Healthy diet key to victory in Olympics

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One of the building blocks of quality training is good nutrition. Athletes, regardless of the level at which they compete, require good nutrition to perform to their optimum. Individual needs vary depending on gender, intensity of training and the sport one plays.

For instance, while sportsmen in wrestling, shot put, discuss throwing, boxing etc need a more carbohydrate-rich diet, sports like archery, swimming and badminton require less carbohydrates and more proteins. Becoming an elite athlete requires good genes, good training and conditioning and a sensible diet. Any misinformation with regard to nutrition can do as much harm to the athlete as good nutrition can help.
For players of the Indian hockey team, which is in London these days, does making it to the Olympics after eight years mean less carbohydrate-rich food like potato, bread, rice, chapatti etc on match days and more protein shakes before crunch time?
Indian hockey team physiologist David John says, “Their (the hockey players) diet is restricted in carbohydrates (potato, bread, rice, chapatti, cereals) on match days to prevent lethargy, sluggishness and muscle fatigue. These carbohydrates are substituted with protein shakes. Fruits are an absolute no two hours before and after a match. The team is also off sweets.”
Saina Nehwal, who is the only Indian to have reached the badminton singles quarter finals at the Olympics, and won the World Junior Badminton Championships in 2008, was quoted as saying, “One needs a healthy diet and fitness regime, which means absolutely no fast food and more salads and proteins.”
Sports like wrestling and boxing need more strength and energy than any other sports. Wrestlers and boxers go through some of the toughest training, in which the emphasis is on strength and conditioning. Wrestlers are forced to weight-train as much as bodybuilders to develop strong and powerful muscles. Similarly, boxers do all kinds of workouts but mainly focus on functional strength training and a tremendous amount of cardio. So their diet is often very different from other sportsmen.
Wrestler Sushil Kumar, who won a bronze in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, gold at the World Championship in Moscow last year and at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, is a vegetarian. His diet includes three kgs of fresh milk, a bowl of white butter every day, and 10 to 15 kg of almonds a month, apart from regular food. “What I could not do in Beijing, I will try to do in London,” said Sushil, who is the Indian flag-bearer at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics.
Indian boxer Jai Bhagwan, a two-time Asian Championships medallist and a bronze winner at the Delhi Commonwealth Games, says they were given a daily allowance of ` 500 in the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, and they could have anything they wanted. However, most of their diets included meat and milk.
We hope all the wishes of our athletes come true and the Indian flag is held high in the London Olympics 2012.