Written by Menswear Style in Sports on the 24th June 2015

The modern day athlete has to keep themselves in the best possible shape to perform to their maximum potential. A vigorous diet is now part of any sportsman’s daily training program to ensure they can compete at the highest level. This interactive piece shows the amount of calories athletes from a range of sports consume to allow them to perform at their peak. The piece allows aspiring sports players to discover what their idols are eating and provides nutritional information to allow people to achieve their desired shape.

Whereas the average man eats 3000 calories per day, Rugby players consume 50% more than this, bulking up on 4500 calories per day to achieve the size and power required in the sport. This is the equivalent to eating 4 roast chickens and the larger rugby players eat more as they aim to have 1 gram of protein for every pound of bodyweight.

"Although the rugby player's BMI is in the 'obese' category they may still be healthy. This is because BMI doesn't take into account muscle mass which is denser (weighs more in a smaller space) than fat. The key to health is not to have excess weight around the stomach." - Nichola Whitehead (specialist dietician)

There’s an ongoing debate about which is the toughest sport between Rugby and American football. When it comes to eating, the NFL players come out on top. They eat on an extra 1,500 calories and consume a whopping 6,000 per day. This is the same as eating twelve big mac meals, however this isn’t recommended as the NFL players consume large amounts of protein to ensure they can handle the big hits in the NFL.

The athletes that consume the most calories are swimmers who burn so many calories whilst in the pool they keep the weight on and energy levels up by eating 10,000 calories a day which is the equivalent of drinking 83 protein shakes in a day. This is four times as many as the average Moto GP rider who consumes just 2500 calories to maintain their lean frame and allow them to ride at faster speeds. 

- Discover The World Sports Food Fight website and compare yourself to different sportsmen.

A look at calories used and the diet needed for different sportsmen in this interactive website: The World Sports Food Fight