May 16, 2014 • Sports Medicine

Nutritional Value: Fueling athletes for game day

The day of a match, game or meet can be hectic and full of unknowns. Athletes have plenty of variables to deal with, so it’s senseless for food choices and eating habits to become another source of stress.

Educate athletes to base food and beverage choices on competition day on three factors:

  • track and fieldPersonal preferences and past experiences
  • Sports nutrition science
  • Timing demands for their sports, such as start times and timing between events (including warm-ups)

The overall goal of eating leading up to a competitive endeavor is to maximize the fuel (blood sugar and muscle and liver glycogen) and fluid available to the body in order to support peak athletic performance. Food and beverage choices also should not cause distress before or during competition (stomach cramps, diarrhea or an allergic reaction), so it’s important athletes opt for pre-competition meals consisting of familiar, well-tolerated items.

In other words, the day of a competition is not the time to experiment with new foods.

Athletes compete in vastly different sports ranging from high-intensity but short all-out efforts (sprinting) to stop-and-go sports, including ice hockey, rugby, volleyball and soccer. There are also endurance sports, such as Nordic skiing, road cycling, triathlons and marathons.

The relative use of fat and carbohydrate as fuel during exercise is determined by the intensity and duration of the activity. In terms of sports nutrition science, middle distance running — 800 meters to 10,000 meters — is considered a high-intensity, shorter duration sport. It requires aerobic endurance as well as anaerobic power for surging and the finishing kick. For fuel, successful runners need ample muscle glycogen stores made from the carbohydrates supplied by food for sustained energy.

Creatine phosphate, another high-energy compound stored in muscle, is also needed to fuel power bursts. Eating protein-rich foods from animal sources, like lean red meat, in the weeks leading up to a competition is a prime way to maximize muscle creatine stores.

Carbohydrate is the preferred fuel for much of the work in stop-and-go sports as well as endurance-based sports. The body has a limited ability to store carbohydrate (as glycogen in the liver and muscles), therefore it’s crucial that all athletes consume an adequate intake of carbohydrate leading up to and on competition days.

Fluids are equally important before competitions. Many intermittent, high-intensity sports like tennis, football and soccer are played in hot and humid conditions.

The goal is for an athlete to begin competition as hydrated as possible by paying attention to fluid needs over the preceding 24 hours without the need for constant bathroom breaks. Teach athletes to monitor their hydration level by checking the color of their urine — light or pale yellow colored urine indicates an athlete is well-hydrated. During competitions, water and sports drinks, ideally at room temperature or slightly chilled, are the best beverage options.

The following general recommendations can be used to guide athletes on making food and beverage choices on the day of competition.

One hour or less before an event

  • Drink water. Train athletes to keep a personal water bottle by their side at all times and sip to match their thirst level. Don’t promote over-hydrating (urine runs clear, looks like water) by assigning athletes specific amounts to drink.
  • Maintain muscle and liver glycogen levels with liquid carbohydrates by sipping sports drinks.
  • Eat fruits like oranges, grapes, peaches, pears and chunks of melon. These fruits are mostly carbohydrate and water, and they digest quickly.
  • Limit solid foods. The more solid food eaten, the longer it takes to digest. Being nervous, excited or over-heated further slows digestion.

Two to three hours before an event

  • Drink healthy beverages, such as water, sports drinks, juices and low-fat milk, to maximize hydration.
  • Eat easily digested carbohydrate-rich foods, like fruit, bagels, crackers, rice cakes, pretzels, breadsticks, bread with jam or jelly, cold or hot cereal, flour tortillas, and rice. Many athletes also will tolerate small amounts of protein, such as low-fat or drinkable yogurt or a modest amount of peanut butter.
  • Wait until after the competition to eat whole grains and other high fiber foods. Fiber adds bulk and typically slows the exit of food from the stomach, increasing the chance of digestive problems during exercise.
  • Drink plenty of fluid along with any energy bars consumed. Energy bars are very dense and require adequate fluid to speed their digestion and travel through the digestive system.

Four hours or more before an event

  • Drink healthy fluids like water, sports drinks, low-fat milk, juices for complete hydration.
  • Have a balanced meal that is mostly carbohydrates and also includes some lean meat or other low-fat protein option. Most athletes can tolerate a small to modest amount of fat, which helps them feel full longer and avoid experiencing hunger pangs while waiting for the competition to begin.
  • Don’t overdo high-fat and fried foods, as these items take much longer to digest. During exercise, the goal is for blood to carry oxygen to hard-working muscles, not for it to be diverted to the stomach or small intestines to finish digestion.

Here are some food options for athletes who have at least four hours until their game or match begins:

  • Bagel with peanut butter, low-fat yogurt and fruit
  • Deli roast beef and Swiss cheese wrap
  • Pancakes or waffles with fruit and low-fat milk
  • Yogurt parfait with layers of cereal and fruit
  • Pasta with lean meat or fish and veggies
  • Spaghetti with meatballs or meat sauce
  • Beef jerky, crackers and dried or fresh fruit slices

Suzanne Girard Eberle is a board-certified sports dietitian and the author of Endurance Sports Nutrition (third edition, 2014). 


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