Like the car, a jogger who wants to operate at his most ideal potential needs his particular set of fuels. He needs the best combination of carbohydrates, proteins and fats in order to fuel his running.
All of these food groups has a specific function to fulfill in the body. Getting the correct quantity and also mix of these essential nutrients is the right step onwards to success in your sports activity.
Carbohydrates
The primary fuel for exercising muscles along with high-intensity workouts are carbohydrates. The athlete’s body requires about 50 to 65% carbohydrates in his food intake to support training.
Lacking enough carbohydrates leads to the body to under-perform and cannot burn fats as effectively as it should during workouts. It should be the staple of your diet before, during and after each and every physical exercise, including intervals during the day.
Carbohydrates are plentiful such food as whole grain breads, pasta, brown rice, oatmeal, fruits, vegetables, potatoes, corn, beans, and low-fat dairy products.
Currently, many individuals make do with easily digestible carbohydrates from sports drinks or gels. Talk to your sports nutritionist for the exact amounts of your carbohydrates requirements.
Proteins
Proteins are important because they build and repair muscles, ligaments, and tendons – all essentials to become a strong athlete.
You may get your proteins from this sort of sources as egg whites, poultry (with the skin), fish, ground turkey or chicken breast, lean ground beef, game meat, nuts, tofu and soy milk and low-fat dairy products.
They are really more important following exercises than before or during. Simply because proteins help the body repair itself following strenuous activities like exercises and workouts.
The more you run (or train as an athlete) the more you need proteins to a point. Your needs depend on how many hours every week you run, or if you are hoping to lose body fat or if you are lifting weights.
Fats
The final food group, fat, helps support prolonged exercises at lower intensities. Our bodies have enough stored fat to fuel prolonged exercising.
Nevertheless, fat is difficult to use for quick energy. This is the reason carbohydrates will be the choice fuel during most physical exercises.
Sports athletes need about 20 to 30% of calories right from fats. Healthy sources of fats incorporate fatty fish (salmon for omega 3 fatty acids), nuts and natural peanut butter, avocado, olive oil, and canola oil.
Sadly, most people get far too much fat within their diets. What’s worse is that too much of these fat originate from unhealthy fats (saturated and trans-fats from sausages, burgers, French fries, donuts, sweets and many more).
Correct balance during running
For an athlete, having this right balance of these three all-important food groups would be the first step to fulfill your potential. Your day-to-day diet would have to be adjusted accordingly to support your training.
Considering that everyone is different from the next person, it is necessary that your diet is suited to your exact personal body needs. You can only get these exact data coming from a nutrition professional who can create and plan a personalized nutrition plan for you.
Don’t forget, running (especially competitive running) can be as physically demanding as any other energy use-intensive sports. Your body fuel should not be taken lightly.