately supplied with easily used energy sources, plastic materials and biologically active substances. They activate and regulate metabolic reactions that occur with difficulty during physical activity.

In order to use special supplements, additional sports nutrition must be organized, and any supplements must be ingested before exercise and training, at the end of training, and also in between training sessions. If you include special foods in your diet that are easy to digest and at the same time high in calories, you can safely make adjustments to your diet. The body will be provided with nutrients and energy in accordance with its energy consumption.

By consuming specialized sports nutrition, you can more thoughtfully build your training regimen, increase your performance, change your diet based on the specifics of your training loads, and also adjust your own weight. In addition, it becomes possible to control water-salt metabolism and thermoregulatory processes and accelerate recovery processes.

To put it simply, we can say that specialized sports nutrition is used by athletes for the following purposes:

  • Changing the quality of the diet based on current physical activity
  • Quick correction of an unbalanced daily diet
  • Increasing the frequency of meals with 2-3 daily workouts
  • Reducing the amount of daily ration
  • Increased muscle mass
  • Weight loss
  • Fast recovery after hard training
  • Quick start before training
  • General recovery

The specialized nutrition itself is divided into several types:

  • Nutritious meals, drinks and mixtures high in protein and fatty acids
  • Nutrient mixtures containing polyunsaturated fatty acids and carbohydrates
  • Carbohydrate-mineral and carbohydrate mixtures and drinks
  • Protein and protein-carbohydrate mixtures, additives and preparations (this also includes individual amino acids)

The choice of products, their combinations and daily consumption rates should be determined based on the characteristics of everyday nutrition, the characteristics of the sport and the training process. Most supplements are characterized by high mineral and vitamin density, uniformity and ease of use. They are very convenient because... have the form of powders that quickly dissolve in drinks, in particular in water and milk. But you can find dosed ampoules and small bars. Besides everything else, they taste very good. And you can find them in huge quantities in specialized stores for athletes.

And in conclusion, a few words need to be said about some precautions.

And a little about secrets...

The story of one of our readers Alina R.:

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And when will you find time for all this? And it's still very expensive. Especially now. Therefore, I chose a different method for myself...

Read more >>

Dietary supplements and vitamins for athletes

The body of athletes needs additional sources of nutrients. These include dietary supplements and vitamin-mineral complexes. What are they needed for? Such “helpers” strengthen the immune system, regulate metabolism, replenish the deficiency of essential nutritional components and, of course, “trigger” the processes of burning fat and gaining muscle mass.

Vitamins are fat- and water-soluble. The former are able to accumulate in the human body; their supply does not need to be replenished daily (A, D, E, K). The latter (C, B, folic and pantothenic acids, biotin) cannot accumulate in the body of athletes; their excess is excreted in the urine.

Which vitamins are most beneficial for male athletes:

  • B12 (colabamine) – “responsible” for the vital activity of nerve fibers, regulates metabolism;
  • Vitamin H (biotin) – participates in the metabolism of amino acids;
  • Vitamin A – necessary for normal protein synthesis, ensures glycogen storage;
  • B2 (riboflavin) – takes part in energy metabolism;
  • E – protects cell membranes from damage, is responsible for cell growth, takes an active part in metabolism;
  • B3 (niacin) – ensures high-quality muscle function during training;
  • D2, D3 – participate in the process of absorption of phosphorus and calcium;
  • B1 (thiamine) – “guarantor” of muscle mass gain;
  • B6 (pyridoxine) – takes part in the synthesis of proteins and the process of utilization of carbohydrates;
  • C (ascorbic acid) – participates in the formation of collagen, acts as an element of protein synthesis, promotes the absorption of iron, and is involved in the production of steroid hormones (including testosterone);
  • Folic acid – takes part in hematopoiesis and amino acid metabolism;
  • Vitamins K1, K2, K3 are “responsible” for the process of blood clotting;
  • B4 (choline) – is included in the structure of plasma and cell membranes;
  • B13 (orotic acid) – stimulates protein metabolism.

Basic nutritional supplements for athletes (make the body more resilient, regulate metabolism):

  • PPBC (products of increased biological value) – chocolate, raisins, dried fruits, hematogen. They supply the body with additional energy; it is not recommended to abuse them.
  • Proteins are preparations obtained from food raw materials, additionally enriched with amino acids. Whey protein is considered the most common, besides there is isolate and casein (they differ in protein concentration and are taken at different times of the day).
  • Amino acids in their pure form: glutamine, leucine, cysteine, methionine, tyrosine, arginine, glutamic acid, ornithine, carnitine, para-aminobenzoic acid. The main task of such substances is to “build” and grow muscles, strengthen the immune system, regulate metabolism, and stimulate the synthesis of hormones.
  • Energy drinks (drinks). They contain simple carbohydrates. Indicated for athletes whose sports involve increased endurance (for example, suitable for cyclists).
  • Hematogen. This supplement is necessary for the process of hematopoiesis.
  • Caffeine. Increases performance, relieves fatigue, provides the body with the necessary amount of energy.
  • ACC. Effective immunomodulator.
  • Creatine. A guarantee of rapid muscle mass gain.
  • Other additives: Vanadyl, Ephedrine preparations, Alpha ketoglutarate, bioflavonoids, etc.

