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Basketball Diet 101: How To Lose Weight For Basketball


Weight Loss Diet Tips For Basketball Players

By Ball Till We Fall, Last Updated December 23, 2021

Category: Basketball Nutrition & Diet Guides

Want to Lose Stubborn Body Fat This Basketball Pre-Season? Try This!

Losing excess body fat can be a great way for basketball players to look and perform better on the court.

Having a lean frame can help boost power to strength ratio which means you can run faster and jump higher, that is assuming that you maintain your strength while shredding up. 

Losing weight can also greatly reduce the impact on the joints of the ankle, hip and knee.

This is a major reason why many older athletes choose to drastically cut weight later in their careers.

In our ultimate guide to basketball nutrition we discussed how to eat to optimize on court performance.

In that article you will learn that carbohydrates are the bodies preferred fuel source for high intensity basketball tasks.

We have also previously discussed the pros and cons of a low carb dieting approach for basketball players.

Often, restricting carbs is the most effective way to start allowing your body to burn fat for fuel.

In our Targeted Ketogenic Diet Guide for basketball players you will learn that it is possible to restrict carbs and still perform at a high intensity.

Carb restriction comes with a range of metabolic benefits such as reduced hunger and cravings which can help increase the chance of an athlete adhering to the diet.

Regardless of whether you choose a high carb or high fat diet for basketball, the most important factor in weight loss for basketball is overall caloric intake vs expenditure.

In order to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume.

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To lose fat at a healthy rate you should aim to consume a deficit of 500 calories less than your maintenance daily energy expenditure.

This means that at the end of one week you would have accumulated a deficit of 3500 calories.

Your body needs to dig into your fat stores to compensate for this energy deficit. 

As a result at this rate you can lose around a healthy 0.5kg per week.

Don’t try to lose weight too quickly or your basketball performance will suffer.

You also run the risk of losing muscle mass when on rapid fat loss diets.

Related: A Look Inside Lebron James Official Diet

How many calories should you eat to lose weight?

Recent studies have determined that female high school athletes (aged 16-18yrs) have a daily energy expenditure of around 3,500 calories.

Male high school athletes were found to expend significantly more energy, burning through an average of 4600 calories per day (1).

The average person usually requires between 1500-3000 calories per day to maintain their current weight.

Basically the more active you are the more calories you require to fuel your body each day.

You can use our Calorie Calculator For Basketball Players to work out exactly how many calories you burn and how much you need to eat to lose weight.


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