ATHLETE NUTRITION

Proper nutrition is a must in the world of competitive athletics.  What separates many athletes looking to get scholarships is their performance on the field.  In order to preform at a higher level than your competition sometimes it comes down to how you fuel your body.  Many times the big things are easy like showing up and working out hard in the weight room, taking care of grades, working on your skills, but many times we miss the little things that make sometimes the biggest difference.

 Nutrition is a topic that many young athletes do not get enough information to act correctly.  Charles Poliquin has some great articles about nutrition.  If you don't know, Poliquin is a long time strength and conditioning coach who has trained the U.S. national teams as well as other great athletes.  He advocates a high protein, low carb diet.  His article lays out studies conducted that eating a higher protein based diet along with strength training will increase muscle mass along with raising 1RM numbers.

Poliquin also clarifies the difference between good carbs and bad carbs.  Vegetables are the best source of carbs you can intake with the major exception being potatoes.  Any high starch vegetables are a bad idea especially in large amounts.

It can be really simple, don't eat these foods:

• Soda
• Potatoes
• Candy, Cake, Cookies and other Sweets
• Bread (especially white breads)
• Pasta

Eat these foods:

• Meats
• Vegetables (excluding high starch foods)
• Dairy (Milk, Cheese, Yogurts)
• Fruits
• Drink Water