How should athletes take supplements? Most dietary supplements must be taken with food or immediately after it. Proteins are diluted with water or milk. Stimulant drugs are taken in courses (during intense training or before competitions). The maximum duration of one course is 20-30 days.

The nature of nutrition is determined by many factors, the main ones being: age and gender, body weight, health status, training goals and the athlete’s load schedule. In the first stages, it is recommended to seek help from a specialist (trainer or nutrition consultant) - he will help you correctly “build” your individual diet.

Previous Proper nutritionNutrition for gaining lean muscle mass Next Proper nutrition Diet for athletes for every day

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Diet

The basis of the athletes' diet is proteins and complex carbohydrates. In addition, the diet is enriched with vitamin and mineral complexes.

Separate nutrition for athletes is divided into several types, depending on the intensity of physical activity:

  1. Basic - used for standard training, includes lean meats, vegetables, fruits.
  2. Intensive - used during intensive preparation for competitions and after them, completely eliminates the consumption of fatty, fried, smoked foods. The emphasis is on proteins, complex carbohydrates, antioxidants.
  3. Enriched with glucose - used during periods of prolonged physical activity (marathon running). The diet is enriched with sugar and chocolate. It is useful to add glucose to your diet after the end of the competition.

Video: what should an athlete’s diet be like?

Authorized products

Products containing fiber, complex carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are allowed for consumption by athletes. To provide energy, porridge and muesli from grain crops are needed.

Fresh vegetables will help fill the lack of dietary fiber. A vegetarian menu must include legumes. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in nuts and fish. An obligatory component of dietary nutrition is fermented milk products.

Their use allows you to enrich the body with calcium and improve digestion. Lean meats contain the highest amount of protein. This includes lean pork, chicken, turkey, rabbit, veal, and beef. Important! You can compensate for the lack of glucose with sweeteners. Contrary to stereotypes, natural substitutes are completely harmless to humans, have a pleasant taste and contain no calories.

A healthy diet also includes water and drinks enriched with antioxidants (green tea, chicory, natural vegetable and fruit juices, smoothies). Glucose consumption is calculated individually, depending on the body constitution and exercise regimen. For those who are prone to obesity, it is better to completely give up sweets and replace them with fruits.

Squirrels

Protein is involved in the processes of inhibition and activity in the centers of the brain. Protein is a high-molecular compound that, under the influence of gastric secretions, is broken down into amino acids.

There are 80 types of amino acids, 8 of which are essential. A protein that contains all 8 essential amino acids is considered complete. These include animal proteins found in meat products, fish, milk and eggs. Important! To maintain a complete balance of amino acids in the body, the diet must include at least 55% animal protein.

Vegetable protein is less useful, but has the property of dissolving longer, thanks to the fiber shell. In addition, inferior molecules of plant origin have a powerful anti-sclerotic effect.

Lack of proteins is manifested by a decrease in body weight, deterioration of the secretory function of the gastrointestinal tract and gonads. On the part of the central nervous system, memory impairment, nervousness, and decreased immunity are observed. Excess protein is also harmful.

Video: about proteins in nutrition Oversaturation with amino acids leads to allergic reactions, manifested in the form of redness of the skin, accompanied by itching. This is due to an increase in gastrointestinal secretion with a subsequent decrease and accumulation of uric acid in the tissues.

Excessive protein consumption leads to urolithiasis and decreased joint mobility. Protein nutrition is indicated for a certain period of time with a clear menu designation, taking into account the state of health, the intensity of physical activity and goals. Find out how to properly drink protein and how to choose protein bars.

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The maximum amount of complete protein contains (per 100 g of product):

  • granular sturgeon caviar - 28.9 g;
  • rabbit and chicken meat - 20.5 g;
  • beef - 18.9 g;
  • veal - 19.7 g;
  • lean pork - 16.7 g.

Plant protein includes the following products:

  • sunflower seeds - 20.5 g;
  • almonds - 18.6 g;
  • peas - 23 g;
  • soybean - 34 g.

Among dairy products, the maximum protein contains whole milk powder - 25 g, Dutch cheese - 26.8 g, and cottage cheese - 18 g.

Fats

The energy saturation of the body depends on the fat content in food. They consist of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. The former take a long time to break down and are poorly absorbed, while the latter, on the contrary, easily dissolve and are quickly absorbed.

In the human body, fat is represented by a structural form that is part of cellular tissues; it accumulates in reserve under the skin and between muscle fibers. It will be useful for you to learn more about unsaturated and saturated fatty acids.

Palmitic, stearic, caproic and butyric fatty acids have a negative effect on fat synthesis. They are poorly absorbed by the body and provoke the formation of cholesterol plaques. Contained in lamb, fatty pork, vegetable oil.

Video: about fats in nutrition Vital fatty acids: arachidonic, linoleic, oleic. Participate in the construction of tissues of the vascular system, regulate metabolism. Present in fish, corn and sunflower oils. Important! For the full development of the body and maintaining its tone, animal and vegetable fats must be present in the diet in a ratio of 3:7. With age, it is necessary to increase the content of vegetable fats, and reduce animal fats.

