What Do The Best Athletes In The World Eat?
On average, men and women consume 2,800 and 2,300 calories per day respectively. With that, they engage in daily exercise for half an hour — but what do the best athletes in the world eat? And how do they fuel their training?
At PledgeSports we are obsessed with nutrition and training, and how they impact an athlete’s performance.
From Andy Murray’s 5,500 daily calorie consumption to former UFC double-weight champion Conor McGregor’s unparalleled eight hours of training, this is how the best athletes in the world eat and train.
Usain Bolt
Daily Calorie Intake: 5,500
Exercise: 3.5 hours a day
Usain Bolt has one of the most surprising diet routines on the list. According to The Huffington Post, he loves chicken nuggets and wings in the morning before he hits the track. In fact, during the Beijing Olympics in 2012, he ate an estimated 1,000 chicken nuggets, according to Ladbrokes.
Bolt maintains a diet made up of 60% protein, 30% carbs, and 10% fat. He frequently eats ackee and saltfish with dumplings, cooked banana, or sweet potato for breakfast.
Lunch is usually made up of pasta with chicken, while dinner is often rice, peas and pork.
While he only trains 3.5 hours per day, Bolt has said that he simply “concentrates on being the greatest at all times.”
Seems legit!
Andy Murray
Daily Calorie Intake: 5,500
Exercise: 5.5 hours a day
On a typical day of training, Murray eats muesli or porridge followed by eggs, bacon, and beans for his breakfast. On the menu for lunch is usually a fruit smoothie, protein and vegetables.
Dinner involves a starter of either soup, seafood, or salad, followed by chicken, potatoes, and vegetables, according to Men’s Health.
According to Ladbrokes, the world’s No. 1 tennis player meditates in order to stay focused.
Read our popular piece on why tennis players are among the fittest athletes in the world
Conor McGregor
Daily Calorie Intake: 3,186
Exercise: 8 hours a day
While eight hours a day might seem like an insane amount of exercise, MMA champion Conor McGregor doesn’t stick to a strict workout regime, according to Bodybuilding.com.
“I wake up, I drink water, I stretch, I begin to loosen up, and then I continue moving throughout the day,” McGregor said. “I’ll hit the gym or whatever I feel like at that particular time, or I’ll take a class of Taekwondo, jiu-jitsu, yoga, or capoeira. Sometimes, I’ll box. Variety is the best way. For me, regime doesn’t work.”
He added that he’s “always eating good food” and is rarely caught eating take-out.
“I love water and coconut water, but I never drink energy drinks — ever!” he said. “I just eat good, quality meat and keep hydrated.”
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Venus Williams
Daily Calorie Intake: 3,489
Exercise: 4.5 hours a day
According to Self, Venus starts her day with a green juice, protein smoothie, fruit, an egg white omelette or granola. For lunch, she goes for vegan restaurants and generally chooses rice, beans, and grilled shrimp.
Throughout the day she snacks on kale chips, dates, and cashews, and typically makes a chicken salad for dinner.
In addition to her tennis training, Williams dances to keep fit. She told People that she spends as much time in the gym as she does on the court.
Tennis players live longer, healthier live – read here to find out why
Wayne Rooney
Daily Calorie Intake: 4,575
Exercise: 6 hours a day
The Manchester United captain eats a cheeky bowl of Coco Pops on the morning of match day, and practices visualisation techniques to get his mental state in check.
In his book “My Decade in the Premier League,” he wrote: “The club like us not to go overboard on the eating and drinking in the close-season break, so if I go abroad I like to get into the hotel gym three times a week to work on the treadmill and do some weight work.
“That way I can be sharp when we get back to training and the running will feel easier when the pre-season games start.”
Venus is also vegan! Here are a few other vegan stars
Anthony Joshua
Daily Calorie Intake: 4,500
Exercise: 8 hours
According to The Telegraph, Joshua kicks off his day with two slices of wholemeal bread, one banana, five raw eggs and a pot of Greek yoghurt, all washed down with a glass of apple juice. For lunch, the IBF heavyweight champion tucks into two fillets of raw salmon, two skinless baked potatoes, a bean salad and water.
He snacks on Greek yoghurt, muesli and fruit salad in the afternoon before having chicken, white pitta bread, mashed potatoes with butter, mixed vegetables and orange juice for his dinner.
Joshua’s training day generally consists of cardio work in the morning, either sprints, bike work or swimming. This is followed by strength and conditioning in the afternoon and a sparring session in the evening.
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Dan Lydiate
Daily Calorie Intake: 6,000
Exercise: 2-4 hours
Welsh flanker, Dan Lydiate, faces a mountain of food each day. At 17st 9ld, it takes a serious amount of planning to maintain his weight and fuel his training.
Dan starts off the day with a bowl of bran flakes, an entire plate of cottage cheese, and 4 poached eggs served on top of two slices of toast. For lunch, he consumes three pieces of chicken, a serving of sweet potato and some mango for dessert.
Dinner comes in two instalments; Early Dinner and Late Dinner. First up around 4pm, a beef stir fry. Then, a couple of hours later, another beef stir fry and a protein shake!
Jessica Ennis-Hill
Daily Calorie Intake: 1,749
Exercise: 6 hours a day
Retired Olympian Ennis-Hill trained almost twice as much as Usain Bolt. According to Women’s Health, she mixed up her routine to “surprise” her body. This included circuit training comprised of crunches, press-ups, jumps, planks, dips and sprints.
The gold medal heptathlete also walks her dog as part of her exercise routine, according to Ladbrokes.
In terms of diet, breakfast is made up of toast, cereal, or granola with yoghurt and juice. Jessica has fruit or cereal bars for a mid-morning snack, sandwiches, pasta, salads, or soups for lunch, and either chilli, stir-fry, pasta, salmon, risotto, or lasagne for dinner.
She even indulges in the odd glass of red wine. Sneaky!
Ronda Rousey
Daily Calorie Intake: 2,706
Exercise: 6 hours a day
Former UFC champion Rousey follows The Dolce Diet, according to Cosmopolitan, which involves whole, nutrient-rich ingredients important for building muscle mass and promoting recovery.
While she has previously stated she doesn’t count calories, Ronda’s diet often consists of a chia bowl and coffee for breakfast, scrambled eggs on bread for lunch, the likes of turkey chilli for dinner, and a helping of Greek yoghurt for dessert.
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