While working at the club level, I had the opportunity to work with athletes from the age of 8 to 32, but I have always paid more attention to young people. Because nutrition plays a key role in ensuring their healthy development as well as their athletic performance.
For adolescent athletes, larger meals and regular snacks are required for increased energy needs on training days. Because, as I mentioned above, in addition to the energy spent in training, the growth and development factor affects the metabolic rate and increases the need for energy.
Dietary strategies designed to manipulate the adolescent athlete's physique independently of performance should be avoided. The aim here is; Depending on age, athletes will gain a certain amount of fat, the focus should be on increasing muscle mass, not preventing what is natural. Unnecessary restrictions should be avoided in order to keep the fat content of the young athlete very low.
Quality protein sources should be consumed regularly after training and throughout the day. It should be aimed for the growing young athlete to both increase his muscle mass and maintain his muscle mass by preventing training-related muscle damage.
Carbohydrate intake should be sufficient to meet daily energy requirements. The reason is, as I mentioned in the first article, a young athlete has many energy needs, including basal metabolic rate + training activity + daily physical activity + thermic effect of nutrients + growth development factor, and to meet these, basic fuel carbohydrate sources should be consumed in a planned manner. However, simple sugar intake should be kept under control.
Unsaturated fats, including vegetable sources and fish, should be consumed and food intake containing saturated fat should be limited. Because consumption of saturated fat not only increases inflammatory activity in the body, but also increases fat in the core area, making the athlete heavier and decreasing maxVO2 level, which can lead to a decrease in performance.
Dietary iron intake should be ensured carefully. Iron mineral is very important for young athletes, especially in terms of immune system and endurance as well as recovery. Good sources of iron include red meat, eggs, fish and green leafy vegetables.
Many adolescent athletes are at risk of low vitamin D and regular monitoring of vitamin D status is recommended. In this case, supplementation may be necessary to ensure optimal performance and bone health. Bone health is very important in terms of growth development factor and risk of disability. For this reason, athletes with low vitamin D levels have a higher risk of disease and injury and need to be under control.
Young athletes should make sure they drink plenty of water before starting exercise, especially in hot environments. In young athletes, sweating due to body surface area may not be excessive, so natural drinks containing sodium can be consumed to prevent the risk of hyponatremia that may occur with excessive water consumption.
It is considered inappropriate and unnecessary for adolescent athletes to consume dietary supplements to increase performance. However, the use of certain supplements can be applied with careful planning in athletes who cannot eat enough or have an injury. In addition, since young athletes have more muscle mass and are more active than their peers, the use of supplements can be provided in a planned manner, taking into account their age and physical condition.
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