The Importance Of Eating Enough Calories
So you want to be an elite-level athlete, eh? I see you working your butt off after practice to hone your skills, putting in work in the weight room to improve your strength, and reading all about how your favorite pro player made it to the bigs (Oh, you’re not doing these things? Better start!). There is still one thing you might be skipping that is often the missing link for young athletes looking to enhance their athletic potential- eating food!
Yep, you got it. No magic formula. No special drill or even supplement. Just good ol’ fashioned meat & potatoes. But why would this be the key ingredient to success? Why would I mention this above all else? Well, I am glad you asked!
Your body is a high-functioning, very impressive, problem-solving, mobile machine! And something like that needs energy to fuel it. For us humans, energy comes in the form of calories. (Calories are the energy unit that food gives us). As a human, your body burns calories. When you go for a walk, when you train, when you are in class, even when you sleep. Your body uses calories to run any and all functions of the human body (thinking, breathing, moving, etc).
Calories and Currency Of The Body
A great way to think about this is like money. If you want to spend money, you need to make or have money first. If you don’t have any money, you can’t spend it without going into debt (which we all agree is bad if you don’t pay it back). Calories are the currency of the body and the system works very similarly to spending money. If you want to burn calories you need to have calories in your body to burn and use for energy. If you don’t have calories to spend, your body will be in debt, which once again, over a long period of time can be harmful if you don’t pay it back.
Importance of Breakfast
That is why eating breakfast before a morning training is important. You need to put energy into your body to have the best training session you can. That is also why you need to eat after a game or training session. You just spent all that “money” and now you need to make more to carry on with the rest of your day.
Main point? If you want to be able to spend as much money as you want, you need to have a consistent source of income (allowance, job, etc). If you want to have energy all day to train, lift weights, play games, go to class, and hang out with friends, you need to have a consistent source of energy coming in. This comes in the form of eating food. If you do not eat enough food, your body won’t be able to work as hard or for as long as you don’t have the energy to do so.
Now, there are some nuances as far as gaining weight and losing weight go, but that is not the focus of this article. Too many athletes (young and old alike) simply do not eat enough food to support all the training they do, plus the activity they do in their daily lives. That is why my tip for this article is to focus on fuelling your body at least 5 times per day. This should include:
Fuel Your Body 5 Times A Day
- Breakfast
- Mid-Morning Snack (maybe before or after training)
- Lunch
- Afternoon Snack (maybe before or after training/game, or just to give you the energy during that afternoon sleepy time)
- Dinner
This might seem like a lot, but as mentioned, having a consistent source of energy coming into your body allows you to perform better in all activities in life. After all, everyone is happier on payday because they have money in their bank account they can spend. So why not make it “Pay-Day” every 3 hours for your body? Seems like a pretty happy way to live!
Peace.Gains.
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
MOST POPULAR
The Importance Of Eating Enough Calories
So you want to be an elite-level athlete, eh? I see you working your butt off after practice to hone your skills, putting in work in the weight room to improve your strength, and reading all about how your favorite pro player made it to the bigs (Oh, you’re not doing these things? Better start!). There is still one thing you might be skipping that is often the missing link for young athletes looking to enhance their athletic potential- eating food!
Yep, you got it. No magic formula. No special drill or even supplement. Just good ol’ fashioned meat & potatoes. But why would this be the key ingredient to success? Why would I mention this above all else? Well, I am glad you asked!
Your body is a high-functioning, very impressive, problem-solving, mobile machine! And something like that needs energy to fuel it. For us humans, energy comes in the form of calories. (Calories are the energy unit that food gives us). As a human, your body burns calories. When you go for a walk, when you train, when you are in class, even when you sleep. Your body uses calories to run any and all functions of the human body (thinking, breathing, moving, etc).
Calories and Currency Of The Body
A great way to think about this is like money. If you want to spend money, you need to make or have money first. If you don’t have any money, you can’t spend it without going into debt (which we all agree is bad if you don’t pay it back). Calories are the currency of the body and the system works very similarly to spending money. If you want to burn calories you need to have calories in your body to burn and use for energy. If you don’t have calories to spend, your body will be in debt, which once again, over a long period of time can be harmful if you don’t pay it back.
Importance of Breakfast
That is why eating breakfast before a morning training is important. You need to put energy into your body to have the best training session you can. That is also why you need to eat after a game or training session. You just spent all that “money” and now you need to make more to carry on with the rest of your day.
Main point? If you want to be able to spend as much money as you want, you need to have a consistent source of income (allowance, job, etc). If you want to have energy all day to train, lift weights, play games, go to class, and hang out with friends, you need to have a consistent source of energy coming in. This comes in the form of eating food. If you do not eat enough food, your body won’t be able to work as hard or for as long as you don’t have the energy to do so.
Now, there are some nuances as far as gaining weight and losing weight go, but that is not the focus of this article. Too many athletes (young and old alike) simply do not eat enough food to support all the training they do, plus the activity they do in their daily lives. That is why my tip for this article is to focus on fuelling your body at least 5 times per day. This should include:
Fuel Your Body 5 Times A Day
- Breakfast
- Mid-Morning Snack (maybe before or after training)
- Lunch
- Afternoon Snack (maybe before or after training/game, or just to give you the energy during that afternoon sleepy time)
- Dinner
This might seem like a lot, but as mentioned, having a consistent source of energy coming into your body allows you to perform better in all activities in life. After all, everyone is happier on payday because they have money in their bank account they can spend. So why not make it “Pay-Day” every 3 hours for your body? Seems like a pretty happy way to live!
Peace.Gains.