It’s no secret.

Especially for my readers and followers.

Exercise researchers and sports nutritionists have known for years that carbohydrates and fats are the most important fuel for endurance.

Step into the new millennium and science has discovered that blood glucose may be the most important fuel source available to soccer players.

So what is blood glucose?

Blood glucose is a carbohydrate that is a readily available source of energy. Blood glucose also has the ability to decrease fatigue even when glycogen is available in the body.

Lets quickly recap what we already know.

Soccer Nutrition For Soccer Players- The Hypoglycemia Effect

Soccer Nutrition Tips- The Sugar Effect

Soccer Nutrition- The Pre Match Meal

Soccer Nutrition- Get Ready To Crush Your Opposition

The fuel that is required to perform is stored in the body in 3 ways.

Can you remember these?

The forms are

Muscle Glycogen

Body Proteins

Fat

The greatest supply of fuel comes from fat even in the leanest of soccer players. Muscle glycogen is the fuel source that is limited. The storage limits that differ from player to player are 1600-1800 calories of carbohydrate that can be stored as glycogen.

So how do you reach these maximum levels of glycogen?

Increased glycogen levels can be achieved in 2 ways.

The first step is to regularly eat foods that are rich in carbohydrates. The second step is to eat carbohydrate-rich foods after a match.

Studies show that glycogen is made in the body and stored in the muscles at the greatest rate within the first 2 hours after training or a match.

The secret to performance is that players need to eat carbohydrates after training or a match to replace used glycogen.

That’s it, pretty simple don’t you think?

The best results for recovery have been achieved by eating 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrates each hour (up to 2 hours) after a session.

Don’t take these figures as gospel. Each player is different and will react differently to various preparation and diets. You should experiment with a small amount of carbohydrates before and during a training session. This will allow you to experience what feels comfortable before jumping into an experiment on match day.

So today’s lesson is this,

Use food to your advantage. Eat smart and use food to increase your performance. Carbohydrates could transform your team to a winning one.

Soccer Training Diet

This diet should only be used as a guide.

Monday-Wednesday

Activity- Rest

Diet-

60% Carbohydrates=1500 calories (375 grams)

15% Protein=375 calories (95 grams)

25% Fat=625 calories (70 grams)

Tuesday-Thursday

Activity- Training

Diet-

Breakfast= high carbohydrates such as bread, bagels, cereal, pancakes, fruit juice, milk and yogurt.

Drink carbohydrates in the form of Gatorade every 1-2 hour.

Before training (3-4 hours) eat a high carb snack of 500-600 calories

1 hour before training eat or drink 30 grams of carbohydrates.

1 hour into training try and drink 30 grams of carbohydrates

Soon after training eat or drink carbohydrates to encourage glycogen production.

Friday

Day before Match/ Plenty of Rest

Follow Mon-Wed diet. Carb up at the evening meal with any of these-pasta, potatoes, rice, bread, salad, fruits, vegetables and lean meats.

Saturday

Match Day

Eat high carb, low fiber meal 3-4 hours before the game (500-600 calories)

Each hour after meal eat or drink 30-60 grams of carbohydrates

At half time, drink a carb drink or eat some fruit

Sip water or drink throughout the game

Eat carb foods soon after the match for maximum glycogen building.

“May the winds of destiny blow you to the stars.”

Games being played in the morning require a different pre-match meal as opposed to games played in the afternoon or late afternoon. When reading some of the advice in books did you ever consider this? Most books on soccer and nutrition assume you will be playing in the late afternoon or at night and give you the relevant information based on this assumption. What happens if you play in the morning? How does this change your pre-match meal?

Now that we’ve established that pre-match meals can differ due to time of day, lets discuss some of these variations. Even better, I’ll give you some of the best suggestions for a pre-match meal depending on the time of day. Lets start with a game being played in the morning.

Matches played in the morning:

For starters never drink coffee in the morning before your game. Coffee takes a long time to digest and gives you the sensation of something heavy in your stomach due to gastric acid produced by the coffee. Also the caffeine mixed with stress, fear or anxiety could result in nausea, vomiting and headache.

If you have carb-loaded correctly the night before, all you need in the morning for an early morning game is some toast, with a thin layer of honey or marmalade. A glass of juice and a small portion of oats (or similar cereal) is all that is required for a morning game. Notice how i haven’t mentioned pasta once. According to the majority of books and experts, pre-match meals should always contain carbohydrates in the form of pasta. Not in the mornings.

Matches played in the afternoon:

This example of a pre-match meal should be eaten 2-3 hours before the warm up session for a match.

• Main Course: pasta or rice
• Side dish of boiled potatoes with a little oil.
• A small portion of chicken.
• If you drink coffee, 1 cup of coffee will not hurt you at this stage.
• Water. Always maintain your hydration and drink glasses of water throughout the day.

Matches played at night:

When playing a night game, its advisable that you do not eat dinner at dinner time. In this case its better to have a midday meal full of carbohydrates like the one we discussed above. Supplement this with an afternoon snack 2 hours before the start of warm up.

• bread with honey,
• a piece of cake
• or fresh fruit
• Water. (hydration is very important).

As you can see, the pre-match meal requirements can differ. Considering that a match can be played at different times, it would be a mistake to just settle on one type of pre-match meal. Always read and learn about the game, but make sure the information is relevant to you. Ensure that your pre-match meal is suitable and meets your requirements, not the Authors.

Most soft tissue injuries occur when a player is fatigued and is suffering from tiredness. Weakness and muscle soreness can be prevented to some extent through proper nutrition. Its no secret that glycogen levels in the blood stream and in the muscles is required to play at your peak. Soccer is a game which requires short bursts of energy, followed by long periods of endurance. What many athletes don’t know is that having a positive level of glycogen in the muscles can significantly reduce the risk of soft tissue injuries. Science has proven the link between muscle glycogen depletion with fatigue and injury.

