Professional Nutrition Advice for Boxers

• Live like a champ if you plan to become one

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  If you consider yourself a serious boxer with the goal of a good career, good money and possibly a world championship, then you had better develop a lifestyle of a champ. A solid champion doesn¹t go up and down with his weight or deprive himself/herself of fluids just to make weight. If you do that, don¹t expect your body to perform the way you want it to in the ring.Your body might comply when you're young, but don¹t count on it to continue for very long.
  
  Your body needs specific nutrients to perform. The human body loves routine. It likes to get up at the same time and go bed at the same time every day. It works best with good, wholesome meals. Just because you¹ve trained for three months for a fight, that doesn't mean that you can go hog-wild with your eating and partying afterward. That's going to catch up with you real soon, no matter what your age. And the worst part
  is, if word gets around that you don¹t have good habits, your credibility goes downhill real fast. No one will want to take you seriously. It happens all the time.
  
  A sterling example is "Sugar" Shane Mosley. He stays in shape all the time because (1) he is an athlete, (2) he is a competitor, and (3) he loves staying in shape. He¹s active all the time and he enjoys all sports. He is what you call a "natural athlete." Both his mom and dad are "natural athletes" (Clemmy was a swimmer, Jack was a gymnast and amateur boxer) and he is making good use of his genes.
  
  Boxers who walk around more than 15 pounds over their fight weight are considered yo-yo dieters. This is extremely hard on the heart. If they continue this way of life, the older they get, the harder it will be for them to drop weight. They will have to go to extreme measures to get the weight off -- and there will be consequences to their health.
  
  To stay close to your fight weight and get the most from your body, you need to treat it really good. We all know you beat up your body in the gym. So, lets take really good care of it.

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• What does that mean?

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  Little or no alcohol
  No smoking ... anything
  No processed foods or fast foods
  Regular sleep of 7-8 hours every night
  No sodas
  Coffee or tea with caffeine in moderation only
  Encourage family and friends to become a part of your new lifestyle
  Don¹t be macho, if something hurts, get it looked at by a medical doctor
  
  Inflammation is a big part of boxing. You are always getting bruises, sore muscles, and headshots. I always protect my boxers with an anti-inflammatory called Wobenzyme. This German preparation of several enzymes actually eats up inflammation without any side effects, which you get with Advil, Motrin and the other over-the-counter remedies.
  
  Wobenzyme helps break down proteins in the blood that cause an inflammatory process without letting it get out of control. Enzyme mixtures work by hindering or mitigating excessive inflammatory reactions.
  
  They have been shown to do the following things:
   ° Breakdown proteins in the blood that cause inflammation by
  facilitating their removal via the blood steam and lymphatic system.
  ° Remove ³fibrin², the clotting material that prolongs
  inflammation.
  ° Clear up edema (excess water) in the areas of inflammation.
  ° Counteract chronic, recurrent inflammation, a primary cause of chronic degenerative joint disease.
  
  This way athletes can train harder, longer and with fewer injuries. When they are injured, they get back into the action faster.
  
  Wobenzyme can be expensive, so the best place to purchase it would be at www.vitacost.com. You can get a bottle of 800 for $89. That¹s pretty inexpensive, considering some health food stores sell a bottle of 100 for $50. And like I said, they have many studies on this product, and final results is that there are no side effects.
  If you¹re sparring or if you get cut, bruised, or twist your ankle, take three tablets twice daily, about 1 hour before food.
  
  In my future blogs, I will get into more detailed information on nutrition, so stay tuned.

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  Linda Rodriguez of  Functional Nutrition has been in private practice in
  Carmel, California for 15 years. She is available for speaking engagements
  throughout the country.
  
  For more information on this and other subjects please visit her website at
  www.functionalnutrition.com