Importance Of Nutrition While Training
There’s a lot of talk about the right workout to get the best results, but if you don’t have a good program of nutrition while training, it doesn’t matter what workout you use. Your body needs the right building blocks to create a healthy lean body. You can’t out exercise an unhealthy diet. If you’re trying to lose weight, grabbing a quickie burger, fries and a shake after a workout, you’ll be losing ground. If you’re eating a low protein diet when you’re trying to build muscle tissue, you’ll be losing ground.
Make sure you have all the raw materials for muscle growth and weight loss.
Whether you’re trying boost your muscle development or lose weight, adequate high quality protein is key. For building muscles, it’s obvious, you need protein to do that. If you’re working out for weight loss, it might not be as obvious. Exercise breaks down muscle tissue, only to have it repair even stronger. Cardio exercises, such as running, can actually deplete muscle mass. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn 24/7. Muscle tissue requires more calories than fat tissue does. If you’re body is burning muscle tissue, you’ll end up with less and that makes it harder to lose weight.
Start with the big three.
The big three or the macronutrients are protein, fat and carbohydrates. Protein is composed of several amino acids that helps build muscle tissue. Of the 20 amino acids, the body creates 12 of them. The rest must come from the food we eat. These are called essential amino acids. You can get too much protein and it makes the body work harder. Carbohydrates provide energy that fuel all the processes, including building muscle tissue. Too many calories from carbohydrates and it’s stored as fat. There are also many different types of fat and sources of fatHow To Train For Competition. The one to avoid is trans fats, which are not as prevalent now but still may be in crackers, snack foods, margarine, frozen pizza, cookies, cakes coffee creamer and fast food.
But wait, there’s more to it than just the macronutrients.
There are micronutrients. These include vitamins A,B1,B2,B3,B5,B6,B8,B9,B12,C,D,E and K. Minerals are also another category and the major ones are magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, potassium, sodium and chlorine. Trace minerals include copper, zinc, iodine, chromium, cobalt, iron, manganese and selenium. Plants also have phytonutrients, some of these give the plants their colors, such as anthocyanin that gives fruits and vegetables their red, blue and purple colors. Each of these are important for functions in the body, including burning fat and building muscle.
- Don’t forget adequate water intake. Water isn’t a food, but is more important than food. You can go three weeks without food, but only three days without water.
- There are both simple and complex carbohydrates. Complex carbs take longer to digest and leave you feeling full longer.
- Not all simple carbs are bad. Fruits and vegetables are simple carbs, yet also contain micronutrients and fiber. Your body needs the micronutrients and the fiber. The fiber slows the digestion.
- Sugar, such as processed sugar, honey, maple syrup and molasses, or foods high in sugar and processed flour like cookies, should be limited.
