One of the primarily goals every endurance athlete usually has is to maximize his/her body composition in order to be able to hit their racing objectives faster and more efficiently.
As an endurance athlete trying to increase your performance level, you should know that nothing is really impossible. Achieving certain practical and realistic athletic goals doesn’t have to be a difficult task to handle.
Getting to know certain efficient and productive methods to implement into your daily meal plan and workout routine is the first step to take towards success. Below you can find four of the most important rules surfaced from many studies that every endurance athlete should follow when building their diet plan.
Balance is the key
You don’t have to eat everything you find in your fridge just because it is considered to be a ‘healthy’ food. Remember, balance is the key and if you don’t balance your foods according to their nutritional values, you’ll end up being unhealthy while eating what’s considered to be ‘a healthy-oriented diet’.
As an athlete you should know that your body needs an extra care in order to perform better under challenging conditions. Carbs, fats, fibers and proteins are all essential nutritional values to consider taking on a daily basis especially during the first part of the day.
What you should do is try and choose foods that contain the healthies version of these elements such as bananas for carbs, milk/grass-fed meat for protein, oatmeal for fibers and olive oil/salmon for fats. These are only a few food examples for you to choose from a large variety of healthy products.
Choose quality over quantity
One of the biggest mistakes endurance athletes tend to make is to try and consume larger amounts of meals and foods thinking these is a must if their want to have enough energy sources and feed their muscle needs.
You see, you don’t have to eat more than a normal person does. Instead, why don’t you try and choose qualitative foods that will make you feel full? Did you know that only a handful of walnuts have enough calorie, fat and fibers to make you feel full without craving any other unhealthy carb or fat to fill your stomach with.
Never workout in an empty stomach…
…and always refuel it after the training routine. This rule should be always implemented into your daily routine especially if you are planning to hit the road that day. If you skip the meals your body will lose its ability to perform at a top-notch level. It will also make you shred the necessary weight from your muscles which are the most important part that will move your forward to your athletic goals.
The same rule applies on water as well. Staying hydrated is a must!
Always remember the 1-2-3 rule
Since everyone, not only athletes or other sport’s fanatics, should eat five meals a day, make these meals count. You can do that by implementing a science-approved rule in every single meal.
In every meal you eat, one part of it should always be calories, two parts of it should be protein and three parts of it should be carbohydrates. Try to always accompany carbs with proteins for maximum effect.
