Summer Training and Nutrition Tips

Nutritional Guide for Athletes

In order to maximize your training gains over the summer you need to put the proper nutrition into your body. Below are some general guidelines to help with a healthy energy filled nutrition plan.

• 1. Eat breakfast everyday

Breakfast is a very important meal. It jumpstarts your body and gets the metabolism going. This helps get you out of starvation mode which, in this mode, your body conserves body fat. By eating breakfast, your metabolism picks up and energy is given to the body. If eating breakfast is difficult, eat something small. Even a protein drink would work well. Since workouts are so early in the morning, eat something at least ½ hour prior to beginning workouts. Protein shakes work very well.

• 2. Eat 6 to 7 meals during the day

Small balanced meals eaten every 3 to 4 hours is the best way for your body to give it the proper nutrients at the proper time during the day. Having protein, carbohydrates and some fat is ideal with every meal, allowing your body to stay high in energy. An ideal balance is 25% protein, 55% carbohydrates and 20% fat. Every time you eat, your metabolism actually increases in order to process the foods, so this aids in fat loss, if this is one of your goals.

• 3. Eat more lean protein

Protein is helpful for rebuilding the tissues damaged when you workout and stay active. It has also been found ideal to have a good source of protein prior to a workout.

• 4. Eat something healthy after your workout

At approximately ½ hour after your workout, eat a good source of protein and carbohydrates to fuel your body and aid in recovery.

• 5. Eat foods lower in fat and sugar

Avoid foods that have a higher percentage of fat and sugar.

• 6. Drink plenty of water

Drink a minimum of eight 8 ounce glasses of water each day.

• 7. Get enough sleep every night

Eight hours of sleep allows the ideal amount of recovery time after a stressful workout. Your body does all its healing at night when sleeping so give set yourself up to fully recover every night.

Increasing muscle tissue is important in order to compete in today’s athletic world. The more muscle you have, the stronger and more powerful you will be. Also, with more muscle, your body tends to lose more body fat as it has more fat burning potential.

Protein:            fish, chicken, tuna, lean red meat, turkey, low fat dairy products

Carbs:              oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, sweet potatoes, beans, fruits, veggies

Fat:                  fish, nuts, peanut butter

Example menu:

3000 calories Medium
Food Item	Amount	Measure	Protein	Carbohydrates	Fat	Calories
Breakfast
Whey Protein	1	scoop	22	6	2	130
Graham Crackers	8	each	2	22	5	140
Orange	1	each	1.23	15.5	0.16	68.36
Raisins	0.25	cup	1.25	32.75	0.25	123.25
Total			26.48	76.25	7.41	461.61
			22.95%	66.07%	14.45%
Snack
Whey Protein	1	scoop	22	6	2	130
Apple Juice	1.00	cup	0	30	0	120
Banana	1.00	each	1.18	26.8	0.54	117
Total			23.18	62.80	2.54	367.00
			25.26%	68.45%	6.23%
Lunch
Tuna	3.5	ounce(s)	20.65	0	0.875	105
English Muffin	1	each	4.4	26.2	1.04	134
Mayonnaise	1.5	tsp	0.075	0.18	5.505	49.5
Banana	1	each	1.18	26.8	0.54	117
Total			26.31	53.18	7.96	405.5
			25.95%	52.46%	17.67%
Snack
Bread-Wheat	2	slice(s)	4	28	2	140
Egg	2.00	each	12.5	1.22	10	144.88
Turkey-Deli	2	ounce(s)	10	0	1	45
Orange	1	each	1.23	15.5	0.16	68.36
Grapes	0.25	cup	0.265	7.15	0.23	31.73
Total			28.00	51.87	13.39	429.97
			26.04%	48.25%	28.03%
Snack
Turkey-Deli	4	ounce(s)	20	0	2	90
Butter	1	tsp	0	0	3.83	35.63
Crackers- Wheat Thins	12	each	1.32	13.92	2.64	80.04
Broccoli	1	cup	2	4	0	25
Cauliflower	1	cup	2.3	5.1	0.56	28.6
Apple	1	each	0.4	32.2	0.76	137.24
Total			26.02	55.22	9.79	396.51
			26.25%	55.71%	22.22%
Food Item	Amount	Measure	Protein	Carbohydrates	Fat	Calories
Dinner
Chicken Breast	4.00	ounce(s)	25	0	4	140
Pasta-Spaghetti	2.00	ounce(s)	7	42	1	210
Pasta Sauce	0.25	cup	1.5	8.5	1.5	55
Peas	0.50	cup	3.75	9	0.375	52.5
Olive Oil	0.5	tsp	0	0	2.3	20
Strawberries	1	cup	0.88	10.2	0.53	50
Total			38.13	69.70	9.71	527.50
			28.91%	52.85%	16.56%
Snack
Chicken Breast	3	ounce(s)	18.75	0	3	105
Wheat Bread	2.00	slice(s)	4	28	2	140
Grapefruit	1.00	each	1.2	23.8	0.2	92
Total			23.95	51.80	5.20	337.00
			28.43%	61.48%	13.89%
Daily Total			192.07	420.82	56.00	2925.09
			26.26%	57.55%	17.23%