Carbohydrates

58% of the human body's energy needs are provided by carbohydrates.

They are widely represented in plant foods in the form of:

  1. Monosaccharides (sucrose, fructose and galactose) are easily digestible, nourish the brain and liver, and regulate blood sugar levels.
  2. Disaccharides (sucrose and lactose) - split into 2 molecules of monosaccharides.
  3. Polysaccharides (starch, fiber, glycogen) - dissolve for a long time, provide energy, and do not increase blood sugar levels.

If there is a lack of carbohydrates, the body produces them independently, breaking down fat reserves and protein. Excess of these compounds is converted into fat and forms cholesterol deposits in blood vessels. Polysaccharides are found in grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables.

Prohibited foods

Dietary nutrition involves excluding the following foods from the diet:

  • carbonated drinks, nectars;
  • fried potatoes, crackers, chips, fast food, baked goods;
  • unnatural mayonnaise, sauces;
  • sausages, smoked meats;
  • alcohol, energy drinks;
  • sweets.

All these products contain a huge amount of fast carbohydrates, sugar and fats. Preservatives are aggressive carcinogens that weaken the immune system and cause cancer.

Energy drinks contain a lethal dose of caffeine and guarana, which negatively affects the gastrointestinal tract and nervous system.

Menu for every day

The diet is suitable for men and girls. Depending on your goals, increase or decrease the calorie content of your diet due to carbohydrates (add or remove dishes from the menu).

Leave proteins at 1.5-2 grams per 1 kilogram of body weight, and fats at 0.5 grams per 1 kilogram.

Monday

  1. Breakfast – porridge with milk with dried apricots, 1-3 boiled eggs, milk 0-1%
  2. Second breakfast – 1-3 bananas, apple, yogurt 0-1%
  3. Lunch – chicken with noodles, salad with pumpkin and tomatoes, tea
  4. Afternoon snack – sandwich with low-fat cheese and milk 0-1%
  5. Dinner – chopped vegetables, chicken chop, kefir 0-1%

Tuesday

  1. Breakfast – muesli with milk, 1-3 eggs, vegetable juice
  2. Second breakfast – cottage cheese 0-2% with sour cream 5-10%, pear
  3. Lunch – borscht, zrazy with cheese and tomatoes, tea
  4. Afternoon snack – chopped tomatoes with herbs and olive oil, juice
  5. Dinner – Greek salad, fish cutlets, cocoa

Wednesday

  1. Breakfast – potatoes with fish, milk 0-1%
  2. Second breakfast – pancakes with butter or cottage cheese 0-2%, low-fat sour cream, milk 0-1%
  3. Lunch – Fish soup, cucumber, tomato, chicken fillet, fruit juice
  4. Afternoon snack – orange, natural yoghurt 0-1%
  5. Dinner – vinaigrette, chicken wings, vegetable juice

Thursday

  1. Breakfast – omelet with herbs and tomatoes, lean pork, milk 0-1%
  2. Second breakfast – cheesecakes with milk 0-1%
  3. Lunch – salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, herbs with sunflower oil, chicken cutlets, compote
  4. Afternoon snack – natural yoghurt 0-1% with banana
  5. Dinner – fish cutlets with buckwheat, Caesar salad, cocoa

Friday

  1. Breakfast – dumplings with sour cream 5-10%, low-fat cheese, green tea
  2. Second breakfast – cheesecakes with raisins, cocoa with milk 0-1%
  3. Lunch – pea soup, chicken fillet, tea
  4. Afternoon snack – oatmeal cookies with milk
  5. Dinner – vegetable stew, rice and lean pork, compote

Saturday

  1. Breakfast – dumplings with cottage cheese, cucumber, tomato, cocoa
  2. Second breakfast – 0-1% yoghurt with cookies and banana
  3. Lunch – soup with meatballs, Greek salad
  4. Afternoon snack – omelet with cheese and tomatoes, juice
  5. Dinner – eggplant stuffed with rice, steamed fish, black tea

Sunday

  1. Breakfast – a sandwich of Borodino bread, cucumber, tomato, chicken, juice
  2. Second breakfast – cottage cheese 0-2% with low-fat sour cream, milk 0-1%
  3. Lunch – chicken fillet with pearl barley porridge, vegetables, tea
  4. Afternoon snack – milk 0-1% a couple of glasses
  5. Dinner – fried zucchini, salad, buckwheat, fish, tea
  • To lose weight, consume more calories than you get from food. For example, you consume 1500 calories per day, exercise 3 times a week, and your weight remains the same, which means that to lose weight you need to reduce the number of calories by 100-200 per week and see the result. If your weight decreases by 500 - 1000 grams per week, then it is good for you and for your health. You can stay at 1500 calories per day, but then you will need to burn more of them and the intensity of your cardio training will have to increase. It will be necessary to increase the time spent exercising on an exercise bike, treadmill, etc.
  • Many athletes want to look good in the summer or while traveling to warm countries. To lose weight and burn subcutaneous fat, you must follow the following recommendations for 1 month. Proteins 2 grams per 1 kg of your weight, fats 0.5 grams, leave complex carbohydrates in your diet and make 1 gram per 1 kg. In 1 month you will burn all subcutaneous fat and look great.
  • To lose weight, you need to recover well and consume vitamins and nutrients. After all, the body is under stress during drying or losing weight, because there are not enough nutrients in the form of energy (carbohydrates). Therefore, additionally buy vitamin complexes at a pharmacy or sports store and take them according to the instructions.

