A fighter’s guide to nutrition and diet
6 mins read

A fighter’s guide to nutrition and diet


Movies, TV, and countless training montages have taught us that a fighter’s diet must be highly specialized to be effective.

To build an ideal body for fighting, you need to have a solid nutritional plan.

In reality, a fighter’s nutrition plan has a lot in common with your basic “sensible diet.” It just varies in how much you eat and how often.

In this blog we present our guide to the correct diet of a fighter. This will help you not only get through your workout, but get the most out of it.

A fighter’s diet begins with the same building blocks of a good diet that we should all use. From there, a fighter will modify their nutrition plan based on training goals, personal preferences, training schedule, and weight class considerations.

The basics of a healthy diet

A good diet for a fighter, or anyone for that matter, starts with a few simple facts.

A skinny boxer in the center of the ring doing a shadowboxing routine.
A lean, fight-ready boxer needs the same kind of food as the rest of us.
  1. Eat the right amount: You need to eat enough to meet your daily energy needs, but not so much that you convert unused energy into fat.
  2. Eat a balanced diet: Throughout the day, your diet should include a good balance of all the major macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates, fats and water.
  3. Eat a variety of foods: Foods contain different micronutrients (such as vitamins and minerals) that can be difficult to obtain from other sources. Varying your diet during the week helps you not to miss anything essential.

This simple plan should be enough to develop a customized diet for any fighter. But it may not provide enough detail and guidance, especially with so much conflicting information out there.

How much should you eat?

Eating food provides the human body with the energy it needs to function. At a basic level, we need to eat just enough to get us through the day. For most people, that means consuming 1800 to 2400 calories per day. Adding activities such as strength training or running will increase your calorie needs.

There are several online calculators that can help you determine how many calories you burn in a day. And it’s a good idea to keep track of what you eat, so you can develop an accurate idea of ​​how many calories you’re consuming.

Macro balancing

Despite what you may have heard, you should not try to eliminate or significantly reduce protein, carbohydrates, or fats from your diet for an extended period. Each plays an important role in the proper functioning of your body.

A plate with grilled chicken, quinoa, sliced ​​avocado, raw spinach and quartered tomatoes.
A balanced meal for a boxer should include proteins, fats and carbohydrates from both starchy foods and non-starchy vegetables.

Instead, you want to make sure you get a balanced amount of all three throughout the day. Current thinking places the right balance as follows:

  • Carbohydrates: 45-65%
  • Protein: 15-35%
  • Fat: 20-35%

We recommend adjusting this balance to suit your needs.

And don’t forget the water. Keeping your water intake consistent throughout the day will ensure you don’t get tired during your workout.

Vary your consumption

To ensure you eat a well-balanced diet, your daily dietary intake should include a variety of nutritional options.

As for protein, you should look for lean meats (chicken, turkey, grass-fed and finished beef), seafood (low-mercury fish and shellfish), and plant-based options (soy, nuts, chickpeas, lentils) .

As for carbohydrates, you should include both starchy foods like whole grains, brown rice, and potatoes, as well as other non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, spinach, and peppers. Try to avoid simple sugars, highly processed foods, and other high-glycemic “bad carbs.”

Fat will likely be included as part of your meal in some form. Most foods of animal origin contain fat. There are also many plants that contain good types of fats, such as avocados and nuts. You can also add fat by choosing to cook or make sauces with good fats like olive or coconut oil.

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Optimizing your diet for your training plan

Now that we’ve covered the basics of building a nutritional plan, let’s talk about how a fighter’s diet will need to change.

A boxer’s diet needs variety

A fit boxer is in the gym with a pair of gloves draped around his neck.
A boxer’s diet plan will depend on their training goals, training plan, and competition schedule.

Your calorie needs will vary considerably depending on your training goals, your training schedule and your racing schedule. It will be difficult to set a single basic diet that always meets your needs.

If you’re focused on building muscle, you’ll probably need to increase your protein intake. An intense training session will require more calories than a recovery day. Gaining weight for a fight requires a different nutritional plan than a normal training day.

Ultimately, your training plan and your nutrition plan are linked. Then develop them together.

Meal times for boxers in training

Plan your meals around your training schedule.

Your biggest meal should be about two hours before your workout. This ensures you have all the energy and nutrients you need when training begins. If it’s a particularly intense workout, you may need to have a snack right before you start. Otherwise you won’t need to eat again until the recovery meal.

The fit boxer without a shirt stands next to a heavy bag.
Only you can really decide what the best nutrition plan will be.

The recovery meal is one of the other largest meals of the day. You should eat something to replace the energy you burn during your workout.

Breakfast will be the only other “large” meal you may eat. Eating well in the morning sets a good foundation for what comes next and keeps you from feeling hungry before your next meal.

You should aim to eat approximately every three hours, with small snacks complementing the rest of your nutrition plan. This ensures a constant flow of energy throughout the day. It will also help prevent hunger from increasing, limiting the risk of overeating.

As with many things, you are the best judge of what is right for you. The fighter diet that works for one person may not work for another. You need to adapt based on your personal needs and preferences.



Boxing