NUTRITION

Goals of sport nutrition

Some of the main goals of sport nutrition are to: prepare athlete for performance or training. maintain the level of performance or training. help recovery from performance or training In some sports, nutrition is also necessary in maintaining a body aesthetic (bodybuilding) or body weight (cycling).

Nutrition for anaerobic exercise

After weight training, there is a need to refill glycogen stores, although they are not likely fully depleted.

To compensate for this glycogen reduction, athletes will often take in a large amount of carbohydrates in the period immediately following exercise. Typically, high glycemic index carbohydrates are preferred for their ability to rapidly raise blood glucose levels.

For the purpose of protein synthesis, protein or individual amino acids are ingested as well.

Nutrition for aerobic exercise

After the aerobic exercise it is necessary to refill the glycogen stores in the skeletal muscles and liver. After exercise, there is a 30 minute window critical to muscle recovery. Before doing anything else, drink something for recovery. Liquids are ideal after exercise and there are several studies that show low-fat milk and chocolate milk as being effective recovery beverages because of its ideal 4:1 combination of carbohydrate and protein that fuels and replenishes our muscles the best.