Are you a boxer, or do you look forward to being a professional boxer one day? Then you have to take care of your body with great foods and physical activities. One thing about boxers is that they are involved in a pretty much destructive lifestyle. To put it lightly, you better hope you have a granite chin if you want to make a career out of boxing.
But as nature would have it, no normal human being by whatsoever standard was born with a granite chin, but you can develop a stronger chin if you put effort into a professional level workout routine and dieting. You do not just need a stronger chin, you also need qualities like resilience, endurance, agility, and other “virtues” to help you stay top notch in your game.
Here are 10 foods that can help you develop stronger chin, resilience, endurance, and agility and perform better as a boxer.
Meat
Red meat, they say, is not good for your health. But if you’re a boxer, you might be exempted from this rule. Red meat contains omega-3 fatty acids as well as other healthy fats that can help you stay stronger and heal from stress pretty quickly. It contains healthy minerals which can help in hormonal control and to build and maintain healthy bones.
Red meat contains a type of iron that is more easily digested, promotes cognitive functions, stronger muscles, proper circulation of oxygen, and treats fatigue.
Fruits
Ordinarily, eating lots of fruits makes you strong. As a boxer, you need to eat a whole lot more fruits to stay relevant in your career. They keep you well hydrated and helps to fight the radicals in your body. Fruits are high in fiber and are very effective in ensuring a healthy bowel movement.
Vegetables
Vegetables are sort of like fruits in a lot of ways. They have the same sort of nutrients and they offer the same sorts of benefits. Vegetables are rich in fiber which helps to maintain a healthy digestive system and reduces gut inflammation. They reduce stress and protects your bones as a result of their high calcium contents.
Pasta
The carbohydrate need for a boxer cannot be overemphasized. Athletes of all types should eat enough carbohydrates on a daily basis to help their body keep up with their lifestyle. Pasta is one of the richest sources of carbohydrate with about 25 grams of carbs in each 100 gram of pasta. As is with the case with all carb-rich foods, pasta is a powerhouse source of energy for the body. It contains a lot of other nutrients as well which all contribute towards strengthening the body.
Rice
This is another great source of carbohydrate. Rice is one of the quickest energy sources for your body. As a boxer looking to promote your health and overall performance, eating a lot of rice will help you stay active for longer while you practice your punches.
Cheese
It’s been said severally in the past that cheese is unhealthy for the body. But recent studies have it that cheese is one of the best foods you can eat to maintain a good health condition. As a boxer, cheese can offer a whole lot of benefits; starting with the supply of calcium to the body.
Calcium in cheese helps to keep the bone and teeth healthy. This might actually be the basis of building a chin made of granite. Cheese is also rich in calories, protein, and other healthy nutrients.
Turkey
How often do you eat turkey? Do you wait till it’s thanksgiving to eat some turkey? If yes, then you’re going to have to change your eating pattern and eat more turkey. Turkey strengthens your immune system, boosts your metabolism, promotes healthy cardiovascular and psychological health. It contains quite a lot of nutrients too numerous to mention. Some of them are fat, zinc, potassium, vitamins, protein, carbohydrate, thiamin, niacin, and riboflavin.
Salmon
While you’re exposing your body to all that punches, be it known to you that your body is going through stress. However, stress can be managed and most likely prevented even before you step into the ring by eating foods that are effective in doing so. One of such foods is salmon.
Salmon should be in every athlete’s diet. It is rich in protein, but not just any protein, salmon is rich in lean protein. Also, salmon contains a rare fat known as omega-3 fatty acids. A very healthy fat that is really good for the body to perform at its best. Your body cannot produce omega-3 fatty acids. This means you can only get this compound from what you eat.
Salmon is effective in boosting your energy, mood, reducing the risk of heart problems, strengthening your bones, aiding in muscle development, reducing inflammation, and lowering the risk of a lot of chronic diseases.
Potatoes
As a boxer, you can never have enough carbohydrates. They are not only delicious, but they are hands down, one of the best carbs anyone can feed on. And yes, they are vegetables!
Any type of potatoes can be eaten by a boxer. Sweet potatoes are the best. One reason sweet potatoes is all that and more is because it contains a lot of nutrients; like a lot! Some of them are magnesium and potassium for diminishing cramps and preventing muscle spasm, carbohydrates – for improved energy, protein – for building new tissues in the body (very good for the muscles), and antioxidants – for protecting your cells from free radicals. Sweet potatoes also keep you full for longer seeing as they have a low glycemic index and contains a lot of fiber.
Supplements
Here is a little bit of something to keep you ahead as a boxer. Let’s be real, serious boxers are placed on a strict diet in hope that they will meet a certain nutritional standard. But these diets can only do so much. So, to make sure you’re not lacking the necessary nutrients in any way, the best thing for you to do is pop a pill.
Although these supplements are great, you’re going to need to seek the opinion of a professional before you go ahead to start taking them. This is because you may not know if a particular supplement is helpful or destructive to your health and boxing career. Most supplements manufacturers hide under the protective umbrella of “proprietary blend” to produce harmful products in the name of supplements. So, be careful.
All these foods are great but suffice it to say that, consistency is always the key. You may not see desirable results overnight. That does not mean that all your efforts disappeared into thin air. If you keep up with it consistently, you’ll see results with time, and you’ll be happy you did not give up.