When it comes to athletes and their diets, there is seemingly endless advice as to what to eat and what not to eat.
Doing a simple Internet search as to what the best foods are to eat and which to avoid if you are an athlete in any sport can certainly be infinite.
In competitive cheer where there is the constant recovery time needed for one’s body, as it is put through the rigors of practice throughout the season and the additional stress that the body works through during comp season, attentiveness as to what is taken in to aid the body is critical.
What most experts agree on is that protein should be a vital component of any athlete’s diet.
Protein is extraordinarily important for athletic performance as it not only boosts glycogen storage, but it is also crucial to reducing muscle soreness and fostering muscle repair.
There is an enormous benefit to finding a way to working in some type of protein at each meal and throughout the day if possible.
Examples of foods that contain protein are eggs, almonds, chicken, oats, and broccoli.
If doing an online search for foods that contain high amounts of protein, a large list should be generated.
Tricks to increasing protein intake include:
Eating your protein first
Incorporating cheese snacks
Instead of cereal, eat eggs
Utilize chopped almonds as a food topping
Using protein shakes as part of the diet
The competitive cheer season tends to be a LONG season, particularly if one is participating in a sport as extensive as Full-Year All Star Cheer (which typically runs from June through the following May).
Making sure that the correct diet is in place is vitally important to an athlete’s day-in and day-out performance.
Although protein’s role in helping the body through the season cannot be understated, “more” is not necessarily better.
When trying to figure out what the general protein requirement for an individual athlete should be, the athlete’s overall eating pattern should be taken into consideration.
Consulting with a nutritionist, particularly one that often works with younger athletes, may not be a bad idea.
As with anything searched for online, when trying to find the answer to “How much protein should an athlete consume daily?” you will most likely generate enough answers to drive yourself nutty (no pun intended!).
Because every athlete’s body is different, the answer to this question will vary from one athlete to another.
An athlete’s dietary protein needs are greater than non-athletes for obvious reasons.
The frequency of soreness and general physical strain that is put on the body is very different from that of non-athletes and the benefits that protein carries in the body’s recuperation process are extreme valuable.
Because of this, having a conversation with someone that specializes in diets and nutrition can be very helpful in terms of nailing down the exact amount of protein that should be taken in as part of your athlete’s diet – their body will thank you for it!
