Athletes expose themselves to strenuous exercise almost everyday of their lives. If you are a football player you probably spend hours before and after school or work dedicated to your training sessions. Football is a unique sport and just like any sport, it requires 100% effort, determination and discipline for you to succeed. If you have been a football player for many years now you are probably fully aware that lifting weights, collisions with other players and pushing your body to its limits can cause stress to your body that might be difficult to recover from. This game is a game of strength, speed and skill and you are required to be physically and mentally healthy at all times.
Why Is It Important To Eat Healthy In Football
You may train hard every day and dedicate all your strength and energy during matches but the one thing that will affect your performance is your eating habits. When it comes to nutrition, a good number of amateur and professional athletes are still misinformed about what they should and should not eat. As an athlete, you must have an in-depth understanding of how your body works as well as the dietary habits that you need to practice in order to perform at an optimum level.
Imagine that your body is similar to a high-performance race car. You cannot expect the car to run fast on paraffin. This is also true for football players and all athletes. If you have excess weight, if you do not practice proper nutrition, your speed and endurance gets affected and your performance will suffer. Professional football players have coaches and nutritionists to guide them on what they should eat, when they should eat and how they should eat. Discipline should not only be in terms of playing well when you are out on the pitch. You should also exercise discipline when it comes to your eating habits.
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How A Healthy Diet Can Improve Your Performance
It is no secret that those people who have a healthy lifestyle and eat healthier meals also function better in their everyday lives. They have more energy to go about their work and their responsibilities at home on a daily basis. For football players like you, a having a healthy and well-balanced diet can make or break your performance whether you are training or you are playing in a match. As a serious athlete, you would always want to have an edge over your opponents and that edge is proper football nutrition and eating healthy.
Fueling your body properly for a practice session or for a match is one of the many secrets of the top football players all over the world. They take full control of their eating habits because proper nutrition can provide you with the strength, speed and stamina that you need. If you have the habit of skipping breakfast or lunch or you skimp on fluid intake during practice sessions, chances are, you will not be able to perform well. You might even cause yourself serious medical issues like dehydration and over fatigue. What’s worse, you will make the entire team suffer as well. Remember that the game of football is a team effort. If one team member is not performing well, the entire team suffers.
You can have the perfect physique that is ideal for a great football player, you may have all the skills in the world but if you do not practice healthy eating habits your performance will definitely suffer. You won’t be able to train as hard or as long and you will be falling behind from your team-mates. You run the risk of getting tired easily and you won’t have enough energy to do anything else after a strenuous training session. Not only that, poor nutrition also affects you mentally. Football is not all about running, tackling and shooting the ball, It is also about strategizing and quick thinking. If you do not have enough oxygen going into your brain, it will affect the way you think and it will slow you and the rest of your team down.
The Best Types Of Foods To Eat Before And After A Match/Training
The primary fuel for any football player is carbohydrates. Football is the type of sport that involves intense bursts of energy and carbohydrates is one of the best sources of energy. Increasing the amount of carbohydrates in your diet will allow you to have more energy during training and games. To have a balanced diet, football players like you will need to include about 55 to 60 percent of carbohydrates, 15 percent of protein and 30 percent of fat in their daily diets. The best carbohydrate-filled foods include mashed potatoes, bagels, whole wheat bread and pasta. Your protein will come from grilled chicken, fish and other lean meat.
During pre-season, your main fuel source must be nothing other than carbohydrates. This allows the body to recover quickly in between practice sessions. This is the time for you to watch your protein intake properly. Eating too much red meat, burgers and other greasy food will convert to fat and will dehydrate your body. Your best food choices would be lean meat like turkey and chicken breast, cheese, fruit and vegetables, lots of sports drinks for electrolytes and energy bars.
Great Types Of Foods To Eat Before A Football Match
Right before a game, your body should be fully prepared to exert energy and to move quickly. The best pre-game meal should involve carbohydrate heavy food like bread, cereal and toast. For your protein, avoid high-fat meals like fried potatoes, bacon, fried meat and sausage. This will leave you with a full stomach making you sluggish and slow during the game. These are the best options for pre-game meals:
- Turkey ham in wheat bread with a fruit salad or a cup of frozen yogurt
- Wheat waffles, eggs, ham and fruit
- Wholemeal pasta with tomato sauce and grilled chicken strips
Great Types Of Foods To Eat After A Football Match
After the game, you will need to replenish your body with the calories and sugar that you lost. Immediately after the game, drink lots of sports drinks to provide your body with electrolytes and consume energy bars. This is the time when you feel hungriest but that doesn’t mean that you can just eat anything that you can get your hands on. It is still important for you to make smart choices and focus on healthy proteins to help repair your muscles. Examples of the best post-game meals include:
- Roast beef, mash potatoes and salad (go easy on the gravy!)
- Baked salmon, green beans and corn
- Grilled chicken sandwiches [/sociallocker]
