Athletes occasionally need to lose weight. The reasons can vary. It could be because they need to increase agility or meet their weight class requirements.
Regardless of the reasons, they cannot go about losing their weight like regular people.
Weight loss drains the body. Normal calorie restrictions and fat burning techniques can leave athletes with low strength and stamina.
This is why they require extra care in their diet and exercise plans, so they can lose weight without making a dent in their athletic abilities. Imagine a boxer or a fighter trying a drastic diet to lose weight and losing the force in his punches.
As an athlete, you have to take a very precise approach towards burning calories.
You will have to put in more work than a couch potato.
So get set and begin with the help of 5 essentials below:
1. Accurate Calorie Cut
When your weight loss has to be exact, you need to cut a specific amount of calories from your diet each day.
200 to 400 calories should day, depending on your weight loss goals.
The priority should be to feed your muscles properly for whatever event you have coming up. A nutrition expert should be consulted in this regard. They will be able to point out the calories that your body absolutely requires.
With that in mind you can consume less at every meal and keep your workout routine the same.
You can take a look at this diet plan to see what you should eat and what you shouldn’t.
You shed weight quickly with this trick.
2. Building Muscle Mass
Strengthening your muscles is another way for athletes to lose weight.
As your muscle mass increases, the fat stored in your body will burn as a consequence.
You can start by adding an extra day of full body strength training per week. For example if you do it 2 days a week, make it 3 days a week.
The extra workouts will boost your metabolism even more, which will aid the calorie burning rate even more.
3. Proteins All-around
A big chunk of your diet, about 25 to 30{317a7769e272dec17b69bda26c6a5a4c5e6799efcd8a85f72cb552b76862c2b9}, should consist of proteins.
The first reason why you should make this change is because a high protein diet will make you feel fuller with smaller portions. You will not feel starved when you cut down on your calorie because of this.
The other reason is that protein is ideal fuel for muscle building. When you hit the gym for strength training you will be thankful for the extra training.
4. Interval Training
Whatever your sport may be, you must have tried interval training at one point or another to build your endurance level.
This time you utilize it for losing weight.
Most athletes feel that their regular high endurance workouts are enough to aid their weight loss, which is true. But in this case you are trying to lose more of the weight and in less time.
So interval training is a must.
You can pick what type of interval training you require, there are different combinations to choose from. Go for one that can aid you in your sport as well.
Do a 30 second set of an exercise and then rest or switch to another exercise for the same period of time before resting. You can add as many reps of these as you like.
To learn more about interval training you can give this blog a read.
5. Fasting Exercises
The term speaks for itself. You have to fast before you start low intensity exercises.
This is a leap from the norm where you have to consume calories before and after working out.
You also have to ensure that you do not take in any carbs during the workout. That means no energy drinks, smoothies or shakes throughout the whole routine.
The reason the exercises have to low intensity is to ensure that you avoid any injuries.
The idea here is to put your body in a situation where it burns the fat stored inside it.
These essentials of athletic weight loss are should be your 5 commandments when your aim is to lose weight. They will help you burn fat in a way that doesn’t affect your abilities as a sports person in any way.
Do you have any other tips and tricks for weight loss up your sleeve? Share them in the comments section below.
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