Olympic Fever is at a fever pitch. The unmatched talent of these young men and women who have sacrificed to compete in the world's greatest athletic competition is inspiring.
According to Parade magazine some of these competitors seem superhuman at times. You have to wonder if you and I followed their training regimen, how much more would our health improve.
One consultant to runners in Beijing advocates to never allow yourself to get too hungry or too thirsty. Coach Dan Benardot counsels, "the longer you go without food, the more your body breaks down muscle. Plus, not eating lowers your blood pressure and lessens mental sharpness." He highly recommends eating small meals every three hours and fluids before, during and after your workout.
Another coach for the Olympic soccer team recommends complex carbs like whole grains, plus fruits, veggies, lean protein and healthy fats like nuts. I know most of our readers are not in training for the Olympics, however we can use a lot of the health tips when we exercise. For example, to recover after a tough workout session Olympic coaches recommend protein - a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a banana with yogurt.
On the other hand, there's a U.S. Olympic swimmer and gold medal winner whose Olympic diet pushes the envelope. Phelps told ESPN that he eats roughly 8,000-10,000 calories a day. The gold medalist admits that he likes to eat "lots of pizza and pasta" as his way of stuffing down carbs. For protein, he eats foods like fried egg sandwiches.
So if you're looking for additional ways to eat like an Olympic champion, Michael Phelps may have a few things to teach us.
Burn as many calories as you can. Sports nutrition experts find it hard to believe Phelps can consume 10,000 calories a day. Regardless, the key to staying lean for Phelps is that his rigorous training regimen requires he burn 1,000 calories per hour while he is in training. If you want to eat 6000 calories a day to look like an Olympic star, give it a whirl, but you best follow up your meals with hours of heavy duty exercising.
Eat a good distribution of the major nutrients. According to WebMd, Phelps's breakfast menu sounds like this - three sandwiches of fried eggs, cheese, lettuce, tomato, fried onions, and mayonnaise, an omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast with powdered sugar and three chocolate-chip pancakes.
For the Olympic swimmer, he has a 3,000 calorie meal, about half from carbohydrates, less than half from fat and 15 percent from protein. While I don't recommend a 3,000 calorie breakfast for anyone unless you're competing in the Olympics and willing to train like a madman, I do recommend a diet rich in healthy carbs and unsaturated fats (olive oil, avocados, nuts and seeds) and protein.
Try these guidelines even if you're not going for the gold. If the 2012 Olympics are not part of your game plan, you need to eat approximately 2,000 calories per day. You also need to take into account your age, your gender and physical activity levels. If you're a typical weekend athlete, you may burn 200-700 calories an hour running on the treadmill. So don't compare yourself to Michael Phelps who burns 3,000 calories an hour swimming. Eat a realistic diet, balanced with exercise and rest. You may not win a bronze, silver or gold medal, but you'll certainly feel a whole lot healthier.
John
Email John: johnsblog@teshmedia.com
My new book, Intelligence For Your Life includes a lot of information about improving your health. To purchase your copy of my book, you can visit your favorite bookstore or go online to Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.
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