If you have any questions about what foods are carbohydrates, proteins, or fats please follow the Choose My Plate link in the links page to gain a better understanding.
Carbohydrates
Carbs are extremely important for wrestlers and all athletes. Carbs provide muscle glycogen which helps provide the muscles with energy to be able to perform at your best during practices and matches. The typical diet for a wrestler should be 50-65% from carbohydrates (3 ,9, 12, 17), and possibly higher if in extremely intense and long practice schedules. A good way to measure your need is in how many grams of total carbs you need for your body weight. Usual recommendations for wrestlers are 6-10 grams of carbs per kilogram of body weight (12, 17). This would mean a wrestler weighing 70 kg would need between 420-700 grams or carbohydrates each day! One can attain these carbs in a number of ways. Your first choice should always be foods that are less processed, high in vitamins and minerals, and easy to prepare and find. Some examples of good carbohydrate containing foods would be whole grain foods (breads, pasta, cereal, rice oatmeal), fresh fruits and fresh vegetables.
Inadequate energy availability can have negative physiological effects which will have a negative impact on strength, endurance, and overall performance, therefore ensuring that your body is fueled is very important to your performance in wrestling (2, 4) .
Protein
Wrestlers need adequate amounts of protein to build muscle, repair body damage from practices, and to prevent injuries form overuse or impacts. Protein helps provide some energy if in a carbohydrate deprived state, such as weight cutting, but its primary role is to provide amino acids for tissue growth and repair as well as many physiological functions to maintain a healthy body. Contrary to popular belief, protein can be over-consumed and the use of a protein shake or supplement is not necessary is eating a proper diet. Wrestlers should be consuming 15-30% of their diet from proteins (3, 9, 12, 17). Again body weight can be used to measure your protein needs. Wrestler recommendations are to consume 1.5-2 grams of protein per kilogram body weight (12, 17). That means a wrestler weighing 70 kg would need between 105-140 grams of protein a day!. Good proteins should be lean, high quality, and affordable. Good and easy ways to attain quality proteins would be to consume a variety of different proteins such as, low-fat dairy and soy products, lean meats (chicken, beef, pork, deli meats), nuts and seeds, fish, and eggs.
Fats
Fats are a necessary part of a wrestlers diet and should not be cut from your diet. Fats help provide energy for the body during rest and during endurance exercise, but they also have many other functions in the body like, protection from injuries by providing cushioning, lubrication for joints, pliability of the skin. There are different types of fats that can be consumed; these are saturated, trans, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. You should try to consume mostly mono- an polyunsaturated fats and limit your saturated fats to under 10% of your total fat consumption. Trans fats are mostly human engineered and should be completely cut from the diet or limited to very low levels. Fats should be 20-35% of your total caloric diet (3, 9, 12, 17). The main influence on how much of your diet will be the remainer of calories after carbs and protein are accounted for. This means that if a 70 kg wrestler is consuming 55% of their diet from carbs, and 25% of their diet from proteins, fats will make up the remaining 20%. Good forms of fat can be found in nuts and seeds, lean meats, and low-fat diary and soy products. Sodas, cookies, candies, fried foods, and chips should be limited in your diet.
Supplements
As stated previously, supplements are not needed if eating a well balanced diet. If you find it hard to consume the adequate amount of calories or vitamins and minerals, supplements may be an option to bridge this gap. Be careful with supplement purchasing. Typically if the product sounds too good to be true it probably is, also, many supplements are unregulated so they may not contain what the supplement claims and could potentially have banned substances in it. Always check to make sure that banned substances are not included in the supplements ingredients.
Eating Before and After Practice
Meals should be had both before and after practices to ensure you are able to perform at your best. The same logic applies to competition days, but the time frame may be different because of weigh-in's. Hydration is also important (see hydration page). 2-4 hours before practice you should consume a meal that is high in carbohydrates, has some protein, and little fat. This does not need to be a big meal, a turkey breast sandwich, an apple, and a glass of water is enough. Having too large a meal or a meal with a lot of fat before practice may cause an upset stomach. This meal will provide your body with energy throughout the practice.
Once practice is over you should try to have a meal within 30 minutes. This will help replenish your muscles energy stores and help with recovery before your next bout of exercise or practice. This meal again should be high in carbohydrates and proteins, but fats can now be consumed because you are not worried about exercising soon after. An example meal could be spaghetti with meatballs, broccoli, a fruit salad, and a glass of chocolate milk.
