Athlete Nutrition
Part II
by Drew Cleary
Drew Cleary enters his 8th season in
the NBA and is currently the Strength
and Conditioning Coach with the
Washington Wizards. He has worked
with the Portland Trailblazers, the
Orlando Magic and, individually, with
Scottie Pippen and Monica Seles.
PROTEIN
The protein here should be from a
good source and match the workout.
Specific days have been designated
as to which form of protein you eat.
Let’s take a quick look at the recommendations.
Let us first analyze the lifting days.
This is contingent on how you are training
obviously, but I will break it down
in simplistic terms.
1. LEGS
The biggest muscles in the body are the
legs. For this reason when we work our
legs the most tissue will be torn down.
The more tissue torn the more proteins
required to rebuild. Thus the densities
are very important. I would recommend
the red meats here. Eat plenty of high-density
proteins when working your
legs. Eat proteins out of group 1.
2. BACK AND CHEST
These are the second largest muscles
(actually the back is bigger than the
chest, believe it or not). Here we want
something out of the second group of
proteins. These proteins include
chicken, turkey and pork. Eat proteins
out of group 2, when training your
back and chest.
3. NON LIFT DAY
On the non-lift day there is no tearing
of tissue the muscle tissue. You may
still be conditioning or playing and will
still need proteins for the repair of
that work. On this day the fishes and
shellfish are utilized or any of the
plant proteins listed below. There has
been limited tissue tearing as compared
to the lift day so we do not need
the density or the extra calories from red meat or chicken and pork. On any
day the green vegetables are still consumed.
Eat proteins out of group 3 on
non-lift days.
The following is a table that also
appears in the “What are proteins” section. This table illustrates protein
densities. These densities are important
as it allows us to match the consumption
of proteins to the intensity of
your day's work.
| Density Level |
Protein Source |
| 5 |
Group 1 |
| 4 |
Group 2 |
| 3 |
Group 3 |
| 2 |
Group 4 |
| 1 |
Group 5 |
*Group 4 & 5 do not really count. These are snacks more than meals
| Level |
Work Load On My Body For The Day |
| 4 |
Hard training day on my body
|
| 3 |
Medium training day on my body |
| 2 |
Low training day on my body |
| 1 |
Day Off no training on my body |
The harder you work the higher you go on the protein meter.
Now that you understand how to correlate
the days work to what you will be
eating, you have to understand the different
types of protein in each of the
groupings.
The following is a break down of the
protein groups.
RED MEAT
GROUP 1
These are the powerhouse proteins so
to speak. We would like you to eat red
meat, when you have done the hardest
work on your body. This would be the
legs in the basketball players’ world.
The red meat is the highest density meat
there is as you can see in the chart
above. It will enable maximum tissue
repair. Inclusive in this group would be
beef and lamb.
Although both of these animals are high
in saturated fat we are prepared to deal with that for the recuperation qualities
they afford us.
Here are few forms of red meat that are
good sources.
Obviously, always try to get the leanest
versions of these cuts of meat. We
want to keep the fat intake down as
much as possible. Lamb chops, although
fatty, are a great source of the red
protein.
Top sirloin is perhaps the big daddy of
red protein. Lean and protein potent.
CHICKEN, PORK, TURKEY
GROUP 2
These are good sources of protein.
They are for the most part low in fat.
The density of protein for recuperation
is not as high as red meat, but they contain
less fat. If these proteins were all
you could eat, you would be fine. As
stated before, always select the leanest
cuts and prepare it in a way that is
healthy. This means throw your deep
fryer away. Some good sources of
group two proteins are as follows.
Boneless skinless chicken low in fat
high in protein A nice lean piece of
pork. I would still trim some of the fat
off.
FISH AND SHELLFISH
GROUP 3
This is the least dense protein there is and I think our body does the worst job
of assimilating (taking in) the source.
The reason for that is unknown, but I
think the water creatures as opposed to
land dwellers have something to do with
it. These proteins are great sources of
omega fatty acids, which are healthy
anti oxidants.
I would advise eating fish on the days
you do not lift weights or on days off.
Fish is light and enables you body to stay
sharp. You do not want the heavy proteins
all the time. Fish and shellfish play
an important balance in the diet because
sometimes less is more. You will notice
from the protein density table that
fish are no different to chicken in that
the lighter the flesh the less protein. The
darker fleshed tuna and salmon are
higher than say the swordfish, which is
a white fish. Fish is a good selection if
weight control is an issue. Once again
always select the leanest cuts and prepare
it sensibly.
