Sports Nutrition is the application of diet andnutrition to improve anyoneҳ sporting performance. Sports Nutrition has become an important component of most sports training programs, being equally popular in endurance sports and weightlifting. Sports Nutrition is simply a branch of biology that studies how nutrition affects athletesҠperformances. Some of the areas of Sports Nutrition research are the relationships between nutrition and physical performance, the effects of training on nutrition, how diet impacts training responses, and the importance of the right diet for a specific sport or activity. One of the most common practices associated with sports nutrition is the implementation of sports drinks. There are many different sports drinks on the market today that claim to provide athletes with the nutrition they need to maximize their performance while also maintaining a good diet. The problem with most sports drinks is that they rely on key ingredients like caffeine and other substances that athletes are likely to be sensitive to. For this reason, good nutrition and sports drinks go hand in hand. You want to make sure the sport drinks you choose contain the key ingredients that will provide you with the nutrition and vitamins you need, but you also want to choose a sports drink formula that is going to give you the energy you need to get through your exercises. Good sports nutrition doesnҴ just involve choosing the right formula, choosing the right ingredients, and putting together an effective recipe. Your nutritionist and trainer will go over your training and your diet plan with you to determine what you should be taking in, how much of each food group you should be consuming, and when you should be taking them. Your nutritionist will also likely discuss your goals and dietary needs with you to help you achieve those goals. If youҲe not sure what these goals are or how to achieve them, consult with a nutritionist to get the advice you need. Because athletes need specialized diets to give them the fuel they need to perform at their peak, sports medicine and sports nutrition go hand in hand. In fact, your trainer might prescribe a special diet or nutritional supplement for you specifically, because your body is not built the same way as someone who is just out of high school. A simple multivitamin and mineral supplement may be enough for a young athlete training out of shape, but it might not be enough if youҲe training for higher weights or to lift more weight. For this reason, itҳ important to talk to a sports nutritionist about your personal goals and the nutrients you should and shouldnҴ be ingesting. An experienced professional can give you the expert guidance you need to stay on track. There are some basics that every athlete should consider, such as a daily water intake, adequate protein from sources like eggs, chicken, and fish, and getting plenty of daily fiber. As with any type of physical activity, the type of food an athlete eats is just as important as the type of physical activity. And because hydration is so important to an athleteҳ overall health and performance, itҳ especially crucial to their training and recovery. Water will help you stay energized and hydrated which will help you focus and stay motivated throughout your training and competition. Itҳ also important to address the carbohydrates you eat during the day and how much you consume, as this plays a major role in providing fuel for your exercises. Many athletes are mislead into thinking that consuming carbs before and after sporting performance will give them more energy to train harder, but this is not true. Most carb-containing foods actually decrease exercise intensity and can make you feel tired during the day, so athletes should limit their intake of these types of carbohydrate-filled food items. Along with eating right and getting enough hydration, another important component of sports nutrition and the success of your exercise routine is good cardiovascular conditioning. Cardiovascular conditioning will increase your body composition (also called your RMR), which is the ratio of calories to fat that you have in your body. This increased RMR makes it easier for your muscles to recover from your exercise session and gives you better endurance through your workout. For example, if you plan on running long distances in your upcoming race, you should focus on long-term cardio training. As mentioned earlier, this is just a quick overview of two hours of consuming high-carbohydrate meals before and after each sports activity. However, if youҲe serious about following an effective fitness program and doing it in a healthy, effective way, itҳ important to eat nutritious foods for a few hours every day so that your body will always be functioning at its optimal level. You can get this quality of eating by following some of the advice here and incorporating it into your own lifestyle. If done right, high-carbohydrate diets can be effective for athletes and serious fitness-minded people, but they canҴ be relied upon as the sole source of energy or the key to losing weight or maintaining a desirable body composition for an athlete.