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How to achieve your fitness goals
Losing fat or gaining muscle: sports nutrition can have a variety of goals and effects on the body. But it's a balanced mix of essential minerals, vitamins, and nutrients that provides the most benefits. The individual composition of a sports diet depends not only on the individual athlete, but also on the stresses and needs of the body. 1
If you tailor your diet to your profile, the right healthy diet can promote rapid progress towards achieving results, whether for amateur or elite athletes. 2 Whatever your fitness ambitions, balanced meals that provide enough carbohydrates, protein, etc. can help you achieve your personal goals.
Complex carbohydrates
Complex carbohydrates are key elements in the link between exercise and nutrition. They contribute to the restoration of normal muscle function (contraction) after prolonged or very intense physical stress, which can lead to muscle fatigue and depletion of glycogen stores in the muscular system. In principle, these nutrients should provide your body with the majority of energy and should account for 50 to 60% of meals.
During training, carbohydrates supply the muscles and central nervous system. If this supply is insufficient, it can lead to mental and physical weakness. 3 Carbohydrates provide a better flow of energy than fats and can even be stored by the body for a period of time, to be used by the body when exposed to stress. 1
Proteins
Do proteins guarantee muscle growth? Proteins are used in sports nutrition for muscle-building activities, and they contribute to the growth and maintenance of muscles. In addition to muscle mass, high-quality proteins can also increase muscle strength and are a reliable source of essential amino acids, which are beneficial for health. However, muscles cannot be strengthened through protein intake alone: only a combination of diet and exercise is truly effective.
The required protein intake is generally determined by the intensity of training. Basic athletes often have lower protein needs than elite athletes, while the body of a well-trained athlete is often able to handle the protein provided more efficiently. 3
Fats
Compared to carbohydrates and proteins, fats are less important in sports nutrition. To maintain health, however, you should pay attention to the presence and quality of fats in your diet. Essential fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins, in particular, can have a positive effect. These nutrients provide a feeling of satiety that lasts longer between meals, 1 and they help carbohydrates provide more energy to the body as well as improve immune function. 4 For a healthy diet in sports nutrition, the proportion of fats must be adapted according to the physical exercise performed. 3
Vitamins and minerals
Vitamins and minerals complement an athlete's diet and can help improve their physical performance. 1 While micronutrients should always be included in a standard diet, athletes need them even more. A micronutrient deficiency can lead to decreased performance, often affecting athletes who don't consume enough calories or who cannot tolerate certain foods. Athletes following a vegan diet should also ensure they are consuming enough nutrients. 3
A balanced diet often covers vitamin and mineral needs, with the exception of vitamin D requirements in some cases. Iron requirements may also increase depending on performance and should be compensated when necessary. 5 For athletes, it is also important to keep an eye on the intake of essential minerals like magnesium. 2
Sport and diet: how are they linked?
To ensure that your diet is appropriate for your activity level, you need to consider what your body needs most. If you do a lot of strength training, you build muscle. In endurance sports, you burn a lot of fat in just a few hours. Regardless of the activity, all athletes need enough energy, protein, and, most importantly, excellent hydration to provide the body with everything it needs during training. 1
What is true in nutrition in general is also true in sports nutrition: there is no one-size-fits-all diet, as individual factors such as the athlete's age and gender play an important role.
Nutrition for strength sports and bodybuilding
If you want to practice strength training or bodybuilding, proper sports nutrition can also be beneficial, in addition to good self-discipline. A proper diet can help you develop and tone your muscles. The goal is also to strengthen your body.
Proteins play a central role in this. They provide energy and can promote muscle development in various areas. 6 Studies show that the amount of protein, the type of protein, and when it is consumed are important for athletes involved in strength training: 3
Protein Amount : The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that weightlifters consume between 1.2 and 1.7 g of protein per kilogram (body weight) daily, a protein requirement covered by a balanced and varied diet.
Protein type : Athletes who include animal products in their diets can rely on animal proteins, which contain more essential amino acids than plant proteins. Additionally, liquid protein sources may be more effective at supporting fitness goals than protein-rich solid foods because the body can absorb amino acids from sports drinks more quickly.
Timing : Protein is most effective when consumed not during, but after, exercise. It's best not to start your workout on an empty stomach, but feeling full can limit your performance during exercise.
Nutrition for endurance sports
Whether it's running, cycling, or swimming, endurance sports can cost our bodies a few hours of energy. Many endurance sports burn fat quickly and can contribute to a healthy lifestyle. 7 Success in a sport can depend on carbohydrate intake (whether it is sufficient or not) and therefore energy.
Endurance athletes must therefore ensure that their diet contains a high proportion of carbohydrates. In addition to carbohydrate-rich foods such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits, or dried beans, there are also carbohydrate-electrolyte solutions that help maintain endurance performance during long workouts.
Nutrition for athletes
An athlete's diet often follows a strict nutrition program and varies depending on the phase of training they are in. For example, a competitive athlete may adjust their hydration and vitamin and mineral intake a few hours before a competition, depending on their needs. It is especially important to consume enough water in competitive sports, so as to maintain the required energy level and ensure that the body has enough water despite sweating. 3
These foods are essential to any sports nutrition program
When choosing the right sports nutrition, you should always start by considering your body's needs. Do you need protein to gain muscle? Or should you prioritize carbohydrates since you regularly burn energy while running? A personalized sports nutrition plan can help you not only achieve your goals, but also plan your weekly runs and find recipes.
You will find the nutrients you need as an athlete in the following foods:
| Nutrients | Food |
|---|---|
| Proteins | Meat, fish, dairy products and eggs, legumes (e.g. brown/black soybeans, lentils and peas) and cereal products (e.g. wholemeal bread) |
| Carbohydrates | Whole grains, vegetables, fruits and dried beans |
| Healthy Fats | Vegetable oils and fish |
| Vitamins and minerals | Fruits and vegetables, whole grains, dried beans and legumes, dairy products |
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- https://www.lebensmittelverband.de/de/aktuell/20180406-internationaler-tag-des-sports-mikronaehrstoffe-nahrungsergaenzung-sportler-innen [ ↩ ]
- https://www.ernaehrungs-umschau.de/fileadmin/Ernaehrungs-Umschau/pdfs/pdf_2014/07_14/EU07_2014_M370_M379.pdf [ ↩ ]
- https://www.ocl-journal.org/articles/ocl/full_html/2020/01/ocl200009s/ocl200009s.html [ ↩ ]
- https://www.dge.de/presse/pm/sporternaehrung-praxisnah-top-trainiert-und-ernaehrt/ [ ↩ ]
- https://www.ernaehrungs-umschau.de/fileadmin/Ernaehrungs-Umschau/pdfs/pdf_2020/07_20/EU07_2020_M406_M413_1.pdf [ ↩ ]
- https://www.germanjournalsportsmedicine.com/fileadmin/content/archiv2005/heft09/Standarts1.pdf [ ↩ ]