Tennis Calories Made Simple
I am often asked how many calories need to be eaten by tennis players to ensure optimum performance. The answer is not as clear cut as many of you may have hoped for. How many calories you burn and therefore need to fuel that exercise, will depend on some obvious factors like: How much you eat Your age Your gender Your height Your weight How much you play What level you plat at (the intensity of your play) How much you exercise (apart from playing tennis) As well as some less obvious factors like: Your health status Your lean to fat body ratio Your genes The timing of your food intake In my experience, most players don't eat enough to meet their energy requirements. However what most fail to recognise is that all tennis calories are definitely not the same. You need so many vitamins, mineral, enzymes, amino acids, phytonutrients, sugars and more to keep you working efficiently, both mentally and physically, that you really need to think carefully before filling yourself up on 'empty' calories. What are "empty calories"? Empty calories, are those that come from foods that will give you energy but very little else. So no other (important) nutrients, like vitamins and minerals for example. Sugar is the prime example (and culprit). Although it has its place in sport, the overuse of sugar or sugar-laden foods to fill you up instead of nutrient dense food will guarantee you remain a mediocre player, with at best average performances and definitely not the best you can be. This is the number 1 mistake made by the uninformed tennis player. Even if you think you're a pretty good player now, imagine how much stronger and faster you could be if your nutrition was better. And what would happen if your tennis nutrition was........dare I say it - optimal? Ultimately, peak performance is not simply based on the quantity of your caloric intake, but on the quality and timing of those calories. To get the edge and get ahead in your sport, you need to take a serious look at your nutrition and learn exactly what works for you. You need to realise that sugar is only part of the whole nutrition equation and not the majority of the nutrition equation and only then will you begin to see the performances that are anywhere near fulfilling your tennis potential.
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