Your athletic performance is highly dependent on your lifestyle. Within your lifestyle, you will have your diet, workout routine, and technical knowledge of the sport that you play. Most people think that with better technical knowledge and by polishing their skill in the game, they will be able to deliver a better athletic performance. However, your diet plays an equally important role.
Most mentors ask their students to stick to a healthy diet. Usually, protein-based food is recommended for athletes so that they can speed up the healing process. However, you need to select a diet that will help you improve your athletic performance by offering your body enough strength to stay fit and healthy.
Since diet works as a fuel system for the body, your body needs enough fuel to function properly. Too much, too little, or bad quality food impacts the overall performance so it is very important to choose the right kind of diet.
With the help of this article, we will explore in detail about zone diets. We will know why and when the zone diet was designed and how the zone diet can be incorporated. We will further explore how a zone diet can help an athlete improve their athletic performance.
What Is a Zone Diet And What Is Included In This Diet?
Zone diet works on the rations system. You need to have 30% carbs, 30% fats, and 40% protein in your food. It is up to you to select the amount of food you want to have but the main ratio stays the same. Since carbs and fat are the reason most people feel bloated, trainers ask the athlete to maintain their ratio lower while asking them to increase protein ratio for better healing.
The zone diet was developed by a medical professional for curing people with heart-related issues. Since heart health is directly linked with athletic performance and almost all cardio-based workouts are used and suggested for strength-based workouts, a zone diet that helps you fuel your body is the best way possible.
How Zone Diet Is Linked With Athletic Performance?
It is common knowledge that food act as fuel for our body. Since athletes are known to be the most active people in the world, their body needs much more energy than the normal individual. Just to meet their requirement, most people end up eating surplus calories, mainly fats.
However, for healing, the body relies mainly on a high ratio of protein. Zone diet offers enough portions that your body doesn’t struggle with healing. On the contrary, it limits the amount of fat that helps in keeping your heart healthy, offering you enough energy to stay focused and work more.
Since fat is directly linked with feeling lethargic, most people complain that high-fat food does not help them in running or performing high-frequency physical activities. Zone diet helps you stay energized without making you feel bloated which is a great way to help you amp up your athletic performance.
What Do You Need To Add To Your Diet?
Most of the zone diet-related information is about things to add to your diet. However, people do not talk about what not to eat. Some of the things to avoid when you follow the zone diet includes:
- Within zone diet, avoid artificial sugar
- Avoid processed food items
- Avoid baked and fatty food
- Avoid low-quality sugar and extremely starchy meals
- Avoid drinking pop, fizzy drinks, cold drinks, and other cold beverages
- Reduce the caffeine intake
Since we have mentioned some of the main things that you need to avoid, it is very important to know what you can eat. Some of the food items to include in the zone diet includes:
- Add high protein food i.e. meat, fish, tuna, salmon, chicken, etc. in your meal
- Take whole wheat grains
- Add poultry and eggs to your diet
- Use fresh vegetables and fruits
Take Away
To sum it all up, a healthy balanced diet will eventually help you improve your athletic performance. However, if we look at our body requirements, no designed formula will offer us an explanation about a balanced diet.
Your body types, gender, and regular physical activity that you commit on a day to day basis help you to measure how much food you will need. For most people, heavy fat food will be a treasure that can help them stay healthy and active throughout. However, for others, just a vegan diet will be enough.
Zone diet offers a simple framework that includes all the basic food items that you will need. With its 30 by 30 and 40 ration food system, it allows people to use a simple and steady diet that can be altered according to their needs. Since most people think fatty food will help them stay energized throughout the day without feeling hungry, they almost forget about the bloating and discomfort that it causes.
Zone diet is a very good alternative for people who are struggling to find a good diet plan. According to fitness trainers and physicians, it offers enough protein for healing along with enough carbs to satisfy your appetite without feeling bloated.
