BASKETBALL NUTRITION

BASKETBALL NUTRITION2020-03-14T15:49:41-07:00

Are you confused by all the conflicting nutrition advice that you’re getting from friends, family and the media?  One day you read about a vegan diet and the next day you hear the importance of eating fish.  How should a player eat for optimal basketball nutrition?

After doing thousands of nutrition consultations and seeing the common eating patterns of athletes, I developed the 3 Levels of Nutrition.  This gives players a step-by-step path to optimally fuel their bodies for the demands of basketball, school and training.  

FUEL.  FIRE.  FOOD.  

Basketball nutrition menu

How Do You Teach Nutrition?

3 LEVELS OF BASKETBALL NUTRITION

You wouldn’t take a first-time runner and sign them up for a marathon.  You would never put 300 pounds on the bench press for a kid who has never lifted before.  Progression is the key to building success.

Basketball nutrition is the same.  We must have a system to progress the way we eat.

The 3 Levels Of Nutrition shows athletes what to eat, when to eat and how much to eat so they can be their best on and off the court.

LEVEL 1: FUEL

Just like gasoline is fuel for your car, what you eat is fuel for your body.  You’d never drive across the country without filling up your gas tank first.

Yet, many athletes will show up to practice on an empty stomach.

The most important basketball nutrition habit you can do is to make sure you eat enough.  That’s why FUEL is the first level of nutrition.

If you don’t have enough fuel in your body, you’ll run out of energy and won’t have the building blocks to create new muscle.

Here’s an article I wrote about getting the right fuel in before games:

Click here to read about Pre-Game Meals

LEVEL 2: FIRE

Building a meal is just like building a fire.  You need to have multiple fuel sources if you want your energy to last.

The first material you’d need when building a fire is paper.  It lights up quick and gives you instant energy.  This is what carbohydrates do.

Carbohydrates (potatoes, rice, pasta, etc.) are like pieces of paper.  They light up quick and give you a burst of energy, but it doesn’t last long.

That’s why you need multiple sources of energy.

Protein (chicken, fish, eggs, etc.) are like sticks that give structure to the fire.  They provide a medium energy source and also create every structure in our body.

Every muscle, tendon and bone is created from the protein we eat.

Fat (peanut butter, avocados, cashews, etc.) is like the big log on the fire.  It doesn’t light up quickly, but provides long-lasting energy.

Once you’ve passed Level 1 and are eating enough fuel, you should make sure that your meals consist of a balance of carbohydrates, protein and fat.

LEVEL 3: FOOD

If you’re eating enough (FUEL) and also eating the right mix of nutrients (FIRE), you’ve earned the right to work on LEVEL 3: WHOLE FOOD.

A whole food is any food where the name of the food is the ingredient of the food.

The ingredient of an apple is an apple.  The ingredient of chicken is chicken.

Whole foods contain all the right nutrients, in the right ratios, that get delivered to your body at the right time.

If you’re already getting enough calories in and have protein, carbohydrates and fats at each meal, the next step to improving nutrition is to replace processed foods with whole foods.

Here’s an article I wrote about adding whole foods into your diet:

Click here to read about my Top 7 Basketball Foods

What’s My Next Step?

PICK ONE HABIT

Research shows that we are more successful when we focus on one thing at a time.

In his book, The Power of Less, Leo Babauta explains why change is difficult and shares how to successfully build habits. If you’re to trying to improve your basketball nutrition, his advice is to only make one change at a time.

Here’s the powerful research that Leo has discovered:

You have an 85% chance of being successful when trying to create one habit.

Working on two habits at a time drops your success rate down to 35%.

If you try to change three things at a time, you have less than a 10% chance at being successful at any one of the three.

MINIMUM EFFECTIVE DOSE

When analyzing player’s food journals, I look for foods we can add or subtract that would produce a positive change.

As I build a list of things we can improve, the next step is to find the easiest adjustment they could make that would still make a difference.

Notice that I want the easiest change… not the most difficult.

Once we identify the basketball nutrition habit to implement, I ask them how confident they are that they can do it.  If they say anything less than 100%, I find a new habit.

If they’re not 100% confident while they’re motivated and talking face to face with a coach, they’ll most likely fail when they’re alone, tired and unmotivated.

