In order to withstand the rigors of a long wrestling season while keeping your strength and energy you need to have both your training and nutrition in check.  Unfortunately, I’ve seen so many misguided young wrestlers who are punishing themselves unnecessarily by not having adequate nutrition.
The major problems with most wrestlers nutrition programs are:
1. Not Eating Breakfast     Do you know what happens when you go to sleep? Your muscles that have worked so hard in practice, training and matches start to break down. They go through a process called ‘catabolism’ which means ‘the act of breaking down’. This is why it’s called breakfast… or ‘breaking’ the ‘fast.’ The ‘fast’ which occurs when you sleep needs to be broken as quickly as possible.  Even if you’re cutting weight you have to eat breakfast.  Whether you want to maintain, gain or lose weight, you will keep your strongest levels by first eating breakfast.

2. Not Eating Often Enough     In a growing athletic body it is almost more important to eat often than what you’re actually eating.  Now perhaps this is a slight exaggeration, as I know some guys who would mainline crap all day long if they took this statement to heart and that wouldn’t be good.  I’m just trying to emphasize the fact that meal frequency or lack thereof, is one of the most misunderstood necessities for a wrestler’s meal plan.  It will help keep the blood sugar stable, keep muscle on the body and keep glycogen storage optimal for sustained energy.

3. Too Much Processed Food Everybody’s in a hurry… so we live in a world of ‘on the go’ eating.  Therefore, what we get are foods that are ‘processed’ in order to make them convenient.  The problem is that the the additives and preservatives included often negate the so-called nutrition.  One great example are nutrition bars.  Let’s get something straight… MOST NUTRITION BARS ARE CRAP!  Notice that I say ‘most.’  I actually have a couple that I really like but I’ll save that for a little later.  A general rule of thumb in regard to nutrition for a wrestlers or MMA athlete is:  “If it comes from the earth, it’s perfect.  Then it all goes down hill from there!”

4. Over-reliance On Sports Performance Drinks Wrestlers are crazy about Gatorade and other Sports Performance Drinks.  But take out the salt and electrolytes and you have a high-sugar drink much like drinking Cool-Ade or Soda.  The sugar content in these drinks make them a very poor choice for consumption… except right after practice or training.

5. Not Enough Protein There’s no doubt that too much of anything can’t be good for you.  Life is about moderation…  and when it comes to protein, you definitely want to adhere to this.  But wrestlers are a different type of athlete.  Wrestlers put themselves through a constant state of overtraining with reduced calories, and frequent, high-volume and high-intensity practices and workouts.  Wrestlers should consume slightly more protein during the season, especially if cutting weight.

6. Not Enough Vegetables A lot of wrestlers don’t eat their veggies.  People in general don’t eat enough vegetables.  Vegetables have so many benefits for the digestive and nutritive processes of a wrestler who is training and practicing intensely.  They are fibrous which makes them pro-active in helping you digest proteins.  They expand in the stomach, helping to curb your appetite if you’re cutting weight.  This also helps with preventing bloating before a match when most guys are pigging out and then can’t understand why they ‘crashed’ on the wrestling mat.

7. Not Eating Supportive Meals One big problem is not combining foods correctly. Supportive nutrition is nutrition that ‘supports the nutritional, growth, repair and ’performance’ requirements of a wrestler.  Instead of thinking of food as food, wrestlers should think of it as fuel.  Treat your body like a high-performance sports car.  Would you put just gas in the car?  No way… You’d put in the best gas and the best oil.  You need to combine a variety of natural foods to give your body complete nutrition.  You’ll recover and grow better, have more energy, and wrestle twice as well!

8. Energy Drinks So many wrestlers these days are relying on energy drinks to give a sense of ‘energy’ before matches, practices, training and whenever.  Let me tell you… I don’t like them at all.  They’re unhealthy.  They’re like a ‘super-processed, jacked-up cup of coffee with weird stuff in them.  Energy doesn’t come from a can… it comes from calories.  Don’t let the false sense of energy felt from energy drinks become your new bad habit!