|
Food for thought! The role of sports nutrition in obtaining peak performance
Whether you are skiing down moguls, riding down a mountain on a bike or enjoying a vigorous tennis match, you need to function at your peak potential.
The science of sports nutrition is complex and often confusing, but it can be simplified to four basic components: fuelling, refuelling, repairing and recovery.
Our bodies work a lot like a car. It needs fuel to function effectively. All activities use fuel, which is measured in calories and often referred to as energy.
Unfortunately, many of us leave home on a half-full tank or even worse! In order to run effectively, it is important to make sure our fuel tanks are properly filled.
During exercise we must make sure that our immediate-use fuel tanks which are our muscles are properly stocked. The quick-burning fuels our bodies use are
carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, rice, vegetables, fruit and sugar. When we eat carbohydrates they are converted in the body and stored as muscle glycogen, thus filling
up the fuel tank. Fats in our food are stored in the long-distance fuel tanks – our fat cells. We tap into these reserves when we participate in endurance events.
|