Just like your car needs fuel to drive and go distances, your body needs to do the same. For example, you need the fuel to perform for 90 minutes of competition. So, your nutrition and nutrient timing is essential. Some foods are for instant energy to spare others like glucose. Some are for storage to get released when others become low, like glycogen, And some foods focus on rebuilding, like protein.

When you learn the timing and how these nutritional processes occur, you will maximize and enhance your energy to perform at a consistently high level and recover quicker. The nutritional process is essential because your energy outcome depends on balance, a gauge that dictates and impacts the path either negatively or positively.

1^st Meal- Breakfast

4-5 hours before the competition.

• 20-30g Protein
• 100-120g Carbohydrates
• 10-15g Fat

This will get the ball rolling energetically. By eating complex carbs, you fill your glycogen stores. Consuming 10g of fat will help prevent using glycogen at intensities 60% and lower so it can remain in storage for game time. Eating protein at this time will start protein synthesis.

You can eat a dense protein meal like eggs with whole wheat toast, oatmeal, and avocado. However, the closer you get to competition time, the less dense your food needs to be to digest quickly. For example, drinking whey protein shakes and smoothies.

2nd Meal- Energy Preparation

20 minutes before the competition.

• 5-10g Protein
• 25-30g Carbohydrate
• 0-5g Fat

This meal is simple and easy, using high glycemic foods and simple sugars like glucose. At this time, you want your protein to be whey, and your carbohydrate meal to be a simple sugar drink like a carbo drink, Gatorade, fruit, or add honey to water. Increasing your glucose will prevent protein from breaking down and avert glycogen stores from being tapped quickly and saved for your competition. This will help enhance your endurance.

This phase sets the stage to minimize muscle damage and promote faster recovery after your game.

During Competition

About two hours of moderate-intensity and one hour of high-intensity exercise can deplete glycogen levels by 60-70%.

You must continue with simple carbo drinks and foods like Gatorade to maintain muscle glycogen during competition. When you maintain your glucose levels, it also diminishes fatigue. And when tired, it leads to a lack of focus and concentration that dampens performance during your game or match. Ultimately, that leads to performance errors and mistakes.

It is crucial to have effective strategies to replenish energy during your games.

3^rd Meal- Post Replenish

20 to 30 minutes after your competition.

• 20-30g Protein- Whey Protein, chocolate milk, peanut butter jelly sandwich, etc.
• 100-110g Carbohydrates- Granola with milk, Gatorade, fruit, etc.
• 0-10g- Fat- Avocado, etc.

Proper nutrition is essential to ensure optimal recovery and growth during the post-competition recovery phase. At this time, your body is switching from catabolic to anabolic. Therefore, it is necessary to consume simple sugars to stimulate the release of insulin. In addition, insulin helps the body to build muscle.

Glycogen will start to be stored when glucose levels reach a normal level to function. So consuming high-glycemic carbohydrates like fruits will help promote greater glycogen re-synthesis. Glycogen resynthesis is essential to protein synthesis because it creates a positive nitrogen balance needed for protein synthesis to function properly.

When you have depleted or low glycogen levels, they create low nitrogen levels that diminish the effect of protein synthesis. Therefore, protein synthesis cannot fully function until there is a positive nitrogen balance. But you still want to utilize synthesis the best you can.

It takes about 90 minutes to two hours to restore glycogen.

4^th Meal Dinner- Anabolic Switch

2 hours after the competition.

• 20-30g Protein- eggs, chicken, turkey, etc.
• 80-100g Carbohydrates- legumes, potatoes, rice, etc.
• 10-15g Fat

At this time, the body has shifted into an anabolic state and can fully promote and focus on protein synthesis- the growth and rebuilding of muscles. At this phase, glycogen levels are fully restored, and a positive nitrogen balance is achieved to produce an anabolic state that will function at a maximal and effective level.

5^th Meal- Enhancement

A few hours before bed.

• 20g Protein- chocolate milk, whey protein shake, etc.

At this time, your body is balanced and can initiate higher levels of protein synthesis, where your muscles can transform more protein into hypertrophy-building muscle.