This is going to be a short but to the point. If you want to be good at anything that involves physical fitness (sport or exercise), you have to eat enough.
Being good can mean several things. It could mean being stronger and faster or even looking better. Eating enough can be just as important as the actual physical work being put in. In many cases eating enough post-workout could determine if your workout even meant anything.
Understand that eating to be good at something can differ depending on what your goals are. For example, if you want to be a good weightlifter, CrossFitter, or Football player, your diet will look far different from someone who wants to be good at Bodybuilding or aesthetics. Both types still require enough calories but what those calories are made up of is where it differs.
The CrossFit way of looking at caloric intake is simple, “Eat enough to support exercise but not fat.” In simplest terms, you need to eat at least what you are burning, but make sure that it’s not all in cupcakes and dingdongs. The cleaner your diet is, the better you will look aesthetically, but your performance will ultimately suffer if you are not eating enough.
Many people believe that they need to eat less to look good; this is false. Although eating at a caloric deficit is a quick way to drop pounds, it isn’t always the way to looking good. Most of us would rather be lean than skinny, but I understand that there are also people who want to lose weight, and a caloric deficit is the way to go. This blog is specifically talking about performance.
If you are eating enough to perform well, results will start to happen. Take a look at the top 2-3 men and women on your gym’s leaderboard daily. What do they look like? Most likely, they look good. It is unlikely that the fittest people at your gym or on your team do not look the best as well. When you can fuel your body to perform at a higher level, your body’s aesthetics will change along with it.
A great example is Michael Phelps; he ate 12,000 calories a day and still had a six-pack and long, lean muscles. He ate for performance and then performed well daily in all aspects of his training. Yes, he is the greatest Olympian of all time, but just an example.
If you are interested in seeing how much you should be eating and possibly putting together some caloric goals, send me an email, and we can set something up!
Richard