 

2000 calories Medium
Food Item	Amount	Measure	Protein	Carbohydrates	Fat	Calories
Breakfast
Whey Protein	1	scoop	22	6	2	130
Graham Crackers	8	each	2	22	5	140
Orange	1	each	1.23	15.5	0.16	68.36
Raisins	0.25	cup	1.25	32.75	0.25	123.25
Total			26.48	76.25	7.41	461.61
			22.95%	66.07%	14.45%
Snack
Bread-Wheat	2	slice(s)	4	28	2	140
Egg	1	each	6.25	0.61	5	72.44
Turkey-Deli	2	ounce(s)	10	0	1	45
Orange	1	each	1.23	15.5	0.16	68.36
Grapes	0.25	cup	0.265	7.15	0.23	31.73
Total			21.75	51.26	8.39	357.53
			24.33%	57.35%	21.12%
Lunch
Tuna	3.5	ounce(s)	20.65	0	0.875	105
English Muffin	1	each	4.4	26.2	1.04	134
Mayonnaise	1.5	tsp	0.075	0.18	5.505	49.5
Banana	1	each	1.18	26.8	0.54	117
Total			26.31	53.18	7.96	405.5
			25.95%	52.46%	17.67%
Snack
Turkey-Deli	4	ounce(s)	20	0	2	90
Butter	1	tsp	0	0	3.83	35.63
Crackers- Wheat Thins	12	each	1.32	13.92	2.64	80.04
Broccoli	1	cup	2	4	0	25
Cauliflower	1	cup	2.3	5.1	0.56	28.6
Apple	1	each	0.4	32.2	0.76	137.24
Total			26.02	55.22	9.79	396.51
			26.25%	55.71%	22.22%
Dinner
Chicken Breast	3	ounce(s)	18.75	0	3	105
Pasta-Spaghetti	1.5	ounce(s)	5.25	31.5	0.75	157.5
Pasta Sauce	0.25	cup	1.5	8.5	1.5	55
Peas	0.25	cup	1.875	4.5	0.1875	26.25
Olive Oil	0.5	tsp	0	0	2.3	20
Strawberries	1	cup	0.88	10.2	0.53	50
Total			28.26	54.7	8.27	413.75
			27.32%	52.88%	17.98%
Daily Total			128.81	290.61	41.82	2034.9
			25.32%	57.13%	18.50%

Meals can be eaten in any order, but stay within the meal as it is better balanced this way.

Sportsmanship: Softball Story

Hip Strength For Speed

When strengthening the legs and hips, most of us take our time and work on squats, dead lifts, and other power lifts that will build power and strength. These are very important to develop the speed you want and need to compete in sports today, but there are other things that often get missed that will give you that extra stability and strength to help you excel even more. I am speaking of the muscles that do internal rotation and external rotation (turn your leg in and out). Many times these muscles are not developed as well as they could be and because of this, I find other muscles working too hard and eventually getting injured (hamstring pulls for example).

 Make sure to incorporate a few of the following exercises in your training routine:

• Internal rotations: Lying on stomach with knee bent at 90 degrees and cable or tubing on your ankle, turn your leg in so the foot goes out (trust me, this is internal rotation of the hip) This can also be done seated or standing.
• External rotations: Lying on stomach with knee bent at 90 degrees and cable or tubing on your ankle, turn your leg out so the foot goes in. This can also be done seated or standing.
• Hip flexion with internal rotation: Standing with cable or tubing on your ankle, turn your leg in, lift the leg out to the front of you with foot still pointing in.
• Hip abduction with internal rotation: Standing with cable or tubing on your ankle, turn your leg in, lift the leg out to the side with foot still pointing in.
• Hip flexion with external rotation: Standing with cable or tubing on your ankle, turn your leg out, lift the leg out to the front of you with foot still pointing out.
• Hip abduction with external rotation: Standing with cable or tubing on your ankle, turn your leg out, lift the leg out to the side with foot still pointing out.
• Wall hip flexion with internal rotation: Lying on your back with hip against wall, leg against wall is turned in so toe is pointed in, lift straight leg up.
• Wall hip abduction with internal rotation: Lying on your side with back against wall, top leg is turned in so toe is pointed down, lift straight leg up.

 There are several ways you can incorporate rotation in your routine. These are just a few things that can assist in the overall hip development. Add these in so that you can better develop hip strength which will equate to speed.