How to eat properly during fasting is known, since there is a specific list of prohibited and permitted foods, all that remains is to choose what you like and prepare lean and healthy food. Well, as for sports, is it possible to continue training or is it best to stop exercising for a while, we will try to find out.

During fasting, it is recommended to refrain from any actions of a “carnal” nature, but if you understand fitness as one of the pastime options that is aimed at improving the health of the body, there is no contradiction in this. But it is worth considering that during fasting it is forbidden to consume products of animal origin, that is, you reduce the intake of protein into the body to a minimum. Because of this, increased physical activity can lead to fatigue, irritability and even exhaustion, so if you decide not to give up exercise while fasting, then you need to take measures to prevent health problems.

In order for you to have the energy and strength for training, you need to properly create a daily menu. If you eat only porridge and bread, your body will not receive necessary substances which are needed for training. Be sure to eat fruits, honey, nuts, and soy products.

If you stick strict fasting and have completely excluded meat from your diet, you can replace it with special protein shakes made from soy, which will supply the body with the protein necessary for training, but at the same time you will not break your fast.

Some athletes say that during fasting, thanks to training, they discover new possibilities in themselves. At first, playing sports will be a little difficult, since there is practically no strength due to lack of energy, but after a while it opens up. new power and ease of movement appears. Thanks to this, training is very easy, extra pounds go away and you feel great. Taking this into account, we can conclude that sports during the fasting period cannot seriously harm the body.

Remember that fasting is not a diet that is not aimed at losing weight, but at self-control and restriction in everything. This also applies emotional state, various excessive pleasures, etc. Take this into account and do not turn fasting into a regular diet.

If you decide to exercise during Lent, then it is better to refuse to attend gym and during this time, give preference to aerobic exercise. Also during this period, it is recommended to abandon training, for which it is necessary to use various sports equipment that increases the load. Moreover, there is no need to start new sports for you; put it off for a while. Set yourself a goal not to change your figure and physical fitness, but simply support it. Trust your body and sensations, even if you feel slightly unwell, then it is best to give up sports during fasting.

It is not recommended for children, pregnant women, as well as the sick and elderly to fast, much less engage in sports at this time. If you adhere to strict fasting, that is, practically starve, then it is better to refuse physical activity, as this can lead to exhaustion of the body, disruption of homeostasis, and also cause serious problems with the heart and blood vessels. Before starting your fast, you can consult a doctor to determine the optimal diet for this period so that you have enough energy to exercise.

Where to get protein during fasting and is it possible to build muscle mass during this period? How to train during fasting and is it necessary at all? Nutritionist Alla Shilina and fitness trainer Pavel Fatykhov - Herbalife experts - answer all your questions.

Alla Shilina,company nutrition expertHerbalife, nutritionist, endocrinologist of the highest category:

Nutrition during fasting must be approached very responsibly, especially for people who engage in high physical activity. During this period, it is better to select the menu individually, since the athlete’s needs depend on his age, gender, parameters and training schedule. But there are several general recommendations, which must be observed by everyone who trains.

It's important to remember balanced diet, which saturates the body with micro- and macronutrients in optimal quantities and ratios. Otherwise, you may face the consequences of imbalance and improper diet: chronic fatigue, inability to complete a workout or warm-up. It is important to consider: protein and carbohydrates affect the athlete’s performance, and carbohydrates and fats provide him with energy for effective muscle development.

The main problem during fasting is refusing to eat animal protein. Research has shown that athletes' need for this element is higher than that of those who do not engage in serious physical activity. People who are involved in endurance sports should consume 1.2-1.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, and strength athletes should consume 1.4-1.8 grams. You should try to consume proteins during fasting. plant origin: legumes and soy products, nuts and seeds. By the way, soy protein is the only plant protein with a complete amino acid composition and can be considered a complete replacement for animal protein, unlike its other sources. Therefore, sometimes a meal can be replaced with a protein shake.

An important component of the diet of athletes is omega-3 fatty acids. They reduce the risk of blood clots and have anti-inflammatory properties. For recovery daily value fats can be added to food cedar, flaxseed or hemp oil, and in strict days during fasting, replace them with seeds, nuts and avocados.

Athletes also need large quantities B vitamins, especially thiamine, riboflavin and niacin, which provide energy needs and support muscle building. During the off-season, it is important to protect yourself from vitamin deficiency, so you should increase your consumption of nutritious vegetables and fruits and, if necessary, take a vitamin and mineral course.

During Lent, no less significant is drinking regime. Physically active people should drink fluids regularly and in sufficient quantities to ensure thermoregulation and normal functioning body. During training, you should drink water every half hour, and even more often in hot or dry weather.

From my point of view, it is impossible to eat during fasting in such a way as to achieve muscle growth. During this period, it is much more important to take care of your health, pay attention to changing your diet and listen to your body.

