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Fitness Nutrition and Hydration

Eat to Win

Athletes need to keep an eye on what they eat in order to get maximum satisfaction on the court, in the field, or on the road. Below, nutrition expert Fran Grossman offers some tips that provide the weekend warrior, the daily jogger, and the marathon runner with information on how to best develop and maintain a balanced diet that will lead to peak physical performance.

Calories
Calories are the basic units or packages of energy that fuel our body's daily activities. We get our energy by burning the calories stored in our body's tissues. When we exercise, our body burns more calories.

In the body, energy is produced primarily from fat and glucose. Fat exists in muscles and in fat cells. Glucose is a sugar and is readily converted into energy. Glucose is stored as glycogen in muscles and in the liver. When the body needs energy and consumes all of the available glucose, it can create more glucose from its glycogen stores.

A proper diet prior to and during a workout or competition can provide a better balance of nutrients so that the opportunity for the body to run out and become exhausted will take longer. General recommendations for caloric intake range from 2,000 to 6,000 calories per day. The primary goal is to develop a diet that provides enough calories (and maximizes glycogen stores) to closely match the calories you will burn during a workout or competition.

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are basically substances that serve as sources of energy. Types of carbohydrates found in different foods include complex carbohydrates (starches, fruits, vegetables), which contain fiber, and simple sugars (juice, desserts, sweets).

Complex carbohydrates provide the best source of energy for the weekend warrior or competitive athlete. Complex carbohydrates also have important nutrients that are not available from other food sources or groups, and they are the most important for peak athletic performance. Carbohydrates are stored in the muscle and liver as glycogen. Glycogen stored in the liver is used mainly for blood-sugar control, while glycogen stored in the muscle is used for energy during exercise.

A diet that is 60 to 65 percent carbohydrates is necessary to maintain the glycogen stored in your muscles. If you are engaged in heavy athletic activity or competition on successive days, you should maintain a diet of 65 to 70 percent of carbohydrates.

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