Health and Nutrition
Nutrition for Sports Performance
Introduction
Diet is an important part of any athlete's preparations. Although most runners recognise that a good diet is an essential component of successful preparation, they often know little about what nutrition can and cannot do to help them. A good diet will not make the lazy individual or the runner who lacks talent into a champion, but poor food choices can stop the talented and motivated athlete from achieving their potential. It makes no sense to train hard and to ignore the advantages that a good diet brings. This was clearly recognised by a group of experts at an International Olympic Committee conference held in Lausanne in 1991: they pointed out the key role of nutrition in performance for all athletes.
The aim of this part of the website is to bring to you some basic information on food and nutritional strategies that can help you in training and in competition. Two separate components must be recognised:
First, nutritional goals must be identified. This means knowing your nutrient needs, which will depend on a number of factors, including your training program, but also other aspects of lifestyle and your individual physiological and biochemical make up, including such factors as sex, age, body weight, fitness level and many others.
Second, an eating strategy must be devised to allow you to achieve your nutritional goals. This assumes that you know what it is that you are trying to achieve, but also requires some knowledge of what foods, and in what amounts, will supply the necessary nutrients.
Diet and Performance
“Diet significantly influences athletic performance. An adequate diet, in terms of quantity and quality, before, during and after training and competition will maximise performance.”
Lausanne Consensus Conference, 1991
