ATHLETE DIET MENU

There is a great deal of discussion about the athlete diet menu. I have tried all kinds. To some extent it does depend on your body, but there are basic guidelines we can all follow for maximum performance and recovery.

Eating correctly is one of the most overlooked things in performance. Especially for endurance events it can make or break your race.

I used to wonder why I would sometimes feel great on the pitch, when I played soccer, only to run out of energy the next game. I never once considered my diet.

When I moved to endurance sports I had to consider diet or possibly get a DNF (did not finish). It is one thing to run for 90 minutes and bonk, but another to go 10 days on poor nutrition.
Scott Jurrek, the great ultra-runner, follows a vegetarian diet, while Ian Adamson (arguably the best adventure racer of all times), recommends protein and carbohydrates, with no supplements (Adventure Racing, Runners World). Carl Lewis and Ambrose Burfoot follow a macrobiotic diet. Following an even stricter diet is Brendan Brasier pro Ironman triathlete. He follows a vegan diet and it works wonders for him.

The diet I most closely follow is the whole foods diet. Athlete's burn up a lot of energy (glycogen in the muscles) every day that must be replaced for the next day. For that, a moderate protein, high carbohydrate diet (within reason) has been known to be the best. There is also a sports nutrition diet the helps athletes reduce inflammation recommended by Dr. NV Perricone.

I also take supplements from Hammer Nutrition, which have helped keep my immune system strong. Before I started these I was sick all of the time, due to the demands of my sport.

Hammer Nutrition also wrote on article on the biggest Athlete Diet Menu Mistakes. Avoiding these mistakes could change your performance and move you to the next level.

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WHAT TO EAT ON LONG WORKOUT DAYS
Athlete Diet Menu

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I used to try to drop some weight during heavy training by lowering my carbohydrates. Though I could usually do my short workouts, when it came time to do the long run or bike, I would bonk. I had no energy, because I wasn't taking in the right fuel.

Dr. Bill Misner of Hammer has a good weight loss guide, for in and out of season. Hammer also has a really good supplement for weight loss.
Protein is also important and is the fuel that builds are muscles. Protein can be found in lots of food, especially nuts and beans and meat. Whey protein is my favorite source of protein. About 15 % of the calories eaten every day should come from protein alone. It helps to rebuild muscle and spur growth and faster healing.

For heavy workout days, fat should consume less than 30% of your total calories. On the flip side, saturated fat should contribute to less than fifteen percent of your calories. A high fat diet works against the sports nutrition diet, and lots of fatty foods can slow you and your performance down.

Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Avocados, and EFA Oil are great ways to add fats to your diet.

When to eat is so important. This can affect your race greatly. Our article on the Pre-Race Meal goes into detail about this. Following this protocol helped so much with my performance.

If you need some help planning the menu ATHLETE MENU has great recipes with the proper ingredients for recovery and performance.

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WHAT TO EAT ON NON-WORKOUT DAYS
Athlete Diet Menu

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Workout days burn up a lot of energy, so the diet for those days should help to replace that energy.

On non-workout days, a fair amount of carbohydrates, protein, and fat should still be ingested within reason, but less helpings of it. So you should keep the above ratios and just reduce the amount of calories you need.

Why is this? If you aren't burning up as much energy that day, your body doesn't need as much food to replace that energy lost. Basically you can get fat!
Since athletes may be very hungry even on "off" days, try to eat foods that fill you up. I love to have soup in the winter and salad in the summer. This can help give you a lot of volume of food and therefore be more satisfied. Whole-grains are also very filling.

Make sure to eat several servings of fruit and greens. This is great for any healthy system and has antioxidants. This will help you ward off sickness.

This is my weakness, so I have to be very careful with my athlete diet menu and include veggies and lots of supplements. A great way to aid recovery is to consider a raw foods diet. It is an excellent source for an athlete diet menu. It can help with your uptake of minerals, nutrients and increase your energy.

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WHAT ABOUT JUNK FOOD
Athlete Diet Menu

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It seems, at least to me, that if you are doing extreme amounts of exercise you should be able to eat what you want!

Keep your goals in mind. Is it really worth your performance? When I was training for my first Primal Quest and craving ice cream, I kept asking myself, Do I want to carry this at Primal Quest?

Sticking to your goals is enough inspiration for many people to resist the temptation of fast food, candy, chips, and other junk. A bite is okay and nothing to feel bad about, but only if you can keep it at that. One bite can turn into more, and that is where the problem with it lies.
If you are planning on training for extreme events, you have to be committed to modifying the outside of your body and the inside with healthy foods. Keep junk foods and fatty foods to a minimum.

Since there is a light at the end of the tunnel for extreme sports athletes (the win!) it is well worth the discipline!

There is one time when I do eat junk food. You'll notice in th picture our team is ordering up allot of junk food. Though it was not the best choice, in expedition races we sometimes resort to some junk food.

It sometimes brings comfort and a little boost that can keep you going. Would apples and veggies be better? Sure! But it would not bring us the same level of comfort we needed to press on.

In this picture we still had 5 days to go!

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RECOVERY: ATHLETE DIET MENU
Athlete Diet Menu

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Eating within two hours is crucial to recover the muscles and restore glycogen. Eating within the first 30 minutes is even better. To fully do this, you need to to eat protein and carbohydrates in the correct balance.

You should have a 3:1 carb to protein meal. The ideal meal would be 30-60 grams of high quality complex carbohydrates and 10-30 grams of protein, preferably whey isolate.

Supplements, proper diet, active recovery and rest can rebuild your body much stronger than when you began. Massage, ice baths, and saunas other great ways to recover.

You might also consider a diet that reduces inflammation, if you suffer from inflammation and pain in the joints. It is a simple diet with some guidelines that reduce inflammation by certain foods. This is still a hard one for me. I don't put enough time into planning my recovery meals or drinks. I am trying to be more conscious of this and bring a recovery drink with me, when I'll be away from the house.

Recovery though is where you see the gain. You tear your body down during training and racing, and to come back stronger you must let it recover.

SPORTS BARS
Athlete Diet Menu

You need to make sure it is nutritious, preferably organic and that is fits within your calorie intake for the day. Bars can be used for a nutrition snack, or even fuel for those long workout day.

I do not use these during a workout, unless I was doing something such as a long slow bike ride or hike. I find them to hard to digest for regular workouts at anything higher than a recovery pace.

Although there are a wide range of Sports Nutrition Bars to choose from, most of them are junk. There are only a few bars such as Clif Bar and Hammer Bar that have been successfully fulfilling the needs of every athlete, myself included!

SPORTS NUTRITION ARTICLES

References

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