Nutrition of professional sportsmen

The aim of this bachelor thesis was to map the nutrition of top sportsmen. The thesis is divided in 2 parts; theoretical and practical. In the theoretical part we dealt with nutrition of top athletes in comparison with the general population. In the practial part we have chosen two groups of professional bodybuilders and footballers. For the research questions we used the qualitative method. Research questions are as follows: RQ 1: What are the eating habits of professional sportsmen? RQ 2: Which foods are indispensable for professional sportsmen? RQ 3: What supplements do professional sportsmen use? RQ 4: What do professional sportsmen think about doping? The data were collected using a semi-structured interview. The interviews were attended by seven bodybuilders from the Pilsen region and seven footballers from the Olomouc and Pilsen regions. The informants were chosen by the snowball sampling technique. Four charts in categories were created from the interview data, the individual subcategories were described and compared between two selected sports disciplines: bodybuilding and football. The results are showing us that the nutrition of top athletes is subject to certain rules, but it is important to mention the individuality we have faced in each sport discipline in all aspects. Nutrition of athletes cannot be considered as a healthy lifestyle and the food supplements are an integral part of the nutrition of professional athletes. Doping is perceived as a negative element of sports on a professional level. The output of this work is also an educational leaflet with recommendations of suitable eating habits not only for top athletes