Soccer Player Diet

Our bodies are like a finely tuned engine that needs to be fueled with the right mix of nutrients for optimal performance. This is especially important for soccer, where you are relying on your body for those sprints up the field and fast-paced tackles.

Soccer players require more calories than sedentary individuals. To maintain body weight and muscle mass, it's important to eat enough calories from healthy foods. The ideal way to know if you're eating enough calories is to keep an eye on your weight. If it's increasing, you're probably eating too many calories. If your weight is dropping, it may be time to increase your caloric intake. The President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition recommends that athletes get about 60 percent of their calories from carbohydrates, less than 30 percent from fat and the remainder from protein.

One of the biggest mistakes that starting soccer players make is that they believe that simply through training, they can get their bodies at maximum potential. Although training is vital in this sense, a carefully balanced diet will be the catalyst for a healthy body that can perform well under the stressful conditions that a soccer player must go through in practice or matches.

A balanced diet will handle any weight problems, since not all people can get their fat limit to 0 through sheer training – the clearest example is Ronaldo of AC Milan, who although is one of the greatest soccer players in existence, has always been criticized for being a bit chubby. Your diet will also be responsible for keeping you strong and agile, so what you eat truly becomes an issue when you're a soccer player.