Diets

Diets are a dime a dussin. In fact, most diets aimed for athletes are mostly built on the same principles. Eat a lot of protein, manage your carbonhydrate intake, eat a lot of vegetables and add some protein shake after practise and you’ll be flying. Fact is, if someone promises you they’ve got this secret diet that no one else knows about and will magically make anyone become invincible... it’s propably not food we’re talking about anymore. Or if it is, it is just something someone found to be extremely fitting to his or her needs.

What is far more important to know is that everybody is different! We all have different needs in terms of proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, fattyacids etc.. What you should do is to find what suits you the best! There are however some general guidelines that you might want to consider.

For instance, don’t overdo the carbohydrate intake. There are some people that say that carbohydrates are great energy boosters, which they probably are in the short run, but then there are those that say the opposite too. In fact, many studies tend to show that a diet shifted toward the ”mediterranean diet” is preferred for athletes. That is, none-to-little carbohydrates and lots of protein and vitamins. A typical meal would then be consisting of protein rich meat like chicken or tuna, sallad in forms of paprika and other vitamin rich veggies’ and perhaps some sause to spice it up. No potatoes, no rice and no pasta, eliminating carbohydrates as much as possible.

As you might imagine, or perhaps know already, is that the official scene of what works and what does not in the world of dietary supplements and diets is much like the Monthy Pythons Flying Circus. Nobody knows. But they all claim to know!

What is probably far more important is that you focus on correct training, get enough sleep and eat nutritious and well balanced food rich on proteins (this at least seems to be something they are all agreeing upon, the protein rich intake). Your body will be able to take care of the rest.

Here is a diet that you can follow if you like. It is aimed more towards football players, so if you play basketball, volleyball or go out for other sports like high jump you might want to skin it down a little bit.

• Breakfast: Oatmeal or porridge with two eggs/eggwhites.
• 2,5 h later: Bread with tuna.
• Lunch: Chicken/tuna/salmon/other protein rich meat together with vegetables and rice.
• 2,5 h later: Bread with tuna/chicken.
• Dinner: Chicken/tuna/salmon/other protein rich meat together with vegetables and rice.
• 2,5 h later: Any of the above.
• Add fruits!

These were just a few of the tips that could get you moving to great results in terms of strength, quickness and power. There is a lot more, and if you are aiming to increase vertical jump ability to the max, then have a look at some of the jump programs featured on this site. They take you step by step, from scratch to success!