Masterclass: The Importance of Cricket Nutrition
Elite Cricket is very pleased to present an exclusive Masterclass article by Phillip Caruso Elite Cricket’s Strength, Conditioning and Nutritional consultant.
Cheers
Mark
Nutrition and Performance go hand in hand. The better your nutritional intake, the better your performance on field. Each individual player should understand the basics of eating correctly. I would assume that by you reading this article, that you all have significant ambition to play at a higher and more elite level of the game. Whilst training hard, bending the back and running several singles is important to success, the following aspects outline, which I believe the harder, mental battle of cricketing nutrition. Below I have listed some important points, as outlined by nutritional expert John Beradi (www.johnberardi.com).
- Eat every 2-3 hours, no matter what.
- You should eat between 5-8 meals per day.
- Eat complete lean protein (ie. Chicken Breast, Lean Veal, Fish) with each meal.
- Eat fruits and/or vegetables with each food meal.
- Ensure that your carbohydrate intake comes from fruits and vegetables (Exception: workout and post-workout drinks and meals).
- Ensure that 25-35% of your energy intake comes from fat, with your fat intake split equally between saturates (e.g. animal fat), monounsaturates (e.g., olive oil), and polyunsaturates (e.g. flax oil, salmon oil).
- Drink only non-calorie containing beverages, the best choices being water and green tea. Eat mostly whole foods (except workout and post-workout drinks).
It’s extremely important that you maintain good nutritional habits, if you are to play at a high level of cricket. Not doing so, will make you susceptible for injuries and your weight will suffer as a result, leading to poor performance and recovery times. Set an example for your club mates, by eating correctly 95% of the time.
Enjoy the process of knowing your body is changing for the better : it is getting leaner, stronger, faster and fitter. Below I have outlined a few tips on how to enjoy better nutrition:
- Don’t restrict yourself completely. Nobody expects you to be a mindless cyborg, eating nothing but Broccoli stems all day. Be creative with your foods, and find recipies that you enjoy and that are healthy.
- Be responsible for what you eat/drink. If you plan to enjoy a late night out, or a big meal, adjust your intake accordingly. Example – If you plan to go out for a big carbohydrate dinner, ensure your intake during the day is low, so that you don’t go over your calorie intake for the day.
- If you feel like an unhealthy snack like a chocolate bar, then eat it. Why restrict yourself? Just ensure that A) You work hard to burn it off, and B) One chocolate bar doesn’t turn into 27. It will keep you level headed and enjoying the process.
Tips on Losing Weight
- Find out what your ‘’winning formula’’ is for losing weight. Every ‘body’ is different and each individual will respond differently to different foods etc. Once you find your dietary ‘’winning formula’’ – it’s all downhill from there as you now know what process you need to put in place to lose weight.
- Breakfast: Majority of Carbohydrates for the day. Biggest Meal.
- Mid morning Snack: Again, made up of Low GI carbohydrates, but beginning to implement a protein source as well.
- Lunch: Will usually consist of a salad, or a chicken sandwich on Low GI bread. Here is when I will begin to eliminate and phase out my carbohydrates for the day.
- Mid afternoon Snack: Usually made up of protein, and/or some good fats such as almonds or walnuts.
- Dinner: Will only consist of a Lean Meat Source and Vegetables. No carbohydrates.
Why I phase carbohydrates out after lunch:
The body’s metabolism is like a furnace, the more smaller and more frequent meals you feed it, the faster and more efficient it is, thus improving the rate of fat being burned. As an athlete, you need carbohydrates to function on the field.
However, after lunch, studies have shown that the body’s metabolism tends to slow significantly, and keeps getting slower as the day and then evening goes on. By fueling your body early with the adequate, Low GI carbohydrates that it needs, you are allowing your body to use those carbohydrates when it really counts ie. Training.
However, by eating carbohydrates late in the day and/or night, what will you be really achieving? Nothing. Your training has been completed, and the excess energy that you take in will be stored as bodyfat as it will not be digested and utilised properly.
Why Low GI carbohydrates?
Studies have shown that the lower the GI of a food, the less likely it is to be stored as bodyfat, and is digested and utilised over longer periods of time, allowing you to A) Feel fuller, longer. B) Be able to sustain athletic function for longer periods, and C) Will keep your blood sugar low, keeping you level headed.
Why are white bread, pasta, rice not good?
The more starchy and simple a carbohydrate is, the more impact it has on your blood sugar levels. Have you ever eaten a high GI carbohydrate such as a bowl of pasta, or to a more damaging extent a candy bar? Have you noticed that you will gain a short amount of pleasure from eating it, however 30 minutes later feel hungry again?
This is because the rapid ‘’spike’’ of your blood sugar levels, due to the starchy, simple carbohydrate you have just eaten.
For more information on cricket nutrition and how to develop your own ‘winning formula’ for success, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the team at Elite Cricket. Stay tuned for further articles on ‘How to eat for Strength and Weight Gains’, and ‘The Importance of Eating Organic’.
