Kids & Nutrition - Protein

CF505 YOUTH

A child athlete's ability to recover from games, practices, or intense training requires adequate rest and proper nutrition.

Protein plays a crucial role in an athlete’s balanced nutrition, and it is an important building block for developing strength and peak performance.

An important component of the recovery process is consuming both carbohydrates and protein shortly after exercise to restore muscle glycogen and stimulate muscle protein synthesis. Eating protein after resistance training decreases physical breakdown of muscle and encourages muscle growth.

Young athletes need to consume a wide variety of high-quality protein foods to grow, repair, and maintain muscle. For children, we do want to give them their sources of protein directly from food sources - avoid supplementing protein for your young athlete.

Some examples of good protein sources (and recommended serving sizes) are:

• Chicken breast (100g) - 31g of protein

• Lean Beef Mince (120g) - 26g of protein

• Cottage Cheese (1/2 cup) - 12g of protein

• Greek Yoghurt (unsweetened 1 cup) - 11g of protein

• 2 Eggs (boiled) - 14g of protein

As a rough guide, we should be aiming to feed our young athletes 1 - 1.5g of protein per kg of bodyweight each day.

Example:

12 year old boy weighing 40kg

40kg x 1.5g = 60g of protein per day

As a parent, the best way to help them consume their daily protein needs is at main meals times and after training sessions or games. Eggs with breakfast, chicken at lunch, and beef mince tacos for dinner - simple!

For more Nutrition guidance, contact us!

For more Nutrition guidance, contact us!

Youth Program at CF505 is on Wednesdays at 3:20pm and 4:15pm

Unit 8/1 Commence Place, Burpengary | 0400 072 132 | crossfit505burpengary@outlook.com