Finding a perfect diet can be such a painful task at times. If you have to go deeper in your search and look for a specific diet, like for example a diet for soccer training, things become even harder.
There is this old saying that goes: “every diet consists of moving more and eating less.” Yeah, that’s something people say and actually believe to be very true.
Maybe it sounds vaguely accurate to you too, unless you find yourself in a position where you are trying to gain muscle or just gain a healthy dose of weight.
If you are in that position, you know very well that diets consist so much more than simply that. A diet for you could be one that urges you to eat, in extreme bulking case, a diet is designed to maximize calorie intake of any kind.
Back to the topic at hand, a good diet for soccer training won’t be that extreme. It will be more balanced than your average, weight loss diet though. So, good news, you’ll most likely be able to eat more than you thought.
However, the point of a perfect diet for soccer training is going to be the ability of said diet to provide energy and vitamins for you. So, bad news, not every food is okay and you’ll have to steer clear of most food anyway.
There is a golden ratio for soccer players that they aim to fulfill through their diet. That ratio being 60-65% carbohydrates, 20-25% fats and 10-15% protein.
You might be wondering, did I read that correctly? A perfect diet which includes consuming more fats and carbohydrates than protein?
You did read it right, the perfect diet for soccer training will have you consume more energy sources than muscle building proteins. There are two main reasons why this is the case.
First, soccer is physically demanding. Although soccer isn’t notoriously hardcore, cardio-wise, you need to keep in mind that a soccer match lasts 90 minutes, 1 and a half hours.
Within these 90 minutes soccer players have to be on the run pretty much constantly. Whether sprinting or jogging, it is part of the game that you are never stationary.
Such levels of activity burn through a lot of energy. This then leads to soccer players needing to consume large amounts of complex carbohydrates and fats to fill their tank up.
The second part under most circumstances, it isn’t beneficial for soccer players to gain weight. This is tied to the activity levels within soccer. The bigger you are the slower you’ll be.
Understanding this basic rule of a diet for soccer training allows us to get to the next step, which is planning out your diet, and choosing what you will be eating and how much of it.
Of course, part of the process is calculating your needs and physiology and then matching it to your diet for soccer training.
Foods That Make The Perfect Diet For Soccer Training
We did mention that you will have to consume large amounts of fats and carbohydrates to fill your biological tank. So let us start there, and see what foods we can find that can meet these demands of ours.
Fast-food, candies and most other junk are categorically out of the picture here. What you need are complex and beneficial carbs and fats. Ones that pretty much do no harm, but are used as energy sources.
For carbohydrates it can be easier to find the right things, and it can also be cheaper. Most of the time, all the carbs that you will need can be found within everyday fruits that we eat.
Aim mostly for berries and apples. They are not only rich in healthy carbs but they also contain a huge amount of healthy vitamins; making them a must have for any soccer diet for training.
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, on top of berries and apples mentions: milk, lentils, beans, popcorn, whole wheat pasta, corn, etc as great sources of healthy carbs.
Secondly we need to talk about the food that you will need to gain those healthy and necessary fats. First to come to mind would be fish.
Most people who are on a diet prefer the very expensive, but totally worth it, salmon. Even though salmon is great and we should mention it, don’t worry too much about the price.
Not because we have an endless supply of cheap salmon to sell, but because we believe there are many other alternatives that can do the job perfectly.
Speaking of fish, sardines are a great source of healthy fats, and also tuna. These also have lots of protein in them.
Healthline lists avocado, cheese and dark chocolate as healthy sources of fats, Medical News Today mentions foods like tofu and yogurt among others.
There are plenty of seeds and nuts that can work as great sources of both healthy fats and proteins. Most of the time people think of almonds when you mention something like this.
Even though almonds are amazing and totally deserve their reputation, seek pumpkin seeds too. They really pack a caloric punch and can be really delicious.
Mixing these foods together is going to be a task that we leave up to you. We hope that now you have enough knowledge to start working on this goal.
We want everyone to pick their own food for their diet. Mostly because in compiling the diet on your own, you will most likely include foods that you know are healthy and you need to make for a great diet for soccer players.
This will increase the likelihood that you stick to your diet. A mistake that a lot of people make when choosing diets is completely basing it on things they saw online, or on other’s picks.
Feel free to include and remove things as you see fit and do your best to enjoy the food you have to eat to perform, and once you nail that down, it’s time to get out there and start training!
