In order for sportspeople to be at the top of their game they have to maintain an optimum fitness level. If you are into sports yourself, you have to adhere to an appropriate diet and workout plan so that you will be fit and healthy. Eating the right kind and quantity of food will ensure that you will be able to endure long, grueling hours of training and that you wonât pass out during your most important games. A balanced exercise plan will also enhance your endurance, strength, agility, and resilience to repetitive stress injuries.
To develop the right exercise program, you have to assess your fitness level first. This entails computing for your BMI, and recording your waist circumference and your heart rate among other things. These factors will serve as your benchmark so you can keep track of your progress. Your exercise program should incorporate both aerobic and non-aerobic routines.
You also need to include both cardiovascular and strength-training exercises in your regimen for best results. It is recommended that you allot five hours to moderate-intensity cardiovascular exercise each week, or two and a half hours if you intend to go for more strenuous activities. Doing strength-training at least 2 days per week will also greatly improve your fitness levels. It would be to your benefit to include different activities so you wonât get bored with the program. A proper exercise program would also allow ample time for recovery to keep overtraining syndrome at bay.
Exercise is ineffective if you are not mindful of your diet. Modifications to your diet will help you gain, lose, or maintain your weight. You are probably asking how many calories should I eat a day. This is a rather tricky question as the answer is not the same for everyone, that is, there is a disparity between how many calories should I eat daily, and how much you need to consume daily. This is because individuals have different metabolic rates and activity levels.
While looking around for the answer to the question “how many calories should I eat a day” online, you probably have found a number of sites and blogs that have tools which allow you to compute your recommended calorie intake. These calculators will take into account your BMI, activity level, and fitness objective to figure out the amount of calories you need to consume.
However, you should not stop at simply asking “how many calories should I eat daily.” You also need to be familiar of which foodstuffs to eat more of, and which ones to eliminate in your diet. The World Health Organization suggests that you eat more fiber-rich food items instead of those made from quick-burning carbs, and replace saturated fat with unsaturated oils. You also need to increase your intake of protein from both plant and animal sources to help in muscle repair and growth.