When beginning a speed and agility training program, many of today’s athletes ignore one of the most important aspects of achieving desired results, and that is diet and nutrition. Too many young athletes tend to eat too much fast food and don’t pay attention to what they eat during the day.

To get the most out of speed and agility training, the best place to start when it comes to nutrition and diet is a well-balanced meal. All meals throughout the day should contain foods from all four food groups. If this is not possible, make sure your diet contains servings from all four food groups throughout the day.

To improve your diet to cope with the sufficiently high physical demands of sports training, which requires a high rate of energy production, you will need to increase your carbohydrate intake. Whatever sport or workout you’re involved in, this type of energy production can only be achieved by breaking down carbohydrates. This means that players need to pay special attention to this aspect of their diet, most especially when considering the notorious speed and agility drill programs, especially when athletes are given no guidance on what to eat. The heavy training program that most speed and agility training involves only serves to increase the need for carbohydrate intake.

When discussing this topic, it is common to express the form of energy consumed as percentages (proportions) ingested as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. While the typical diet for the general population is about 40% carbohydrates, 45% fat, and 15% protein, the recommended dietary ratios for a soccer player (whose training is very strenuous and thorough) would be about 65% of carbohydrates, 20% fat and 15% protein, according to Peak Performance Newsletter.

Taking essential amino acids immediately after exercise increases protein synthesis, which means more muscle and (provided you’re training ‘properly’) more power. A very important point in protein intake is timing: if you are taking protein shakes or bars, take them as soon as possible after exercise.

Provided you eat a well-balanced diet and have enough energy, creatine supplementation has also been shown to improve repeated sprint capacity as discussed earlier in the Vitamins and Supplements article.

Some of the information used in this article was obtained from the Peak Performance newsletter.