Nutrition for weight gain

If an athlete sets a goal to increase muscle volume, then he must comply with a number of certain conditions in the diet:

  • consume a lot of protein;
  • use enough carbohydrates;
  • maintain high caloric intake.

If we characterize the principles of a diet for weight gain in one word, it would be “nourishing.” Forget about diet food if you don’t want to slow down your own development.

Protein for muscle growth

at least 2-2.5 grams of protein alone . Are you still at the weight of a feather and barely reaching 50 kg? Then your daily diet should consist of at least 125 grams of easily digestible protein.

Any lean meat, fish and poultry are great for saturating your muscles with the necessary amino acids. Vegetable protein is worse, but adding a serving of beans as a side dish to chicken fillet would be a good idea.

Such food for athletes puts a great strain on the digestive system, so part of the protein missing from the required daily portion is often obtained from protein shakes, which are much easier to digest.

And don’t try to eat a 300 gram chop at lunch, hoping with its help to solve all your problems at once:

  • Firstly, the protein from the same beef is only absorbed by 60%. And 300 grams of meat is not equal to 300 grams of pure protein.
  • Secondly, the stomach can absorb no more than 30-40 grams of protein at a time. Therefore, consuming more of it in one sitting will not provide any benefits, but will only overload the digestive tract.

Carbohydrates for Energy

When gaining weight, you also need to consume a lot of carbohydrates - 4-6 grams for every kilogram ! An athlete's daily menu should include a sufficient amount of cereals and legumes. Various cereals harmlessly fill the body with carbohydrates without turning into fat deposits.

But you shouldn’t give up fast (sweet) carbohydrates. After a workout, they perfectly replenish energy, helping to grow muscle mass.

More is better, better

If you think that eating for athletes while bulking involves carefully calculating calories, then you are... right! Only now they are calculated in such a way that God forbid you eat less than you can digest.

Jokes aside, nutrition during the gaining period should be high in calories. Even healthy fats from nuts or fish are used. And all this in order to not only cover the needs of a hard-training body, but also to give it the resources to build muscles.

Examples of an athlete's nutrition menu.

Approximate daily nutrition menu for an athlete

(taking into account the formulas for the balance of proteins, carbohydrates and fats):

  • 400 g poultry meat;
  • 4-5 eggs;
  • 400 g cottage cheese;
  • 30 g butter;
  • 200 g bread;
  • 500 g of healthy grain porridge;
  • 300 g of fruit;
  • 300 g vegetables.

A sports nutrition diet for a strength athlete to gain muscle mass should also include additional sources of proteins. Some people use gainers, amino acids, and protein shakes for this.

Female athletes have special nutritional recommendations. A proper diet should mainly consist of plant fiber, slow carbohydrates and monounsaturated fats. In addition, female athletes are strongly recommended to eat split meals with breaks between meals of no more than 3 hours.

Approximate diet for girls

, actively involved in sports:

  • Breakfast No. 1: 100 g oatmeal + 3 eggs;
  • Breakfast No. 2: 0.5 liters of kefir or milk;
  • Lunch: 200 g fish or white poultry meat, 150 g rice (preferably brown), fresh vegetable salad with olive oil;
  • Afternoon snack: 200 g cottage cheese and nuts;
  • Dinner: 200 g of fish (meat), fruit or salad;
  • Before bed: 0.5 liters of kefir or other fermented milk product.

Products that are best excluded from an athlete’s diet

- sugar, regular salt (it is better to use sea salt with beneficial elements), fried, spicy foods, mushrooms, alcohol, processed foods, powdered fruit juices, yogurts.

Athletes should not overeat and remain hungry.

It is also not recommended to rush into eating and chew thoroughly. Constant monitoring of your weight and well-being, as well as a winning mindset, is also important.

People who play sports or lead an active lifestyle need special nutrition. Nutrition for athletes should contain more nutrients, vitamins, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. You need to maintain enough calories each day to ensure your workouts are successful and you achieve the results you want. The body is often overloaded during training and needs to be supplied with energy, so your menu should be balanced and varied to have a good appetite every day. Proper nutrition for athletes is not complicated, and preparing meals is quite simple. Below you will find out the main tips and menu for the whole week when playing sports.

To achieve good results, men and girls need to maintain proper loads during training, recover well and eat well every day. You should go to training in a good mood and be energized.

A proper diet for an athlete does the following in the body:

  1. Activates and normalizes metabolic processes in the athlete’s body for muscle growth and the recovery process.
  2. Provides the athlete with all the necessary microelements, vitamins and calories.
  3. Regulates weight (after all, different sports uniforms are needed at different times of the year)

During various sports exercises, the body expends a large amount of energy. Energy is spent on maintaining the functioning of the heart, breathing, and digestion. If you eat poorly before training, the body becomes exhausted, which has a very bad effect on the health of athletes.

