Discover the advice of Ignacio Escribano, basketball coach and nutritionist, on the importance of nutrition to optimize your performance on the field. Adequate nutrition provides the necessary energy, promotes muscle recovery, improves concentration, responsiveness and reduces the risk of injury.
The importance of nutrition when recovering after a game?
I studied several methods of nutritional recovery, applied specifically to basketball, during my research for my doctoral thesis on this subject. After a match, I advise you to opt for a diet that accelerates recovery, where carbohydrate management is fundamental.
- The first thing to do is to drink a small amount of liquid (for example, a sports drink) at the end of the game.
- Then, you must bring enough carbohydrates (present in fruits, pasta, potatoes, etc.) and proteins (present in meat, fish, etc.) to the next snack, whether for lunch or dinner.
- Finally, it should not be forgotten that recovery continues beyond 4 hours, so that the next day’s meal can be considered both from the point of view of recovery and preparation.
How to gain muscle before starting a new season?
I consider that in the post-season, we can establish different phases: a period of recovery, rest, disconnection, reconnection and preparation. From a nutritional point of view, this is the best time to adjust the body composition, whether to reduce excess fat mass or, on the contrary, to increase lean mass.
If you want to gain muscle mass, it is essential to provide your body with both quality and sufficient protein. Also, you must not forget energy (energy food list), because it is the key to building new muscle. Finally, divide your protein intake into at least 5 meals/snacks, paying particular attention to your intakes that follow the training.
What is the ideal weight of a basketball player?
It is difficult to establish an ideal weight in basketball.
Playing positions determine the body size that a player must present. Indeed, the genetics of each player, and therefore his body and morphology, determines at the same time the position he can occupy. This issue must be resolved internally by consulting the coach to find out what he expects from the player.
Menuba is an application dedicated to nutrition in basketball, can you tell us more?
Menuba is the first application of sports nutrition applied to basketball. It allows you to know what to eat and when to eat it, by offering a menu adapted to each person.
In this way, it helps to bring nutrition closer to basketball, even if teams or players cannot count on a nutritionist in their squad.
To discover other basketball tips go to our blog.