Pre and Post Game Nutriton
As football season is now well underway, I thought I should share some thoughts on proper nutrition for our athletes. Nutrition for an athlete is all about optimizing your performance. Food is fuel, period. This is not to say that your fuel shouldn't taste good. It just means that some thought and a little work need to go into it.
The first item on the menu? WATER. I can not stress this enough. Our bodies are made up of approximately 60% water. Water helps transport oxygen in your blood, it cushions your joints, helps with metabolism and aids in brain function (just to name a few things). If you let your body get to a dehydrated state and your brain cells do not have enough water to function properly, they will have to work much harder and you will end up with a headache. Your body needs oxygen to fuel the reactions to produce energy for your muscles. If your body doesn't have enough water to aid in the transport of oxygen through your blood to your working muscle cells you will feel tired and weak. Not good at any time but especially not with a tie on the score board at 3rd and 15 with less than a minute left in the 4th quarter. You are going to need your oxygen to get the ball into the end zone and you will need your brain to be functioning properly to make the right decisions to get you there.
It is recommended that athletes consume approximately 2 cups (500 ml/16 oz) of water 2-3 hours prior to exercise (warm ups), another 1 cup (250 ml/8 oz) approximately 20 minutes before when possible and 1/2-1 cup (4-8 oz) every 10-15 minutes during. Following exercise, athletes should consume approximately 2 cups (500 ml/16 oz) for every pound of body weight lost. If you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. Try to drink water before you feel thirsty to keep performing at optimal levels.
Now that hydration is taken care of it is time to fuel your muscles. Your body needs carbohydrate and some fat to fuel muscle contractions(in the presence of oxygen of course as mentioned above). If you don't feed your muscles with the proper fuel, they will feel weak and tired. At this stage (about 3 hours prior) your meal should consist of lean protein, carbohydrate in the form of fruit, veggies and juice and a small amount of healthy fat. You want to limit your fat intake here as it takes a long time to digest and can cause intestinal discomfort during exercise.
Following exercise, it is important to get some medium to high glycemic index carbohydrate within the first hour. This is crucial for rebuilding the energy stores in your muscle. This is where it is ok to have a bit of starch (for example rice or potatoes). After that hour is up, the rate of rebuilding is significantly reduced so the idea is to absorb as many nutrients as possible as soon as possible following your training session or game so that you are sufficiently recovered and ready for practice/training the next day.
Lets take a look at a typical game day. The bantam games generally start at 12:30 pm so let's use that for our example. You need to be at the field for warm ups by 11:30 am, pumped and ready to work. Backing up 3 hours puts us to 8:30 am which is when you need to get up. The sun is up by then so you can be too buttercup. Start out with a big glass of water before you even get your breakfast together. Your protein can be eggs, egg whites, chicken, fish, peanut butter (not Paleo but I'm not going to push too much) or even a left over hamburger patty from last night's BBQ. (as long as it isn't one of the fatty, over processed, frozen ones out of a box) It takes a bit of training your brain to accept eating a burger or a plate of salad with your breakfast but there is no reason why you can't. I know a guy who eats a can of tuna with his breakfast on a regular basis because he is an athlete and it is something he can have handy at work. As I said, there is nothing wrong with a plate of salad with your breakfast, ask Popeye, spinach is awesome and tastes great with eggs. Peppers are a great source of carbohydrate along with banana's, oranges, grapefruit, melons, berries, the list goes on. I don't normally recommend starchy carbs until after exercise and you know how I feel about grains but I know that kids like their toast and peanut butter so if you are going to go that way, please make sure it is whole wheat and not bleached garbage. Understand also that toast and peanut butter is not enough protein so you will need to add some other source to make sure you have enough in your system. About 20 minutes before you leave for the field you could have an apple or fruit bar or even a fruit cup with your 1 cup of water and you are ready to take the field and kick some opposing butt. Bring your water bottle and a good attitude and regardless of the outcome appreciate the amazing opportunity that you have to be part of an awesome team!
