One of the main features of the organization of nutrition in sports is the need for increased caloric intake, which is due to the need to compensate for energy costs during exercise. The diurnal power inputs during employment by various kinds of sports differ a little, that is caused by intensity of carried out physical activities. So, when doing gymnastics, athletics, figure skating, the body of a woman should get 3000-4000 calories per day with food, with the enthusiasm for swimming, basketball, volleyball - 4000-5000 kcal, and when attending walking, cycling, cross country skiing - 5000 - 6000 kcal. On average, while attending classes in fitness clubs, the energy costs of the female body are no more than 4,000 - 4,500 calories per day. Menu preparation based on calorie content can be made on the basis of specially designed tables of caloric content of the main food products, which can be found in any book on dietetics and nutrition.
Also, it should be borne in mind that in the body of an intensively trained person, there is an increased disintegration of carbohydrates and proteins. Therefore, when organizing meals during exercise, the growing need of the athlete's body for these nutrients should be taken into account. In the daily diet of a person doing exercise, the amount of protein and carbohydrates should be increased by about a quarter compared with the diet of untrained people. The higher the intensity of physical activity received during exercise, the higher the energy consumption of the organism and, accordingly, the need for proteins and carbohydrates. For the intensive recovery and growth of the muscle tissue of the training person, the greatest importance is to ensure the daily requirement of the organism in proteins. When practicing sports such as gymnastics, athletics and figure skating, the body of a woman should receive 100-130 grams of protein per day, while swimming, basketball, volleyball - 130-160 grams, and with enthusiasm for walking, cycling , ski races - 160 - 175 g. A large amount of protein with the essential amino acids necessary for the organism is found in such foods as meat, liver, milk and dairy products, fish, peas, and beans. However, it should also be aware that excessive consumption of proteins causes digestive disorders, leads to problems in the functioning of the liver and kidneys. Also, during sports, it is necessary to provide for the presence in the diet of such a component as fat, both necessarily as an animal (butter), and vegetable origin (sunflower, soybean, olive oil).
Another feature of nutrition when playing sports is the need to include in the menu foods that have a high rate of assimilation by the body. It is very useful during sports to include in the diet such a food product as honey. It is a source of easily digestible carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, so honey is very suitable for use during the recovery period after training.
During intensive training, the athlete's body also has an increased need for almost all vitamins and mineral elements. It is best to practice the use of multivitamin complexes that also contain a balanced complex of the most important microelements for the human body to satisfy the need for these nutrition components.
When practicing sports, a training person loses up to 2.5 liters of water per day, so it is important to provide for replenishment of these losses due to a rational drinking regime. After the training you should not limit yourself to drinking, but taking too much of the fluid you drink is also not recommended. During sports, it is best to replenish water losses after training with small portions, approximately 200 - 250 ml (this is the volume of one glass). For an early quenching of thirst, you can slightly acidify the water with lemon juice or other sour-tasting fruit juices, and with drinking, absorb the liquid in small portions, holding it in the mouth.
Properly organized process of nutrition during exercise allows you to reduce the risk of exposure to many diseases, provides high performance and promotes recovery.