pre game nutrition

I have searched the forums but with little success on this topic. I was wondering what the best nutrition advice you could give a football player. Like the night before the game meal and then the meal or meals leading up to the game. Thanks.

Many nutrition classes I have taken have recommended beginning a carbohydrate loading phase as much as three days before the event by consuming around 4g carb per 1kg. On the day of the event try consuming a meal at least 3 hours before the time and try having a meal that consists of moderate glycemic foods such as pasta for quicker digestion. They also recommend trying to stay away from fat during the meal.

These are the recommendations I was taught, but then again take them with a grain of salt because she also told me that soy should replace all the proteins that I eat with saturated fat in our diets. Meat in other words.

Don’t remember where, but I think John Berardi wrote about this in one of his Appetite for Contruction columns. Might run a search at T-mag and look through all those articles.

I think this is the article that Davo was refering too. It is actually about eating for an endurance event, but much of it should cross over I would Think.

Hope that helps,
Phill

Well, football is definitely NOT an endurance event. It’s an anaerobic sport. The average play in football last 5-8 seconds followed by 35-45 seconds of rest. Assuming, you dont’ play both ways, there are about 60-70 plays that you will be involved in. I would follow the same nutritional guidelines as you would for preparing for a weightlifting session. Make sure you drink your Powerdrive about an hour before the game and sip a mixture of BCAA’s/glutamine at halftime.

Good luck

Trench