The Infonian

As an athlete, you should always be looking for ways to increase energy, strength and performance. Do you know that through the proper nutrition you can increase all of the above?

But what foods should you eat in order to make sure you stay performing at the top of your game?

We’ll take a look at these top 5 tips to ensure your body is given the proper nutrition for athletic enhancement and performance.

1. Eat 5 to 6 Small Meals a Day

This is by far the #1 tip when it comes to proper nutrition for athletes. Imagine your body like a race car. In order for a race car to function properly you need to give it the best gasoline, oil and tires to run the way it is supposed to. Likewise, without proper nutrition, you will not reach your full athletic potential. By eating 5 to 6 small meals a day, you will be able to recover at a faster rate and increase your energy levels!

2. Consume The Right Ratio of Macronutrients

A topic not discussed very often with regards to proper nutrition for athletes is macronutrients. They consist of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Without them you will not be able to survive. If you consume the correct amount of macronutrients at the right time, you will be well on your way to achieving your set goals, regardless of the sport you are in.

Definitely make sure that you emphasize complex carbs throughout the day and also include some simple carbs before and after the workouts. Finally, lean protein sources in every meal and some fats that are high in Omega 3s should be the sort of foods that make up your diet.

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3. Drink Plenty of Clean Water

The ideal amount of water to consume is your body weight multiplied by .66. So, if you weigh 200 pounds, you will require 132 ounces (200 multiplied by .66) of water. If you are not properly hydrated, your athletic performance will be hindered.

Water also helps to cleanse your body and acts as a detox to any harmful substances that may linger around. It keeps you hydrated and cools you off when you are sweating. In addition, water is required for important processes such as fat burning and muscle production.

4. Consume a Post-Workout Recovery Meal

Post-workout meals are important as they help you replenish your glycogen levels. Glycogen (stored carbs) is needed for energy and gets burned up after a workout as they are your main source of energy. As a result, after working out you should consume a meal that is high in protein and carbohydrates (both simple and complex). By doing this, you will allow your body to recover faster and will allow you to be that much better the next time you exercise or perform any physical activity.

5. Take Your Multi Vitamin and Minerals

Vitamins and minerals allow your body to process chemical reactions at an accelerated rate. B-complex vitamins provide a great health benefit as they help to further break down carbohydrates which in terms will give you energy. While you do obtain vitamins and minerals from certain foods you eat, they usually are not enough for those who are involved in physical activities such as exercising and sports.

On Friday afternoon after you leave work, you probably think about going out and having a few drinks with friends to relax and wind down. Even though you may think you deserve to go out and have a few drinks, there are some things that you should certainly keep in mind.

Like any other day, tomorrow is going to be a day for exercise, and since you are exercising on a regular basis, a few drinks of alcohol won’t really hurt anything, right? Before you decide to rush out to the local bar, there are a few things below that you should think about before you make your choice about going out to drink some alcohol.

Research has proven that even small amounts of alcohol with increase muscular endurance and the output of strength, although these types of benefits are very short lived. After 20 minutes or so, the problems will begin to surface. All of the negative side effects associated with alcohol will easily outweigh any possible benefits that it can have. No matter how you look at it, alcohol is a poison that can really harm your body if you aren’t careful.

The negative side of alcohol can reduce your strength, endurance, aerobic capability, recovery time, ability to metabolize fat, and even your muscle growth as well. Alcohol will also have an effect on your nervous system and brain. If you use it long term, you can cause severe deterioration of your central nervous system. Even with short term use, nerve muscle interaction can be reduced which will result in a loss of strength.

Once alcohol reaches the blood cells, it can and probably will damage them. With alcohol users, inflammation of the muscle cells is a very common thing. Over periods of time, some of these cells that have been damaged can die which will result in less functional muscle contractions. Drinking alcohol will also leave you with more soreness of your muscles after you exercise, which means that it will take you a lot longer to recuperate.

