Balanced Diets for Athletes

This is a good time to take note of your diet and what not to eat at all costs. We as athletes need to have a balanced diet we need to ensure that we take in the correct foods to create that balance and prevent future ill health and physical weaknesses. Most athletes push their bodies to the limit in training and competition they burn excess calories but also risk tissue injury and weakened immune systems through lack of nutrients minerals and vitamins. The athlete therefore must eat a balanced diet to correspond to these needs. There are a lot of fad diets that have a high this and a low that but the best diet is a balanced diet with no highs and lows. The food an athlete eats must provide energy and nutrient balance. These include the following:

Proteins – for growth and repair of muscle and other body tissues

Fats - a source of energy that is important in relation to fat soluble vitamins

Carbohydrates - the main source of energy

Minerals - inorganic elements in the body and which are important to normal function.

Vitamins - water and fat soluble vitamins play important roles in chemical processes in the body

Water - essential to normal body function – it carries other nutrients (60% of the human body is water)

Roughage - the fibrous indigestible part of our diet that is important for the digestive system

Daily energy requirements

Personal energy requirement = basic energy requirements + extra energy requirements Basic energy requirements

 For every Kg of body weight approximately 1.3 Calories is required every hour. (An athlete weighing 50Kg would require 1.3 x 24hrs x 50Kg=1560 Calories/day)

Extra energy requirements

An athlete who trains hard has to take into consideration each hours training that you require approximately 8.5 Calories for each Kg of body weight. (For a two hour training session  50Kg athlete would require 8.5 x 2hrs x 50Kg=850 Calories)

An athlete weighing 50Kg, who trains for two hours, would require an intake of approximately 2410 Calories (1560 + 850) of course that’s a light athlete you can adjust the weight accordingly for yourself.

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