Some examples of good sources are as
follows. Tuna is lean and packed with
some high power proteins. Salmon
although a little fatty is packed full of
omega fatty acids, Very filling. Shrimp
believe it or not are the densest proteins
in this group along with lobster.
Swordfish a great choice to lower the
intake of calories.
EGGS AND CHEESE
GROUP 4
Eggs and cheese are good snack sources
of protein. They are not high density
proteins, but a good supplement none
the less. The protein powders you buy
are made of whey (left over scum off
cheese) and sometimes eggs. As you
can see the in the protein density table
this group of proteins are nowhere near
meat in their density characteristics. I
do not think the body does well assimilating
(take it in) the protein. That is why
protein shakes in my mind are crap and
at best a snack. I would not use the protein
shakes as a "meal replacement" like
the big supplement companies condone.
I do however like eggs and cheese
as long as they are in a low fat form. As
discussed in the “what are proteins?”
Eggs are little high in cholesterol (yolk),
but a very good source of protein.
PLANT PROTEINS
GROUP 5
Plant proteins are also great sources,
but, sometimes, are high in carbohydrate,
as well as protein. Humans survived
on plant proteins for thousands of years.
It was not until animal proteins came
into our diet that humanity literally
exploded.
These plant forms are the protein
“runts” though and are only useful as
supplements. Although they are the
weakest form of protein, they play an
important role in our diet. The following
is a quick breakdown of the plant proteins.
1. The beans are high in fiber, very useful
for hunger reduction.
2. The soy allows us to reduce using
animal products.
3. Tofu, well I just can't touch that stuff
I 'm sorry. If you can more power to
you.
Now that you understand what the proteins
are here is how you should eat
them.
RATE YOUR DAY
HEAVY WORKLOAD
Heavy workload would be completing
an off season legwork out and then
playing in the afternoon. Or an in season
leg workout and practice.
This may also be the back of a back to
back. You know which day this is it's the
one that makes you sore, very sore.
HARD TRAINING LOAD
This would be a practice with a lift
afterwards. Not the worst day, but tough
none the less. You would not want too
many of these in a row. In a game sense
it would be a pre or post game lift plus a
hard fought game in which you played a
lot of minutes.
MEDIUM TRAINING LOAD
Medium would be a regular practice
day with no lift, or a game day without a
lift. Or a game you played less than 24
minutes in.
LOW TRAINING LOAD
A low training load would be a shoot
around type practice. An in-season lift
without a practice or a game. This
would be a day where we workout, but
don't really push ourselves.
DAY OFF
When I refer to a day off, I mean a day
off. No lifting and no practice. We need
more of these to stop the degrading of
the body.
As the season goes on these are rare.
Embrace them for what they are and
take it as it is intended, a day off. Let the
body rest and regenerate.
C. VEGETABLES
This meal always requires vegetables
and/or a salad. You may have either
green or yellow vegetable at lunch. A
salad is also a solid choice but be careful
what kind of dressing you use. All of
the calories are located in the dressing.
You must be careful with salad dressing.
EVENING MEAL (DINNER)
(90% Proteins - 10% Carbohydrates)
This is a very important meal because
these are the energy units you are going
to give to your body to repair the tissue
you have torn down during the day. If
you put bad energy into the body you
will not regenerate effectively and thus
you will be at a higher risk of injury.
Dinner is constructed of two elements,
protein and green vegetables only.
1. PROTEIN
The selection of protein is the same as
explained above in the lunch section.
Use your common sense though if you
have a really tough practice and a lift
you can't eat steak two meals in a row.
Try eating the group 2's (chicken, pork,
turkey) at lunch and the group 1's at dinner
(red meat). Or on lighter day’s group
3's (fish) at lunch and 2's (chicken, pork,
turkey) at dinner.
