elite diet

Vegan Triathlete - The Ultraman Athlete Rich Roll

Awarded the title of one of 2009s 25 Fittest Guys in the World by Mens Fitness Magazine, Rich is an elite-level amateur ultra-distance endurance athlete, entertainment attorney, writer, filmmaker, husband, plant-based nutrition advocate, father and co-owner with his wife Julie Piatt of Jai Ultra Multisport Training Camps, Retreats, Nutrition Products & Garments.

In 2008 and at age 42, Rich was the first athlete to compete in the Ultraman World Championships on an entirely plant-based diet, finishing 11th overall. He clocked the 2nd fastest swim split and was the 3rd fastest American.

Rich Roll's website:
http://richroll.arnokroner.com/





Administration
The diet and fitness regimes of elite athletes
For sportsmen and women, diet and fitness is more than just a 'healthy' choice; it is a career choice




Written by: Mike Ryan

Elite athletes know the value of a well-structured diet and fitness regime. Both are needed to enhance performance and accelerate recovery. As with the significant differences in the physical demands of various sports, the nutritional requirements will vary with each and every athlete.

As the Head Athletic Trainer and Physical Therapist for the Jacksonville Jaguars and six-time Ironman triathlete, I appreciate the value of a solid diet and fitness regime as both a sports medicine specialist and as an athlete.

The Diet

Merriam-Webster defines diet as “food and drink regularly provided or consumed.” Unfortunately when the term ‘diet’ is used in today’s society, most people think of some form of an altered nutritional plan and pills in an effort to lose weight, but a successful athlete knows that a diet can be their most valuable training partner.

The foods and drinks an athlete consumes are the energy sources that fuel their performance. As with the varying types of gasoline that race cars and aeroplanes use, mature athletes utilise specific diets that help them excel their respective sports.

Endurance athletes like runners, triathletes and swimmers tend to utilise a higher carbohydrate (carb) diet compared to the traditional balanced diet of carbs, proteins and fats. Because of the high caloric demands of their sport, they are allowed the luxury of consuming more carbs and fats with less concern with weight gain. Carbohydrates are a rapid source of energy and because of this; athletes who exercise for one or more hours commonly consume extra carbs before, during and after activity.

The professional football players that I work with in the National Football League (NFL) are constantly being educated about the value of the foods and drinks they consume. For example, playing in Florida where many of our practices and games can reach temperature close to 38 °C, our players understand that their consumption of the proper types of fluids and carbohydrate-enriched drinks will help them enhance their thermoregulatory system to cool their bodies. Meanwhile, players on our team can weigh as much as 165 kg, so their intake of carbs and fats is monitored closely to avoid increasing their body fat.

The non-professional athlete will benefit from a well-balanced diet of 50 percent carbs, 30 percent protein and 20 percent fat. More important than the percentages is the types of carbs, proteins and fats they are consuming. ‘Bad’ calories such as simple carbs (candy, sugar and syrup) and saturated fats (cheese, creams and lard) are best avoided.

Fitness Routine

This is the fun part. Athletes love to move and play their sports. Their structured fitness routine is often a combination of their sport and additional drills and activities that help enhance their ability to excel in their sport.

I witnessed a great example of this when I spent two weeks volunteering at the United States Olympic Training Centre three years ago. One of the sports that I worked with was the Greco Roman wrestlers. Besides spending extensive time in the wrestling room, these amazing athletes played soccer, climbed mountains and swam in the pool to help them increase their cardiovascular fitness and flexibility to improve their ability to wrestle.

The routine for elite athletes often includes two factors that separate them from the average athlete: volume and intensity.

Professional football players in the NFL spend approximately 11 hours during an average day practicing, rehabilitating injuries, lifting weights, watching film on their opponents and studying their playbooks with their position coach. World-class swimmers will easily swim three times a day for up to 10 miles in the pool.

Dedication and a defined purpose are the two main reasons why top athletes seek a solid diet and fitness regime.

I strongly recommend that weekend warriors practice some form of cross training for two reasons. First of all, having a structured fitness regime that includes multiple sports helps keep the ‘fun meter’ high and provides a variety of challenges. Secondly, cross training is a wonderful way to reduce the chance of an overuse injury.

Putting it All Together

Olympic champions, the last finishers in the local road race as well as grandparents trying to keep pace with their speedy grandchildren can all benefit from a healthy diet and fitness regime. It keeps our body and mind functioning at an optimal level at any age. More importantly, a personalised diet and fitness regime provides a simple blueprint for a long and healthy life.

Jacksonville Jaguar Linebacker Drills:



Mike Ryan’s take home diet tips

1. Stay Balanced – A balanced diet is a healthy diet. Avoid the crazy routines and diet pills that only alter your delicate body chemistry and waste your hard earned money.

2. Watch the Clock – The later you eat anything the less likely you are to burn those calories and the more likely you are to store those calories as fat. Try not to eat any carbs or fats after eight pm and get in the habit of taking an easy walk after each meal.

3. The Less Legs the Better – When it comes to protein, typically the more legs your meal has the more fat it contains. Chicken is better than beef and fish is better than chicken.

4. Know How it is Prepared –Fish is a wonderful source of protein and omega-3, but if that fish is fried and covered in a fatty cream sauce, you are better off eating a lean hamburger! Always know how your food is prepared and exactly what is being put on it.

5. Teeter-Totter Time – As with a teeter-totter, what you do on one end will inversely affect the other. Diet and fitness are the same. What you eat (caloric intake) compared to what you burn (caloric output) will determine if you gain weight or lose weight.

