If you consider yourself the sporty type then you must be a regularly active person, taking part in plenty of physical activities that use up an awful lot of energy. Unless you are on a diet and trying to lose weight, you will most certainly have to consuming as much food and energy to the equivalent of what you are regularly burning. In terms of “fuel for the fire”, carbohydrate is irrefutably the most important source for sports and actively physical activities.
In a nutshell, the more often you exercise; the more carbohydrates you are going to have to put inside you. Your body is very much like a rechargeable battery and unless you keep topping it up as the energy depletes you will burn out eventually. The best sources of carbs are in starchy foods such as pasta, bread, potatoes, rice and cereals. You can also gain energy from sugary foods such as milk, fruit and juices.
Energy isn’t the only important commodity that your body needs however; there much more at play than simply needing energy to burn. The more you exercise the stronger you become. With each passing day of exercise you are training your body and muscles to become faster, stronger and more efficient when carrying out the more strenuous tasks. While it is important to have the energy to do this, there are other requirements that your body will need in order to repair and building the muscles: Protein.
Protein can come from many different sources, some of the best foods for increasing your protein are: meat, fish, cheese, tofu, yoghurts, nuts and seeds. Is there an easier way? If you are an incredibly active sportsman and you want your energy and nutrient input to match that of the level of exercise you are doing, then there is going to be an incredible amount of preparation and consumption of food. This can be an incredibly lengthy and time consuming process, if you spend an hour or two a day exercising and then a further 30-40 minutes on top of that preparing and eating all of your food for the day.
This is why may people turn to supplements in order to achieve their optimal input of the required level of nutrients for their body. While this is certainly an efficient way of staying on top while you’re on the go, it isn’t necessarily the healthiest option. In fact it is not uncommon for people to over-do it with the amount of protein they consume and the long-term effects can be frightening.
In this light we would recommend that you turn to natural sports supplements such as whey protein powders with ingredients like honey an ginger for example. Supplements are indeed a great way to build muscle effectively but you must endeavour to stick to the most natural sources in order to take great care of you body.