PROTEINES DENSITIES
| Protein Source |
Weight |
Protein Grams |
Calories |
| Group 1 |
|
|
|
| Top Sirloin (Beef) |
120 grams |
25.8 |
162 |
| Top Loin (Beef) |
120 grams |
24.3 |
168 |
| |
|
|
|
| Group 2 |
|
|
|
| Light Meat (Chicken) |
120 grams |
19.8 |
96 |
| Dark Meat (Chicken) |
120 grams |
18.0 |
150 |
| Top Loin (Pork) |
120 grams |
18.6 |
138 |
| Light Meat (Turkey) |
120 grams |
18.6 |
135 |
| Dark Meat (Turkey) |
120 grams |
17.1 |
105 |
| |
|
|
|
| Group 3 |
|
|
|
| Lobster |
120 grams |
17.5 |
95 |
| Shrimp |
120 grams |
17.2 |
90 |
| Tuna |
120 grams |
15.6 |
75 |
| Trout |
120 grams |
14.2 |
88 |
| |
|
|
|
| Group 4 |
|
|
|
| Egg |
120 grams |
10.5 |
126 |
| Egg Substitute |
120 grams |
9.0 |
45 |
| Cheese (American) |
120 grams |
18.0 |
120 |
| Cottage Cheese |
120 grams |
10.5 |
60 |
| |
|
|
|
| Group 5 |
|
|
|
| Tofu |
120 grams |
6.9 |
66 |
| Soybean* |
120 grams |
30.9 |
354 |
| Lima Beans* |
120 grams |
17.4 |
284 |
*Significant source of carbohydrate as well as protein.
2. GREEN VEGETABLES
Green vegetable is the only other thing
needed. Your body needs a very tiny
amount of carbohydrate to assimilate
(take in) the protein. This is where the
green vegetables come in. Yellow vegetables
are a little too high in carbohydrate
to be eaten with this meal. Yellow
vegetables include corn and squash.
The greenery is also high in fiber, which
will help curb your appetite. You might
want to have a salad here, which would
be all right if the dressing is low in sugar
and fat.
I would rather you have salad with a
higher fat content dressing than a dressing
high in sugar.
Be careful, a lot of times to take the fat
out of salad dressing the manufacturer
add sugar to the dressing otherwise it
tastes terrible. Make sure the dressing
is low in sugar. Balsamic vinaigrette or oil and vinegar would be better than ranch dressing for example.
Use common sense on the amount of
dressing you put on the salad. Some
examples of green vegetables are as
follows.
WHAT ABOUT SNACKS?
You will get hungry between meals. The
morning snack could be any thing from
some nuts to a protein bar. Make sure the
protein bar is low in fat. Fruit should only
be eaten as a snack in the morning, try not
to eat fruit after lunch. You will probably
get a little hungry in the evening also. You
may have cheese (preferably low fat),
eggs (hard-boiled without yolk), and beef
jerky. NO FRUIT or anything with sugar.
DESSERTS
We all like something sweet. I am a chocolate
freak so giving this up is not easy for
me. With that said if it is important to you to
eat correctly this is a sacrifice you will
make (I still eat chocolate but not all the
time it is definitely a treat). You may have
chocolate occasionally just be sensible.
Try to stay away from desserts with
sugar. The preferred desserts are sugar
free. They are definitely an acquired taste
however. Eating too much artificial sweetener
can be dangerous to your health. It
is better to simply skip this meal or find a
sugar-free dessert you like by trial and
error. Try to give up desserts 6 days a
week and treat yourself on the other day.
What should I drink with my meals?
This is a very important question. I
recommend gods water at every meal.
Water is the most nutritious stuff that we
can't live without.
I like to drink still and carbonated waters.
You would be amazed how many calories
some people could remove form their diet
if they stopped drinking soda and drank
water instead. Gatorade (or similar
drinks) is fine during practice or games
because there definitely is a correlation
between sugar and performance over
time. But be sensible with it. I advise
players to drink as much water as they
drink Gatorade (or similar drinks) during
practice and games (50% water 50%
Gatorade) and you will stay hydrated.
Coffee and tea are fine as long as there is
no sugar. If you want some sugar in your
coffee in the morning it is all right, not in
the evening. A small glass of juice is also
all right in the morning. I emphasize small.
Juice is very dense; it contains a lot of
calories in a small packet.
For questions/comments, please write
an e-mail to: drew@hoopstrength.com.
For more information, visit www. hoopstrength.com, a free site for the development
of strength and conditioning
specific to the basketball player.
__________________________________________________________
| Title |
Athlete Nutrition: Part II |
| Author |
Cleary, Drew |
| Source |
FIBA Assist (Geneva) |
| Publisher |
International Basketball Federation |
| Pages |
|
| Date |
Mar/Apr 2005 |
| SIRC Article # |
S-979097 |
This material has been copied under license from the Publisher. Any resale for profit or further copying is strictly prohibited.
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