There is a lot of temptation and misinformation when food is involved, and the youth, college or high school athlete might find it hard to understand a good eating plan. Softball players face similar issues as other girls about diet and body image.

Eating the right diet and exercising the right doesn’t just make you look good but affects every activity that we do and it includes sports performance. Every athlete puts their priority on game performance. Softball players should be able to hold that softball bats and perform the way it should be. They need to be energetic, and good diet and exercise will do that.

The way we select macro-nutrients that brings the best in us can be the difference between poor performance and excellent performance in any game.

Exercise and diet can help in building agility and strength which improves softball game. Softball players should concentrate on having a diet with high protein and full-body exercises to strengthen the muscle. They should also develop good muscle memory. Read on to know what softball players should include in their diets and the exercise to participate in to improve performance in a softball game.

Protein

All athletes, which include softball players, require a significant amount of strength to play and produce good results. Softball players should eat a diet containing high protein to build their muscle. This makes their throws accurate, and batting becomes powerful. The protein should come from healthy sources like low-fat dairy, nuts and lean meats. When you eat protein daily, then the exercise you participate in will use the protein to build leaner and stronger muscle.

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Most successful athletes understand how important sufficient protein is. Other food choices include salmon, grass-fed beef, eggs and boneless chicken breast. If you have limited time to get the above choices, you can go for whey protein isolate since it is lactose-free, fat-free and can easily mix.

Carbs

Carbohydrates are good for athletes, although latest diet fads suggest otherwise. The problem is in the food bought in a grocery store. Most of them contain a lot of carbs and picking good carbs and avoiding bad carbs can be difficult for most people.

When looking for the right carbs, softball players should look for food sources with low-glycemic carbohydrates. Such carbohydrates won’t spike insulin levels which makes you feel hungry few minutes after eating.

Good sources of such carbohydrates are green vegetables, Ezekiel bread, brown rice, sweet potatoes, bananas, old-fashion oatmeal, and blueberries.

The body can also use high-glycemic carbs when eaten at the right time. Grape juice, sports drink, and moderate candy can be eaten, but only after workout session or grueling practice. Consuming sugar at the appropriate time assist in fueling glycogen stores which aid in recovery.

Fat

Although there have been constant articles saying that fat should be avoided, fat is essential. Poly- and monounsaturated fats are healthy fats. Trans fat contained in chicken wings and greasy fries are unhealthy fats. Healthy fats are found in red meat, cashews, seeds, almonds, natural nut butter, tuna, and avocado. These foods contain a lot of calories which are used when all the carbohydrates have been exhausted.

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Knee Tuck

These are a plyometric exercise that ensures that your entire body is kept fit. Not only do knee tucks build explosiveness and strength in the muscles, but also increases the heart rate which creates stronger heart muscle. The stronger heart muscle makes softball players have better endurance during a softball game.

The steps to be taken are;

  • Start by standing with the feet
  • Bend the knees slightly then jump and bring the knees into the chest
  • As soon as you land, perform another tuck jump and pull the knees into the chest

It is as simple as that. Knee tucks blast the core and legs. The heart will also start to pump fast. 30 seconds are enough to do knee tucks before getting tired.

Weight twisting lunge

This exercise combines your lower body lunge with upper-body rotation. The exercise involves few steps;

  • Start by standing with the feet and have a dumbbell in both hands
  • Lunge the right foot forward and bending the right knee to about 90˚ and then bend the left knee until the knee is near the ground
  • Hold the lunge and bring dumbbells to the chest and then twist your torso in the right direction
  • Come back to the center and ensure that the right foot is standing
  • Lunge with your left foot and twist your torso to your left

This exercise works on the arms, core, butt, and legs. It helps as it makes someone stronger and builds flexibility every time someone rotates.