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Richland High School
Bomber Boosters
Wrestling
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Without the right diet, you'll never be one of the best. Successful athletes limit their fat intake to 25% or less of total caloric intake. By rationing your intake of butter, margarine, mayonnaise, salad dressing, ice cream, red meat, cookies, chips and other obviously high-fat foods, you'll end up with about a 25% fat diet.
About 15% of your daily calories should come from protein-rich foods such as fish, chicken and beans. Protein is essential for building and repairing muscles, red blood cells and other tissues and synthesizing hormones. However, excess protein becomes fat and is stored in adipose tissue. Sixty percent of your diet should come from good carbohydrate sources such as vegetables, grains, fruits and breads. Eating four or five small meals a day from a large variety of food sources is the best way to fuel your fire. If you want to reach your highest level of performance, you should become well versed in sports nutrition. Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook is worthwhile reading.
Here are some tips about what to eat and what to avoid before a match:
The Pre Competition Meal
Eat foods that are non-greasy, bland and easily digested: fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains. Pancakes and waffles are okay but skip the butter and syrup and use a light fruit spread. Try complex carbohydrates found in pasta, bread, pancakes and waffles as the main part of your pre-race meal.
Gold medal foods include: oranges, apples, rice, whole grain breads with reduced sugar jelly or jam (no butter or margarine), corn, peas, beans, pasta and egg whites.
Eliminate intake of simple carbohydrates such as table sugar, honey, cake, cookies and ice cream. Sweets cause high blood glucose levels that quickly drop below normal. This results in a sudden letdown of energy, devastating to you as an athlete.
Avoid milk products 24 hours before competition, especially processed cheese. They play havoc with digestion.
Restrict your salt intake. Avoid things like table salt, MSG, mustard, ketchup, soy sauce, canned soup, relish, peanut butter, sauerkraut, dry cereals, smoked meat and fish, sausage, cheese, potato chips and all salty snacks.
Pre-game or race meals of steak, eggs, bacon, butter and milk may be part of American sports tradition, but eating those foods is the worst thing you can do to your body and your athletic performance. Cooked fats require more complex digestive process sing than any other type of food. Fat digestion diverts blood away from your muscles and brain. Fat leads to sluggishness, fatigue, cramps and shortness of breath-hardly ingredients for peak athletic performance.
Published by Kevin Hansen, University of Oregon athletics coach
Many athletes are challenged with early morning workouts or competitions. Although eating does not seem appealing to many bleary-eyed competitors upon awakening, it is critical that fuel be consumed after an overnight fast. Glycogen stores are depleted and blood sugar is low after an overnight fast, resulting in fatigue and lightheadedness. The athlete may not feel hungry, but he needs to elevate blood glucose levels to provide energy for the working muscles. Since every competitor is different, it is not possible to promote one food or meal that is ideal. But there are guidelines to follow to help the athlete make appropriate food choices prior to performance.
1) Choose carbohydrates, preferably complex ones. Foods high in simple sugars such as soda pop, jelly beans, honey etc. can cause a quick rise in blood sugar and an over-response of insulin, resulting in sluggishness and hypoglycemia. Instead, choose foods from the cereal and grain group such as pastas, breads, and rice. Low fat yogurt, and skim milk from the dairy food group can also provide good pregame nourishment.
2) Avoid high fiber foods such as fruits and vegetables with seeds and skins, bran, nuts and seeds because these foods can cause intestinal discomfort during competition.
3) Stay away from gas forming foods as well. Foods such as broccoli, cabbage, dried beans, onions, and radishes, while nutritious at other times, can create problems if consumed prior to competition.
4) Allow enough time for solids or liquids to digest. Each individual's system is a little different, but it usually takes three to four hours for a large meal (400 or more calories) to be digested, and one to two hours for a lighter, or liquid meal to be broken down. Some athletes can eat just a few minutes prior to performances, others wouldn't think of consuming anything two to three hours before a hard workout or competition. Know your body's limitations!
5) How much fuel is consumed will depend upon prior food intake, length of event, size of the athlete, and personal preferences. A rule of thumb to help determine intake is to allow 2 calories per # of body weight one hour before moderately hard exercise, and 8 calories per # body weight fours hours beforehand.
6) Stay with the tried and true! Don't try a new food or beverage prior to a competitive event.
7) Stay well hydrated. Even a well nourished athlete will suffer if he is not adequately hydrated prior to competing.
Below are two sample pre-event meals, one liquid and one solid. These provide a few examples of the many high carbohydrate foods that can boost performance and provide that cutting edge all athletes are striving for.
Sample Liquid Meal - Fruit Shake
- 1 cup banana or other flavored low fat yogurt
- l banana
- l0 vanilla wafers
Blend above ingredients in a blender.
Liquid foods empty from the stomach faster and can be eaten closer to competition.
Total calories - 480
- % calories from carbohydrate - 76
- % calories from fat - l4
- % calories from protein - l0
Sample Lunch or Dinner
- 2 cups spaghetti
- .75 cup meatless marinara sauce
- 2 T. parmesan cheese
- 1 cup tossed salad
- l T. light italian dressing
- 2 dinner rolls
- l cup apple juice
Total calories - l000
- % calories from carbohydrate - 72
- % calories from fat - 16
- % calories from protein - 11
This sample meal is designed for the athlete with high energy needs and would need to be consumed three or more hours prior to an event.
References:
Benardot, Dan Ph.D. Sports Nutrition - A Guide for the Professional Working with Active People, 2d Edition. The American Dietetic Association, l993
Clark, Nancy M.S.,R.D. Human Kinetics Sports Nutrition Guidebook, 2nd Edition, 1997
Coleman, Ellen RD, MPH & Nelson Steen, Suzanne, D.Sc.,RD. Ultimate Sports Nutrition Handbook. Bull Publishing Co., 1996
Ann Chapman is a dietician for the Watkins Health Center at the University of Kansas. If you have questions or comments about this article, you can e-mail the author at achap@ukans.edu
For comments about this page, please email Wrestling@bomberboosters.com