The link or connection is quite simple, muscles that fatigue lose their strength which puts your joints at risk. To help me explain this I’ll use an example. Lets use a very common injury among soccer players and that is the “shin splint”. When a soccer player runs, he relies on one particular muscle to take proportionately more strain. This is the strip of sinew that runs down the shin to the inside edge of the foot and pulls the foot inward and upward. During the running motion, this muscle works twice as hard as the other local muscles and its a safe bet that this muscle will fatigue first. Once this muscle fatigues, the risk of injuries increases exponentially. Injuries such as shin splints, stress fractures and the risk of knee injuries are very common from this kind of fatigue.

So far we’ve established that glycogen levels in the muscles are very important. So how can we prevent this muscle fatigue? A simple answer to this question is eating the right amounts of carbohydrates. Eating to ensure your muscles are packed with glycogen will inevitably prolong muscle fatigue and the risk of injuries. Scientific evidence correlates muscle glycogen depletion with muscle fibre damage and sport injuries.

So what causes muscle fatigue? There are 2 metabolic processes of fatigue that develop in the muscles.

• The first one is the accumulation of certain metabolites,
• and the second one is the depletion of other metabolites.

The first component is very common, if you’ve ever had a cramp you have succumbed to this process. The accumulation component includes an increase in the amount of hydrogen ions as a result of lactate build-up. Depletion on the other hand includes decreasing the amounts of fuels found inside the muscle cells such as ATP and glycogen.

To keep this basic, prolonged exercise is associated with a depletion in muscle glycogen stores, which in turn results in a decrease in energy production. When energy fuel levels in the blood and the muscle cannot satisfy the players workload, the player becomes very vulnerable to injuries both soft tissue and skeletal.

So the question is, what to eat and in what quantities?

The general rule of thumb is that 8-10 grams of carbohydrate per kg of body weight will maintain appropriate glycogen levels during heavy training or competition. This kind of carbohydrate loading only benefits players that exercise for longer than 60 minutes or whose sport requires repeated bouts of high intensity exercise such as soccer. An easy way to boost your glycogen levels is to consume 500-600g of carbohydrates for 3 days before your match.

Also keeping your glycogen level topped up is just as essential in training. It’s very easy to gradually drain your glycogen stores if you’re training without eating a diet high in carbohydrates.

So the take home message from this post is

• Eat simple carbohydrates to replenish and maintain your glycogen levels in the muscles and the liver.
• Avoid glycogen depletion as it is linked to poor performance and injuries.

Just as important and many times overlooked, is the value of hydration. There are two main components to a young athletes diet, the first is a healthy eating pattern based on foods that have a high nutritional value. Secondly, some scientists argue that this is the most important, is drinking water on a daily basis. These two components should be the foundation of a young athletes diet.

A good daily nutrition and hydration plan should include the following.

• 2-3 servings of Protein: poultry, fish, lean meat, beans and eggs.
• 3-4 servings of dairy: milk, yogurt, cheese.
• 6-11 servings of grains, whole grains, bread, pasta, rice and cereals.
• 4-6 servings of fruit and vegetables: dried, canned or whole fruit and raw or cooked vegetables.
• 8-10 tall glasses of water.

Making healthy decisions daily about nutrition and hydration can be challenging for parents, especially working parents. A great way to attack this problem is to eliminate soft drinks and to limit take away to once a month. Fast food is loaded with excessive amounts of calories that stem from a high percentage of fat, giving the child or player very little in terms of nutritional value. When you cannot be around your athlete or child, make sure to pack him/her a healthy lunch coupled with a bottle of water or juice. Eating healthy at school or when your not around, will allow your child to develop a good eating habit consciously and sub-consciously.

The second change to make is to limit or eliminate the consumption of soft drinks. Soft drinks such as Coca-Cola and Fanta contain large amounts of sugar and give no nutritional value to your child or player. Some soft drinks that contain caffeine also dehydrate you quicker and increase the production of urine. The best replacement for soft drinks is water. Most children or young athletes will struggle to drink natural water, so add some lemon to it to give it some flavour. There are no calories in water and simply put, the best hydrating resource known to all man kind.

With busy schedules and work deadlines it is quite difficult to prepare a healthy meal 3 times a day. One solution to this problem is eating smaller size portions of healthy foods at regular or more frequent intervals. This method is referred to as “snacking” in all the health books. Snacking is only beneficial when the child snacks on healthy and nutritious foods. Do not snack on junk food at any time, instead pack an extra piece of fruit, peanuts, crackers or even yogurt are great substitute. Also ensure your child or player carries around a water bottle to ensure he/she maintains good hydration.

Basically “good nutrition” means getting both enough calories and the proper nutrients from your food intake. Most people including soccer players, eat more food (calories) than their body needs. This can lead to obesity which is the precursor for a lot of diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Just because someone is exceeding the daily calorie intake, doesn’t necessarily mean his getting the required nutrients.

A diet which includes adequate amounts of bread, cereal, grain, rice, pasta, vegetables, fruits and limits the intake of high fat foods can promote great health and help reduce the development of chronic diseases. But what foods should you provide to your children and in what quantity?

Nutritional requirements change throughout the child’s life cycle. The number of calories and the amount of specific nutrients required will vary based on age, sex, reproductive stage, activity level and overall health of the child. Also variation in needs can be seen across different cultural, religious and regional groups.

This is a brief overview of the importance of nutrition. As this site grows will tackle more specialised areas of nutrition and diets.