Learn how to formulate a high-calorie diet and whether you can eat like Michael Phelps with 12,000 calories. Michael Phelps, one of the most famous swimmers of recent years, has long been considered legendary. The athlete's physique is the envy of many men. However, its nutrition is falsely called sports and you will soon find out why. Today we invite you to familiarize yourself with Michael Phelps's crazy 12,000 calorie daily diet.
Michael Phelps Nutrition Program
In his interviews, Michael often says that he consumes from eight to ten thousand calories throughout the day. Among the dishes he uses, there is a large amount of pizza and pasta. This carbohydrate meal is generously flavored with eggs and sandwiches. Obviously, many people wonder how Michael Phelps's crazy 12,000 calorie daily diet does not lead to weight gain.
Many nutritionists don't believe in this. That Michael consumes so many calories throughout the day. For example, the director of the University of sports nutrition from Pittsburgh Lensley Bonchy is confident that for this he will have to eat all day without a break. The head of another university, Christine Clark, is of a similar opinion. In her opinion, it takes a lot of time to consume, process such an amount of food.
Bonchi specifically calculated that to maintain size (193 centimeters in height and 91 kilograms of weight) in preparation for the competition, Phelps needs about a thousand calories every hour. As a result, according to the expert, Mike consumes about six or seven thousand calories during the day. Clarke, in turn, suggested that the athlete's diet contains special energy drinks. It is thanks to their use that the indicator of the energy value of the diet that Phelps talks about is achieved.
How Michael Phelps Eats: An Example of a Daily Diet
Let's take a look at the daily diet of an athlete, as this is a very interesting question:
- Breakfast - sandwiches with scrambled eggs, tomatoes, fried onions, lettuce, cheese and mayonnaise (3 pieces), two cups of coffee, an omelet (5 eggs), one cup of porridge, French toast with powdered sugar (three pieces) and three pancakes with chocolate chips …
- Dinner - 450 grams of pasta, sandwiches with ham, white bread, mayonnaise and cheese (two pieces), a bottle of energy drink for a thousand calories.
- Dinner - one whole pizza, 450 grams of pasta and several energy drinks.
It should be recognized that nutritionists have a positive opinion of such a diet in terms of proper nutrient distribution. The presence of fruit in the diet, in their opinion, makes it more beneficial to health.
Can I eat foods with a lot of fat?
Athletes must adhere to a dietary nutrition program that provides the body with the necessary amount of energy for training and competition. It is quite difficult to achieve this without fats, but they should be as useful as possible. You probably get it by now. That the conversation is about unsaturated fatty acids.
Recall that the sources of these substances should be ranked avocados, seeds, nuts, vegetable oil. When talking about Michael Phelps's crazy 12,000 calorie diet, remember that an athlete spends a lot of energy in training. If the average person begins to eat in accordance with his nutritional program, then obesity cannot be avoided.
Is there a feeling of heaviness during exercise after a meal?
It is quite a natural question, because the food must have time to digest. For most athletes, meal planning becomes a major challenge. On the one hand, they need to ensure that a large amount of energy is supplied to the body, and on the other hand, during the training, there should be no feeling of heaviness.
To do this, Bonchi recommends focusing on cocktails, since liquid food is processed much faster by the body. For example, muesli with yoghurt and fruit is better than cereal milk. In addition, the time of the meal is of great importance. It is a well-organized meal schedule that allows athletes to solve both problems we have considered now.
How much does an ordinary person need to eat?
If you are not planning to become the winner of the Olympic Games, then the daily energy value should be within two thousand calories. This should take into account age and level of physical activity. Let's say an average treadmill workout burns 200 to 700 calories in an hour.
Phelps consumes about three thousand calories daily during his studies. This only applies to his training in the pool. Most athletes need to consume two or even three times more calories during the day. Than the common man. This allows them to stay in great shape and perform well in competitions.
How does Phelps combine recovery, sleep, and meals?
There is no doubt that this is an extremely difficult process. Michael often only has about an hour to rest between swims. In order for the athlete's body to be always ready for new victories, a strict diet and rest regime must be observed. Only due to the competent combination of these components, the high results shown by Phelps are possible.
