As it gets warmer we all tend to get more active. The more active we get the more opportunities there are for us to be injured. We all know (or should know) to warm up before your workouts and to stretch and cool down afterwards. What a lot of us don’t know are the eating strategies that also help to protect your body. Here are a few of our favorites. 

The harder you train, the more you should eat. Not feeding your body enough is a great way to set yourself up for an injury. Malnutrition weakens the body on all levels. Even if you’re trying to lose weight you should manage your calorie intake as well as the quality of the calories you consume. 

Add some extra protein to your diet. A high-carbohydrate diet will give you plenty of energy but your body needs more. You also need at least 80-100 grams of protein daily, just to maintain your muscles and other soft tissues. If your only eating one protein source a day, you’re probably not getting enough. 

Get all of your vitamins, especially zinc and iron. These two nutrients are predominantly found in red meat. You can also get your dose from a daily multivitamin or a fortified breakfast. Different nutrients help your body perform in different ways. Being short on any one of them can affect your overall performance and put you at greater risk for injury. 

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