Mike Ryan’s take home fitness tips

1. Progression – A fitness plan is like a marathon; it takes time. Progression is the key and planning for a lifestyle change will significantly enhance the success of your fitness regime.

2. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone – It is human nature to do what we like to do but that is not always what we NEED to do. Challenging your body and mind with different types of workouts is the key to growth. Change at least 50% of your routine every 6 weeks.

3. It Starts and Ends at the Core – Your core abdominal muscles are active in almost every activity that you do. Training your abs from your pelvis to your ribs will help prevent injuries, improve posture and elevate your athleticism. Don’t forget to include rotational Abs exercises.

4. No Substitute For Strength – The strong will survive. Quad strength protects the knees, upper back strength improves the skills of the throwers and strong abs helps everyone. To improve the strength of any muscle group, the intensity needs to be high and fatigue of those muscles must be achieved.

5. Learn to Listen – The number one trait found in elite athletes is their ability to ‘listen’ to their bodies. They understand what normal soreness feels like and they can sense when they are need more strength work in a certain part of their body.

Mike Ryan, PT, ATC, PES, is a 6-time Ironman triathlete and sought after sports medicine speaker focusing on fitness and diet training for optimal performance.For over two decades, Mike has roamed the sidelines for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars as the Head Athletic Trainer and Physical Therapist, keeping elite athletes competing. Using his expert knowledge, Mike founded MikeRyanFitness.com, a sports medicine website for athletes young and old.


http://www.healthcareglobal.com/administration/the-diet-and-fitness-regimes-of-elite-athletes

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World champ Chris “Macca” McCormack:
190 Eat Like The Pros

By N.C. Winters

1. Chilies. I absolutely live on chilies—cannot eat enough of them—the hotter the better.
2. Chocolate. I must admit I am addicted to this stuff, but Cadbury chocolate only.
3. Mineral water. I have to drink water with bubbles.
4. Tomatoes
5. Eggs
6. Cheese. I like all soft cheeses and blue cheese, not American cheese.
7. Grapes
8. Onions
9. Fresh orange juice
10. Soy milk. I don’t drink this to be trendy, and I am not lactose intolerant. I am just not a big fan of dairy foods and actually prefer soy.

What’s Macca’s favorite?
“Chocolate, and I cannot live without chilies. I just live for the burn. It’s like a mini-competition with myself. Just how much can I eat and how hot can I go? I hunt for the world’s hottest chilies.”

Olympian Sarah Haskins:

1. Plain or vanilla yogurt. I love it as a snack or dessert when sweetened with honey and granola.
2. Natural peanut butter. I eat it every day mixed into my oatmeal.
3. Avocados. I mix them with salsa for a great veggie dip.
4. Newman’s Light Honey Mustard.
5. Organic milk
6. Apples. They are one of my favorite snacks and I eat them with natural peanut butter.
7. Pure Bars
8. First Endurance liquid gel shots, vanilla flavor. They are essential for my long rides.
9. Liquid egg whites. These are perfect for omelets on a Sunday morning after a long run.
10. Green or red peppers

What’s the one thing Haskins can’t live without?
Natural peanut butter. “I eat it every day without fail and will add it to my oatmeal or make a PB & J or PB & banana sandwich for lunch. It also makes for a great apple, carrot or celery dip and, not to mention, it’s great with dark chocolate.”


Four-time Xterra world champ Conrad “The Caveman” Stoltz:

1. Helluva strong coffee. I drink French roast because sadly, my Kona grinds ran out just after the holidays. I brew coffee in a stovetop Italian espresso maker and coat it with a little sugar and a big blow of condensed milk. You have to blow in one of the two holes in the tin to help it flow faster. No double clutching (when you suck instead of blow) allowed. The last time I double clutched was a fateful day in 1995—in the bundus [wild region] on our farm [in South Africa]. A good-size cockroach found its way into the one hole. Let’s just say I had to suck extra hard to get the cockroach to come out, and I never sucked again.
2. With good coffee goes good chocolate—Cadbury Whole Walnut or Top Deck.
3. A South African specialty: beskuit. It is a chunky, dry biscuit, but it softens up well when dunked in coffee.
4. Kudu Biltong. Biltong is like beef jerky—only better. It’s a piece of air-dried and cured fillet from beef or game. Ostrich is the best. I would say biltong is South Africa’s number-one delicacy.
5. Potatoes. I buy them in 20-pound bags.
6. Lots of pesto. Hummus. Olive tapenade. Irish butter. Whipping cream—all to put on potatoes.
7. Meat. I like lamb chops on the flames for a barbecue on a wood fire (or “braai” in South Africa). The hole in the ozone over Antarctica is from all the braai-ing we do down here. This goes great with drinking beer and socializing.
8. Beets in bunches
9. Frozen veggies: peas, carrots or edamame. I boil them whole with salt and crumbled feta.
10. Beer. Cavemen had Cavebrew (it was a microbrew). Really, they did.

What is Stoltz’s eating proverb?
“I follow the caveman eating orthodoxy: If it grows on a plant or can be dug from the ground or picked from a tree or if it swims in the ocean or roams on feet or hooves—it is probably good for you. But if it was made in a factory, it’s probably not good for you. Sure chocolate and beskuits are made in a factory, but I’m too useless by the trappings of technology to make them at home. I strive to eat 80 percent caveman-ish. When I buy groceries, my cart looks more or less like my great-grandparents’ cart, except for the plastic wheels and fancy packaging.”

This article originally appeared in the May/June issue of Inside Triathlon.



http://triathlon.competitor.com/category/nutrition