To
be a champion, or a contender, or
any other kind of successful boxer, you must live, eat and drink for good health.
This applies to most people, but to boxers especially. Boxers are supreme
athletes -- or should be, anyway. They work and train hard, and need to feed their
bodies the foods that will support that training.
The
motion of boxing can be very explosive, and boxers require a solid aerobic base
to perform over the entire duration of a bout. If you’re a boxer,
this is why it’s so important to feed your body the proper nutrients. This way
your body will be there for you when you need it.
You
need to drink copious amounts of water. Hydration is extremely important for
all bodily functions. Your footwork and punches will
be easier to execute and you’ll feel more fluidity in your movements.
Some
boxers may use extensive dehydration to lower body weight prior to competition.
This is just plain dumb. Excessive dehydration can adversely affect performance
and increase the risk of heat stress.
Effects of dehydration on a boxer’s performance depends on the fitness level of
the athlete, and it’s only a matter of time before the body will stop performing
for you without the right amount of fluids. You can’t fool Mother Nature, at
least for any length of time.
All food eaten
should be for performance. That means good amounts of protein, carbs, fats and
fiber. You should have about .8 grams of protein for every pound of muscle you
have. If you don’t know how much muscle you have, find out. Any personal
trainer worth his beans should know how to find out what your muscle mass is.
You also need lots and lots of vegetables. You get so many fantastic nutrients
from vegetables. Dark leafy green, and all colorful vegetables keep you healthy
and at the top of your game. You should have vegetables every single day. And
they should be steamed, sautéed, roasted, grilled or eaten raw. You get no
nutritional value in canned vegetables, so stay away from those. Frozen is okay
as long as there is no cream or other sauce involved. A small amount of a whole
grain is ideal while you’re in training. You’ll get plenty of fiber from the
vegetables and whole grain. Whole grains include brown rice, millet, quinoa,
etc.
As far as the
fats, the best way to assure you’re getting good fats is to eat lean proteins,
and to supplement with Omega-3’s—that’s fish oil. Make sure you get it at a
health food store, because many times the fish oil is contaminated with mercury
and other harmful toxins. Purchased at a health food store, they’ll keep you
safer from those harmful toxins.
Almost as
important as eating the right things is what to stay away from. Never, never,
never, and I mean never eat:
Splenda, Nutri-Sweet,
Equal
They just do you no
good and are harmful as well. You don’t want to
get in the ring and have a doubt that you didn’t do every single thing possible
to get you to your peak performance. You should step into the ring with
confidence, knowing that you are at your peak.
Sleep is most
valuable when you are beating your body up every day. You need 7-8 hours of
sleep every night. This is absolutely necessary. Your own human growth hormone
is released after about 2 hours of good deep sleep. It travels throughout your
body healing and repairing all the damage that has been done to it in the last
24 hours. If you don’t get the right amount of sleep, you are not able to
repair and you are always playing catch-up. This is not good! To help with
your own human growth hormone, you supplement with L-Glutamine. This amino acid
can be used for several things depending on how and when you take it. To assist
with your human growth hormone, take 2-3 grams just before bedtime. You might
even feel more energy in the morning.
Being the
nutritionist for Garcia Boxing for the last 8 years has been a great experience
for me. We’ve had our highs and lows with our boxers, but we know that we have
done every thing possible for them to get them to be world class boxers. Our
next fight is March 7, 2009 at HP Pavillion in San Jose. We will have our
shining example of a boxer, Eloy Perez, fighting that night on the undercard of
World Featherweight Champion, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero. I have no doubt that
Eloy will continue to show the world what we’re all about. Go ELOY!!
