Give food some thought in a fitness quest
SUCCESS at last year’s Commonwealth Games was about more that winning medals and putting on the best-ever Games.
It was also about the regeneration of our city, increasing long-term jobs, boosting tourism – in other words, legacy.
With the obesity epidemic in our children already here, our legacy hopes should also include an aspiration to boost the physical activity among young people.
And one of the key facets is the drive to improve nutrition in school and home.
A healthy eating programme is accepted in professional sport as part of the normal preparation for competition. Indeed, nutrition input is seen as essential a part of a sports “backroom team” as physio or strength and conditioning.
No matter how much training an athlete does, or how good the coaching system is, unless they give their body the optimum balance of essential nutrients, they’ll never reach full potential.
High-intensity sporting activity depletes the limited energy stored in the muscles, mainly in the form of glycogen.
Poor nutritional preparation will lead to faster glycogen depletion with fatigue and, in turn, a reduction in performance.
In order to maintain adequate energy stores, athletes need to take on board sufficient carbohydrates and to replenish these stores throughout the day.
Traditionally, pre-competition meals are timed for around three hours before the event. Good sources of carbohydrate include starchy foods such as rice, pasta, noodles, potatoes and bread.
It is vital to increase the frequency of carbohydrate intake with “on-the-road” snacks such as fruit (bananas are popular), cereal bars, rolls and sandwiches, rice pudding, yoghurts and sweets, such as jelly babies and gums, are ideal.
Some sportsmen and women still believe that eating after exercise should be avoided. Nothing could be further from the truth; refuelling should start instantly after activity.
This enhances the recovery and helps minimise fatigue. This should be a combination of carbohydrate refuelling and fluid replacement.
Fruit, cereal bars, sandwiches etc, should be taken in the changing room with a meal ideally within two hours.
Maintenance of adequate fluid intake is of equal importance for those involved in activity at all levels and this is often overlooked. Every 1kg of loss of weight during exercise is the equivalent of one litre of lost fluid.
There is much debate, and huge commercial interest, as to what is the best fluid to drink.
In my opinion, water is the best option. It is cheap, effective and readily available, and ideal for day-to-day fluid maintenance when not playing sport.
If we accept that the human body is the world’s most complicated machine, then it is no surprise that, in order for it to perform at its best, we need to treat it well.