Hi guys, let me introduce myself, I am Valerio, a personal trainer, and what I will tell you is the result of the passion, which for years has led me to research and study on sports training.
I believe that it is essential for every athlete to understand in detail what he does or must do, if not followed, to improve his performance; it is only in this way that he will be able to best report his feelings to the coaches and thus obtain a better analysis of himself. This article of mine is mainly aimed at those people who do not have a staff of preparers and therefore do not take advantage of an adequate meal plan.
We start from the premise that each discipline requires a well-defined eating style based on the type of energy substrate that is mainly used; and so, guys, not having the possibility to evaluate subjectively, I offer you some basic notions, useful for managing your diet.
1st step: calculate the calories introduced on average in a day;
2nd step: evaluate the food properties of the foods eaten;
3rd step: understand how to distribute and when to eat.
Each of you will take into account the caloric amount required to meet daily needs; do not think it is necessary to be a dietician to do this, you simply need to be attentive to what you eat.
The first step is being able to calculate the calories ingested throughout the day using simple reference calorie tables; do not despair, this should be the heaviest work, after which the game is done. Once the calories have been calculated, these will be taken as a basis and then change only the types of food and their distribution on the same day.
Week by week you will evaluate your weight and muscle circumferences to understand if the calories are sufficient for your needs.
The second step consists in evaluating whether or not the foods eaten have the characteristics required for an athlete:
- carbohydrates or sugars must be predominantly with a low glycemic index, unless there is an energy need for immediate use, that is, in pre-workout or post-workout. Also in this case it is very easy to understand, since the reference tables on the glycemic index are easily available, even via the internet.
- Proteins in digestion break down into amino acids; as these cannot be accumulated in the organism, except in the form of muscles, it is necessary to obtain them every three hours from foods that are rich in them, such as meat, tuna, eggs, etc.
- Fats also have their importance both as an energy substrate and as a constituent of cell membranes; it is clear that the sources of fats to be preferred are vegetables and fish, moreover the calories offered by fats should be consumed in the first part of the day.
In principle, by making 5 meals a day we will give the following caloric distribution: breakfast 30%; lunch 25%; dinner 20%; 2 snacks 12.5%.
We arrived at the third step, so let's try to understand which foods and at what times. Meals must take place after about 2-3 hours; let's start with breakfast.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and should also be the richest one; in it the proteins must be highly digestible, that is, coming from lean sources, since fats slow down digestion.
Carbohydrates must be complex and in a small amount simple.
The fats must be of vegetable origin (excellent peanut butter).
I would say that as a percentage of distribution I find 60 carbohydrates 35 protides 15 lipids to be excellent.
Snacks must give us a limited amount of calories; if you do an "activity in which an accumulation of muscle glycogen is required, the advice is to use complex carbohydrates also in the morning snack, in order to favor the accumulation of intramuscular sugar in the form of" glycogen "; in the evening snacks, however, also based on the "training time" (see below), the snacks include fruit or sugars with an intermediate glycemic index.
Even in snacks, proteins are needed to continue to promote muscle recovery, in addition to other physiological needs.
Lunch is the second richest meal; also in it, as in breakfast, the different properties of proteins, lipids and carbohydrates must not be neglected; without prejudice to proteins and carbohydrates, fats should be possibly lower, while the fibers in addition through vegetables.
As the last meal, dinner must have the same characteristics as the basic meals, breakfast and lunch, but with a lower caloric quantity; recommended vegetables, which have a very low glycemic index, and fish, rich in proteins and unsaturated fats.
Some athletes use a snack even before going to sleep, simply to promote muscle recovery during the night; in this case it is useful to resort to supplements, which, being lighter, provide only what the muscle needs, i.e. slow-release proteins or certain amino acids, such as glutamine or arginine, which favor hormone production, therefore still the muscle recovery.
So far I have talked about the most important factors to manage any diet, I hope they have been exhaustive (considering that you are definitely sportsmen or athletes) and that they do not differ so much from your eating habits.
Final evaluation:
As I said earlier, the evaluations are to be done week by week, analyzing the weight and muscle circumferences, such as the neck, waist, arm and thigh.
The cases are as follows:
a) the meter indicates an increase in the biceps, neck, thigh and a decrease in the waistline; well then you guys did a good job so keep going, you are on the right track!
b) neck, thigh and bicep have kept the same measurements, but the waistline has increased; guys you are gaining weight, it is time to review the caloric quantities.
c) the waistline remained constant and the other circumferences decreased; you're not there at all! Contact a competent person to develop a tailor-made meal plan.
Pre-race nutrition - pre-training »
