It’s game day. The crowd packs the stands to see their favorite athletes play the sport that they love. Players at all levels of commitment, ranging from recreational to professional, work hard to perform well. Behind the scenes, key components like sleep, nutrition, and hydration can have an astounding effect on their performance.
According to Gerilyn Armijo, Franklin’s athletic trainer, sports nutrition and hydration are extremely important to an athlete’s success, more than you may think. She explained that sleep, hydration, and especially nutrition are a very large part of an athlete’s success.
In terms of the amount of calories required, athletes must make conscious choices when they eat to make sure they’re maintaining the energy needed and getting the specific biomolecules that will set them up to perform at a high level. Athletes are regular people who use their bodies at a higher, more intense rate. “Nutrition and hydration are basic things that you need as a human just to survive. An athlete is just using those basic needs at a higher rate because they’re running, they’re jumping, they’re working out, they’re training,” says Armijo.
According to the National Library of Medicine, athletes should try to balance their nutrition groups in this way: 45% to 65% carbohydrates, 10% to 30% protein, and 25% to 35% fat. This balance isn’t too different from what a non-athlete should be eating, but the quantities need to be higher for athletes, depending on the sport. More active sports like swimming and martial arts require athletes to eat more than golfers or table tennis players, as they require more energy. That being said, it is highly necessary for every individual to find the balance that works for their body, factoring overall health and wellness into these decisions.
The amount of energy in your body is measured in calories. Burning these calories is what gives your body the energy it needs to function properly, even at a very basic level. Throughout the day, up to 75% of your caloric burn is just from breathing, circulating blood, and other basic body functions. When athletes factor in physical activity along with their basic movements, they burn more calories, which, in turn, requires them to eat more calories. Athletes also may need to eat more protein to help build muscle and drink more fluids because they lose fluids through sweating.
Assigned male at birth (AMAB) and assigned female at birth (AFAB) athletes also require different nutritional intakes. “Women who have a menstrual cycle, [are] going to be more prone to iron deficiencies and vitamin B12 deficiencies [than AMAB athletes],” Armijo explains. “But I would say the foundation [of a healthy diet] is good carbs, good fats, and good protein.”
Eating disorders can also really affect the way athletes eat, and the way they view food. Athletes are more vulnerable to eating disorders since nutrition is such a big component of their sport. According to the Center for Eating Disorders and Severe Malnutrition, around 45% of female athletes and 19% of male athletes struggle with an eating disorder. Sports like gymnastics, bodybuilding, wrestling, and dancing, require the athlete to achieve and maintain sometimes unrealistic lifestyles and can apply pressures surrounding ideology concerning what “fitness” looks like. When treating athletes with eating disorders, it is very important to prioritize the individual over the sport. Athletes may need to take time off from their sport to focus on recovery.
In conclusion, a healthy lifestyle isn’t the same for everyone. Circumstances like eating disorders and menstrual cycles can change what athletes need to eat to keep their bodies fueled, but the base for everyone is around the same. A solid balance of carbs, protein, and fat is important for everyone, along with essential vitamins like A, C, D, E, K, and B vitamins. These things help athletes fuel their bodies to jump, run, tackle, and swing.
