Human capital is important in today’s society. Whether it’s through plastic surgery or exercise, people are constantly working towards bettering their appearance. Two ways people use to alter themselves is through gaining or losing weight. These changes are found most among athletes because of the physical expectations demanded of them. As athletes move from high school to college, almost every athlete looks to gain or lose weight. To better understand why athletes choose to change their physique, I spoke with UGA Sports Nutritionist, Ruth Taylor.
According to Taylor, there are a greater number of athletes looking for weight loss rather than weight gain—anywhere from 30%-40% trying to lose weight and around 20%-30% trying to gain weight. She mentions a few potential reasons for why she may see more weight loss cases: “Carrying around excess body fat may not be beneficial to sports performance, especially sports that emphasize the aesthetic value of the body (i.e. gymnastics, diving, cheerleading and equestrian); excess mass may also increase the risk of weight-bearing injuries and joint pain; and it's difficult to healthfully lose weight and then maintain that weight loss.” On the other hand, the main reason for gaining weight amongst athletes is to increase their lean muscle mass. I am much more concerned with what it takes to put on mass rather than lose it. Taylor assures me, there are surprisingly few important aspects to gaining lean mass, but an incredible abundance of confusion and myth as well.
There are many ways to gain weight, but there are few ways to gain the lean mass. Unless you want more rolls than a bakery, it is crucial that you monitor your caloric in-take. Taylor calls this “The most important aspect nutritionally in gaining weigh” For example, you could eat a double cheeseburger, large fries, and a large soda and get a lot of calories, but you receive no nutritional benefits from these calories. In stead you should have a large turkey sub, with vegetables and paired with a baked potato, a glass of two-percent milk, and a piece of fruit; with that meal you can be sure you’ll receive a similar amount of calories as the latter, but also get a higher nutrient value to maximize your health. As well as monitoring the types of calories you are consuming, you should also watch the amount.
According to The University of Georgia Athletic Association Sports Nutrition Office, in order to gain weight, you have to eat more calories than you burn. This 9s difficult because adding fat free mass takes both weight training and more calories. There are many different ways to increase your caloric intake: make sure to eat three meals a day and never skip breakfast; eat larger than normal portions; eat snacks in between meals; drink juices, milk, PowerAde in place of water; limit intake of high-fat foods; increase intake of good carbohydrates; most importantly, lift weights! If you don’t lift, the extra calories will not help build muscle and may turn to fat. Too many times athletes will eat a lot and see no results besides their growing gut; this is almost always because they think if they just eat more the “lean mass” will magically appear. Another common myth is that “more protein equals more muscle.” Taylor emphasizes the falsity of this statement despite its common acceptance. Protein is not what builds muscle, strength training builds muscle—and adequate calories and adequate protein can help your body to build muscle once you lift weights. The reason excess protein does not mean extra muscle is because your body can only use 1g/# of body weight; therefore, you don’t need to spend your money on expensive supplements or special pills. Instead spend your money on the wholesome carbohydrates, lean meats, and other “good” calories paramount in gaining lean mass. An even better idea is to just use the money you’ve already spent on this university’s award winning dinning service.
At the UGA Food Service website you can find a complete guidebook showing you the day’s food choices; this will help you plan ahead for what you to eat, in turn allowing you to make a personalized diet. You can plan what to eat on certain days in accordance with what is being served. This consistency that the dinning halls provide is vital to both creating a workable diet with food you like and consuming nutrient rich calories I mentioned earlier.
Many people still do not understand the correct way to gain lean mass, but remember that to build muscle, you not only need to have adequate calorie intake, but you also have to be lifting weights. Muscles don’t build themselves; you need to put in the work nutritionally and physically to gain lean mass.
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