Pro Wrestling Diet

The sport of wrestling requires strength, power, agility and stamina. Training naturally requires considerable amounts of dedication, but you can give your training and your performance a huge boost by eating and drinking the right things. It might sound straightforward, but getting the basics of your diet right is worth your time and planning, especially if you're determined to be a professional.

Proteins

• Proteins play a huge role the development of muscles and bones. Especially if you want to add weight and muscle, proteins are essential. Among the protein-heavy foods to include in your diet are fish, red meat and poultry (skinless), as well as cereals, nuts and beans.

Fruit and Vegetables

• Fruits and vegetables are the source of numerous vitamins and minerals which are not only good for you but also help prevent illness--essential when you are trying to build and improve your physical conditioning. Fruits can have different values--for instance, oranges and apples are rich in Vitamin C, while melons and blueberries are better sources of Vitamin A. A regular mix of different fruits and vegetables in your diet will give you the best range of nutrients and vitamins.

Complex Carbohydrates

• These release energy slowly over several hours as they take longer than other foods to digest and they also carry only small amounts of fat. This is invaluable when you're doing a lot of training. Cereals with whole grains, brown rice and pasta are excellent examples here, but perhaps best of all is the baked potato. With lots of Vitamin C, minerals such as iron and calcium, and fiber, it offers a great number of health benefits, keeping you full and giving you energy.

Drinks

• Stay hydrated. Drink water slowly but often throughout the day. Your cells, body tissues and organs depend on water to keep them functioning properly. As a result, staying hydrated at all times will make a difference to muscle growth and recovery when you train. Fruit drinks are naturally good for you as well, providing all the benefits of fruit. However, be mindful to read the nutritional value on labels to ensure that no sugars have been added for taste, or many of the benefits of the fruit will be lost.

Tips

• Make little extra choices with your diet, too. The little things can have far-reaching benefits. Think, for example, of switching to skim milk rather than full fat. If your milk is skim rather than 2 percent fat, the difference is 36 calories and 4.3 grams of fat in every eight-ounce glass. It's the same with the baked potato. The health benefits can easily be canceled out if you fill it with too much butter or sour cream.

Warnings

• In addition to what you should be eating, also think about what you should not be eating. Fatty foods such as chocolate have low nutritional value and high calorific content. Swapping these kinds of snacks for fruits can be telling. Alcohol and caffeine are bad for the aspiring professional wrestler, too. These have the capacity to dehydrate you, which reduces performance.