This is why it is so important for men and girls who visit gyms and perform various sports exercises to eat properly and balancedly.

Your menu should consist of healthy and fresh foods; it is advisable to avoid processed foods and other unhealthy foods.

Principles of nutrition

The foundation of all sports diets consists of eating a variety of healthy foods every day, week, month, which provides the ideal ratio of calories, proteins, fats, carbohydrates. To obtain maximum results, you need to learn how to dose sports activities (loads) and ensure the renewal of useful elements.

Every day during training, an athlete needs to spend a large amount of energy to maintain basic vital functions: proper functioning of the heart, digestive tract, and respiratory organs. Therefore, diet is one of the important aspects for victory.

If a person consciously approaches the issue of effectiveness and efficiency of training and sets a goal, then achieving it will not be difficult if you follow the basic rules:

  • Supplying the body with an individually determined amount of calories, beneficial microelements, vitamins that ensure the normal functioning of internal organs, chemical processes, and reactions.
  • Launch, normalization of metabolism. Due to the fact that more calories and energy are consumed during sports training, there must be an appropriate amount of them.
  • Weight regulation. At different stages of sports activities, in order to achieve the set goal, the athlete needs to increase, decrease, and stabilize his own weight category.
  • Change of morphological indicators. When a person consciously decides to devote his life to sports, the first thing the coach’s work is aimed at is changing the ratio of muscle mass and body fat.

Due to the fact that the athlete’s body works in an intense mode during training, the organs require appropriate nutrition. Otherwise, exhaustion, loss of strength, and dehydration will occur.

The diet of a young athlete must be balanced and cover all energy costs, so proper nutrition consists only of natural, healthy foods of plant and animal origin.

Diet for athletes when losing weight

If you are not interested in building muscle during sports activities, but only in losing weight, then you need to plan your menu like this:

  • do not consume proteins 5 hours before classes;
  • do not eat anything for two hours;
  • do not eat as much afterwards;
  • protein food 2 hours after training.

The results will not take long to arrive. Don't forget about a special fitness diet. It is good because it allows for large amounts of food and does not cause health problems. The conditions for following this diet are:

  • meals five times a day without long breaks;
  • drink at least 2 liters of water per day;
  • consume low-fat dairy products;
  • stew, boil or bake poultry and fish;
  • preferred fruits are citrus fruits and green apples;
  • It is better to choose brown rice;
  • Drink only squeezed juices.

Proper nutrition for male athletes

The main difference in nutrition for male athletes is the daily intake of basic organic substances. So, for men, food for the day should contain:

  • 3,500-6,500 calories during intense training periods and up to 3,500 calories during rest periods;
  • 154-174 g protein;
  • 145-177 g fat;
  • Carbohydrates – 9-10 g per kg of athlete’s weight. Of these, 65% are complex and 35 are simple.

A proper nutrition regimen for beginning athletes may include a smaller amount of organic substances, but with a gradual increase in loads, it should reach the specified values.

Sample menu for the week

The athlete’s menu consists of the same products, which alternate throughout the week. Let's give a diet for 3 days. Days can be swapped, other products of equal energy value and organic matter content can be added.

First day:

  • Breakfast - oatmeal cooked in milk with dried fruits or candied fruits and nuts, a glass of low-fat yogurt, 2 hard-boiled eggs;
  • The first snack is a couple of bananas and a glass of kefir;
  • Lunch – boil or steam chicken breast, a plate of buckwheat and a salad dressed with a spoon of olive oil, a glass of freshly squeezed juice;
  • Afternoon snack – a sandwich of bran bread, chicken ham with a piece of cheese, washed down with a glass of milk
  • Dinner – beef chop, vegetable stew and juice.

Second day:

  • Breakfast – 2 hard-boiled eggs + muesli with milk as a side dish;
  • The first snack is a glass of kefir and a sandwich of bran bread and chicken ham;
  • Lunch – pureed vegetable soup, for the main course – a plate of buckwheat and a chicken chop + a glass of milk;
  • Afternoon snack – a couple of apples and yogurt;
  • Dinner - boiled chicken breast, vegetable stew, banana and a glass of juice.

The third day:

  • The first meal is an omelet of 3 eggs, a banana and a glass of juice;
  • The first snack is a plate of cottage cheese with dried fruits, washed down with yogurt;
  • Lunch – a plate of borscht, pilaf with beef and a cup of tea;
  • Afternoon snack – fruit salad with yogurt-based dressing;
  • Dinner – chicken breast, low-starch vegetable salad, glass of juice.

Nutrition to destroy fat

It’s a completely different story if an athlete sets a goal to destroy accumulated fat. By the way, it accumulates in any case when you gain muscle mass. No best menu will help you gain 10-15 kg of lean muscle without a single gram of fat, as advertised in advertising brochures.

Consumption of protein, slow carbohydrates and healthy fatty acids only reduces the percentage of stored fat, but does not block it completely.

But now the time has come to get rid of him. What's the best way to do this?

