Diet - Tailoring Your Sports Diet

We all know it’s important to eat healthy as part of a healthy lifestyle, and it seems pretty intuitive that the caloric requirement for an active person is greater than that for someone who is more sedentary. But, the diet for a runner or biker might be a little different than for a swimmer.

Susan Kleiner, sports nutritionist and author of "Power Eating" says that although technically there are differing needs between different types of athletes, it's very individualized. "While an endurance athlete does need less protein and more carbohydrates than a weightlifter, few athletes train purely in their own sport; most do some cross-training."

The first think you need to do is to determine how hard and how often you exercise. When you do low level exercises such as walking, your muscles burn fat (mostly) for energy. But as you increase the intensity level, stored fat might provide half (or less) of the fuel your muscles use, and also burn glycogen (carbohydrates your body stores). Glycogen gets converted by your body into glucose (energy) as you need it.

So, to burn fat and build muscle, you need carbohydrates. And, if you’re either planning a hard cardio workout, or competing in an event (like a running event or triathlon), you should eat carb-rich meals for two to three days prior to the event to load your muscles up with extra glycogen. And, also eat extra carbs just after the event to rebuild your depleted stores.

Most Americans eat 5 to 6 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight per day (one kilogram translates into 2.2 pounds). Says Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook, "If you eat a low-carbohydrate diet your muscles will feel chronically fatigued." Susan Kleiner, author of "Power Eating," offers the following rule of thumb for daily carbohydrate intake:

• Working out for one hour: 6 to 7 grams per kilogram
• For two hours: 8 grams per kilogram
• For three hours: 10 grams per kilogram
• For four or more hours: 12 to 13 grams per kilogram

Now, this doesn’t mean that you can cut back your protein requirements. Protein is essential for building and repairing muscles, and it can be used for energy if you've exhausted your carbohydrate supply. To make sure you’re keeping the right amount of protein in your diet:

• If you are training primarily to maintain muscle: you'll need 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram. That's about 70 grams for a 125-pound person.
• If your goal is to build muscle: you'll need 1.4 to 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram.
• To maintain or even build a little muscle and lose fat: you need to eat fewer calories while making sure you're getting 1.8 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram.

Note - to convert kilograms into ounces, mulitply the kilograms by 35.274.