| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Why
is Carbohydrate Important
for Performance? |
|
|
|
|
Eat
a diet high in carbohydrate
throughout the season
for energy to train
and to compete.
Fatigue is common after
hard physical training
day-after-day. When
you work out twice a
day it can get worse. You
might blame your exhaustion
on a "bad day".
But if you are always
tired, your diet might
be the problem.
When you exercise, you
use energy stored as
carbohydrate in your
muscles.
During a two-hour workout,
you can easily use up
all your stored energy. It
is important that you
replenish the carbohydrate
level in your muscles
for the next day's training. You
do this by eating enough
foods high in carbohydrate.
Suppose you eat a diet
low in carbohydrate. After
just three days of two-hour
workouts, you use up
nearly all of your muscle
carbohydrate. You
are a candidate for
fatigue. However,
on a high-carbohydrate
diet after the same
workouts, your muscle
carbohydrate level can
be almost as high as
it was before you began
training. In that
way, you can have the
energy to train and
compete at your top
performance.
|
|
|
Planning the Training
Diet |
|
|
|
|
What's the difference
between the training
diet and your normal
diet?
The training diet is
probably higher in carbohydrate. The
training diet includes
more foods from the
Grain Group, Vegetable
Group, and Fruit Group.
Of course, you still
need protein, fat, vitamins,
minerals, and water
in your diet.
You get these nutrients,
as well as carbohydrate,
by eating a variety
of foods from each of
the Five Food Groups
(Milk, Meat, Vegetable,
Fruit and Grain).
When planning a high-carbohydrate
diet, remember:
- Cereals,
breads, pasta, muffins,
pancakes, rolls,
and other grain
products
are high in carbohydrate.
- All
fruits and vegetables
are also good sources
of carbohydrate.
- Yogurt,
milkshakes, milk,
cocoa, and ice cream
all contain carbohydrate.
- Most
foods from the Meat
Group are low in
carbohydrate except
for dried beans
and peas (like refried
beans or black-eyed
peas).
- Cakes,
pies, cookies, soft
drinks, and other
sugary foods are
high carbohydrate.However,
they are low in
most other nutrients. Select
them
only after you've
eaten the recommended
number of servings
from the Five Food
Groups.
Each
day eat at least the
recommended number
of servings from the
Five Food Groups
listed in the chart
below:
RECOMMENDED
SERVINGS |
|
|
|
|
| |
Training
Diet
(550-650
g of carbs) |
Modified
Training Diet
(250-350
g of carbs) |
|
Milk
Group |
4
or more |
4
or more |
|
Meat
Group |
3
or more |
2
or more |
|
Vegetable
Group |
6
or more |
5
or more |
|
Fruit
Group |
4
or more |
3
or more |
|
Grain
Group |
16
or more |
8
or more |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
