Dietary Intake at Competition in Elite Olympic Combat Sports

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to investigate elite female (n = 21) and male (n = 47) combat sports athletes' (n = 68; mean age (± SD) 21.3 ± 3.8 years; mean height 177 ± 10.2 cm) dietary intake between weigh-in and the first bout in Olympic combat sports. The data were collected at 6 separate tournaments and measurements included estimated food records, time for recovery, and body weight (BW) at weigh-in and first match. In total, 33 athletes participated in wrestling and taekwondo, sports with extended recovery times, and 35 athletes in judo and boxing, sports with limited recovery time. The results displayed that despite a mean consumption of food and drinks corresponding to 4.2 kg, the athletes only regained an average of 1.9 kg BW during recovery. Water accounted for 86% of the total intake. For each liter of water consumed, athletes gained 0.57 kg BW, when excluding heavy weight athletes (n = 5). Carbohydrate consumption was 5.5 g/kg BW, compared with the recommended 8-10 g/kg BW. In total, one-quarter of the consumed water originated from carbohydrate-rich drinks. Given the average recovery time of 18 (wrestling, taekwondo) versus 8 hr (judo, boxing), the former group consumed twice the amount of water, carbohydrates, protein, and fat as the latter group. In conclusion, a large proportion of the participants did not meet the recovery nutrition guidelines for carbohydrates. In addition, the discrepancy between nutrient intake and weight gain points to the physiological barriers to retaining fluids during a limited recovery time after engaging in weight making practices.

An assessment of diet among high – rank professional judo athletes

“…The values we obtained were similar to those obtained by Pettersson et al [16]. The average water in take among the Swedish elite judoists and boxers was 2800±1100 ml.…”

“…The daily intake norm for dietary fibre has been met here in contrast to Swedish judo ists and boxers, whose daily consumption averaged 13±7 g [16].…”

“…According to the recommendations by Benardot, a threshold of 30% of fat-derived energy should not be exceeded if one wishes to preserve health [7]. It should be emphasised that excessive consumption of fat lowers exercise capacity and may therefore negatively affect the sport result [16].…”

Adequacy of energy and macronutrient intake of food supplements for athletes

“…Other studies corroborate these results with regard to low glycemic intake [23,25]. In a literature review conducted by Burke et al [26], the authors pointed out an apparent increase in carbohydrate intake over the decades, although values below the specific recommendations for athletes can be observed in the data itself.…”

“If it’s not Iron it’s Iron f*cking biggest Ironman”: personal trainers’ views on health norms, orthorexia and deviant behaviours

“…Within formal sports settings (Dale & Landers, 1999; Sundgot-Borgen & Torstveit, 2010) and among competing fitness and bodybuilding participants (Andreasson & Johansson, 2015a), extreme and regulated food and exercise behaviours are standard practice. For instance, among elite athletes in combat sports these behaviours are regarded as part of the sports’ culture (Pettersson, 2013). …”