Basics Recovery strategies for young athletes Timing Hydration Snacks Supplements Eating for swimming success nutritionists Myths higb-intensity. These concentrated high-intenssity of carbs usually provide about 25 Nutritionao of simple Recovery strategies for young athletes per serving, and some include add-ins such as caffeine foor vitamins. Quite often, people taking part in exercise focus on eating lots of protein, and consequently may not get enough carbohydrate, which is the most important source of energy for exercise. As well as providing the energy that athletes need to fuel their training and exercise, the right diet supplies the necessary building blocks for muscle growth and repair, supporting both performance and recovery. Options include milk, water, percent fruit juice and sport drinks.

Video

Nutrition is key to sports performance - Ohio State Medical Center

Nutritional guidance for high-intensity sports -

Players and parents should prepare by packing a variety of food and beverages. Choose energy-packed foods such as whole grain crackers with low-fat cheese, tortilla wraps with veggies and lean meat, hard-boiled eggs, vegetable or bean soups, small boxes of non-sugary cereal, fresh fruit, mini-whole wheat bagels with peanut butter, pita bread with hummus or pasta with grilled chicken.

Fibrous carbohydrates can be beneficial as these tend to cause GI disturbances. UW School of Medicine and Public Health. Refer a Patient. Clinical Trials. Find a Doctor. Search Submit. Pay a bill.

Refill a prescription. Price transparency. Obtain medical records. Order flowers and gifts. Send a greeting card. Make a donation. Find a class or support group. Priority OrthoCare. Food energy The energy needs of athletes exceed those of the average person. Tips to excel with proper sports nutrition Make a plan to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables daily.

Planning a nutritious meal Without adequate calories from the healthiest food sources, you will struggle to achieve your performance goals. On-the-go Eating Peak performance during competition means eating nutritious food while traveling.

Usually, you can make up for any salt lost in sweat with sports drinks or foods you eat before, during, and after exercise. Speaking of dehydration , water is as important to unlocking your game power as food. When you sweat during exercise, it's easy to become overheated, headachy, and worn out — especially in hot or humid weather.

Even mild dehydration can affect an athlete's physical and mental performance. There's no one set guide for how much water to drink. How much fluid each person needs depends on their age, size, level of physical activity, and environmental temperature. Athletes should drink before, during, and after exercise.

Don't wait until you feel thirsty, because thirst is a sign that your body has needed liquids for a while. Sports drinks are no better for you than water to keep you hydrated during sports. But if you exercise for more than 60 to 90 minutes or in very hot weather, sports drinks may be a good option.

The extra carbs and electrolytes may improve performance in these conditions. Otherwise your body will do just as well with water. Avoid drinking carbonated drinks or juice because they could give you a stomachache while you're training or competing.

Don't use energy drinks and other caffeine -containing drinks, like soda, tea, and coffee, for rehydration. You could end up drinking large amounts of caffeine, which can increase heart rate and blood pressure. Too much caffeine can leave an athlete feeling anxious or jittery.

Caffeine also can cause headaches and make it hard to sleep at night. These all can drag down your sports performance. Your performance on game day will depend on the foods you've eaten over the past several days and weeks. You can boost your performance even more by paying attention to the food you eat on game day.

Focus on a diet rich in carbohydrates, moderate in protein, and low in fat. Everyone is different, so get to know what works best for you. You may want to experiment with meal timing and how much to eat on practice days so that you're better prepared for game day.

KidsHealth For Teens A Guide to Eating for Sports. en español: Guía de alimentación para deportistas. Medically reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD.

Listen Play Stop Volume mp3 Settings Close Player. Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. Eat Extra for Excellence The good news about eating for sports is that reaching your peak performance level doesn't take a special diet or supplements.

Athletes and Dieting Teen athletes need extra fuel, so it's usually a bad idea to diet. Eat a Variety of Foods When it comes to powering your game for the long haul, it's important to eat healthy, balanced meals and snacks to get the nutrients your body needs.

Vital Vitamins and Minerals Besides getting the right amount of calories, teen athletes need a variety of nutrients from the foods they eat to keep performing at their best.

Sports supplements can include micronutrients, macronutrients or other substances that may have been associated with a performance benefit, such as creatine, sodium bicarbonate or nitrate. The main reasons people take supplements are to correct or prevent nutrient deficiencies that may impair health or performance; for convenient energy and nutrient intake around an exercise session; or to achieve a direct performance benefit.

Whilst adequate amounts of protein and carbohydrate are both essential in maximising performance and promoting recovery, most people should be able to get all the nutrients they need by eating a healthy, varied diet and, therefore, supplements are generally unnecessary.

For athletes, supplementing the diet may be beneficial, possibly on performance, on general health or for reducing injury and illness risk. However, there is not much research on many of the commonly used supplements, and there are only a small number of supplements where there is good evidence for a direct benefit on performance, including caffeine, creatine in the form of creatine monohydrate , nitrate and sodium bicarbonate.

Even in these cases, the benefits on performance vary greatly depending on the individual and there is only evidence for a benefit in specific scenarios. This means that any athletes considering supplementation will need to weigh the potential benefits with the possible negative impacts, such as negative effects on general health or performance, risk of accidental doping or risks of consuming toxic levels of substances such as caffeine.

The advice to consider supplementation for a performance benefit is for high performance athletes and should be carried out alongside expert advice from qualified sports nutritionists or dietitians.

