Sports Mastery

Why is Sports Nutrition so important? At the most basic level, nutrition is important for athletes because it provides a source of energy required to perform the activity. The food we eat impacts on our strength, training, performance and recovery.  Not only is the type of food important for sports nutrition but the times we eat throughout the day also has an impact on our performance levels and our bodies ability to recover after exercising.  Sleep deprivation can contribute to poor performance through reduced motivation and efficiency of cognitive processes, increasing perceived effort, and limiting physiological recovery responses. Monitoring the quality and quantity of sleep can aid in detecting poor sleep patterns and behavior. The use of diaries outlining hours of sleep and routines is encouraged. Recommendations for sleep patterns should be specific to each individual; however, at least 9-10 hours of sleep is a general recommendation, implemented within a routine of consistent sleeping and waking time.