I’ve found that success breeds success.  Build you basketball habits one at a time and over time you’ll optimize your nutrition for success on the court.

LATEST NUTRITION POSTS

Intermittent Fasting For Basketball w/ Amy Yeoman, RD

In this weeks episode I am joined by Amy Yeoman. Amy has been a lifelong athlete. She ran track for The University of Portland then transferred to Montana State where she began her education in nutrition. She then continued on to get her Masters in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology degree at WSU and became a Registered Dietitian. After graduation [...]

Eating Healthy For Hoops w/ Live Vitae’s Ryan Carter

Are you having trouble eating healthy for basketball?  Is it a struggle to eat your fruits and vegetables and still get enough calories in throughout the day?  Well, Ryan Carter can help! Ryan is a certified Health Coach, Personal trainer, breathwork coach and registered nutritional therapist with many more specialized qualifications. He is the founder of Live Vitae, an [...]

Recovery Nutrition For Basketball w/ Sigma Nutrition’s Danny Lennon

Recovery Nutrition not only involves replenishing lost nutrients, but also rebuilding tissue to help you become more explosive and durable.  Danny Lennon joined me on the show to make recovery nutrition specific to the game of basketball. Danny is the founder of Sigma Nutrition and head of content creation for the company. Known for hosting the top-ranked podcast Sigma [...]

Build Muscle In 2 Weeks

Basketball players constantly ask me how to gain weight. I respond by telling them that instead of focusing on weight gain, they should try to build muscle instead. If they only wanted to gain weight, they could instantly add ten pounds to the scale by throwing on a weight vest. Or they could eat a diet of pizza, burgers [...]

Basketball Supplements w/ Angie Asche

Welcome to Episode 028: Basketball Supplements with Angie Asche.  If you want to listen to the greatest minds in basketball talk about sports nutrition, strength & conditioning and leadership, you've come to the right place!Today's interview is with Angie Asche, MS, RD, CSSD.  She's a board certified sports dietitian, certified exercise physiologist, and the owner of Eleat Sports Nutrition®. Since founding [...]

Weekly Meal Plan For Basketball Players w/ Scott Baptie, MSc

Welcome to Episode 016: Weekly Meal Plan For Basketball Players with Scott Baptie, MSc.  If you want to listen to the greatest minds in basketball talk about sports nutrition, strength & conditioning and leadership, you've come to the right place! Today's podcast is an interview with Scott Baptie (MA Hons., MSc).  He's a physique and sports nutrition specialist and [...]

Vegan Diet For Basketball Players w/ Craig Hunt, RDN

Welcome to Episode 012, Vegan Diet for Basketball Players with Craig Hunt, RDN.  If you want to listen to the greatest minds in basketball talk about sports nutrition, strength & conditioning and leadership, you've come to the right place! Today's podcast is an interview with Craig Hunt, RDN.  Craig became interested in nutrition while playing baseball at Washington State [...]

Basketball Nutrition w/ Brad Dieter, PHD

Welcome to Episode 003: Basketball Nutrition with Brad Dieter, PhD.  If you want to listen to the greatest minds in basketball talk about sports nutrition, strength & conditioning and leadership, you've come to the right place! Today's podcast is an interview with Brad Dieter, PhD.  He's an exercise physiologist, molecular biologist, biostatistician, scientist and entrepreneur whose goal is to [...]

Pre-Game Meal Formula

Topping off your power stores with a pre-game meal will ensure you have energy to compete late into the fourth quarter. While there’s not a magic meal that works for everyone, I’m going to provide a Pre-Game Meal Formula to help you jump higher, cut quicker and finish stronger when it really counts. WHAT THE GREATS EAT [...]

Top 7 Basketball Foods

Making it to the championship in a weekend tournament can be a grind. To play your best in every game, you need to pack basketball foods that rehydrate and refuel. Nutrition doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does take some planning. Keep reading to find out my Top 7 Basketball Foods for Tournaments. Note: Some of the links [...]

JOIN THE COMMUNITY

Join the team and I’ll send you the latest and greatest training tips on basketball nutrition, workouts & leadership straight to your mailbox every week. Sign up below!

Go to Top