Ok, so whats with all this hype about gluten free diets? The only reason Novak has been doing it is because he was diagnosed with celiac disease, which prevents him from eating any products that contain it. Now because he had his streak, everyone is claiming they are going to try it.
Is it even necessary to do so, and will it even impact your performance? It can even be somewhat dangerous if you accidently eat a product that contains gluten while on the diet.
So here is what im asking.
Does anyone have any non-extreme diets that pertain to tennis which will help with agility around the court and getting in overall better shape. Im not looking to lose weight here, just gain some muscle and stamina. Im not looking to become a massive body builder either. And i know you have to work out also to get results. I have recently started
P90X and i play tennis about 3-4 times a week, including tournaments on most weekends. Im just shy of 14 years old, about 5'2", and weigh in around 101-104 lbs. Id really aprreciate it if anyone here can help me out!
If you are on a gluten free diet or any other diets, were previously, or know someone who is/has been, please share your progress and helpful knowledge
Thank you,
DB
You need to understand that your regimen (P90x, tennis) is not designed to gain a lot of muscle. Instead it is designed to gain a lot of stamina.
(If you really wanted to gain a lot of muscle, you would have to lift heavy weights near your maximal lift for low reps. - But this is not necessarily something you have to do for tennis, at least right now.)
So realistically you are not going to be needing huge amounts of protein to augment muscle growth. Even if you are still growing, you are not going to be adding more than a few ounces of muscle per week. That can easily be included in a relatively "normal" diet with reasonable meat, dairy and high protein vegatable intake. Chocolate milk, or even regular milk with some other source of carbohydrates, will make a good, relatively inexpensive "recovery drink" after workouts or play - if - you don't plan to eat a regular meal right away. (Studies suggest intake of some protein and carbohydrates with 20 minutes of a workout/play help the muscles recover faster.)
Everyone agrees lots of fruits and vegetables are good for you.
Everyone agrees lots of fatty foods are not good for you.
Everyone agrees lots of sweets, sugary drinks and salty snack foods are not good for you.
Complex carbohydrates are the food that best powers our muscles.
But carbohydrate is a term that many don't fully understand.
Complex carbohydrates are long molecules of sugars that are linked together.
Complex carbohydrated = sugar + sugar + sugar + sugar + sugar + sugar ...
They are better than simple sugar because it takes time for the digestive tract to break the complex carbohydrated down into the simple sugar molecules that will enter the bloodstream to power the muscles.
So while eating sugary foods/drinks results in a sudden absorbtion of way too much sugar for the muscles to use (with some of that being converted into fat stores), eating complex carbohydrates results in a steady supply of sugars being released to keep powering our muscles.
Complex carbohydrates include cereals, pasta, whole grain bread, rice, fruits and vegatables.
[An exception to when simple sugar is beneficial is during grueling tennis workouts and tournements. The small amount of simple sugar in sports drinks like Gatorade helps prevent am "energy deficit" that might otherwise occur. Sports drinks also have electrolytes, especially sodium, that our muscles need to continue to work optimally.]
As a tournement player, you may find reading the information from the USTA helpful:
Nutrition: Performance Diet Principles for Competitive Tennis:
http://www.usta.com/Improve-Your-Ga...mance_Diet_Principles_for_Competitive_Tennis/
Pre-Match Meals/Snacks: Pre-Match Meals/Snacks
http://www.usta.com/Improve-Your-Game/Health-Fitness/Diet-and-Nutrition/Pre_Match_Meals_and_Snacks/
Tennis Recovery:
http://www.usta.com/tennisrecovery/
