General Nutrition Information For Training and Everyday Living

NUTRITION INFORMATION

There is more to fitness then aerobic (cardio) conditioning. Up to 90 percent of the average person’s life is spent within the anaerobic (resistance training) pathway of muscular energetic. Therefore muscle-mass, limit Strength, Speed strength, agility, quickness and many other components of fitness are developed. We must learn that aerobic fitness is NOT synonymous with physical fitness – but is only one part of overall fitness.

Nutrition –

There are six major nutrients essential to healthy living and succeeding in your fitness goals.
1.      Water
2.      Vitamins
3.      Minerals
4.      Proteins
5.      Fats
6.      Carbohydrates

Through intense physical exercise we expend calories and deplete various substances, and full replenishment is needed for growth and repair. Getting this from a well balanced diet alone is difficult, and can you truthfully say that you follow a well balanced diet all the time? This is why the understanding and use of supplementation is necessary.
It is equally important to know how, what and when to eat. Your diet needs to satisfy both your energy demands and your nutritional substance requirements. Much depends on past eating habits, physical size as well as training volume, duration and intensity.

The Five Rules of Performance Nutrition –

1.Always eat at least 5 times a day. By doing this your blood sugar and insulin levels will be controlled ( and through this your energy level ) and by intake of small amounts of protein throughout the day you will continue to support growth and recovery. Perhaps most important of all – body fat will not be stored, but mobilized as an energy source ( by consuming the right amount of calories spread out more frequently throughout the day your bodies need to store fat as energy is reduced, but when you eat infrequently your body recognizes “famine” and stores more body fat to use as energy for the hard times ahead).

2.In planning each of your meals a ratio of approx 1 part fat, 2 part protein, 3 part carbohydrate is an ok place to start off – for the average person.  Depending on your daily work load and the severity of your training routine you may need more or less carbohydrate for energy. Do NOT attempt to eliminate fats from your diet!  Just try to ensure saturated fats are kept to a minimum and unsaturated fats predominate. You must also consume enough protein to support growth and repair (discussed further elsewhere ). Remember protein and carbohydrates both have 4 calories per gram and fats have 9 calories per gram.

3.Since you are spacing your meals out more frequently about every 3 hours or so, when you sit down to eat ask “ what am I going to do over the next three hours?”. If you are fairly sedentary over that time take in fewer carbohydrates, if you are planning a training session or are going to be more active eat more carbohydrates. Remember your pre-workout carbohydrates must be of the low glycemic kind to give you a slow constant release of energy.

4.You cant lose fat quickly and efficiently unless you’re on a negative calorie balance diet. Neither can you gain muscle tissue effectively unless you are on a positive calorie balance diet.


5.Its nearly impossible to get all the nutrients your body needs from food alone, especially if you are on a negative calorie diet – so its important that you supplement your diet with vitamins, minerals and other carefully selected substances to ensure maximum progress towards your fitness, health, muscle-building and fat loss goals.

Why cant you get all your nutrition from food alone without supplements?

-          You can’t always eat 5 or 6 times daily
-          Many times your body can make good use of macronutrients in greater amounts then food alone can provide.
-          Sometimes a perfectly balanced diet cannot be maintained
-          Over-processing, over-cooking, soil depletion, toxins and many other factors can deplete nutrients from foods.
-          Periods of high stress require larger than normal uptake of many nutrients without increasing total caloric intake

Additional Tips on Nutrition –

1.Eliminate Junk food – usually contain high amounts of fats ( saturated ) sodium and sugar.

2.Drink 8 – 10 glasses of water each day – do not wait until you are thirsty, by then you are already dehydrated.

3.Determine your daily protein requirements – Proteins that include the essential amino acids ( that your body does not manufacture) are most important. Proteins are best assimilated when accompanied by some carbohydrates.

4.Consume high fibre foods – helps the reduction of cholesterol and makes fats less likely to be absorbed in your body.

5.Exercise to increase your lean body weight – The more lean weight you have the more efficient your body moves and the higher your metabolism, even at rest. Your bones become more dense and your muscles, tendons and ligaments become stronger. Remember – bigger muscles burn more calories then little ones.