Hey Everyone. Today’s post comes from World Sports Food Fight.
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We all have very different goals we want from our fitness routines. Whether the aim is to lose weight, tone up, bulk up or increase strength you will have a training plan that is tailored to your needs. But to enhance your workout and help you achieve your desired shape, diet plays an important part.
We carried out some research around the diet of different sportsmen in a range of sports. Using an interactive design we could find out information about what different athletes are eating and how it affects their performance. The design can help people see how they can achieve their desired shape through diet.
For anybody that wants to achieve a lean physique then following the diet of Moto GP rider Ben Spies will help you. Spies has ensured he is slim and agile by eating a low calorie diet. On average he will eat 500 less calories than the average man every day. Although the riders cut calories out of their diet they require strength to control the bikes at high speeds so have diet that is full of protein by eating eggs, tuna and steak.
The physique of Spies is a complete contrast to that of NFL player such as Aaron Gibson. They are required to remain bulked up to achieve the power during games to handle the big hits. To achieve this they are known to consume 6000 calories a day. As well as having a diet that is high in protein and carbohydrates they will have smoothies and fruit.
NFL players eat so much it’s actually 1500 more calories in a day than the average Rugby player. Although Rugby also requires players to have lots of power there is generally a lot more running and tackling involved so the likes of Sam Burgess need to be fast as well as powerful. Although there diet is filled with protein such as fish and steak and they bulk up on carbs eating porridge and potatoes Rugby players can run between 6 and miles in a game and burn off a lot of calories as well.
No athlete consumes more calories than a swimmer though. The average swimmer will eat up to 10000 calories in a day which is more than 3 times the amount the average man will consume. However unlike NFL stars swimmers don’t reserve their calories to give them short bursts of energy. Athletes such as Olympic swimming champion Ryan Lochte spend so long training in the pool they can burn up to 4000 calories a day. Therefore a diet that is filled with chicken, eggs, peanut butter and protein shakes is required to ensure they have the muscle mass required to compete.
So as the interactive shows, your diet can very much depend on how much training and how many calories you are burning. If you want to achieve high muscle mass then it will require to eat a lot of protein like NFL players. However just because you are eating lots you won’t bulk up as much if you burn a lot of calories as has been seen with swimmer who have a lean physique. On the other end of the spectrum to achieve a slim, toned physique then you would be required to include less calories in your diet but have lots of protein as the Moto GP riders do.
The interactive can be used as an educational piece for any young aspiring athletes as well. You can look at what sport you play and the demands associated with it then look at what a recommended diet would be to improve your performance.