The most common reason for consulting a dietitian is excessive body weight. However, a good dietitian is much more than just reducing diets – and one of the main areas of specialization of nutrition experts is the so-called sports dietetics. Thanks to it, athletes receive appropriate care aimed at increasing their physical capabilities and improving their results. What is an athlete’s diet? And what are its benefits? You will find out from the text below!
What makes an athlete’s diet unique?
How should an athlete’s diet differ from the diet of a person with low or average physical activity? First of all – the calorie content – i.e. the fuel necessary for everyday functioning and intense sports exercises. In addition to the calorie content of the menu, an athlete’s diet also requires an appropriate adjustment of the amount of protein – the basic building block of muscle tissue. At the same time, you should remember that online high-protein “mass building” diets are not good at all – and may lead to the failure of some organs (mainly kidneys and liver). That is why a good athlete’s diet should be characterized by an appropriate balance between macronutrients – protein, carbohydrates and fat. What distinguishes the diet of physically active people is also the increased demand for fluids and some minerals – including: electrolytes (sodium, potassium), as well as iron and zinc. When practicing intense sports – especially those focused on results – the distribution of meals and appropriate adjustment of the menu before and after training are also important. For example, pre-workout meals should be light and low-fat – this will make the training more effective.
Lifestyle and the athlete’s caloric demand
What is the caloric requirement of an athlete? It all depends on several factors: body weight, height, gender, age and intensity of physical activity, among others. It is worth remembering that the basic needs of an athlete are counted in the same way as in the case of people who do not move much – that is, by substituting data on gender, age, height and body weight into the appropriate formulas. However, what distinguishes athletes is their high level of physical activity – and this is what they owe their high results in energy demand calculations. Example? Let’s assume that your basic requirement (without physical activity) is 2,000 kcal per day. If you are a person with relatively low physical activity, your physical activity factor will be approximately 1.4. To calculate your total requirement, the dietitian will multiply 2000 kcal x 1.4 and get the result = 2800 kcal. However, if you are an active athlete and your physical activity is very intense, this ratio will be closer to 1.8-2. After multiplying 2000 kcal x 1.8 you get 3600 kcal. In other words, a diet for an athlete is a menu containing approximately 30% (or more) calories than the menu of an inactive person of the same height, weight, gender and age.
How to calculate your individual calorie requirement? On https://centrumrespo.pl/kalkulator-kalorii/ you will find a calorie calculator that will help you with this! Thanks to it, it will be easier for you to estimate the extent to which the athlete’s proper diet and the menu you use every day go hand in hand. And is it worth changing something to start achieving better sports results?
Individual online diet tailored to your needs
The most important rule of an athlete’s diet? First of all: tailoring to your needs! Remember that every athlete is different – even in terms of the type, length and regularity of training. Therefore, the diet plan should be the result of an individual approach and adjustment, and not a diet with the so-called drawers. This is why a perfectly tailored online diet has recently become such a good solution. As we read on https://centrumrespo.pl/dieta-online/, this type of cooperation is characterized by comprehensive care from a dietitian (and the constant opportunity to ask him questions via chat!), an individual training plan, and access to a mobile application. However, the online diet with the Respo Center is much, much more – including: thanks to a huge database of recipes (including recipes for athletes), a solid dose of knowledge and individual work on eating habits. Remember – a diet tailored to your needs means not only effective weight loss, but also better training results and a dream figure!
Diet, training, rest!
Starting your adventure with the so-called diet for an athlete, you must remember that the diet itself is only one element of a healthy lifestyle needed to achieve better and better results and achieve the desired sports goals. In addition to the diet, it is also equally important to properly adjust the regularity, duration and type of training – so that it involves making progress without exposing you to exhaustion and unnecessary injuries. Additionally, an extremely important role in an athlete’s life is played by… rest – both in the form of good sleep and daily time for regeneration – both mental and physical. Remember that sport does not mean devoting every free moment to training – and only combining training with attention to diet and rest can give the desired results.