Calorie Calculator- here is an easy way to estimate your daily caloric needs.
http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
Carbohydrates
Carbs are extremely important for wrestlers and all athletes. Carbs provide muscle glycogen which helps provide the muscles with energy to be able to perform at your best during practices and matches. The typical diet for a wrestler should be 50-65% from carbohydrates (3 ,9, 12, 17), and possibly higher if in extremely intense and long practice schedules. A good way to measure your need is in how many grams of total carbs you need for your body weight. Usual recommendations for wrestlers are 6-10 grams of carbs per kilogram of body weight (12, 17). This would mean a wrestler weighing 70 kg would need between 420-700 grams or carbohydrates each day! One can attain these carbs in a number of ways. Your first choice should always be foods that are less processed, high in vitamins and minerals, and easy to prepare and find. Some examples of good carbohydrate containing foods would be whole grain foods (breads, pasta, cereal, rice oatmeal), fresh fruits and fresh vegetables.
Inadequate energy availability can have negative physiological effects which will have a negative impact on strength, endurance, and overall performance, therefore ensuring that your body is fueled is very important to your performance in wrestling (2, 4) .
Protein
Wrestlers need adequate amounts of protein to build muscle, repair body damage from practices, and to prevent injuries form overuse or impacts. Protein helps provide some energy if in a carbohydrate deprived state, such as weight cutting, but its primary role is to provide amino acids for tissue growth and repair as well as many physiological functions to maintain a healthy body. Contrary to popular belief, protein can be over-consumed and the use of a protein shake or supplement is not necessary is eating a proper diet. Wrestlers should be consuming 15-30% of their diet from proteins (3, 9, 12, 17). Again body weight can be used to measure your protein needs. Wrestler recommendations are to consume 1.5-2 grams of protein per kilogram body weight (12, 17). That means a wrestler weighing 70 kg would need between 105-140 grams of protein a day!. Good proteins should be lean, high quality, and affordable. Good and easy ways to attain quality proteins would be to consume a variety of different proteins such as, low-fat dairy and soy products, lean meats (chicken, beef, pork, deli meats), nuts and seeds, fish, and eggs.
Fats
Fats are a necessary part of a wrestlers diet and should not be cut from your diet. Fats help provide energy for the body during rest and during endurance exercise, but they also have many other functions in the body like, protection from injuries by providing cushioning, lubrication for joints, pliability of the skin. There are different types of fats that can be consumed; these are saturated, trans, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. You should try to consume mostly mono- an polyunsaturated fats and limit your saturated fats to under 10% of your total fat consumption. Trans fats are mostly human engineered and should be completely cut from the diet or limited to very low levels. Fats should be 20-35% of your total caloric diet (3, 9, 12, 17). The main influence on how much of your diet will be the remainer of calories after carbs and protein are accounted for. This means that if a 70 kg wrestler is consuming 55% of their diet from carbs, and 25% of their diet from proteins, fats will make up the remaining 20%. Good forms of fat can be found in nuts and seeds, lean meats, and low-fat diary and soy products. Sodas, cookies, candies, fried foods, and chips should be limited in your diet.
Supplements
As stated previously, supplements are not needed if eating a well balanced diet. If you find it hard to consume the adequate amount of calories or vitamins and minerals, supplements may be an option to bridge this gap. Be careful with supplement purchasing. Typically if the product sounds too good to be true it probably is, also, many supplements are unregulated so they may not contain what the supplement claims and could potentially have banned substances in it. Always check to make sure that banned substances are not included in the supplements ingredients.
Eating Before and After Practice
Meals should be had both before and after practices to ensure you are able to perform at your best. The same logic applies to competition days, but the time frame may be different because of weigh-in's. Hydration is also important (see hydration page). 2-4 hours before practice you should consume a meal that is high in carbohydrates, has some protein, and little fat. This does not need to be a big meal, a turkey breast sandwich, an apple, and a glass of water is enough. Having too large a meal or a meal with a lot of fat before practice may cause an upset stomach. This meal will provide your body with energy throughout the practice.
Once practice is over you should try to have a meal within 30 minutes. This will help replenish your muscles energy stores and help with recovery before your next bout of exercise or practice. This meal again should be high in carbohydrates and proteins, but fats can now be consumed because you are not worried about exercising soon after. An example meal could be spaghetti with meatballs, broccoli, a fruit salad, and a glass of chocolate milk.
Calorie Calculator- here is an easy way to estimate your daily caloric needs.
http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html