Alcohol will also have many different effects on your heart and circulatory system as well. When you drink any type of alcohol, you may begin to see a reduction in your endurance capabilities. Anytime you drink, your heat loss will increase, due to the alcohol simulating your blood vessels to dilate. The loss in heat can cause your muscles to become quite cold, therefore become slower and weaker during your muscle contractions.

Drinking alcohol can also lead to digestive and nutrition problems as well. Alcohol cause a release of insulin that will increase the metabolism of glycogen, which spares fat and makes the loss of fat very hard. Due to alcohol interfering with the absorption of several key nutrients, you can also become anemic and deficient with B type vitamins.

Because your liver is the organ that detoxifies alcohol, the more you drink, the harder your liver has to work. The extra stress alcohol places on your liver can cause serious damage and even destroy some of your liver cells.

Since alcohol is diuretic, drinking large amounts can put a lot of stress on your kidneys as well. During diuretic action, the hormones are secreted. This can lead to heightened water retention and no one who exercises will want this to happen.

Author: Robert Bell

If you want to burn off fat and keep it off permanently, there are a few things you absolutely must do, and a new study from Wake Forest University has just uncovered another one…

Previous research has concluded without a shred of doubt that high levels of exercise are one of the keys to keeping fat off and maintaining your ideal weight. In this new study just published in the October 2008 issue of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, researchers found for the first time, proof that the drop in physical activity that happens automatically during calorie restriction is directly correlated to weight regain.

We’ve known for some time that when you restrict calories, your level of non exercise physical activity (non exercise activity thermogenesis or NEAT), drops spontaneously, even if you don’t realize it’s happening.

Your physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) also tends to drop when you restrict calories.

Basically, when you cut calories, you get sluggish, you move your body less, you don’t feel like exercising and if you do exercise, you do it with with less “gusto.”

This means that unless you intentionally counter this tendency by pushing yourself to keep active and keep up the intensity, despite your low calorie intake, your weight loss will slow down automatically as you continue with caloric restriction. (can you say, “fat loss plateau?”)

The new twist to this story is that in this latest study the researchers followed up on the subjects through the maintenance period – with 6 month and 12 month checkups.

This is significant, because most fat loss “success stories” are reported immediately after the weight loss phase, but you never know what happened to them afterwards.

Not surprisingly, it wasn’t much of a “maintanence” period… almost everyone regained most of the weight.

The surprise was WHY they regained back the weight and WHO regained the most…

The drop in physical activity during the diet was directly related to the weight regain after the diet!

The researchers wrote,

“The greater the decrease in physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) during the energy deficit, the greater the weight gain during the follow up.”

“That won’t happen to me,” you say? Think again. That drop in activity usually happens unconsciously. It’s part of the “starvation response” (or “weight-regulating mechanism” if you prefer). Your body tricks you in countless ways, in order to restore energy balance and stabilize your weight.

If you believe that diet alone is the answer or that you can skimp on the training, you are shooting yourself in the foot and thinking short-term.

When you extend out your time frame to a year or longer, you get a whole new perspective.

For years, I have been imploring my readers and subscribers to www.burnthefat.com with higher levels of exercise – strength training AND cardio training – while “feeding the muscle” with a higher intake of clean food, instead of simply “starving the fat” with low calorie diets and little or no exercise.

“Eat More, Burn More”… “BURN The fat FEED the muscle.” those are the mottos you want to remember.

Can you lose weight without exercise? Of course. Just be sure you have a dietary-induced calorie deficit. Is it the best way? Not by a long shot.

Bottom line: If you want to MAXIMIZE your fat loss, and keep fat off permanently, it is imperative not only to keep up a high level of energy expenditure (BURN calories not just cut them), but also to make a conscious effort to make sure your activity level does not drop as you lose weight during the calorie deficit.

