Why Do Athletes Eat So Much?

With so many people struggling to lose or maintain their weight, it might seem surreal when an athlete consumes excessive amounts of food and still manages to maintain his svelte physique. Although genetics plays a major role in a person's appearance, including their weight and muscle development, a typical athlete can and should eat more to fuel his lifestyle and support his body type.

Caloric Needs

Athletes eat more than those with sedentary lifestyles because their bodies crave the additional calories. The extra meals and snacks they consume contain calories that help support their active lives. Teen athletes require more calories to accommodate their growth and movement. In fact, depending on their activity level, teen athletes might need up to 5,000 calories daily.

Training and Performance

Depending on which sport an athlete plays, he will need to eat more to ensure peak performance. Physically challenging sports such as boxing, martial arts, wrestling and football require athletes to exert energy rapidly and use a great deal of force, or muscle. To prepare for such sports, athletes typically conform to rigid training schedules, which might further increase caloric needs by up to 1,500 calories daily, depending on the routine. Athletes who don't consume enough calories might not be able to maintain their weight or perform optimally.

Muscle Maintenance

If an athlete fails to meet his nutritional needs, her body might begin to break down muscle. In an effort to maintain muscle mass, athletes might eat frequent meals, which helps keep their metabolism burning and prevents the body from going into a starvation mode, and in turn, burning muscle for energy.

Muscle Building

Bulking up for intense athletic sports requires aggressive workouts and increased caloric intake. Because protein is an essential building block for muscle, athletes sometimes add more protein to their diets to help increase muscle mass. They might also partake in regular resistance training sessions. After several months, an athlete might experience a 20 percent to 40 percent increase in muscular strength, which will require more food, or fuel, to maintain his physique.