Athletes Diet
All athletes need nutrition in order to compete at the highest level of their sport, or even to compete at all. In this nutrition energy is needed. Energy is required to maintain body functions such as breathing, muscle contractions, growth and repair. Energy required depends on basal metabolic rate and level of activity. Basal metabolic rate is how fast energy is being used and depends on age, gender and physique. I will be comparing the diets of an endurance athlete (Mo Farah) and a power athlete (Stevan Ridley).
Endurance Athlete - Mo Farah
Obviously he will need all the basic food groups to help him perform at a high level. What I mean by this is that he will need the minerals, vitamins, fibre and obviously the water. Endurance athletes need a very precise diet to compete at the highest level. This diet will consist of mainly of carbohydrates and fats. This is to give them the required energy supply they need to run the whole distance at a constant high speed. Carbohydrates are the principle source of energy and contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Being a runner of up to 10,000 meters Mo will need a lot of slow releasing energy to let him perform at this level constantly. He will also need fats. Fats are a concentrated source of energy used as an energy source at rest and during low intensity exercise. Again, this will give Mo the sufficient energy he needs. Some examples of the foods that he could eat would be rice, pasta, potatoes and nuts.