As a sports parent, you may be unaware of how much good nutritional strategies can optimize performance. Here are some nutritional goals and tips for match day to help your child eat to win!
Nutrition before match:
Main Goal:
- Enhance recovery from a week of hard training sessions and fuel for the game;
Specific goals:
- Replenish and further increase glycogen (carbohydrate) stores in muscles and liver;
- Consume sufficient protein to enhance the building and repair of muscle;
- Maintain an adequate hydration status;
- Assure a good gastrointestinal tolerance of food eaten (avoid too much fat and fiber).
Tips:
- The young athlete should always eat a consistent meal 3 to 4h before and, if possible, include a lighter snack 1h before the game.
- Carbohydrates are the best fuel for muscles, so your child has to make sure s/he eats lots of them the day before each match, as well as the day of the match, as tolerated! Good sources of carbs include: pasta, rice, whole grain bread, breakfast cereals, oatmeal and fruit (fresh or dried). Most of these foods have also a low to moderate quantity of fiber (maintains sugar levels stable in bloodstream over time) and digest easily.
- In terms of protein, lean meats like chicken and turkey are good sources to eat at lunch in match day. Another good way to include enough protein in your child’s pre-game meals is adding skimmed/low-fat milk or yogurt to his/her cereals, or else you could include them in a fruit shake. Besides the benefits of protein, you add the benefits of calcium (important to his/her bones, as well as to muscular function).
- Eating fried eggs or fatty hamburger before a match is a risky idea, as these have too much fat, which can upset your child’s stomach. S/he might end up purging right before or during the game! The same applies to french fries, fatty sausages, and so on. Peanut butter, in small doses, may be a well-tolerated exception if you spread a little bit on a slice of whole grain bread. PB has healthy fats and adds protein.
- Being well hydrated will always be important for good performance in a match. So, first thing in the morning, your child must check his/her urine color. If it has a dark brown color, s/he is surely dehydrated and will need to aggressively rehydrate before the match by drinking extra fluids. But if the urine is a pale yellow, s/he probably is well hydrated and just needs to maintain it. Either way, be sure s/he starts drinking fluids soon before the contest, ideally 4h before, so there is time to assess urine output again. If it keeps darker than normal, it means your child still needs to drink some more. (I will soon provide more information on this topic).
Nutrition during match:
Main goal:
- Minimize energy and water and electrolyte losses
Specific goals:
- Provide an additional source of carbohydrates to fuel the muscles and preserve glycogen stores
- Avoid excessive dehydration accumulating during match
Tips:
In a field sports match, there are very few opportunities to accomplish these goals. So, it is a good strategy for your child to take any stoppage in game as an opportunity to refuel with a sports drink, as it will provide him/her water, fast absorbing carbohydrates and electrolytes. Also, don’t forget about the interval: tell him/her to drink sports drink or water and enhance his/her fueling with carbohydrate from fruit, crackers, sports bars or gels, as tolerated. Eating while listening to the coach won’t stop him/her from being focused, right?
Nutrition after match:
Main goal:
- Recover as quickly as possible
Specific goals:
- Rehydrate and replenish electrolytes
- Replace depleted muscle and liver glycogen
- Rebuild muscle tissues
Tips:
The first 30 to 120 minutes after a workout are crucial to a rapid recovery. It’s the so called “opportunity window”, in which your child’s body is better able to absorb carbohydrates and store them in his/her muscles as glycogen as well as take up protein to repair and rebuild muscle tissues.
As so, s/he must start refueling immediately after the final whistle. Sports drinks are a good first choice, as they contain water and carbohydrates, but after the first bottle s/he may choose more common foods (ex: crackers or cereals with yogurt, whole grain bread with jam and a slice of low-fat cheese) and accompany them with plain water. Keep your little warrior focusing in a high intake of wholesome fruits, grains and vegetables during the next 24h, to fully replenish his/her stores.
Following these tips will help the child feel more energized and promote a better performance!
But remember, with better training practices comes the best performance in competition, so your son/daughter must fuel adequately before, during and after each training session as well! Make sure s/he tests new strategies in training sessions before putting them in practice on match day.
- Food Guide for Soccer: Tips & Recipes from the Pros (http://www.nancyclarkrd.com)
Wishing you and your child the best performance ever,
Diogo Ferreira, RD
Sports Nutritionist, Lisbon, Portugal
“Promoting best health and performance through nutrition”
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