For Ashley Pitts, a softball player at
Massasoit Community College, eating healthy is what keeps her in shape and
helps her to perform better on the softball field.
“Each meal I eat; I always try to at
least have something that will give me some protein. Its hard to have energy on
the field without having protein in your body,” she said.
Pitts is doing all the right things to
keep going on the field when it comes to a healthy diet and nutrition.
“It is crucial for athletes to obtain a
healthy diet,” said Jessica Greene, a health and wellness coordinator at
Stonehill College.
One of the most essential things in
order for an athlete to perform well is their diet, she said. The three most
important things in an athlete’s diet in order to fuel their bodies are fat,
protein, and carbohydrates. Carbs are the main fuel source for exercise,
especially endurance. One major act in an athlete’s diet is “carb-overloading.”
“Carb-overloading should happen the
Sunday before the event. The amount of carbs one should intake, depends on how
much one weighs. A typical athlete should intake around 600-450 grams of carbs
in an overload,” Greene said.
Good sources for carbs are whole
grains. Bread, rice, pasta, cereal, granola bars, and bulgur are some perfect
examples of what to eat to gain some carbs before performing. Carbs are broken
down into glucose which is either used immediately or stores as glycogen and
then later used as fat.
“An athlete should not workout before
their event, but instead they should rest. In order to stack up on the amount
of carbohydrates in their body, they cannot exercise their body the day before
the event,” Greene said.
Fat is the body’s main source for fuel
for prolonged low intensity activities. Some foods to eat in order to gain fat
for the body are vegetable oils such as olive, canola, safflower, sunflower,
soybean and foods such as nuts, olives, fish and avocados. A typical athlete
should intake a total of between 44 and 78 grams of fat before an event.
Protein acts as a major influence
during the performance time of an athlete. It is a fuel source for endurance
exercise.
“Some great foods to eat before a
workout are lean meats such as fish, beans, lentils, tofu, peanut butter,
cottage cheese and yogurt,” Greene said.
Staying hydrated and getting a daily
dose of vitamin C are very important for athletes because they can help to
prevent muscle contractions and helps to increase the level of energy. Women
are more likely to have low iron and low vitamin C rather than men. Daily
fruits and vegetables are a great source of vitamin C and meats are a great
source for iron and it is more efficient.
“If an athlete is planning on
performing for longer than 60 minutes, then they should drink Gatorade as well
as water in order to gain some electrolytes. In order for an athlete to tell if
they are hydrated enough before their performance is to notice the color of
their urine, it should be a light yellow,” Greene said.
One hour before an event, an athlete
should eat nothing but drink a large amount of liquids in order for the body to
digest their food.
“Water keeps me hydrated during my
performances and it is very easily noticeable when I am not hydrated while
playing in a game. When I am not hydrated, I get very dizzy and lightheaded,”
said Carly Rennie, a member of the women’s softball team at Stonehill College. “Its very important for me to eat healthy
because it betters my performance and gives my body a source of energy. It’s
easy to move faster on the field and my skills easily perform when I eat
healthy. I also notice that when I eat healthy, my mental game is stronger,”
said Rennie.
Rennie eats healthy in the dining hall
and tries to avoid The Hill because she considers the food low in nutrients.
She usually gets protein and vegetables when choosing a meal from the dining
hall.
“It is a website where athletes can
input exactly what they ate for the day and the website will tell them how much
carbs, protein and fat they in took for the day,” Greene said.
Greene believes that most athletes eat
healthy every day, but time is of essence.
“Planning ahead is important for
athletes. If they know they have a late practice, they should get dinner before
practice and bring snacks for after,” Greene said.
Courtney LeBlanc, a member of the
Stonehill College dance team, believes eating healthy helps to increase an
athlete’s performance.
“When I went to nationals with my dance
team, one of the members on our team ate a big fried meal before we performed.
When it came time to perform, she couldn’t do it. She had such a big lack of
energy from the food she ate before our performances,” LeBlanc said.
LeBlanc eats a healthy lunch every day,
and if she knows she has a late practice, she will eat a healthy dinner in
order to be able to have enough energy to stay up late and do homework.
The post-game meal is just as important
as the pre-game meal because it restores the proteins, carbs, and fats in the
body. The meal should be no later than 30 minutes after the event is over. An
athlete should also in take liquids that contain carbs and proteins after an
event.
Matthew Harlow, a semi-pro hockey
player for the Elmira Jackals, strictly follows the saying “you get out of your
body what you put into it.” To him, it means maintaining a clean, healthy diet,
filled with fruits, vegetables and proteins have an athlete at the peak of
their performance.
“Healthy eating is an integral part in
feeling prepared and energized on game day. Many athletes think that simply
eating healthy on game days will make you feel ready to go at game time.”
That is not the case.
An elite athlete must eat a “clean diet”
for each meal in order to be ready to perform at the athlete’s peak level
during competition. Poor dieting both before and the day of a game can cause an
athlete to feel tired and sluggish due to lack or proper nutrients. There is
100 percent a difference in your performance when you eat a healthy meal at the
proper time before competition as compared to when you shove a granola bar down
your throat minutes before the event starts.
Harlow said hydration is an integral
part of an athlete’s performance and an athlete should drink about three liters
of water a day to clean the waste out of the body.
“Although athletes many not work 9 to 5
each day, being an athlete is a full time job. Every athlete should strive to
eat each and every meal as healthy as possible,” he said. “Understandably, some
athletes may have a sweet tooth or a craving for salty fried foods. Although
this type of “cheating” is not recommended, one cheat meal per week is
acceptable.”
No comments:
Post a Comment