Wrestling Nutrition
mike glaberman on March 17, 2009, 10:20pm | More Posts
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"Bad nutriton can make an athlete good, but good nutrition can make an athlete great"
The information of nutrition hasn't yet been absorbed into many wrestlers heads yet and its not only killing the sport of wrestling its killing you mentally and physically. Many kids don't understand the rules of good nutrition. Whether you're cutting weight or maintain your optimal weight (you= 142lbs you wrestle at 145lbs) you should always have a good nutrition program. I will explain and try to be specific as much as i can on this subject. So just bear with me here. Most of the info I'm about to list is from the book Grappler's Guide to Sports Nutrition by Dr. John Berardi and Mike Fry if you are interested into hearing more about it go to www.grapplersnutrition.com . Try to follow these habits listed here below.
Feed Every 2-3 Hours-Normally you'd probably around 3 meals a day, Since your a combative athlete and much more active you need to eat a bit different. If you don't know how many you need a day thats simple just divide the time your awake for example 15 hours divide that by 3 and your answer is = 5 meals a day.
Ingest Complete, Lean Protein With Each Meal- This will help improve muscle mass and helps your metabolism and not only that but it increases satiety, most people and even I have found out that if you eat more protein its less likely that you'll binge on other foods. So make sure every time your eating that there's complete lean protein involved.
Ingest Vegetables with each meal- Seriously? Yeah I know not best tasting foods but the secret about vegetables is that they are NUTRIENT DENSE rather than CALORIE DENSE. The more nutrients in a food its more likely at its natural state which is what you need. Vegetables are packed with vitamins and minerals that benefit your body. For example say your eating bag of potato you probably eating more than the serving size says (i.e serving size 12 chips) and its 200 calories a serving. After you eat those 12 chips i can guarantee that you'll be hungry for about four more servings of chips, why? because there's not even a hint of nutrients in chips or any "junk" food. Now if you eating a big bowl of spinach lets say 2 cups i can guarantee you that you'll stop eating after about a few spoonfuls because its loaded with nutrients and that's what your body wants-- nutrients. Now I know that some of you aren't a big fan of the vegetables at every feeding rule but once you step on the mat with your opponent you'll be surprised at how dominate you'll be. Are you eating yet? make sure you have vegetables on the plate.
Eat Veggies and Fruits at any feeding; "other carbs" (i.e breads, cereals, oats, rice, pastas, potatoes etc.) have after exercise.- Forget what you heard about other diets when they say "increase your intake on complex carbs" that can be dangerous to some. Not only that but it could also cause trouble when trying to lose body fat. The reason why you should save those carbs after your training session is because these carbs help restore your bodies energy and replenish your body. Did you just get done working out? cook up some whole wheat pasta or have a sand which with rye bread.
Eat Healthy fats daily- Don't listen to anyone who says that you have to exclude fat from a diet. Its very critical that you have fat in your diet. People today still go out to the grocery stores and buy a truckload of fat free foods thinking it'll help them strip off the fat, however that's worse thing you can possibly do, the worst part about is that they still had a hard time losing fat when they were eating fat free foods--go figure. When an athlete needs fat he/she needs good fat such as monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats a great source of these com from olive oils, fish oils, flax seeds/oil, nuts, etc. Its also good to have saturated fats such as meats, eggs butters etc as well.
Fish Oil daily- Its great to have fish oil the reason why is because its essential fatty acids (EPA and DHA) taking a capsule at each meal helps promote fat loss and is great for body. Since fish oil is a supplement i recommend speaking to an adult or a doctor to confirm if its okay. Everyone's bodies are different it might not have any side effects on you but that doesn't mean your friend won't. If you choose to take fish oil, flip over the bottle to the supplement facts and the look for the EPA and DHA part its relevant to 300-600 mg of combined EPA and DHA per serving size then your in buisness.
Plan to break the rules 10% of the time- This rule is extremely important obviously. Sometimes being to nutritional can be hard and sometimes unsatisfying. Never ever be too strict on yourself. If your eating 5 meals a day then and eating them 7 days a week then that = 35 meals a week. since 10% of 35 is about 3 you get to have 3 "imperfect meal" this includes junk food and skimping out on meals if your on the go or for some reason you can't eat. plan them and enjoy them. *make sure when you are eating the junk foods its something that you really enjoy (soul food) like say your going out to eat with your family to a restaurant try to order something you really enjoy to keep your spirits up.
The 20 Superfoods
lean red meat (93% lean, top round, sirloin)
Salmon
Omega 3 eggs
lowfat plain yogurt
supplemental protein (such as Cytosport muscle milk whey)
Spinach
tomatoes
brocolli, cauliflower ears (jk about the ears) Cabbage
Mixed berries (its best to get frozen berries they last longer)
Oranges
Mixed beans
Quinoa(kin wah!)
Oatmeal( Quaker Old Fashioned)
Mixed Nuts( almonds, pecans, walnuts etc.)
Avacodos
Olive Oil (EXTRA VIRGIN)
Fish Oil (Salmon, Anchovey, Menhaden) make sure it says one of those on the ingriedent list.
Flax Seeds
Green Tea (0 calories)
Liquid Exercise Drinks
4 Supplements a wrestler needs
1. Protein Supplements- such as whey to throw in a shake
2. Greens supplements- Macro Greens is my truly favorite another great one is greens plus but whatever is in stock for you is fine.
3. Muscle Recovery workout drinks- Biotest Surge is the best in my opinion it has quickly digested ing carbs and proteins to help build lean muscle tissue.Another one is Myoplex.
4. Omega-3 Fish oil capsules- as explained above.
*ATTENTION- THESE SUPPLEMENTS MAY NEED TO BE CONFIRMED BY YOUR DOCTOR. ITS NOT THE BIGGEST DEAL IF YOU CAN'T TAKE THESE SUPPLEMENTS BUT IF YOUR GOING TO USE THEM MAKE SURE YOUR PARENT AND/OR PHYSICAN KNOWS.
This blog was to help you get a clue of how nutrition is for a wrestler or combative athlete. This info i've explained is from The Grappler's Guide to Sports Nutrition book so all of this info is from the authors Dr. Berardi and Mike Fry. The only thing i did was explain what it is in my words if you wish to purchase this book for yourself or as a coach go to this link www.grapplersnutrition.com
Feel Free to ask any question about wrestling nutrtion.
Thanks
