Whatever your sport, as an athlete you know it is essential to have your body working at peak efficiency. You want your training to provide maximum benefit and you want to achieve peak performance whether your goal is a gold medal or just personal satisfaction. This book presents nutrition as an integrated part of an athlete's total performance-enhancing package. General nutrition and exercise physiology information are converted into a plan for day-to-day practice for training and competition preparation. It outlines important differences in nutritional needs for different sports, including the timing of food and liquid intake, and the best foods to achieve maximum energy output. Case studies and discussions of typical dietary problems are included, enabling athletes and coaches to tailor a diet uniquely suited to individual needs, including the need for weight gain or loss. Until you understand the relationship between nutrition and performance, you cannot manage your total program effectively. When everyone is highly talented, highly trained and highly motivated, nutrition will provide the winning edge that separates you from the rest. Since the first edition was published in 1992, The Complete Guide to Food for Sports Performance has established itself as a vital part of many athlete's training regimes and the author has revised, expanded and updated all information for this new edition.