Diet Hacks for Your First Boxing Match

This article was researched and created by an experienced fighter and boxing enthusiast, Lorenzo from Extremestrikers.com

Diet Hacks for Your First Boxing Match 

Maintaining a proper diet is just as instrumental to your boxing success as physical training. Without the right fuel, your body won’t perform at its peak and you could even pose risks to your health. So what does a good boxing diet consist of? Here are some diet hacks for your first boxing match. 

When to Eat

As a boxer, your diet should provide you with enough energy during training, provide nutrients for muscle development, and decrease body fat. Timing is a crucial aspect of any boxer’s diet; when you eat is just as important as what you eat. 

While you’re training, your diet should revolve around your training sessions. You’ll expend the most energy during your workout, so your pre-workout meal should be big. Your recovery meal afterward should be about half as large as the pre-workout meal. Your breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day, and you should snack throughout the day. A boxing diet should consist of six, smaller, well-timed meals a day rather than three large meals a day. 

What Your Diet Should Consist of Before a Boxing Fight

As a boxer, you need a well-balanced diet. Since you use large amounts of energy, you need plenty of carbohydrates to replenish yourself. You also need protein to help repair your muscles. Protein should be consumed in smaller quantities than carbs, though, since the body can’t store very much protein at one time.

You should also restrict your sodium intake before the fight, as this helps with weight loss. To retain the water in your body the night before the fight, however, you should eat a sodium-heavy meal. Finally, you should drink a lot of water as a boxer. Your urine should be clear or light yellow. Hydrating long before workouts and fights is essential, to keep up your stamina during intense sessions. 

Here are some suggestions for what to eat for each meal or snack throughout your day.

• Pre-workout Meal – Your meal should be a full two hours before training starts and consist of plenty of carbs, some lean protein, water, and some fresh fruit. Brown pasta or rice, one hard-boiled egg, 33 cL of water, and one fruit is a good example.
• Snacks – You should be consuming healthy snacks between meals all day long, so that you don’t starve your body at any point. A good snack right before a workout or fight could be a banana, dried fruits, oatmeal with fruit, yoghurt, or a bowl of cereals with skim milk.
• Breakfast – Breakfast should be your biggest meal of the day. If you go running in the morning, you should eat breakfast after your run. A good breakfast would be a whole-wheat bagel with peanut butter, a banana, and six egg-whites.
• Lunch – Your usual concept of “lunch” might be thrown if you’re following a six-small-meals-per-day diet, so consider lunch any daytime meal you consume that isn’t your pre-workout meal. Lunch could be a 12-inch turkey sub sandwich on whole-wheat bread with vegetables and cheese.
• Dinner – Your evening meal could include grilled chicken breast, whole-wheat pasta with sauce, vegetables, and a salad. 

What Foods to Stay Away from Before a Boxing Fight

Foods to avoid before a match are generally the same to avoid during training. Foods with empty calories, like candies, cakes, and crisps are loaded with extra sugar, bad fats, bad carbs, and unhealthful preservatives. These substances slow your body down and tear away any progress you’ve made at keeping your body in top fighting shape. 

Another substance to avoid is alcohol. Alcohol has many negative effects on physical performance, including reduced power and muscle endurance, body dehydration, lower absorption of vitamins and minerals, decreased aerobic capacity, delayed muscle recovery, and more. 

Ultimately, your body needs the proper fuel to keep you energized in the ring on fight day. A balance of carbs, lean proteins, and good fats (like nuts, seeds, and avocados) will be your best pre-fight diet. And don’t forget to hydrate with lots of water! 

What Should You Eat After a Boxing Fight?

Just after your first fight, your focus should be on speeding up your recovery. You want to stop your body from using its own muscle mass for energy production. Post-fight, you should eat foods that are high in carbs and protein, but low in fibre. You should also eat every two hours. And don’t forget to drink more water; it helps digestion and rehydration. 

Final Thoughts on Diet Hacks for Your First Boxing Match

A boxing diet is a balanced diet and one that you pay close attention to. If you’re serious about boxing, you’ll likely have to modify your existing diet and keep close track of what you eat. With the right foods and a little planning, you can have a boxing diet that brings you results.