Within a quarter of an hour from the end of the lesson, the athlete should eat a small amount of food containing carbohydrates and protein compounds. This will activate the regenerative processes in the body. Only the regenerated muscles are able to show high results. Bonchi recommends all athletes to have a light snack after training, and after an hour or two have a full meal.
Unusual dietary programs for other athletes
We introduced you to Michael Phelps's crazy 12,000 calorie daily diet, but other famous athletes have also excelled in this regard. Let's take a look at the nutritional programs of some athletes.
- Usain Bolt. The energy value of Usain's diet is five thousand calories. He belongs to the category of athletes who do not want to bother in terms of drawing up refined diets. During his victory at the 2008 Olympics, Bolt regularly visited McDonald's fast food restaurants. His favorite dish is Chicken McNuggets and he consumed them at once for 47 thousand calories. Also, the athlete loves to eat fries for breakfast.
- Riff Raff. During the day, the athlete consumes about four thousand calories. This is an extremely popular wrestler in the United States and little-known in our country. To achieve the required body weight, he actively consumes burgers, barbecues, pizza, etc.
- David Carter. The daily calorie content of an athlete reaches ten thousand calories. The famous American football player weighs about 140 kilograms, but at the same time there is very little fat in his body. We also draw your attention to the fact that Carter is an adherent of a strict vegetarian diet. This suggests that he gains all his calories only thanks to plant foods. It is quite obvious that he has to eat very often, namely every two hours.
- JJ Watt. Another athlete whose nutritional program is not far behind Michael Phelps's crazy 12,000 calories a day diet. The Houston Texans (American football) defender has a daily caloric value of nine thousand calories. The athlete himself said in his interviews that he once realized the importance of a large amount of fat. After that, fried potatoes and brunch became his favorite dishes.
- John Call. John is significantly behind the previous athlete in terms of calorie intake, which he has only 3-4 thousand calories. Having a rather interesting appearance, Call is engaged in a funny sport - acrobolics. It is a nuclear mixture of strength and acrobatics. To provide his body with the necessary amount of energy, John has to consume about 45 kilos of poultry meat weekly. Most often, he cooks it in the oven, along with potatoes or rice.
- Duane (Rock) Jones. The now famous film actor consumes about five thousand calories daily. Recall that earlier Dwayne was a famous wrestler, and after completing his sports career, he moved to the cinema. He is crazy about fish dishes and other types of seafood. Every day, the actor consumes about one kilo of fish. At the same time, Dwayne's meal schedule also includes free days on which he eats whatever the soul asks for. Once, after a long diet that lasted about 150 days, Jones ate 21 brownies, 12 pancakes and two pizzas in one day. After that, there were those who wanted to repeat this record, and you can find out about their results on YouTube.
- Nick Hardwicke. Nick's diet is five thousand calories per day. Now this American football player has already completed his sports career and has become more restrained in food. Recently, he has been a proponent of the paleo diet.
- Michael Arnstein. The famous marathon runner is an active fruit eater and consumes from four to six thousand calories throughout the day. He is sure that his success in the sports field is entirely due to fruits. It was after switching to a fruitorian diet that he managed to set several records.
These are just some of the athletes who consume large amounts of food. By and large, without this it is difficult to count on good results. Athletes spend a huge amount of energy and they simply need to eat a lot and often. The same Michael Phelps, among other things, has a high metabolism. Nutritionists remember to mention this when considering his crazy 12,000 calorie diet.
When we gave an example of Michael's daily menu, you probably paid attention to the amount of carbohydrate foods. After the end of a sports career, the need to eat large amounts of food disappears. Do not compare the training process of casual fitness enthusiasts and professional athletes. The former spend several times less energy and do not need such an amount of food.
This suggests that it is not worth much to be surprised at Michael Phelps' crazy 12,000 calories per day diet. However, this applies to almost all famous professional athletes. Bodybuilding stars also consume a huge amount of calories during the period of mass gain, otherwise they will not be able to achieve outstanding results.
For a 10,000 calorie daily diet, see below:
