A number of top athletes have done well without a lot of good food. They have achieved their success DESPITE their nutritional habits.
My point is that what about those of us who cannot afford a pro-athletes nutritional budget each weak? Becuase that is a LOT of amateur athletes.
A top Australian 400m runner was dinning on not much more than baked beans and bread and was still able to go sub 45 or close on. (Cannot recall his name but it was last 2 to 4 years.)
Colin Jackson claimed he was suffering an eating dis-order in his biography and was loosing weight.(Could see his ribs even in normal posture).He was not eating much at all in the day and binged on chocolate at night.
He managed to improve his eating habits slightly before the championships and after all… It was the world champs where he broke the world record and clocked 12.87 or 12.92 seconds.
Louise Simmons from Westside sais nutrition is over rated.
Before anyone thinks I’m recommending a poor diet or bad nutritional habits for the sake of it, I’m not.
I’m saying, what about those who cannot afford good nutritional habits, like they’ve just lost there job or something, should they still approach their training with the same vigour?
What are people’s personal experiances, under eating, over eating, variety “V” bland diet, on their performances over the years in training etc…
Over the years I have had varied experiences & results. Many, many years ago when training for a bodybuilding contest, I could only afford vitamins for a brief time & then had to cut them out. this was in the day of VERY low cals & next to no fats (less than .5g/day as I remember). I got thru all my intense training but was not good for much else. I was even falling asleep at red lights while driving (great to have on the road!).
Over the years & different sports I have found that I do not need a lot of food or calories (this is after getting my metabolism under control again as BB left it whacked) but supplements have become very important (my mind or age?). I do not believe I could have come back from devasting muscle injury without MSM & vit C. I have also noticed a difference with & without post w/o drink (Surge).
I have had nutirtionists say I take in too low of cals but my bodyweight & energy says otherwise. These are the experts who also say I only need to eat healthy & don’t need pro pwdr & supps! I can’t eat that much chicken & rice. Besides, my personal chef is on a permanent sabatical.
I truly believe that proper supps in very important as you age, possibly to slow the aging process to allow the body to “act” as a younger one. All I know is I continue to improve & my muscle mass is better than younger competitors. My power & speed improve still. Altho I think it is widely personal. Some athletes seem to peak at 22 while others peak at 35. I think some of this is genetic & cannot be altered too much with any program.
I worked through a mild eating disorder which still recurrs occasionally over the summers, and I found that I could still make gains in strength and endurance. Of course I am not recommending it- my hearing used to go in and out and it was bad in a lot of other ways, but it was still possible to train.
So, you are saying that pro athletes spend alot more on diet than the regular person.
This isn’t true. You can get protein powder and supplements online for ridiculously low prices. Other than that, I don’t see anything that would make a significant difference in prices.
I am saying that pro athletes spend a lot more on nutrition than amatuers without the financial resources. E.g;
Amatuers buy tins of tuna.
Pro’s buy fresh fish without all the salt added.
Linford christie said he spent £50 on fruit each weak, and that does not include any where near what he spent on chicken, fish, supplements etc…
(and that was 10 years ago when food was a little cheaper and I’m talking pounds not dollars.)
Your average heavyweight pro ahlete can easily spend £150 a weak on nutrition. I could very easily if I could afford to.
There’s an old saying…
“The wolf at the bottom of the mountain is hungrier…
but there’s food for the wolf at the top if he wants it.”
I believe that in everything you have to work with what you got. When times get tough financially and sacrifices must be made than you gotta do what you gotta do. As long as your gym membership is paid up and running is still free then your in good shape! I would say just don’t go without eating, your car isnt gonna drive without fuel, even if all u can put in the car is a couple bucks, it’ll still keep u from being stuck on the side of the road. Same with your body. So i’d say yes, still train your as off and eat as well as you can.