Young athletes are very delicate and very prone to a lot of injuries, sickness, and are easily get exhausted especially during training that takes long hours at their respective sports. In order to optimize that kind of training, there is a requirement to have proper nutrition that is needed to be a regular component of their workout plan, even a car needs fuel to run and perform properly, just as people especially these young athletes who are still developing needs a nutrition plan fit for their growing bodies.
Meal and snack planning for young athletes require extra time and are often pushed to the side due to hectic family schedules, however, eating healthy should always be a top priority especially if the child is very active in sports.
For you to know, having a healthy eating plan that is geared towards having a good sports nutrition for young athletes have benefits that include injury prevention, improved immune system, improved muscle strength, improved muscle recovery, and healing, improved energy levels, and improved focus and attention.
Athletes, in general, eat before and after training, this is because they eat before they train to provide their body sufficient energy, while after training, they need to refuel their body that has already depleted energy and nutrients that were used during training, and also to recover their body especially their muscles after training.
Meals or snacks are eaten in between training particularly two to three hours prior to training or competition which allows the body to properly digest it and absorb all the nutrition and energy that comes from the food. For athletes who have early morning training and competition, they are at least required to eat two hours beforehand, since a lot of athletes have school practices and training, they are required to bring a snack that they can eat at least half an hour before hand to provide them a boost of energy.
Young athletes are not required to eat heavily before and after training and competitions; instead, feed them with foods that are rich in carbohydrates to provide them sufficient energy to optimally perform during training and competitions, while ideal snacks to keep they energized are granola bars with nuts, grains, and dried fruits, or they can eat crackers spread with peanut butter, or fruits like banana, apple, or nuts, or a simple sandwich packed with a slice of chicken breast, lettuce and some mayo.
After training, our body is in dire need of nutrients to replenish those that are used during training in order to recover and repair the muscles that may have been overworked. Ideally, you only need a snack or a meal that is loaded with carbohydrates and protein supplements for energy replenishment, and muscle repair respectively. beforehand deal for them.
Sports nutrition for young athletes is a very crucial aspect to develop their bodies and mold them to a well-performing athlete in the future, or maybe a superstar to their team or in their respective sport. All it needs for them to become what they want is strong support from parents and coaches.
