Bodybuilder's food consumption during off-season period

Abstract

Bodybuilding is a high-performance sport where athletes perform nutritional and pharmacological practices still little studied by science, if studies are necessary describing the habits of these athletes so that specific recommendations can be elaborated. The objective of this study was to evaluate and classify the dietary intake and nutritional practices of bodybuilders athletes, comparing to existing nutritional guidelines. For this, a cross-sectional study was carried out, selecting 11 federated athletes, over 18 years old, six male athletes and five female athletes of different categories. Participants answered questions about their eating habits, pharmacological, time and category of competition and training. There are few studies done with this population, but in the great majority of the studies the athletes end up having an inadequate food intake and a prevalence by the use of steroid hormones without medical monitoring. In our study, an inadequate food consumption was found in relation to current recommendations, with high protein intake, low carbohydrate and micronutrient consumption. The use of steroids was performed without medical follow-up by most users. The nutritional deficiencies found in the study may be linked to the majority of athletes lacking nutritional monitoring. Due to the scarcity of data, this population should be better studied.