Pavel Fatykhov, fitness trainer, Herbalife expert:

As you know, muscles begin to grow when the body recovers, and this happens during sleep and thanks to nutrition. Athletes who build muscle mass physically need protein, and a very large amount of it. During Lent, when you cannot consume animal protein, about the progression muscle mass out of the question. During this period, you need to adjust your training regimen from dial-up to maintenance. You cannot train according to the same scheme, otherwise the body will progress for some time, but then exhaustion will begin. During training, it is recommended to reduce weights (up to 50% of the maximum weight), do 20-30 repetitions, and replace some exercises with cardio. At the same time, we must not forget about consuming vegetable protein: cereals, lentils, nuts, etc. You can eat more sports nutrition, which contains soy protein, since soy has a high digestibility index. The main tasks of an athlete who fasts are not to lose muscle mass and cleanse the body. And then after finishing the fast you will be able to get enhanced results in terms of muscle growth.

People who play sports spend more energy, spend more strength and emotions than ordinary people. Accordingly, the athlete needs more water, vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates and minerals - metabolism is accelerated. But there is a special category of people who fast without stopping training. This is where you should think carefully about how to replace such important products of the animal world that we consume in normal times. It’s impossible to explain to the body that you need to work in economy mode for some time, and soon your nutrition will return to normal. A Lent and even comes at the beginning of spring, a period when the body is already experiencing a shortage of vitamins.

You can eat fish from animal products during Lent, and even then only a couple of times, on major holidays. The rest of the diet should consist entirely of foods of plant origin, which are allowed to be consumed every day.

Athletes need to ensure that dishes containing valuable plant protein are present on the table as often as possible. This means you need to eat soy products, cereals, nuts and seeds, and mushrooms in sufficient quantities. It would also be a good idea to purchase vegetable protein, which is easy to find in sports nutrition stores. The protein in such cocktails is highly processed and more easily digestible than in regular food. This somewhat increases the value of vegetable protein for the body, which athletes consider much lower than that of its animal counterpart.

Since during fasting the basis of the diet is bread and cereals, it is worth abandoning the classic white bread in favor of whole grain or bran. It is also preferable to cook porridges not from flakes or crushed grains, but from whole grains.

The deficiency of vitamin B12, which mainly enters our body with food of animal origin, will help make up for the seaweed salad. Laminaria will relieve fatigue, distracted attention, and contribute to the normal functioning of the heart.

It is best to avoid tea and coffee, these drinks are too stimulating nervous system. A good alternative to them can be dried fruit compote, which contains valuable fiber and vitamins and minerals vital for active people.

Honey, which is perhaps the only sweet that can be consumed during fasting, will also be an additional source of energy. It will support your immune system and give you a boost of energy. The usual sweets can be replaced with bananas (dried and fresh) and dates, dried apricots. In addition, banana and dried fruits are also high-calorie foods, which means they can be successfully used as a snack.

Not all athletes are atheists. Some athletes observe religious fasting, which involves moderate abstinence from entertainment, drinking, eating and physical intimacy. Sport that strains the body is a godly activity. Everyone chooses the measure of forgiveness for themselves. For the Lord, it is important what benefit the soul receives from abstinence, and not how much or what a person ate. Abstinence from food, which occurs without prayer, is not fasting, but a regular diet.

Nutrition for athletes during fasting

Lent lasts 40 days. These days you should not eat meat, dairy and fish products, as well as eggs. You can drink wine, but not become drunk. In other words, prudence and intelligence are needed during fasting. But how can an athlete replenish energy costs during Orthodox fasting to think about God and not about food.

The difficulty of observing Lent is that it occurs in the spring, when the body is already weakened by vitamin deficiencies. There is only one thing left to do - include it in your diet. fresh vegetables and fruits. A diet devoid of cottage cheese, eggs, fish, meat and poultry means a lack of amino acids entering the body, including essential ones. The consequences of this may appear in the form of constant fatigue, worsening mood, decreased immunity, as well as decreased resistance to stress.

This means that you need to include in your diet foods containing valuable plant proteins, such as mushrooms, seeds, nuts, cereals, and soy. They are less valuable biologically, but during the fasting period they are able to support the athlete’s body. Plant proteins are not completely absorbed. If albumin chicken egg is absorbed by 100%, then protein of plant origin is 50%. The indicator of the amount of protein in terms of dry product speaks in favor of plant products:

• peas - 22.4%;
• beef - 20%;
• lentils - 27.6%;
• cottage cheese - from 9 to 18%.

If we compare the amino acid composition of different plant proteins, then soybean proteins are in first place in terms of nutritional value, and lentils are in second place. Best option- the use of different sources of vegetable protein, for example, a combination of cereals, legumes, as well as milk and cereals. During fasting, you can include coconut and soy milk in your diet. After culinary processing proteins are denatured, making them easier to digest. An exception may be celiac disease, which is an intolerance to plant protein. With such a diagnosis, you will have to give up cereals containing gluten: barley, rye, wheat.