It is a common myth that consuming lots of excess protein gives people bigger muscles. Quite often, people taking part in exercise focus on eating lots of protein, and consequently may not get enough carbohydrate, which is the most important source of energy for exercise.

The main role of protein in the body is for growth, repair and maintenance of body cells and tissues, such as muscle. Fifteen to 25g of high-quality protein has been shown to be enough for optimum muscle protein synthesis following any exercise or training session, for most people, and any excess protein that is ingested will be used for energy.

The recommendations for daily protein intake are set equally for both endurance training and resistance training athletes, so higher intakes are not recommended even for those exclusively trying to build muscle. Any more protein than this will not be used for muscle building and just used as energy.

Therefore, whilst among recreational gym-goers protein supplementation has become increasingly popular for muscle building, it is generally unnecessary. However, after competition or an intense training session, high quality protein powders can be a more convenient and transportable recovery method when there is limited access to food or if an individual does not feel hungry around exercise, and may be effective for maintenance, growth and repair of muscle.

If you have a more general query, please contact us. Please note that advice provided on our website about nutrition and health is general in nature. We do not provide any personal advice on prevention, treatment and management for patients or their family members.

If you would like a response, please contact us. We do not provide any individualised advice on prevention, treatment and management for patients or their family members. Forgot your password? Contact us Press office.

Our work Healthy sustainable diets Life stages Health conditions Putting it into practice Training and events Healthy Eating Week News.

Back Our work Who we are What we do Who we work with Why trust us? Impact and reach Support what we do Press office Contact us. Back Healthy sustainable diets Healthy and sustainable diets Starchy foods, sugar and fibre Protein Fat Vitamins and minerals Hydration Nutrient requirements.

Back Life stages Pregnancy Baby Toddlers and pre-school Children Teenagers Students Women Men Older people. Back Health conditions COVID, nutrition and immunity Heart disease and stroke Overweight, obesity and weight loss Cancer risk Type 2 diabetes Bone and joint health.

Back Putting it into practice Some tips to save money on food Make healthier choices Balancing the diet Food labelling Plant-based diets Keeping active Planning Food, seasons and celebrations. Back Training and events On-demand webinars Conference recordings and Annual Lectures Learning activities.

Putting it into practice Keeping active Nutrition for sports and exercise. Enlarge Text A A. Nutrition for sports and exercise. The article looks at: Foods for fuel and exercise How to stay well hydrated Supplements. Eating well for physical activity and sport can have many benefits including: allowing you to perform well in your chosen sport or activity reducing the risk of injury and illness ensuring the best recovery after exercise or a training programme However, the dietary patterns that will best suit an individual will depend on the amount and intensity of activity.

Physical activity when losing weight Doing physical activity will increase your energy expenditure the calories you use , as energy is required during exercise to fuel the contracting muscles, increased breathing and heart rate and metabolism.

Foods for fuel and exercise Carbohydrates Protein Vegetarian and vegan diets for athletes Fat Carbohydrates The main role of carbohydrates in physical activity is to provide energy. The table below shows the carbohydrate content of some common foods: Food source Serving size Carbohydrate content g per serving size Wholewheat pasta boiled g Protein Protein is important in sports performance as it can boost glycogen storage, reduce muscle soreness and promote muscle repair.

The table below shows the protein content of some common foods: Food source Serving size Protein content g per serving size Chicken breast grilled g Fat Fat is essential for the body in small amounts, but it is also high in calories. How to stay well hydrated Water is essential for life and hydration is important for health, especially in athletes and those who are physically active, who will likely have higher requirements.

The amount an individual sweats varies from person to person and depends on: intensity and duration of exercise — longer and higher intensity exercise can cause greater sweat loss.

environmental temperature — in hot, humid conditions sweat loss can increase. clothing — the more clothing that is worn, the quicker you are likely to heat up which may cause greater sweat loss.

genetics — some people sweat more than others. Sports drinks: sports drinks contain carbohydrates in the form of glucose, as well as electrolytes such as sodium. Sodium will replace any lost from sweating and enhance rehydration, and glucose will replenish carbohydrate stores. Sports drinks have been shown to help endurance performance and recovery for active individuals performing endurance exercise over a longer duration 60 minutes or more e.

participating in a marathon. However, it is important to remember that sports drinks are like other soft drinks that contain sugars. This means that they can be high in calories and contribute to tooth decay, so they are only suitable if taking part in high-level endurance sports or if sweat loss is high.

Milk: Skimmed or semi-skimmed milk has been used in some studies as a post-exercise recovery drink. It contains minerals that can replace those lost via sweating, as well as providing nutrients involved in muscle function and bone health potassium and calcium.

Last Updated October This article Hunger and malnutrition created gudiance familydoctor. org editorial staff and Hith-intensity by Beth Oller, MD. As an athlete, your physical health is key to an active lifestyle. You must take special care to get enough of the calories, vitamins, and other nutrients that provide energy. You need to include choices from each of the healthy food groups. Athletes will have different nutritional needs compared high-intejsity the Disordered eating patterns public. Recovery strategies for young athletes may require more hgih-intensity and macronutrients to maintain sportz and energy to compete Recovery strategies for young athletes their optimum level. Gukdance addition to consuming sufficient guiadnce of calories and macronutrients, athletes may also require more vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients for peak recovery and performance. In this article, we discuss macronutrient and micronutrient needs of athletes and look at calories, meal timing, and how to tailor requirements to specific sports. We also give meal examples for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Having a suitable diet provides a person with enough energy and nutrients to meet the demands of training and exercise.