You’ve worked long and hard to prepare for this competition, and the outcome could mean winning the tournament. The last thing you want after grinding your way through the preliminary rounds of a tournament is to bottom out during the finals!
One of the biggest nutrition challenges of tournaments is what to eat in the limited time before and between games, while keeping your energy levels up all the way through the competition. Optimal recovery between events can be critical to consistently achieving your best performance. Your skill level and training may give you an edge over your competition, but if you’re dehydrated or running low on fuel, that advantage can quickly evaporate.
Get a Good Start
One of the most important things you can do to prevent a drop-off in performance over the course of a tournament or meet is to start fully fuelled and hydrated.
If possible, taper your training for a few days before the start of a tournament. At the same time, boost your daily carb intake to about 4.5 grams of carbs for every pound of body weight. This is about 675 gram of carbs for someone weighing 68 kg. Reference This carbo-loading strategy will enable you to super-maximize the storage of glycogen muscle fuel prior to the competition. A pasta dinner the night before a competition is still a great idea, but make sure to include some protein too, such as grilled chicken, fish, or the like.
The general advice for eating just before a competition is to consume a carbohydrate-rich meal somewhere between 2–4 hours before the action begins. This will help top up your glycogen stores and ensure a steady supply of blood glucose during competition. It’s also wise to make sure that you’re well-hydrated at the start of exercise. Do this by drinking fluids as soon as you wake up and continuing to drink regularly up to your first competition of the day.
Here’s an example of a high-carb, pre-exercise meal:
• Breakfast cereal with low fat or fat-free milk
• Banana
• Toast with jam or honey
• Yoghurt
If pre-game jitters have your appetite waning, don’t skip out on carbs entirely. Instead, try liquid or less-solid carbohydrate sources such as a fruit smoothie, a meal-replacement drink, low-fat flavoured milk, yoghurt, applesauce, canned fruit, or low-fat pudding. Find a carbohydrate source that you’re comfortable consuming.
If you have an early-morning competition, and a full meal 2-4 hours before the start just isn’t feasible, a high carbohydrate energy snack an hour or two before exercise is the way to go. PowerBar® Performance bars, yoghurt, fruit smoothies, meal-replacement beverages and breakfast cereal with milk are all good examples of easy-to-digest options.
If you miss your wake-up call entirely or only have an hour or so before game time, try energy bars or gels on your way to the event. They are convenient, on-the-go solutions for getting needed carbs and fluids.
Recovery between games starts immediately
In post-competition, your first priority is recovery. Your window of opportunity for recovery starts as soon as your first event is over. Glycogen stores need reloading, and fluid and sodium losses need to be replaced.
Your body’s ability to synthesise and reload glycogen muscle fuel is fastest in the first 30–60 minutes after exercise. So your job is to consume carbs as soon as possible to help jumpstart the recovery process. The general rule of thumb is to consume enough carbs (in grams) to equal about ½ your weight in pounds, and to repeat within 2 hours or until you have a regular meal. For someone weighing 68 kilograms, this would be 75 grams of carbs within 30 minutes, and another 75 grams of carbs within 2 hours, until mealtime.
You’ll also benefit from having some protein. Chocolate milk is a good after game drink. Consuming 10–20 grams of protein with those carbs provides the amino-acid building blocks your body needs for muscle tissue building and repair, because the first hour after exercise is prime time for your body to start those processes. The protein you consume also helps speed the rate of glycogen resynthesis.
The downtime between competitions will vary, so it’s wise to be prepared for any possibility. In addition, tournament and meet venues sometimes have limited access to food and fluids – or none at all. So don’t just hope for the best: Plan ahead. That means packing your bag and cooler with the types of foods and fluids you’ll need to keep hydrated and fuelled throughout the day.
If your break between competitions is long (around 2–4 hours), a carbohydrate-rich meal with some protein is appropriate. Steer clear of slower-to-digest fried, fatty, or high-fibre foods. Examples of good choices are bagels, sandwiches, fruit, cereal with milk, and low-fat muffins — the same types of foods you would eat for a pre-exercise meal.
If the interval between competitions is short or uncertain, “grazing” is the best recovery strategy. Grazing involves consuming smaller portions of foods and beverages that are quickly and easily digested. Again, the focus should be mostly on carbs with some protein.
Below are some ideas for good grazing:
• Liquid meal supplement
• Fruit smoothie
• Breakfast cereal with low-fat or fat-free milk
• Pretzels
• Yoghurt
• Low-fat puddings
• Rolls
• Fruit (melons, plums, ripe bananas, peaches, grapes)
• Energy bars and gels
Build variety
Plan on packing some variety in your bag: Take along both snacks and the makings for a small meal. Don’t burn out your taste buds by packing only sweet, carbohydrate-rich foods. Savoury carbohydrate sources, such as noodle soups, crackers, and pretzels are often more appealing during the latter rounds of a competition. Also, savoury foods tend to be higher in salt, which can help you replace the sodium lost in sweat. Consuming sodium will help you take in more fluids, as well as better retain the fluids you consume.
Overnight recovery
Full recovery after an exhausting day of competition usually takes 24 hours or more. However, if your tournament or meet continues the next morning, then your window of opportunity for recovery opens as soon as your last competition of the day ends. For rapid recovery, remember to have recovery foods with you to eat right after your last competition of the day. Keep consuming carbs until you go to sleep.
For effective rehydration after a tough day of competition, plan to consume 1400 ml of fluid for every kilo that you’re below your typical body weight. Rehydration will be more effective when sodium is included with the fluid or food you consume during recovery. Monitoring your body weight following a day of competition is a good way to assess your hydration status. If your body weight returns to your normal pre-exercise weight, it’s a good indicator that you’ve fully replaced your fluid and electrolyte losses.
Here are some post-competition foods that promote rapid recovery:
• Bread, rolls, bagels, and muffins
• Pasta and rice dishes
• Bread sticks
• Baked and boiled potatoes
• Sandwiches
• Cheese and crackers
• Fresh and canned fruits, fruit salad, and fruit smoothies
• Cereal with low-fat milk
• Yoghurt or cottage cheese with fruit
• Thick-crust pizza
Putting It into Practice
Practice may not make you perfect, but it will help to ensure that what you put in your mouth on the day of a competition will enhance — not hinder — your performance. Make certain that the foods and fluids you bring to a tournament or meet have all been put to the test during training. This will help you avoid food-related stress and issues during the competition.
Tournament day is not the day to try something new; stick with familiar foods!
Reference
1. Saltin B. Metabolic fundamentals in exercise. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 1973;5:137-146. 2. Ekblom B. Applied physiology of soccer. Sports Medicine 1986;3:50-60. Balsom PD, Wood K, Olsson P, Ekblom B. Carbohydrate intake and multiple sprint sports: With special reference to football (soccer). International Journal of Sports Medicine 1999;20:48-52. 3. Akermark C, Jacobs I, Rasmusson M, Karlson J. Diet and muscle glycogen concentration in relation to physical performance in
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