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Writer's pictureAja Gyimah

How You Can Become a Better Athlete

How are you going to go from good to great? How are you going to hit your next PB, or increase your vertical? What do you have to do to get to that next level? I have a suggestion!


Nutrition.


Many athletes know eating healthy is important for overall health, but how many know that it is also important for athletic performance? And I’m not just talking about physical performance, nutrition can benefit mental performance as well.





Focusing on what you eat can help you go from good to great on and off the court. As you can see from my pyramid of optimal athletic performance (above), nutrition actually supports all of your training activities, which ultimately supports your overall performance on game day. How is this?


Eating enough to meet your energy demands will help you reap the benefits of training for your sport. You want gains? You have to eat enough and give your body the right nutrients to create muscle mass. If you want to be more focused in games and practices, you have to eat the right amount of carbohydrates to provide energy for optimal brain function. Want to push yourself in practice? You have to hydrate properly to prevent the drop in performance associated with dehydration. Lastly, if you want to stay injury and illness free you have to eat enough to keep your bones and immune system healthy and fully functional.


Nutrition is imperative for optimal athletic performance. Research has shown that under-fuelling (not eating enough to meet your energy demands) can negatively impact your mental performance and physical performance as well as your health. Low energy availability has been linked to poor bone health, impaired immunity, gastrointestinal problems and increased risk for injury and illness. Without proper nutrition you’re unable to reach your full potential as an athlete and could take yourself out of the competition completely.


Want some more information and a little bit of advice? I talk about it in my Youtube video below, check it out:




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