As a serious athlete, you need every step you can get. Whether it’s mental or a physical edge on the ice, as long as it’s healthy athletes should pursue these advantages.
We commonly refer to this as a “Whole Training Method”. Whether you’re a goalie or a power forward on the court, training doesn’t stop when practice is over. Or the season, for that matter.
Enter, sports nutrition. Eating right is one of the most important things an athlete can do. Powering through nutrients from high performance training, athletes need to build an understanding of what they should and should not be eating.
We’ve built a list of some of the best books on food for athletes, specifically.
Related: Vitamins for athletes & what supplements should athletes take?
The 11 Best Nutrition Books for Athletes
For many growing athletes, grocery shopping is not on the “to-do” list. That’s because you probably live at home, or in a billet home.
With that in mind, I can personally assure you that asking your family/billet family to practice eating healthier will not fall on deaf ears. Eating healthier is something that (basically) the entire world strives to do, New Year’s Resolution or not.
Often times, buying a book on nutrition can be the difference maker your family needs. Choosing the best foods for an athletes diet isn’t something that has to be impossible. Build an understanding of not only foods that give you the best nutrients and find a couple meals that work for you. Whether you’re packaging them for your time at school or before practice, not every meal has to look like it was prepped for the President.
Here are some helpful athlete nutrition books to get you started. If you think we’re missing something here, please get in touch (tyler at goaliecoaches dot com).
1- The “TB12” Method
Tom Brady, one of the greatest athletes of all time, goes in depth on how to achieve a lifetime of peak performance in his book “The TB12 Method”.
For any athlete, while this book may not be focused explicitly on food, it’s critical that you learn from some of the best there are.
Not only has Tom Brady had an incredible sports career, he has consistently improved as he grows older in age.
The TB12 Method is a must read book for any athlete. If you’re going to buy two books from this list, make it this one and an athlete cookbook.
2- Run Fast Eat Slow
For pure recipe books, there are two great ones in this series.
The first, pictured here, is Run Fast Eat Slow. Recipes in this one are a bit more in depth than the second book it the series. They are designed for more of a “sit down” approach, where as the second offers quicker recipes that still pack flavor.
The second, is Run Fast Cook Fast Eat Slow: Quick Fix Recipes for Athletes. Of course, as mentioned this book offers recipes with high nutritional value that are quicker and easier to make.
Buy Run Fast Eat Slow on Amazon.
Buy Run Fast Cook Fast Eat Slow: Quick Fix Recipes for Athletes on Amazon.
3- The No Meat Cookbook
This book earns the number three spot on our list not because of it’s Vegan recipes, but rather because it focuses on what we take from food.
As athletes burning a higher amount of calories and needing nutrition from a variety of foods, The No Meat Cookbook does an excellent job of providing a wide variety of plant based recipes for athletes.
The book covers a couple really key areas to an athletes performance as well, giving it higher placement on our list. First, morning meals and second being action packed smoothies. Give it a try, you’ll be glad you did.
Buy The No Meat Cookbook on Amazon
Related: Best Sports Psychology Books For Athletes