Phillip Caruso
Elite Cricket is very pleased to present an exclusive Masterclass article by Phillip Caruso Elite Cricket’s Strength, Conditioning and Nutritional consultant.
Cheers
Mark
Nutrition and Performance go hand in hand. The better your nutritional intake, the better your performance on field. Each individual player should understand the basics of eating correctly. I would assume that by you reading this article, that you all have significant ambition to play at a higher and more elite level of the game. Whilst training hard, bending the back and running several singles is important to success, the following aspects outline, which I believe the harder, mental battle of cricketing nutrition. Below I have listed some important points, as outlined by nutritional expert John Beradi (www.johnberardi.com).
- Eat every 2-3 hours, no matter what.
- You should eat between 5-8 meals per day.
- Eat complete lean protein (ie. Chicken Breast, Lean Veal, Fish) with each meal.
- Eat fruits and/or vegetables with each food meal.
- Ensure that your carbohydrate intake comes from fruits and vegetables (Exception: workout and post-workout drinks and meals).
- Ensure that 25-35% of your energy intake comes from fat, with your fat intake split equally between saturates (e.g. animal fat), monounsaturates (e.g., olive oil), and polyunsaturates (e.g. flax oil, salmon oil).
- Drink only non-calorie containing beverages, the best choices being water and green tea. Eat mostly whole foods (except workout and post-workout drinks).
It’s extremely important that you maintain good nutritional habits, if you are to play at a high level of cricket. Not doing so, will make you susceptible for injuries and your weight will suffer as a result, leading to poor performance and recovery times. Set an example for your club mates, by eating correctly 95% of the time.
Enjoy the process of knowing your body is changing for the better : it is getting leaner, stronger, faster and fitter. Below I have outlined a few tips on how to enjoy better nutrition:
- Don’t restrict yourself completely. Nobody expects you to be a mindless cyborg, eating nothing but Broccoli stems all day. Be creative with your foods, and find recipies that you enjoy and that are healthy.
- Be responsible for what you eat/drink. If you plan to enjoy a late night out, or a big meal, adjust your intake accordingly. Example – If you plan to go out for a big carbohydrate dinner, ensure your intake during the day is low, so that you don’t go over your calorie intake for the day.
- If you feel like an unhealthy snack like a chocolate bar, then eat it. Why restrict yourself? Just ensure that A) You work hard to burn it off, and B) One chocolate bar doesn’t turn into 27. It will keep you level headed and enjoying the process.
Tips on Losing Weight
- Find out what your ‘’winning formula’’ is for losing weight. Every ‘body’ is different and each individual will respond differently to different foods etc. Once you find your dietary ‘’winning formula’’ – it’s all downhill from there as you now know what process you need to put in place to lose weight.
- Breakfast: Majority of Carbohydrates for the day. Biggest Meal.
- Mid morning Snack: Again, made up of Low GI carbohydrates, but beginning to implement a protein source as well.
- Lunch: Will usually consist of a salad, or a chicken sandwich on Low GI bread. Here is when I will begin to eliminate and phase out my carbohydrates for the day.
- Mid afternoon Snack: Usually made up of protein, and/or some good fats such as almonds or walnuts.
- Dinner: Will only consist of a Lean Meat Source and Vegetables. No carbohydrates.
Why I phase carbohydrates out after lunch:
The body’s metabolism is like a furnace, the more smaller and more frequent meals you feed it, the faster and more efficient it is, thus improving the rate of fat being burned. As an athlete, you need carbohydrates to function on the field.
However, after lunch, studies have shown that the body’s metabolism tends to slow significantly, and keeps getting slower as the day and then evening goes on. By fueling your body early with the adequate, Low GI carbohydrates that it needs, you are allowing your body to use those carbohydrates when it really counts ie. Training.
However, by eating carbohydrates late in the day and/or night, what will you be really achieving? Nothing. Your training has been completed, and the excess energy that you take in will be stored as bodyfat as it will not be digested and utilised properly.
Why Low GI carbohydrates?
Studies have shown that the lower the GI of a food, the less likely it is to be stored as bodyfat, and is digested and utilised over longer periods of time, allowing you to A) Feel fuller, longer. B) Be able to sustain athletic function for longer periods, and C) Will keep your blood sugar low, keeping you level headed.
Why are white bread, pasta, rice not good?
The more starchy and simple a carbohydrate is, the more impact it has on your blood sugar levels. Have you ever eaten a high GI carbohydrate such as a bowl of pasta, or to a more damaging extent a candy bar? Have you noticed that you will gain a short amount of pleasure from eating it, however 30 minutes later feel hungry again?
This is because the rapid ‘’spike’’ of your blood sugar levels, due to the starchy, simple carbohydrate you have just eaten.
For more information on cricket nutrition and how to develop your own ‘winning formula’ for success, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the team at Elite Cricket. Stay tuned for further articles on ‘How to eat for Strength and Weight Gains’, and ‘The Importance of Eating Organic’.
Phillip Caruso
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