Nutrition for fitness

The food we eat plays a vital role in how we look and feel. Regular exercise is important but according to research, the right nutrition for fitness has a large impact on athletes. Using food as our medicine has become a popular theme for health improvement and diet.

Minimally processed foods are the best for sports and weight-lifting nutrition. Lean protein, complex carbs and fibre are the best in nutrition for fitness, especially if you’re trying to jump on a weight loss diet. Your body needs lean protein such as turkey, nonfat Greek yoghurt, fish and egg whites to build muscle and stay full.

Nutrition and fitness go hand in hand. Even if you are eating a perfectly balanced diet you need to exercise to burn the calories. You also need to exercise to strengthen your muscles, heart, and lungs.

When you do physical activity, energy production is both time and intensity related. Running at high intensity means that you can operate effectively for a very short time. Running at a low intensity means that you can stay active for a long time.

Understanding the factors

It’s important for you to know whether fat or carbohydrate is used as fuel when you exercise. This will help you with good food choices for improved performance and health.

Do I need extra protein or protein supplements to build muscles?

Our muscles develop from training and exercise. The right amount of protein is needed to help build the muscles. Hence, a balanced diet will supply all of the protein that the muscles need.

However, any extra protein in foods or protein supplements does not assist in muscle development. Protein cannot be stored in the body. Any excess of them will be burned for energy or stored as body fat.

Firstly, a good diet enables athletes to train harder for longer before reaching a fatigued state. Secondly, optimum training directly enhances sporting performance. Thirdly, the energy requirements for different sporting activities can vary significantly dependent on the activity.

In addition, our body is composed of two elements: Lean body tissue (bone, muscle, blood, organs) and fat. The proportion of these two parts in our body is called body composition.

In conclusion, your body weight and composition are important determinants of performance in many sports. Your performance can be optimised by body size, body composition and mix of stored metabolic fuels.

Weight gain can be achieved by increasing your lean mass or increasing fat mass. Therefore, if you want to gain weight you should aim for an increase in your lean mass rather than your fat mass.

How to achieve lean weight gain?

Above all, you should have an appropriate strength training programme. Along with it, a balanced diet for providing the right levels of protein and other nutrients.

To clarify, strength training provides the stimulus for muscle growth. A balanced diet provides the energy and nutrients needed. Check out our meal plans