Balancing Your Youth Athletes Diet

By Coach Rashad Ahmad

Any serious athlete, competitor, must know how important their nutritional diet is. Even as a youth athlete, this area is important, I’m aware there are many articles, blogs, and forum discussions on this subject and rightfully so. I do however want to approach this from a different perspective. Hormonally, the impact and significant role, that takes place, and how your performance is affected, good, bad or otherwise.In considering this subject and in particular hormonally, there is much influences involved here. Let’s look at some key ones, macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, fats) and micronutrients (minerals, vitamins, phytochemicals). Macronutrients and micronutrients should and must compliment each other, in order to achieve, optimal results in your performance, but it’s not just as simple as it sounds. This is where the balancing act of your diet comes into play and with respect to how the hormones are impacted and as a result, impact performance.

How seriously, is what we eat and when we eat it, in conjunction to our workout/training? Also what and when we eat, post workout, it impacts what occurs hormonally and again will affect your performance, one way or the other. The influence of protein, carbohydrates and fat, as it impacts insulin and glucagon, is very significant.

We may not and do not train everyday, however we do eat, and at various times during the day. Every time we eat, it starts a new hormonal activation, that last 4-6 hours. The balance of both macronutrients and micronutrients, dictate that type of hormonal response your body will have.

This becomes very important as we begin to plan meals for optimum performance at different times during the competition day.It’s just not enough to feed your athlete in the morning and think that he is good for the day. Even if he eats a reasonably good breakfast (more on that later) he still may not have the right about or type of nutrients on board to be fully fueled for optimum competition by 11 am eating his last meal at 7am.

Coach Rashad Amahad

Coach Rashad is the head track coach for Illinois Oak Park Road Runners. A USATF Certified II, CSCS. He has undeniable passion and expertise for Track and Field. In addition he runs a sucessful speed camp and finds time to train and compete at the Master Level as well.

Please feel free to drop him a message right here at the comment box and for more infomation go to:

Be of good cheer, keep the faith, be steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know, your labor is not in vain, in the Lord..1 Cor. 15:58.

This is a multipart series to be continued