What is a sports bar and will it make me sports?
If you have asked such a question at least once and did not understand very well what such a product is intended for, then it will be interesting for you to read this text.
A fitness trainer and athlete introduced us to sports bars with theory and practice.
Bogdan Romanenko, fitness trainer:
– What are the benefits (or harm) of bars?
– In general, they have more benefit than harm. I advise you to use bars when you want something sweet – they contain sweeteners. But you shouldn’t overdo it with them. After all, sometimes they are eaten only for taste, like any other sweets.
A protein bar should contain the greatest amount of components – protein, a little fat and a small amount of carbohydrates. But if you analyze the market for bars, then about 80% is “kitkat”, which has added a little protein: with a bunch of fats and carbohydrates. So this is no longer a protein bar. In general, such products should be selected according to their composition.
– Is it true that they help you lose weight?
– If you eat a bar that goes in excess of the daily allowance for KBZhU (calories, proteins, fats, carbohydrates) – it’s like eating a chocolate bar: in either case, the body receives extra calories.
Calorie deficit and increased activity help to lose weight – nothing else. If you eat 1500 calories with a daily calorie intake of 1800 calories and add 500-800 calories in bars, you will gain weight.
Bars psychologically help to keep the diet – you see the inscription “protein” and think that everything is fine; it’s more of a placebo effect – “I eat protein bars – I’m losing weight”.
Yegor Gagarin, participant of several Russian ski championships:
“For me, a sports bar has a place to be in marathons and long training sessions. When I ran the Raevich half marathon in 2019 (21.1 km), somewhere at the 17th kilometer I ate a protein one (although it is worth eating bars before and after. During marathons, in fact, it is not accepted, but for me personally then it is helped).
In skiing and running, in my opinion, the bars should be consumed when running long distances to replenish muscle glycogen stores. Of course, there are other alternatives for this, but a protein bar will be more nutritious.
Plus, it’s delicious. It is important that you like it and that it suits you. Because in long-distance running, the psychological state becomes, well, like a child’s – I won’t, I don’t want to. And if something goes wrong, the load can become bad, and the bar is always at hand.
There are also regular dietary fitness bars – with cereals, muesli, and so on, without additional nutritional components. But personally, I would not take such. I buy sports bars from a certain manufacturer, which is quite popular in the sports world. Nutritious, satisfying, tasty, and the price matches the quality”.
This was the first time that our text did not mention the need to consult a specialist.
The material was prepared by Alexandra Goryunova