An athlete's diet during fasting

To prevent:

• hunger from low-calorie food;
• dehydration of the body;
• poisoning with ketone compounds from excess fatty foods,

athletes must adhere to the following recommendations regarding diet during fasting:

These could be:

1. Use foods with high content protein and calorie density.
   • bananas (1 g of protein and 120 kcal per 100 g of product);
   • broccoli (5 g protein) and other green vegetables;
   • dried fruits;
2. You can make smoothies and purees from fruits. Drinks will saturate the body with additional calories and will be effectively absorbed.
3. Regulate fat intake - maximum tsp. vegetable oil or 2 tbsp. l. seeds or nuts per 1000 kcal from food.
4. Instead of white bread, you should switch to bran bread. For porridges, it is also better to take whole grain cereals, rather than their crushed versions.
5. Laminaria or seaweed. It normalizes heart function, helps with concentration, and increases performance.
6. Instead of tea and coffee, it is better to drink dried fruit compote. This is an opportunity to get valuable minerals and vitamins, dietary fiber, without which the activity of athletes is impossible.

Protein during fasting

They can become a lifesaver. Well-known manufacturers have similar complexes with a full set of amino acids. They allow you to continue building muscle mass, feel a surge of strength and quickly recover after intense training. Along with amino acid cocktails, you should also take vitamin complexes. Those who want to lose weight can 20 minutes before physical activity accept . He is responsible for delivery fatty acids into the myocardium and skeletal muscles. Helps you burn fat while you workout.

Protein products include in the diet and, which, of course, is inferior to egg and whey counterparts. But from the amino acids entering the blood after splitting soy protein, the body will be able to build a muscle frame. Metabolism will improve. The muscles will receive additional relief. Subcutaneous fat will oxidize.

Excellent replacement sunflower oil will be a valuable source of a complex of unsaturated fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins.

May be useful for athletes during fasting, vegetarians and those who are allergic to animal proteins.

Limiting certain foods in your diet does not mean that you can eat those allowed to your heart’s content. Moderation in everything is the main condition of fasting. The way out of it should also be reasonable; you shouldn’t eat everything indiscriminately and in huge quantities.

And then clarity of mind will come, purification will occur, but not to the detriment of the athlete’s overworked body.

Is it possible to maintain the usual exercise routine during Lent? And if so, then how without animal food provide adequate nutrition? We will tell you what plant food quite high in calories and contains required quantity protein so that you don’t feel hungry during fasting and remain energetic.

Lent is a period of abstinence from animal food, so the question essentially sounds like this: how to ensure complete diet for an athlete using only plant foods?

The main problem is lack of knowledge and experience

Most people know very little about plant foods—what foods in what combinations are healthy, filling, and tasty. That's why we all make the same mistake - eat too much fatty foods(oils, nuts, seeds) and concentrated (dried fruits, grain dishes) - and slide into one of three states:

1. Ketone poisoning (from excess fat).

2. Dehydration.

3. Hunger from lack of calories.

Meanwhile, plant foods are nutritious enough to provide for an athlete. Just pay attention to the fact that the number of vegetarians among sports stars is steadily increasing. With the right approach, eating meatless foods can even take you to the next level, and the following recommendations will help.

Diet

1. Eat foods that are high in calorie density and protein:

• Fruits. One medium banana contains 120 calories and over one gram of excellent protein;
• Green vegetables. 100 grams of broccoli contains almost five grams of protein;
• Dried fruits – dates, dried apricots, nuts and seeds;

2. Make purees and smoothies from fruits. This trick helps you digest a larger amount of food normally. Replace tea, coffee and mineral water for juices to get extra calories from drinks.

3. Watch your fats. For every 1000 kcal of the diet there should be no more than 1 teaspoon of oils or 2 tablespoons of nuts/seeds.

4. Your base is fruits and vegetables. If they are not enough, add grains and dried fruits (muesli, buckwheat and oatmeal, kutya). Here is an example of a lean sports menu for one day.

Diet

• Start enriching your diet with vegetables and fruits in advance, spreading the transition over about a week. Exit the fast also smoothly.
• Become curious about learning new things about nutrition and yourself.
• Keep a food diary, describe your body’s reaction to different foods and your condition. The notes will be useful to you in a year.
• If you feel nauseous or dizzy, this may be a sign of clearing out old toxin reserves (unless there are factors that suggest food poisoning). Just give yourself a rest until he returns good health. But the loss of energy indicates that you are doing something wrong - you do not have enough calories or moisture.

If you do everything right, you will find your strength and mental clarity increasing towards the end of Lent. And who knows, maybe you'll want to stay longer lean diet and find out more about her?