Submitted by: Mike Caulo
All athletes know that training is important and that hard work, when done right, pays off with results. That hard work can be sabotaged by the food that is going in your body. For any fitness goal, whether its weight loss, weight gain or performance, 70 % or more depends on nutrition. For an athlete, it not only depends on what food you eat, but also the timing of the food you eat. It is such a fine balance between repair and injury, sickness and health, performing well or gassing out and food can be the push either way. Over the next couple weeks, Im going to talk about caloric intake and nutrient breakdown, eating to lose, gain and maintain weight, quality of food, hydration and supplementation.
The first part that creates the base for optimal nutrition is caloric intake. In order to maintain performance and recovery well, an athlete needs to eat enough. To start off, the easiest way to get a close estimate is a simple equation (taken from Sports Nutrition by Fink, Burgoon and Mikesky). AF= activity factor from 1.6-2.4 depending on amount of activity estimated. For men: Calorie output=((15.3x bodyweight)+679) AF. For women: Calorie output=((14.7x bodyweight)+496)AF. After this basic calorie calculation, its all about trial and error. If the athlete is feeling lethargic/tired or losing too much weight, the calories need to be increased. If the athlete is gaining unwanted weight, the calories need to be decreased. Increase or decrease by no more than 150 calories at a time.
The second part is nutrient timing. Athletes need to be eating every three to four hours during the day. This could mean eating 6 or more small meals a day plus nutrition during exercise. What I generally recommend is a larger breakfast if its one to two hours before the first training session and something like a smoothie if its any closer to training. If the training session is any longer than an hour, consume 30g of carbohydrates per hour of activity in the form of a beverage or easily digestible snack. Its important to choose things that wont cause gastrointestinal upset but still get enough calories to fuel high intensity performance. A meal or snack following training should be consumed within 20-30min. That time is a window of opportunity to recover and repair muscle and should contain both carbohydrates and protein. The pattern of having some calories before training, during training if its over an hour and after training should be maintained even for multiple training sessions during the day. This should also be done with competition. If a competition or tournament is a short bout, it isnt necessary to consume carbs during but if the competition lasts longer or the athlete needs to compete in multiple bouts, they should consume calories with carbohydrates in the form of easily digestible foods and drinks.
An athlete also needs to be concerned with the breakdown of nutrients. Carbohydrates are incredibly important for the type of athlete that competes in MMA. The high intensity nature of the sport and training means glycogen is frequently depleted. If these glycogen stores are not replenished the body will get energy from the next easiest place, muscle. Muscle breakdown is something that has to be avoided at all cost for an athlete in a high power sport. I recommend 8 to 10g of carbs per kilogram of body weight per day and it should contribute 55-65% of the days total calories. Protein is also important for repairing and building muscle. Protein should be calculated as 1.4-2.0g per kilogram of bodyweight and should make up 15-20% of total calories. Quality fats should make up the rest of the caloric intake.
Food is an important part of an athletes training plan and it is worth it to spend time creating a plan that works and helps to improve performance.
About the Author: check out my blog at
mikecaulo.com
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