NUTRITION

PERFORMANCE

The day-to-day diet and eating habits of individuals who frequently train or participate in sport is very important in terms of performance level and progression.

Whether you are a professional or amateur athlete, if you wish to optimise your performance level and guarantee continuous improvement, a healthy and well-planned diet could help you to do so.

What an athlete eats and drinks prior to training, whilst training and during competitions can have reverberating effects on their body composition and ultimately performance and recovery.

WEIGHT LOSS/WEIGHT GAIN

Bodyweight is determined by the amount of energy obtained from food in relation to the amount of energy your body uses. Any excess energy is then taken and stored in the body as fat.

With this basic formula in mind it may seem like losing weight is a simple case of eating less so you body stores less fat and gaining weight may seem as easy as increasing your food intake so the body is able to store more.

Unfortunately, it is nowhere near that simple. Each person has their own unique body type and metabolism, meaning that different people need different amounts and types of food and there is a vast array of additional factors, which need to be considered:

• Do you want to gain weight, lose weight, or maintain current weight?

• Do you have specific dietary requirements (such as allergies) or preferences (such as vegetarian, or vegan)? Performance plans or weight loss/gain plans can be built around these.

• Level of exercise – the number of calories being burnt off affects the number of calories that need to be consumed.

ALSO:

• Metabolism,

• Frame/build, and

• Lifestyle, all play a role.