Protein

Protein continues to be consumed in fairly large portions, even large ones - up to 3 grams per kg of weight . After all, this is the basis for preserving existing muscles. If you exclude it from your diet, you will lose weight even faster, but you will only lose a lot of kilograms of previously gained muscle.

Only the most dietary meats are accepted - chicken and steamed fish. Eggs are only in the form of separated whites, from which you can make an omelet. Again, legumes and other plant-based protein sources are still encouraged.

The total calorie intake is reduced. Now you need to burn more calories than you get them from food.

Carbohydrates

They need to be kept to a minimum - 0.5-1 g per kg of weight . An athlete’s menu at the fat burning stage should be completely devoid of sweets! And carbohydrates should only provide the starting spark to start training, but nothing more. Otherwise, the consumption of fat as energy will never begin.

Contrary to popular belief, you should have breakfast before your morning strength training and not only with protein. A vegetable salad, unsweetened oatmeal or other small portion of slow carbohydrates will be very helpful. If a person ignores breakfast, then his body begins to slow down his metabolism, and this is the enemy of weight loss. And you simply won’t have the strength to start exercising at an energetic pace if you refuse breakfast for several days.

In the process of losing excess weight, fats are allowed to be consumed only in plant form and only as part of low-calorie foods. So, dressing a salad with olive oil is quite acceptable if you do not treat yourself to such food every day.

Proper nutrition menu for athletes

The diet and nutritional regimen of athletes and bodybuilders should differ from the usual diet, since the activities of sports people are associated with heavy loads.

Therefore, three aspects need to be highlighted:

  1. Quality and completeness of food products. That is, you need to eat foods that are healthy, energy-intensive, and productive for the body
  2. Amount of food consumed. This or that sport requires a different mass component, so you need to either eat a lot to gain weight, or vice versa, eat little to lose fat deposits
  3. Number of meals. Namely: it is better to eat in small portions, but often, so as not to fill the stomach before physical activity, maintain the body in the same energy rhythm, and not create heaviness, allowing food to be quickly processed.

Approximate diets for athletes under various regimes and loads

A simple diet is designed for 2600 kilocalories

  • Breakfast: two boiled eggs, a package of low-fat cottage cheese, a plate of oatmeal cooked in milk with olive oil, 3 slices of bran bread, a glass of tea.
  • Second breakfast: apple and pear, one bun, a glass of low-fat drinking yogurt.
  • Lunch: a plate of buckwheat porridge with milk, an omelet of 2 chicken eggs, 180 grams of vegetable salad, 3 slices of whole grain bread, 50 grams of low-fat cheese, a glass of green tea.
  • Afternoon snack: 150 grams of low-fat cottage cheese, half a plate of any porridge, except semolina, with the addition of fruits or berries, a glass of juice.
  • Dinner: 2 pieces of bread with bran, 250 grams of fresh fruits (vegetables), a cup of kefir.
  • An hour before bedtime: one apple and 250 grams of milk.

Enhanced mode for 3500 kilocalories

  • Breakfast: an omelet of four eggs, a plate of oatmeal, 2 pieces of toast or bread, one orange.
  • Second Breakfast: a glass of low-fat drinking yogurt, 2 bananas, 50 nuts.
  • Lunch: 200 grams of boiled beef, 4 medium boiled potatoes, 100 grams of fresh vegetable salad, a glass of tea or juice.
  • Afternoon snack: a glass of milk, 2/3 cup of boiled rice, 150 grams of fruit salad.
  • Dinner: a portion of boiled fish, 4 boiled potatoes, 120 grams of fresh grated carrots with olive oil.
  • A couple of hours before bed: half a plate of oatmeal, four boiled eggs, a glass of milk.

Training day nutrition regimen

  • Breakfast: 3 eggs, 2 toasts with peanut butter or jam, a bowl of oatmeal, a glass of milk.
  • Second Breakfast: 1 piece of energy protein bar, a glass of tea or a cup of coffee.
  • Lunch: 250 grams of mixed vegetables, 0.5 liters of chicken soup, 250 grams of boiled beef, a glass of juice, some dry cracker cookies.
  • Afternoon snack: a glass of compote, fruit drink or juice, 1 bun.
  • Dinner: 150 grams of stewed fish, 180 grams of boiled vegetables, a cup of tea.
  • 1 hour before bedtime: 1 slice of bran bread, a glass of milkshake with bananas.

Diet during intensive training

  • Breakfast: a glass of high-carbohydrate sports drink, 180 grams of boiled rice with vegetables, 2 slices of bread.
  • Second breakfast: 3 pancakes with condensed milk or honey, 1/4 fresh pineapple, a glass of juice or compote.
  • Lunch: a portion of salad with mayonnaise, 6 baked potatoes + cheese, 250 grams of stewed beef.
  • Afternoon snack: a glass of a special sports drink with a protein bar
  • Dinner: a portion of stewed fish, half a plate of buckwheat porridge, a cup of herbal tea.
  • A couple of hours before bed: a glass of juice, 200 grams of oatmeal.

