Your training hours and exercises are part of Your preparation for achieving maximal vertical jump. The second and even more important part is athletic lifestyle. By that we mean fixed daily routine – right balance between work and rest, sufficient sleep and healthy diet, hardening of the body and taking care of bodily relaxation. The main goal of athletic lifestyle is to gain everything that has a good effect on Your athletic achievements and body and to avoid everything harmful. Strict regime is the key to success.
For example, it is very important for an athlete to rest both physically and mentally. Bedtime should be the same day-to-day.
The next important part is food! Food must be varied and contain a lot of natural victuals, including fruits and vegetables. Meat, fish, eggs, milk, curds, cheese, butter, vegetable oil, potato, carrot, tomato, beetroot, cabbage, onion, oatmeal and bread baked of rude flour should form a large part of the menu. Such mixed food contains proteins, fats and carbohydrates in necessary proportions, also vitamins and mineral salts. Proteins are the building materials of cells. Your muscles grow due to protein consumption. Fats and carbohydrates are the main energy resources. You gain carbohydrates, that are athletes main „fuel,“ from many vegetarian food products. Also You shouldn’t forget the importance of fluid consumption. A human person needs 2-3 liters of fluid in one day.
More about nutrition
The knowledge that athletic abilities depend on food and diet to a great extent, is probably as old as sport itself. For a person involved in sports, there are no good or bad foods, there are good and bad menus.
1. The food must be varied and healthy! Healthy food is food, which gives the necessary amount of energy in the right proportions of nutrients and at that includes a sufficient amount of all necessary vitamins and minerals. This is best insured by a varied selection of foods – we must consume many different foods and drinks.
2. The food must be rich in carbohydrates! Carbohydrates are the primary energy source for the human organism, but their supplies in our organism are limited. Therefore there is a need for a great amount of carbohydrates in our food – their proportion in the general amount of energy received with food should be at least 55-60% for people with low physical activity and even higher in athletes. As sources of carbohydrates, cereal-based products containing fibers, potatoes, vegetables and certainly fresh fruits should be preferred.
3. The food should contain a moderate amount of fat! The proportion of fats in the energetic value of food should be up to 30%. Although, researches show that the fat content of our daily food is often too high – 35-40% and more.
4. The food must contain different proteins! The optimal proportion of protein in the energetic value of food is 10-15%. Whereas, sources of vegetarian protein (cereals, potato, legumes) should be combined with sources of animal protein, such as milk, meat products, fish products and eggs. Using foods of vegetable origin also helps to increase the percentage of carbohydrates in the foods.
5. The food must be with high density of nutrients! The energetic value is given to food by carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Sufficient energy content of food is very important, but it is even more important to balance the general amount of energy with the amounts of vitamins and minerals in the food. This balance is best ensured by varied food and consciously limiting the consumption of foods containing much sugar and fats. Foods with a favorable ratio of the content of vitamins and minerals and the energetic value are full-grain cereal-based products, fresh fruits and vegetables, low-fat milk products.
6. The menu should contain a sufficient amount of water! Preserving the water balance of the organism is almost as important from the standpoint of health and working capacity as covering the energy needs of the body and supplying it with vitamins and minerals. Clean drinking water is essential for every person, but in many situations it is more beneficial for athletes it is to consume sports drinks, the content of which conforms to the needs arising from a great physical strain. For example, sports drinks help to preserve the physical working capacity in endurance sports better than clean water, also they speed the stabilization process of the water balance of the body after exertion.
7. The food should be tasty and delicious! An athlete should have a „good feeling in their belly“, which depends on both the properties of the food eaten but also its distribution between meals. The taste preferences of people are different. It is possible to compile a menu with similar structure and energetic value from different foods. Therefore compiling the diet of an athlete should not only be based on his/her needs, but also preferences of taste.
8. Carbohydrates play the most important part, as getting energy from them is quicker than from proteins and carbohydrates no not need additional oxygen.
NB! Varied and energetically sufficient food is primary; using food additives is justifiable only in case of very specifically determined needs and on the recommendation of the professionals in the field.
