A Nutrition Guide for Boxing

As a boxer, you need to regulate your diet, not only to make weight for your next fight, but to perform at the highest level possible. Every aspect of nutrition must be taken into consideration to enable you to train harder than your opponent and arrive in peak condition. Consult your physician before beginning any diet or exercise program.

Protein

• If you train like most boxers, you are probably training at least twice a day, or for an extended period of time. This means you are breaking down a great deal of muscle tissue, and the only way to replace that is through dietary protein. You need to eat plenty of milk, eggs, beef, fish and chicken. Try to get all of your protein from whole foods. In between meals, you should get additional protein, and milk is fine. You can use a protein supplement if you want, but make sure you get one that matches your caloric needs. The wide variety of protein supplements allows you to tailor even your in-between snacks for optimal performance.

Carbohydrates

• You need energy, and a lot of it. Given the incredible energy expenditure of sparring, as well as other training, your body should be burning sugar like a furnace. This means you need to not only replace what you are burning, but you need additional carbohydrates to fuel your next workout. Get most of your carbohydrates from whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Simple sugars found in junk foods can cause your blood sugar to quickly rise and fall, which can cause you to suddenly lose energy in training, which is never a good thing, particularly when someone is trying to hit you.

Fat

• You need fat, not only because you may need the calories, but because it is essential for hormonal production and regulation. Your endocrine system controls your hormones, and is under quite a bit of stress from training. To continue to produce optimal levels of testosterone, the primary anabolic, or muscle building hormone, you need fat in your diet. You also need essential fatty acids such as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which can be found in oily fish like salmon and herring, as well as flax, nuts, and seeds.

How Much To Eat?

• It is impossible to say what is the optimal number of calories, or ratio of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates that you should be consuming. What you need to do is track your diet, write down everything that you eat for a week and evaluate your weight as well as your performance. On days that you felt sluggish you might not have consumed enough carbohydrates, so check your log and compare. On days where you ached a bit more in the joints, you might not have consumed enough fats, and on days where your muscles were sore and you had trouble recovering, you might not have eaten enough protein the day before. No one can tell you what to eat, your diet must accommodate your training needs.