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Sports Nutrition for Peak Performance

The body needs to operate at peak efficiency so the sports person can perform to their best ability. With the difference between winning and losing sometimes being a fraction of a second, nutrition could be the deciding factor. Here we show you the extra nutrients needed and the amounts you should have.

Sports nutrition summary

The nutrients needed are similar to the healthy eater, they both need balanced quantities of all key nutrients. The sports person just needs them in higher amounts:

Calories - The higher intake should be spread throughout the key nutrients. But in slightly different levels than the non-active person.
Carbohydrate - Primary source of energy and part of a loading phase during some sports, this has the highest increase.
Protein - The building blocks of muscle and particularly needed during a hard or peak phase for repairing and building muscle.
Fats - Still required in slightly increased amounts due to fat soluble vitamins and their importance for the athlete.
Water - Even a slight dehydration can have a negative impact on performance.
Sodium - Secreted in sweat, a deficiency can affect concentration as well as performance.
Vitamins & minerals - The extra calorie intake will supply most of the extra quantities needed however certain vitamins have evidence to show they can have a positive impact on performance in larger doses.

Calories

For a healthy eater the proportion of calories from each key nutrient should be as follows:

60% Carbohydrate (each gram has 4 calories)
30% Fats (each gram has 9 calories)
10% Protein (each gram has 4 calories)

In sports nutrition a slightly higher percentage of protein and a lower percentage of fats would be favorable. The sports person wants to carry no excess fats.

The following table shows the extra daily calorie intake required to stay at the same weight during normal training for different periods of time exercising (to the nearest 10 calories):

Total Calorie Intake
	Exercise time
Weight (lb)	0 (min)	30 (min)	60 (min)	90 (min)
150	2 060	2 340	2 630	2 900
160	2 200	2 500	2 800	3 100
170	2 340	2 660	2 980	3 300
180	2 480	2 830	3 150	3 490
190	2 610	2 970	3 330	3 680
200	2 750	3 130	3 500	3 880
210	2 890	3 280	3 680	4 070

Carbohydrate

The carbohydrate intake should come from complex carbohydrates. These provide energy to the body slowly and gradually unlike simple carbs which are sudden and short lived. Good sources of complex carbohydrates include:

breads
rice
pasta
cereals
potatoes
beans
The extra daily carb intake required in sports nutrition (to the nearest 5 grams):

Total Carbohydrate Intake (grams)
	Exercise time
Weight (lb)	0 (min)	30 (min)	60 (min)	90 (min)
150	310	340	375	410
160	330	365	400	435
170	350	390	425	465
180	370	410	450	490
190	390	435	475	520
200	415	460	500	545
210	435	480	525	570

Protein

Due to the nature of protein and it's use in muscle, some sports require a higher intake than others. These are high intensity sports like sprinting and body building. Good sources of protein include:

meats
fish
eggs
cheese
milk
beans
nuts
soy products
lentils
The following is the increase required during normal training (to the nearest gram):

Total Protein Intake (grams)
	Exercise time
Weight (lb)	0 (min)	30 (min)	60 (min)	90 (min)
150	52	60	68	76
160	55	64	72	81
170	58	68	77	86
180	62	72	81	91
190	65	76	86	96
200	69	80	90	101
210	72	84	95	106

Fats

There are three types of fats:

saturated
poly-unsaturated
mono-unsaturated

In sports nutrition the majority of fats consumed should be mono-unsaturated. Sources include:

olive oil
rapeseed oil
hazelnuts
almonds
brazil nuts
cashews
avocados
sesame seeds
pumpkin seeds
An increase is recommended in the following amounts (to the nearest gram):

Total Fat Intake (grams)
	Exercise time
Weight (lb)	0 (min)	30 (min)	60 (min)	90 (min)
150	67	75	81	89
160	71	79	86	94
170	75	84	91	99
180	80	89	97	106
190	84	94	102	111
200	89	99	108	118
210	93	104	113	123

Water

So many factors play a role in the amount of water a sports person requires, climate and personal physiology being the most important. There are 2 schools of thought on fluid replacement for the athlete:

You should drink 4 to 8 ounces for every 15 minutes of exercise.
You should weigh yourself after the workout and drink 15 to 20 ounces for every pound of weight loss.

We subscribe to them both, you obviously need fluid while you exercise especially on hot days. So why not weigh yourself afterwards as well for a further check and take on more fluids if needed.

Sodium

Again a difficult one to quantify, the sports person does need more as it's secreted in sweat, but there are still many factors that govern how much a particular sweats.

This is where sports drink becomes ideal, the sodium levels are perfect. One bottle of an isotonic sports drink combined with your normal fluid replacement will be adequate.

Vitamins & minerals

The extra calorie intake if it's balanced will more than cover your needs for the R.D.A. However in sports nutrition...

...There is now research that shows larger amounts of vitamin C & E can help improve performance. Supplements can provide all the vitamin C needed. The good news about vitamin E is that foods with good fats (mono-unsaturated) are also high in vitamin E. These include:

soya bean oil
sunflower oil
almonds
cashew nuts
walnuts

Now onto beta-carotene, found in many vegetables especially carrots beta-carotene is known to improve athletic performance. For this reason it's often added to many protein powders on sale today. Doses range from 15mg to 50mg. Click here for further beta-carotene information.

Sports nutrition overall

Including sports nutrition as part of your training takes minimal effort and really can make a difference. A few minor adjustments to your diet is all it takes and you will see results.

Recommended Daily Allowances

Note

The values shown are for moderate to vigorous exercise such as running/jogging, swimming, basketball, tennis, cycling etc.