Wrestlers Diet
With the start of every season, there is always renewed interest in nutrition. Whether the
focus is on dropping to a lower weight or staying strong through a proper diet, wrestlers
always have many questions on what they should eat.
Step one: All Vegetables, All the Time
Eat a vegetable at every meal and for most of your snacks. The higher the fiber
vegetable the more full you will feel.
Step two: 3 – 4 Servings of Fruit
Bananas and oranges are very important because of the Vitamin C they provide.
Melons are high in Vitamin A and blueberries are also great. So, when adding fruit to a
diet variety can be an important factor to consider.
Step three: Water over Juice/Pop
Pop provides nothing of value to for a wrestler’s body to run off of. There are no
nutrients to digest. Further, youthful consumers have gotten hooked on oversized
drinks. A wrestler should definitely consider the numbers before they grab a soda. Eight
ounces of pop has about 140 calories. The “average” pop serving has increased in size,
with many people drinking as much as 24 ounces of pop in one sitting. Using a caloric
intake of 4200 calories a day, 24 ounces of pop would be 420 calories or nearly 20
percent of the energy intake for the day. Throw in the fact that it has no nutritional value,
coaches and wrestlers should see that fruit juice is a much better beverage to reach for.
The problem with Juice is most are very high in sugar with little of the natural vitamins
left in them. Instead of juice have some water and an apple.
Generally speaking water is overlooked as an important part of good nutrition. One old
standard is 64 ounces of water consumption a day. Clearly wrestlers work hard and
perspire significantly so wrestlers should work to replace the lost fluid. Water
replacement is a critical part of a nutritional plan for a wrestler.
Step four: Eat Three Well Balanced Meals a Day
Breakfast: Oat meal and fruit is a great way to start your day. You can have a high fiber
cereal and add some fruit.
Lunch: Pack a lunch with some protein, carbohydrates, vegetables and fruit.
Dinner: Eat a hot dinner at least 3-4 hours before you go to bed, again a well balanced
meal. For a late night snack eat some raw vegetables.
Step Four: Stay Away from Fried Foods
Fried foods are generally not very healthy and will put on the wrong kind of weight. Fried
foods have been associated with obesity, but that’s not the only problem. Chronic
diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, gallbladder disease,
celiac disease, and cancer have been associated with fried foods.
Step Five: Refined Sugar is not your Friend
Refined sugar is like that person who is nice to your face but will stab you in the back as
soon as you turn around. Candy bars, pies, doughnuts, high sugar foods act all nice but
they really want you to lose every match you wrestle.
Simple sugar absorption into the bloodstream causes an excess burst of insulin.
Athletes are concerned with the quick insulin “spike”. We’ve all experienced this quick
burst of energy followed by the ensuing “crash” characterized by fatigue, lethargy, and
mood swings.
Step Six: High Fiber is Highly Important
Again variety is certainly important for wrestlers focusing on proper nutrition. Fiber is
one part of a good daily diet. Make a high fiber cereal part of their daily food
consumption. Cereals like All Bran and breads can be good sources of fiber. In
checking the nutrition panel on cereal or bread try to find a product that has at least
three grams of fiber per serving. Don’t be deceived by the packaging or the name,
make sure to check the nutritional outline.
Step Seven: One, Anything You Want Meal Each Week
Allow yourself one meal a week that you eat anything you want. This is for your mental
health as well for the special family activates like Birthdays, Sunday dinners etc. But
let’s not have that meal the night before weigh-in.
Tips
Baked Potatoes
Baked potatoes are an easily prepared food that should become a staple in a wrestler’s
diet. Don’t forget to eat the skin though. The baked potato has almost no fat and a
minimal amount of sodium with a good supply of complex carbohydrates.
Of course a wrestler’s nutritional training can run afoul if the potato is loaded down with
condiments like butter and sour cream. A wrestling secret in eating a potato is adding
water to the potato. Wrestlers know that baked potatoes can be dry, so the best thing to
do is re-hydrate it. After breaking it open and smashing it with a fork pour a little more
water on it and it won’t taste as dry.
Maintain Variety.
No one food has everything a wrestler needs. Variety in food, even in a specific food
group is important. Don’t rely on one food, to supply all of the vitamins and nutrients
needed for day to day health. Remove the junk from the diet, but maintain variety.
Egg Whites
Wrestlers need to understand where hunger pains come from. Foods that are high in
sugar, for example, are broken down quickly after consumption. So, while a candy bar
might taste good, its satisfaction is limited because it is broken down before other foods
that contain higher amounts of protein.
If wrestlers want to maintain a fuller feeling for a longer duration they need to look to
having a diet with good protein. Egg whites are a common source of quality protein.
Additionally, egg whites contain no fat. Throw the yolk away, that’s a whole other topic.
Wrestlers can prepare egg whites easily by boiling up a dozen eggs and storing them in
the refrigerator. Egg whites contain about 3.5 grams of protein each. Encourage
wrestlers to make use of this source of protein.
Switch to skim
Switching to skim milk can make a dramatic difference in caloric and fat intake for any
individual. In an eight ounce glass of reduced fat 2% milk there is 122 calories with 4.7
grams of fat. In low fat 1% milk, there is 102 calories and 2.5 grams of fat. A wrestler
that switches to skim milk takes in 86 calories and .4 grams of fat per eight ounce glass.
Clearly there is a benefit in switching over to skim milk. An eight ounce glass is
generally smaller than what most people consume in a sitting these days. So, the
benefit can be even further magnified.
Plan for after the weigh-in
Wrestlers after making weight need to focus on foods that will help recover and won’t
adversely affect performance. Foods with fat are definitely slower digesting.
Carbohydrates can be easier on a wrestler’s stomach. Foods like applesauce,
crackers, and cereal can be easily digested and aid in recovery. After making weight
don’t let a lapse in judgment effect your performance, plan ahead and shoot for smaller
portions spread throughout the tournament day.
Reaching a high level of achievement requires mental focus on all aspects of a
wrestler’s performance. Proper nutrition can be an area that can really help a
wrestler attain their goals. Of course being a wrestler, in a junk food culture will hold
anyone back.
