Exercise affects your diet, and diet affects your exercise. While some exercise is better than no exercise, it will be difficult to reach your health and fitness goals if your dietary habits are haphazard or out of control. A diet and exercise plan focused on a common goal will ensure you reach that goal as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Low-Carb Diets and Performance
The recommended intake of carbohydrates is about 55 to 60 percent if you exercise every other day or 65 percent if you exercise daily for an hour, according to the American Council on Exercise. The carb content of foods under the Zone diet is anywhere from 21 to 42 percent of your calories, while the carbohydrate content of foods under the Atkins diet is generally less than 21 percent of your calories. If you want to improve your weight lifting or sprinting performance, you must eat 55 to 60 percent of your calories from carbs, advises Dr. Gregory Haff. If you want to improve your aerobic endurance, 60 to 70 percent of your calories should come from carbs, according to a 2006 article by Dr. Dixie Thompson.
Losing Stored Body Fat
Your success at losing stored body fat depends on expending more calories in a day than you consume. You must consume a sufficient amount of calories and carbs to fuel your exercise and utilize the free fatty acids from your fat cells. Drastically cutting back on your calories and carbs is not a sustainable diet, increasing the likelihood you will engage in binge eating. The chemical reactions involved in breaking down carbs are an essential step in burning body fat, according to the authors of the book "Exercise Physiology, Energy, Nutrition and Human Performance."
Building Muscle Strength and Mass
Increasing your muscular strength and size requires plenty of calories and 0.7 to 1 g of protein per pound of body weight. If you are engaged in a vigorous program to build strength and muscle, you need a minimum daily caloric intake of 10 to 12 calories per pound of body weight. Additionally, you need to consume 350 to 700 calories beyond the minimum recommendation to build 1 to 2 lbs. of muscle per week.
Meal Timing
Beyond simply eating enough calories in protein and carbs, the timing of your meals can aid or thwart you in reaching your fitness and weight loss goals. Consuming a meal of slow-digesting carbs, such as sprouted grain bread with peanut butter or an apple in a protein shake, will give you a steady supply of energy. This means you can exercise longer and at a greater intensity, improving your fitness and burning more calories. Drinking a protein shake made with skim milk, protein powder, orange juice and fresh pineapple after a workout is the optimal way to replenish the stored energy in your muscles, essential for tomorrow's workout.
References
- "Personal Trainer Manual"; American Council on Exercise; 1997
- "Strength and Conditioning Journal"; "Low-Carbohydrate Diets and High-Intensity Anaerobic Exercise"; G. Gregory Haff; August 2002
- "ACSM's Health and Fitness Journal'; "Carbohydrates"; Dixie Thompson; November/December 2008
- "Exercise Physiology, Energy, Nutrition and Human Performance"; William McArdle, Frank Katch and Victor Katch; 2007
- "Strength and Conditioning Journal"; "Pre- and Postexercise Feeding"; Jose Antonio; October 2007
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