On the ESPN website, McDonald’s is making a big push about how they are going to be feeding the olympic athletes. Yeah right. Here’s what they had to say: “During the Games, we expect to:
Serve over one million sandwiches to athletes, coaches, officials, media and spectators
Serve an average of more than 4,000 hamburgers each day to athletes, coaches and officials in the Olympic Village
Use more than 1.8 million meat patties, 60 tons of potatoes and 10,000 kilos of lettuce to feed spectators of the Games.”
Ok, I can believe maybe the spectators and coaches being fed by McD’s, but do you seriously think a finely tuned olympic athlete is going to sit down to a Big Mac extra value meal (biggie sized) before his/her event? I think McDonald’s needs a reality check.
Some athletes don’t tune their diet as finely as you might imagine. I know at least one gold medal in swimming was won within and hour of eating 2 Big Macs (so much for the cramping and drowning after eating wive’s tale).
Its funny cuz I was watching something like dateline or 20/20 and this lady was at one of the training facilities and on the tour visited the cafeteria. They pretty much said they cooked everything and if the athlete had any special request they would cook it. They made it seem that only certain athletes really watched what they ate. Like gymnist and others that have to maintain low weight and low bodyfat. Of course I thought all athletes tried doing this(well sport dependent) but I guess not. I also was watching something in a Human anatomy class about nutrition or something and they had bonnie blair the speed skater i think on their and her pre game diet consisted of like either a peanut butter sandwich or yogurt or something like that…i mean my point is i think alot of athletes do not watch what they eat. I mean an endurance athlete needs a ton of carbs and protein carbs for energy and protein for recovery. So i guess they can eat what ever the hell they want too…cuz they are gonna burn it off during training…but I amjust telling you what i saw…hope its off some help.
Actually, I went to a Poliquin seminar almost two years ago and he said that the goalie for the Canadian hockey team in '98 should have received a gold medal for the most number of Big Macs eaten. Apparently this guy would just pile about a dozen Big Macs on a plate and inhale them. When asked about the best way to train a hockey goalie, Poliquin’s response was to show them where the gym is.
Well, if this is true, then I guess my opinion of what it takes to be an olympic athlete has been skewed and off-kilter. Yes, they are all great athletes, but there are a lot of great athletes out there. You would assume that the one’s who take their nutrition in to account would be more successful. But, you know what they say about when you assume.
I dont know if any one has ever heard of Brian Urlacher (middle linbacker of the chicago bears) but, in an interview with espn magazine he said that he eats Mcdonalds almost every day.
Also remember that after the athlete finishes their event/s they are probably in an offseason and will want to celebrate a chance to have some time off let their hair down and eat what they want after possibly several years of meticulous training and dieting.
I was shocked to see male gymnasts from the USSR national team smoke unfiltered cigs in their training facility. I had a Thai Boxing coach, from Thailand (a national champ) who smoked unfiltered cigs, one to two packs a day and could outsprint NFL running backs in the 40. Genes, technique, and preformance enhancing drugs, and age (teens and 20s) make up for alot of nutritional mishaps.
Lets face it people genetics are everything…hard work and strict eating can pay off for those less fortunate but those that were just born with great genetics are hands down gonna always be on top…my problem is its these people who sometimes end up training people and teach them the wrong things…my old roommate didnt eat much throughout the day and when he did eat it was like crap like mac and cheese and stuff like that…anyways this guy is like 6’2" 220 and 7% bodyfat even though he eats shit…then he looks at my pathetic 165 pound 5’8" 12% bodyfat and wonders why the hell i eat tuna all the damn time from a can…hes like all you need man is to cut your calories and watch your fat…what a freakin idiot…i sometimes hate those genetically gifted cuz they teach the wrong stuff and people listen to them…oh well …i think i will post this as my next question
I saw in a magazine a couple years ago that Greene ate 3 times a day “like every one else” and didn’t pay much attention to what he ate except he ‘doesn’t like sweets’.
I agree 100% with rob - It’s almost all genetics. For the most part, it seems only bodybuilders pay attention to diet. From what I’ve seen and heard almost all other athletes eat the same shit and junk that the masses do - including McD. It’s apparent that genetics and training will compensate for diet with the genetically gifted. I do believe that diet will make a huge difference in the genetically average but not enough of a difference for the average to surpasse the gifted.
Maybe there are people out there that are like the Bruce Willis invunerable guy in “Unbreakable”. In all of the sport i’ve played there was always a couple of guys who were like rocks, they never got hurt, had strenth and power, looked good, and went on to play at high levels. I even trained an Olympic swimmer once who was like that. Solid as a rock, recovered from crazy workouts, and she ate poorly. It is like they have the Wolverine X-gene.
There’s a powerlifter who trains at my gym who, at only 23 years old, benches 600+, deads 600+, and squats over 800. His pre-workout meal today? Mickey D’s. I too think it’s all genetics.
If you can site a bunch of examples of people doing what you call the “wrong things” and winning, and you do the “right things” and are getting poor results, how the hell can you be sure that you actually know what the right and wrong things are? Most importantly, are you foccussing on some little bullshit minutia like how many grams of carbs you are eating and missing the big picture?
Colin’s made a good point…I think it was the late John McCallum that wrote an article about doing “the right things right”. Sometimes focussing on all the small details can lead you away from perfecting the big picture. That being said, maximizing both your training and diet will always take you further than either one on its own. The trick is finding what training and diet will be optimal for you. Another point is that Olympic athletes are far above genetic norms in terms of performance and structure, and should not be used as models for 99% of the population.
