Diet for students training martial arts seriously becomes an important issue. Improper eating and/or nutritional habits can beat the body down when you are exercising. It is extremely important to eat balanced, high energy meals on the days you train.
We all know this. It’s usually just a matter of us taking the time to make it happen. We seem to be in such a constant rush these days. It’s important to take a break from that chaos and take care of ourselves — not just our bosses etc.
Caffeine is probably the most important aspect within diet to watch out for. It is a severe and serious stimulant. It raises the heart rate: it constricts the vascular system. It, if abused, may cause heart damage when working out extra hard. It is absolutely the one thing, in my opinion, that you need to avoid before any difficult, taxing training session. Taken to the extreme, it could be responsible for you having a heart attack in your tennis game, aerobics session, martial art class and so on.
And then, the crash. The crash leaves you dead tired and so, you’re set to have your next fix. To me, it’s another form of addiction. It is more subtle than smoking: we all know smoking kills. But, many don’t know that caffeine, under the perfectly wrong conditions such as taking it along with strenuous exercise, may very well be deadly.
My suggestion is to remove caffeine from your life. Although, I’ve heard of some interesting benefits (anti depressive etc), I think when you are an athlete IE: martial artist, it is best to stay away from it for the most part.
Teas, coffee and chocolate are all caffeine inundated foods. Be cautious in drinking or eating these before a hard work out. Your body will be a lot happier without them.
Wow… I use caffiene regularly to get moving at work and start my day. I don’t know how I’m gonna get away from it, but I can’t keep it up after reading this.
I was actually told by a triathlete that a small caffeine intake (like a cup of coffee) before a workout can improve your athletic performance. Have you heard athletes say this before? Is it a pretty common urban legend within the athletic world?
I had a caffeine addiciton for the better part of my life as well. And ever since I stopped drinking it, I noticed that my energy levels throughout the day have actually been more consistent, and less reliant on where my next soda was going to come from.
Hi Micki… yes, a small amount (one cup of coffee) can indeed help performance. It works like a catalyst to your energy system, in a way. But as you intake more, it can become a real danger during exercise, IMHO. (and remember, many pain relievers have TONS of caffeine in them — enough to detrimentally effect the heart rate). However, in small amounts… yes. I would agree with you.
Hey I am in total agreement about the caffeine stuff, some of my research showed that a small amount as Master Baird says will allow you to store your glycogen(stored energy in your muscles that you will deplete during exercise) a little bit longer before the body begins to use up what is naturally stored from your food intake. Having the right amount of Carb/protein ratio will allow for better performance during exercise. Most research about the caffeine is used on athletes who are looking for endurance. But the caffeine has to like other supplements, it may take the body time to adjust and accumulate to what is ingested. A quick fix just wont cut it and it can actually deplete optimum performance and bring harm to the body than good. Very small amounts for a professional athlete and for the average person who exercises for health, eat right and you should be alright 🙂
Hey Garett…
Well said!