If you’d like to learn more about this effective and proven approach to fat loss: “eat more, burn more,” then please visit my “Burn The Fat” website at www.burnthefat.com

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto
Fat Loss Coach
www.burnthefat.com

www.burnthefat.com About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified personal trainer and freelance fitness writer. Tom is the author of “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com

Years ago, it was not uncommon for bodybuilding experts to advocate an unrestricted, very high-calorie diet-in combination with an intensive weight training program-for someone wanting to gain muscle. The rationale was that if you wanted to gain muscle, you could eat basically whatever you wanted in order to bulk up and then later on, you could work on eliminating excess fat if necessary. Nowadays, we’re a lot more enlightened and we know that not only is this not an effective strategy, but it’s not particularly beneficial for your health either. The most effective eating regimen for gaining muscle is one that includes plenty of lean protein, healthy carbohydrates in moderation and unsaturated fats. Protein is a basic, essential building block of muscle growth and if your objective is to maintain or gain lean muscle mass then you need to eat plenty of it every day. When the body isn’t getting enough protein from the foods you eat, it will use protein from muscle mass to meet its energy needs.

Carbohydrates get a bad rap from a lot of the so-called “health gurus” out there but the fact is they’re not telling the whole story. Carbohydrates provide the body with the fuel it needs for both physical activity and proper functioning of the organs. The key is to recognize the difference between good (“healthy”) and bad carbs. Healthy carbohydrates come from vegetables, fruits, legumes (beans) and whole grains. The bad carbs come from highly processed foods, white breads, sugary sodas, snacks and pastries.

Fat is another oft-misunderstood component of our diets. All fats are not bad for us. In fact, our bodies need some fat in our diet in order to function normally. Again, like carbohydrates, the key lies in understanding the difference between the good fats and the bad ones. Saturated fats are the “bad fats” that we should avoid. Saturated fats come from animal fats, dairy products and oils such as coconut or cottonseed oil. They’re also common in a lot of prepared foods. Unsaturated fats-although they still need to be consumed in moderation-are the ones that are better for our bodies, helping it to perform and function normally.

Okay, so now that some of the basics are out of the way we’ll address the question, “What should I eat to put on lean muscle mass?” Individual protein, carb and unsaturated fat requirements will vary from person to person, depending on body type, weight, physical condition, fitness goals, etc.

A good basic eating strategy for gaining muscle mass is to get the majority of your calories from lean protein sources. A general rule of thumb is about a minimum of 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Limit your intake of healthy carbs and unsaturated fats. Don’t avoid them entirely though because your body-and your muscles-need them, just keep protein the central focus of your diet.

In order to gain muscle mass you’ll need to consume more calories than you burn. You should start out by determining your body’s calorie requirements for maintaining your body weight, account for your activity level and then add from there. You should also eat five to six meals a day, spread out two to three hours apart throughout the day. Eating just one or two large meals a day isn’t the right strategy for putting on muscle.

Since protein is going to be the foundation of your diet, you’ll want to mix up your sources or you’ll quickly get sick of eating the same couple of things day after day. Skinless chicken breast and fish are two excellent sources of lean protein. Grill or broil them-don’t fry or drown them in rich sauces. Other good sources of protein include turkey breast, lean beef or pork, egg whites, cottage cheese (fat free or low-fat), canned tuna (packed in water not oil) and protein powders.

Green vegetables (especially broccoli), leafy vegetables, sweet potatoes, potatoes, whole grain breads, whole oats/oatmeal (not the flavored instant packs) and beans are good sources for healthy carbs. Avoid any processed foods, snacks and pastries. You can pretty much eat about as much green vegetables (steamed is best) without worrying about getting too many carbs, but do watch your intake of everything else on the list above-the carbs add up quickly.

Unsaturated fats should comprise the smallest portion of your daily diet. Good sources of these healthy fats include olive oil, sunflower oil and avocados. Almonds and walnuts are both also excellent sources of healthy fats but limit your intake of nuts to no more than a handful a day.

This is of course not everything you need to know in order to eat to gain weight but it should be enough to give you a basic foundation upon which to get started on the path towards putting on lean muscle mass, not just fat.

Author: Mike Westerdal