Why Nutrition Is So Important in Sport

Why Is Nutrition So Important In Sport?

When you play sport you have to consider the degree of Health Related Fitness aspects you will need as well as Skill Related Fitness aspects, for instance a Downhill skier wouldn't need as much of a degree of Cardiovascular Endurance as a Cross-Country Skier, however a Downhill skier may need a higher level of co-ordination due to the higher speeds.


Carbohydrates:

When doing Highly Aerobically Demanding sports such as Cycling you will need a higher amount of Carbohydrates because glucose can be stored in the muscle to create energy quickly in order to allow you too perform at a high level for a longer period of time

However when performing in a sport such as Ice Hockey it might be considered good to have a lower amount of carbohydrates because even though you do need carbohydrates, you will certainly not need as many as a cyclist, as they have to continue a high level effort for potentially 5 hours, whereas hockey is more of an interval sport, consistent of short bursts of high levels of energy(anaerobic energy system).

Protein:

In sports like cycling you would only need 1g/kg of body weight because the aim is to have a high power/weight ratio and keep your body weight low, however you obviously still need to maintain those muscle fibers, but in hockey the objective is to build bigger muscles, to have a harder shot, skate faster, take bigger hits, make bigger hits, etc, so having maybe 1.5g - 2g/kg of body weight of protein per day would probably aid in the process of anabolism(protein synthesis)

Fat:

In Both Ice Hockey and Cycling you will need a relatively low amount of fat (30-50 grams per day) because as we all know fat doesn't have a positive impact on sports performance except perhaps maybe a little bit of fuel, but this only works at a very slow rate as it has to be first converted to carbohydrates before being used by the muscles

So, there you have it if you wan't to optimize your performance in sports you must first consider the demands of the sport and base your diet plan around it, also if you want to decrease the likely hood of you bailing from your diet, make sure you have a maximum of 2 days per week of 'cheat' days, well they're not 'cheat days', I'd prefer to call them 'freedom' days as you can actually spend these days enjoying the wide variety foods available to you.

Also, keep posted, there will be more on nutrition in sport, specifically ice hockey, reviews on hockey products and training methods.