Mobile, Agile, Hostile, FURY!!!!
The first item on the menu? WATER. I can not stress this enough. Our bodies are made up of approximately 60% water. Water helps transport oxygen in your blood, it cushions your joints, helps with metabolism and aids in brain function (just to name a few things). If you let your body get to a dehydrated state and your brain cells do not have enough water to function properly, they will have to work much harder and you will end up with a headache. Your body needs oxygen to fuel the reactions to produce energy for your muscles. If your body doesn't have enough water to aid in the transport of oxygen through your blood to your working muscle cells you will feel tired and weak. Not good at any time but especially not with a tie on the score board at 3rd and 15 with less than a minute left in the 4th quarter. You are going to need your oxygen to get the ball into the end zone and you will need your brain to be functioning properly to make the right decisions to get you there.
It is recommended that athletes consume approximately 2 cups (500 ml/16 oz) of water 2-3 hours prior to exercise (warm ups), another 1 cup (250 ml/8 oz) approximately 20 minutes before when possible and 1/2-1 cup (4-8 oz) every 10-15 minutes during. Following exercise, athletes should consume approximately 2 cups (500 ml/16 oz) for every pound of body weight lost. If you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. Try to drink water before you feel thirsty to keep performing at optimal levels.
Now that hydration is taken care of it is time to fuel your muscles. Your body needs carbohydrate and some fat to fuel muscle contractions(in the presence of oxygen of course as mentioned above). If you don't feed your muscles with the proper fuel, they will feel weak and tired. At this stage (about 3 hours prior) your meal should consist of lean protein, carbohydrate in the form of fruit, veggies and juice and a small amount of healthy fat. You want to limit your fat intake here as it takes a long time to digest and can cause intestinal discomfort during exercise.
Following exercise, it is important to get some medium to high glycemic index carbohydrate within the first hour. This is crucial for rebuilding the energy stores in your muscle. This is where it is ok to have a bit of starch (for example rice or potatoes). After that hour is up, the rate of rebuilding is significantly reduced so the idea is to absorb as many nutrients as possible as soon as possible following your training session or game so that you are sufficiently recovered and ready for practice/training the next day.
Lets take a look at a typical game day. The bantam games generally start at 12:30 pm so let's use that for our example. You need to be at the field for warm ups by 11:30 am, pumped and ready to work. Backing up 3 hours puts us to 8:30 am which is when you need to get up. The sun is up by then so you can be too buttercup. Start out with a big glass of water before you even get your breakfast together. Your protein can be eggs, egg whites, chicken, fish, peanut butter (not Paleo but I'm not going to push too much) or even a left over hamburger patty from last night's BBQ. (as long as it isn't one of the fatty, over processed, frozen ones out of a box) It takes a bit of training your brain to accept eating a burger or a plate of salad with your breakfast but there is no reason why you can't. I know a guy who eats a can of tuna with his breakfast on a regular basis because he is an athlete and it is something he can have handy at work. As I said, there is nothing wrong with a plate of salad with your breakfast, ask Popeye, spinach is awesome and tastes great with eggs. Peppers are a great source of carbohydrate along with banana's, oranges, grapefruit, melons, berries, the list goes on. I don't normally recommend starchy carbs until after exercise and you know how I feel about grains but I know that kids like their toast and peanut butter so if you are going to go that way, please make sure it is whole wheat and not bleached garbage. Understand also that toast and peanut butter is not enough protein so you will need to add some other source to make sure you have enough in your system. About 20 minutes before you leave for the field you could have an apple or fruit bar or even a fruit cup with your 1 cup of water and you are ready to take the field and kick some opposing butt. Bring your water bottle and a good attitude and regardless of the outcome appreciate the amazing opportunity that you have to be part of an awesome team!
Mobile, Agile, Hostile, FURY!!!!
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