How to Achieve Success in Fitness Through the Best Diet
We know that proper nutrition has multiple positive effects on our entire body and health. Also, what we eat and drink can have a huge effect on our physical activity. How to achieve success in fitness, largely depends on what we take in through nutrition.
Carbohydrates for success in fitness
A large number of studies show that foods with a high percentage of carbohydrates have a positive effect on endurance and exercise capacity (cycling or triathlon). In one training session, subjects drank a mixture of 18% carbohydrates before the start of the study, and then took a mixture of 6% carbohydrates every 20 minutes during training.
In the second training, they drank a mixture that tasted the same as the first. But it did not contain carbohydrates (placebo effect). Subjects who took carbohydrates managed to endure training for up to 30 minutes longer than those who were under the effect of the placebo effect.
In aerobic training, you burn carbohydrates and fats. How much you will burn both depends on the degree of your effort, and the length of training. But when you start training anaerobically, the only “fuel” you burn without oxygen is carbohydrates. Therefore, a higher carbohydrate intake should be helpful. For example, researchers took blood from subjects every 20 minutes to find out what was going on in their bodies. The only difference in blood composition was that when cyclists drank carbohydrates, their blood sugar increased. This shows that the carbohydrates from these drinks reached the bloodstream very quickly. So, if you do sports that include short periods of intense activity (tennis, basketball, football or hockey), then you should drink drinks that contain carbohydrates.
Take caffeine for fitness success?
Most researchers believe that when caffeine affects physical activity, it does so because it acts as a stimulant. Due to that, the level of adrenaline in the blood increases. In one study, exercisers ran on a treadmill in 5 narwhats.
In the first four phases of the study, subjects were able to run an average of 33.5 minutes before reaching a state of exhaustion. At the last phase of the examination after taking caffeine (coffee or caffeine capsules), the exercisers lasted 44.7 minutes. At the end of the study, the level of adrenaline in the blood was significantly higher than in the other 4 phases. The conclusion is that caffeine affects the level of adrenaline in the blood. It is known that adrenaline affects the endurance and activity of the organism.
How do elite athletes get successful?
Of all the athletes, elite cyclists eat and drink more nutrients per kilogram of body weight. In one study involving 4 cyclists, aged between 23 and 42 years and weighing between 65 and 97 kilograms, the daily food intake varied between 6300 and 8100 calories.
This represented 82-90% of their estimated energy needs. The energy they lacked was manifested by weight loss (no more than 2% of their weight).
Conclusion
In this text, we have tried to give you obvious examples of how, and to what extent, your diet rules affect your success in fitness. Have any additional thoughts? Leave them in the comments below!