Meals on competition day

  • Breakfast: a glass of milk + two buns with raisins, a plate of buckwheat porridge.
  • Second Breakfast: one banana, 60 grams of dark chocolate, a sandwich with meat, a glass of coffee.
  • Lunch: 0.5 liters of chicken broth, a portion of boiled lean fish, a plate of vegetable stew, 2 pieces of oatmeal bread, a glass of juice or fruit compote.
  • Afternoon snack: raisin bun, glass of juice.
  • Dinner: 160 grams of chicken stew, 0.5 cups of green tea.
  • 2 hours before bedtime: a portion of oatmeal, two pieces of bran bread, a pear and a cup of tea.

Principles of sports nutrition

A proper diet and healthy eating is something that any athlete must provide themselves with. But this is not so easy to do, because it is necessary to take into account such characteristics as age, gender, type of sport, level of training, etc.

The nutrition of an athlete, of course, differs from the nutrition of any other person who has nothing to do with sports. Athletes, for example, consume 3 times more calories, use specialized diets more often, and are much more attentive to their menu and daily diet. Naturally, even the best foods and eating regimens will not turn a beginner into a world champion, but nutrition still plays a fairly significant role.

If you eat poorly at all, then you can completely forget about increasing endurance, high energy levels, muscle growth and outstanding results. In addition, poor nutrition can cause failures in any of the body systems.

Thus, athletes should build their diet taking into account several important principles:

  • When choosing products, be sure to consider the content of your workouts, i.e. Active means training, preparation for competitions, competitions themselves or recovery.
  • Remember that the diet should be balanced, take into account the subtleties of a particular sport and the intensity of the load. All nutrients, vitamins and microelements must be in balance.
  • When composing your diet, take into account your individual characteristics: age, gender, physiology, metabolism, state of the gastrointestinal tract and other organs, eating habits and preferences, general health.
  • All meals should be consistent with your training regimen. Often, during the period of the most active load, the nutrition of athletes goes against the basic norms of rational nutrition. This cannot be allowed.

You need to keep in mind that all products can be divided into 6 basic groups - this will greatly facilitate the process of creating a menu and choosing dishes based on your own needs. These 6 groups include:

  • Milk, yogurt, cheese, yogurt, kefir, cottage cheese, etc.
  • Meat, fish, poultry, eggs and derivative products
  • Bakery products, flour, pasta, cereals, sugar, potatoes, confectionery
  • Fats
  • Vegetables
  • Berries and fruits

The first two groups are the main sources of complete animal protein. They contain l-carnitine and the necessary complex of amino acids, which means that thanks to them the basic structures of the athlete’s body are built and renewed. Fruits and vegetables supply the body with vitamins C and P, as well as a number of B vitamins, mineral salts and some trace elements. In addition, vegetables significantly increase the secretion of digestive juices and enhance their enzymatic properties.

A sports diet should include all 6 food groups, especially meat and dairy, because they supply complete protein. It is also better to eat fruits and vegetables in abundance, because they are easily digestible and supply the body with vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates. Rational nutrition also presupposes proper culinary processing of food, because... After cooking, dishes should retain the beneficial properties of the products included in them.

In general, the most effective for athletes will be split meals - when food is taken 5-6 times a day in small portions. The most favorable time for breakfast is from 8 to 10 am. Refusal of breakfast can provoke unsystematic eating, decreased performance, and accumulation of fat in the body. Even when “losing” weight, you need to have a hearty breakfast, including nutrients in the first meal. But low-calorie dishes are recommended for lunch and dinner.

When your first workout occurs in the morning, your breakfast should be light. At the end of the workout, it is imperative to restore the level of fluid and nutrients in the body, so the post-workout menu should consist of dairy drinks and fruit juices. A full breakfast is allowed only 1.5 hours after exercise, and it can consist of fruit, yogurt, oatmeal and bran bread. If the workout takes place in the evening, you should have a hearty breakfast - this will prevent you from feeling hungry at an unnecessary time and will charge you with energy and strength.

The food consumed by an athlete should not burden training, but make the person physically stronger. Therefore, before training (and especially competitions), heavy food should be eaten no later than 5 hours before the load, so that it has time to be digested. If the dishes contain less than 600 kcal, you need to eat 3 hours before class. If the food is liquid - 1 hour before. And if it's just a light snack, then you can eat less than an hour before training.

After physical and emotional stress, it is important to consume enough carbohydrates, because... glycogen in the muscles must be quickly restored. In the first 30 minutes after training, you need to take 150 g of carbohydrates with food, and after 5 hours - the same amount. Such a system will quickly restore strength and return to the training regime. The best sources of carbohydrates are fresh vegetables and fruits, fruit juices, and cereals (from unground crops).

By and large, the distribution of the diet will depend on the time when training occurs. If you train in the morning or afternoon, breakfasts should be easily digestible, but high in calories and contain carbohydrates. The calorie content of breakfast should be approximately 30% of the daily norm.

Daytime meals are designed to replenish energy lost during training. The calorie content of lunch dishes should be approximately 45% of the daily norm. It is also better to make lunches varied and rich in carbohydrates, fats and proteins.

