Not only professional athletes need a well-balanced diet. Even if you are a person who practices sports occasionally and recreationally, your demand for nutrients and calories increases. Therefore, be sure to check if you run the right diet for you, and if not how it should look like?
Carbohydrates in a beginner’s athlete’s diet
If you are physically active, your carbohydrate requirement increases. The carbohydrate dose in the diet should be around sixty-five percent of the total energy requirement. These should be products that have a low glycemic index. If you eat products with a high glycemic index, the level of sugar in the blood rises quickly, but it also drops quickly, so the strength of our muscles decreases, which makes the physical effort much more difficult. The beginner sportsman’s diet should include such products as:
- Apricots,
- Oranges,
- plums,
- pasta,
- Vegetables,
- Whole grain products.
During physical exertion or just before starting the workout, it is worth reaching for snacks that contain complex carbohydrates. They are much better than simple carbohydrates, especially for athletes. Thanks to them, the blood sugar level is optimum, we have more strength and energy to exercise, glycogen stores in the muscles increase significantly. If we consume such products during training, we will be stronger and training will be way more effective.
Proteins in the diet of beginner athletes
Protein is an essential ingredient in every athlete’s diet. It cannot be missing because it is responsible for the proper functioning and structure of the muscular system. Thanks to the consumption of the right amount of protein, the process of muscle regeneration is accelerated, their strength and endurance are increased, and the process of gaining muscle mass is way more faster. It is worth remembering that before the workout, the body does not need to supplement the protein, but after the training it is necessary. You should reach for natural sources of proteins, but after training, we should eat proteins within thirty minutes of the end of the exercise. It is not always possible, so it is worth reaching for protein supplements that are easy to prepare.
Fats in the diet of beginner athletes
Not all fats are bad and you should keep this in mind when setting a diet plan. For physically active people, fats should account for around thirty percent of energy demand. It is best to choose differentiated products that provide to our body mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids. In the diet of physically active people must be omega-3, omega-6 fatty acids and omega-9. They are necessary for the proper functioning of the entire organism, including the cardiovascular system, water management and digestive system, i.e. those parts of the body that affect muscle work. It’s best to give up eating animal fats because they increase blood cholesterol levels, which is not good for our health and condition.
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