As for dinners, their calorie content is at least 25% of the daily requirement, and they should be composed in such a way that tissue proteins are restored and carbohydrate reserves are replenished. It is not recommended to include difficult-to-digest foods in the evening menu. Ideally, you should eat porridge, fish, cottage cheese and fermented milk products in the evening.

How to eat before training

It is important to remember that proteins are needed for building muscles, complex carbohydrates provide energy, fast carbohydrates are absorbed too quickly and do not provide adequate energy, and fats cannot be significantly reduced at all. Let's look at how a support athlete should eat during the day, depending on what time his training is scheduled.

If your workout is in the morning

We understand that in the morning many people complain of a lack of appetite (we will talk about this a little later). Let's consider the option that the average athlete still has an appetite in the morning!

It is appropriate for an athlete to eat more carbohydrates for breakfast. The ideal option would be oatmeal or millet porridge with fruits or nuts. The portion of porridge should be small. You shouldn’t run to workout immediately after a nutritious breakfast; you should wait at least 60 minutes.

If you wake up and immediately need to run to workout, a smoothie will save you.

Place all ingredients below in a blender and blend for 1 minute. If you like berry pieces, add the berries at the end. If you like a more homogeneous consistency, then you need to mix the ingredients in a blender for 2 minutes.

Lunch for an athlete

Skinless chicken breast, boiled or baked

85 gr.

  • 96.1 Kcal
  • 20.1 proteins, g
  • 1.7 fat, g
  • 0.4 carbohydrates, g

Boiled buckwheat

150 gr.

  • 133.5 Kcal
  • 5.4 proteins, g
  • 1.4 fat, g
  • 27.9 carbohydrates, g

Vegetable salad

dressing - olive oil or natural yogurt

  • 28.8 Kcal
  • 2.4 proteins, g
  • fat, gr
  • 5.8 carbohydrates, g

Lunch for an athlete

  • 258.4 Kcal
  • 27.9 proteins, g
  • 3.1 fat, g
  • 34.1 carbohydrates, g

Instead of buckwheat, there may be other cereals or durum wheat pasta. And instead of chicken breast there can be any fish, turkey or rabbit.

Diet cycling

The peculiarity of the nutrition of athletes is that it is cyclical in caloric content and the content of protein, fats and carbohydrates. For example, a bodybuilder consumes maximum calories during intense training. However, periods of increased load alternate with “drying” due to a decrease in the amount of carbohydrates, when the athlete seeks to get rid of extra pounds. At this time, the caloric content of the diet decreases, and the need for vitamins arises.

At all stages, you can diversify the menu with cocktails containing protein. However, you should not expect that all problems will be solved with the help of a protein supplement. A cocktail can only be a support, but it will not replace a nutritious diet with the optimal content of microelements necessary for the body.

Nutrition delivery for athletes will be a good support. If you order food delivery, you do not need to cook yourself, count the calorie content of your dishes and monitor the protein and fiber content - professionals will do this.

What products does an athlete need?

The diet should include:

  • Sources of proteins: eggs, lean meat and fish, cheese, milk. Sources of plant proteins include fresh vegetables and wheat.
  • Sources of fats: fatty fish, cream, butter. You should not overuse sausage and smoked products - they do not benefit the body.
  • Simple and complex carbohydrates. Immediately before training, it is better to consume simple carbohydrates - fruits and vegetables. After training, you can eat complex carbohydrates, which are found in cereals, whole grain bread, legumes and nuts.
  • Fiber, minerals and vitamins.

Athletes need to monitor the level of glycogen in their muscles - the effectiveness of training depends on this. During the period of intense training, a so-called “glycogen load” is performed - at this time you need to take a maximum of carbohydrates. Before training, you should consume up to 60% of your daily carbohydrate intake.

Possible goals

I would like to derive some universal formula that would suit everyone. It’s just impossible to do this. After all, everyone’s goals in sports are different, and the characteristics of their body also need to be taken into account. Based on these facts, nutrition for athletes can vary quite a bit.

So, completely different diets will be for:

  • gaining muscle mass;
  • destruction of subcutaneous fat;
  • nutrition for hardgainers and people with slow metabolism.

Only the high content of natural vitamins and minerals in food will remain unchanged. This is due to their increased consumption during any physical activity. It is no coincidence that almost every diet for an athlete includes fresh fruits and vegetables.

Let's look at each of the diet options separately.

Carbohydrate and protein breakfasts

Carbohydrate-rich breakfast foods are recommended for knowledge workers. The ideal carbohydrate breakfast option is cereal porridge or muesli cooked in water. The menu can be diversified by adding nuts, fruits and natural juices to the muesli. Butter products and sweets are also rich in carbohydrates, but they are harmful to your figure. Cereals, on the contrary, help stabilize and maintain weight. You need to choose foods that contain carbohydrates so that the feeling of fullness is not accompanied by the desire to take a nap.

Proteins for breakfast are necessary for athletes who move actively during the working day or people engaged in heavy physical activity. A classic English breakfast is an excellent source of protein. You don't have to stick with the traditional omelet. It can be varied with prepared vegetables and chicken. There is no need to give up carbohydrates completely. A small piece of whole grain bread and a slice of cheese will provide the carbohydrates required for full physical activity.

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