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What should an athlete eat before a game?

What should an athlete eat before a game?

Chris Cooper2 Mar 2021 - 22:33
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A guide on what to eat in the 24 hours before kick-off.

In this article we are not going to give you a full macronutrient breakdown (we’ve done that already, here) nor is this a strict ‘eat this and not that’ lecture, but what we hope to achieve is guiding you on what you should eat in the 24 hours before kick-off for your rugby game.

Like it or not, if you’re playing sport such as rugby, even at an amateur level, you are an athlete so why not eat like one or at least approach the game like a professional? It can help you reach that ruck a bit quicker, run further and help with recovery so you’re not laying on the sofa all Sunday unable to move.

Generally speaking, if everyone in the team makes small improvements in their nutrition it can create a big impact on the field.

This article will cover the following key areas:
• Where to start
• Carbohydrates
• Breakfast
• Supplements
• Half-time
• Key Points

Where shall we start?

Yesterday. Well, if you’re reading this in the morning of gameday, yesterday would have been a great start but don’t worry too much. You can catch up.

Why yesterday?

Without getting too deep into the science, you may have heard of ‘carb loading’ or at least heard that eating lots of pasta can give you energy, and that is true, the same can be said for carbohydrate rich foods such as bread, potato and even some vegetables.

What we know is that your muscles and liver store carbohydrates. If you have been active recently and maybe just been for a long jog your body will have used the stored carbohydrates in your muscles and liver for energy to fuel your run.

We call this stored energy glycogen. When full, your body can store enough glycogen to provide approximately 120 minutes’ worth of high intensity exercise. [1]

Carbohydrates

You may have heard of the term ‘hitting a wall’ or indeed felt it yourself. It’s when you feel like you have no more to give during exercise, this is when your stores of glycogen have run out. [2] Time to refuel with a source of carbohydrate!

You can read more about how carbohydrates affect endurance, here.

However, in a game of rugby that lasts 80 minutes and with a break in the middle, we can prevent a player hitting that ‘wall’ by ensuring glycogen stores are primed and full before kick-off.

Furthermore, half-time gives us another opportunity to replenish those stores for the second half. In theory, you should always have enough energy available to fuel your game (or training) and not feel like you have ‘hit the wall’.

So, what shall I eat?

Your body will store around 600g of glycogen [3] (which can fuel up to 120 minutes of exercise) so the day before you play you need to ensure that your body is primed and loaded like a shot gun by consuming high carbohydrate foods.

Aim for 6-10 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight. [4] For an 80 kilogram player it will look like 640g of carbohydrate if we aim for 8g per kilo as a midway point.

Therefore, to be adequately fuelled for your game you should consume adequate carbohydrates for 24 hours before the game. If not, you as a player is at risk from glycogen depletion. [5]

If we take a player that weighs 80kg and feed them 640g of carbohydrate 24 hours before the game, what does that look like?

Here’s some typical high carbohydrate foods that you can easily buy, and the amount of carbohydrates provided in grams:

• Baked potato – 49g
• 180g of boiled wholewheat pasta – 49g
• 180g of boiled wholegrain rice – 52g
• 2 slices of wholemeal bread – 33g
• 1 small banana – 20g
• 1 toasted crumpet – 22g
• 100g of milk – 5g
• 100g of porridge oats – 12g
• 32g of peanut butter – 6g
• 80g sweetcorn – 11g
• 80g of broccoli – 3g
• 100g serving of muesli – 66g

To ensure you are loading carbohydrates properly you want to avoid any high intensity exercise for the 24 hours pre-game otherwise you’ll have to replenish the carbohydrates you end up using as fuel. If you must do exercise, go for a long walk of a moderate pace but don’t be tempted to start jogging.

Breakfast

Today is gameday. If you managed to avoid training the day before your muscles should be full of glycogen, but you will have used some stored in your liver (glycogen is the main fuel source for the brain so it’s always being used to keep your body ticking over), so we just need to top up that amount used.

While feelings of fullness are a personal matter, it’s important not to overfeed or just eat for the sake of it.

Based on the assumption that this is a rugby game and kick-off is at 1500hrs, for breakfast you should eat something like porridge or muesli that’s got the carbohydrates to top up liver glycogen.

Also eat something high in protein, an omelette or scrambled eggs are a wise choice and will have digested before you start warming up for the game.

While typically protein and fats can take longer to digest (and fibre doesn’t digest at all) than carbohydrates [6] your body will be a good way through processing what you have eaten first thing in the morning before the game so shouldn’t cause you any stomach problems.

By this point your body should be ready, however, come midday to prevent feeling hungry whilst playing go for something light and avoid red meats or fatty foods such as a fried egg and bacon/sausage bap (cob in Chesterfield).

As already noted, foods high in fat can lead to digestion issues, this can be the same for high fibre foods (fibre isn’t digested but it absorbs water and helps clear your digestive tract). [7]

During the game you need your blood supplies to your muscle, not directed to your digestive tract trying to break down the fatty foods you decided to eat an hour before kick-off as this can leave you feeling bloated and sluggish.

Therefore, try some white meats like chicken or fish (not deep fried!) or depending on your adrenaline levels you may wish to drink a recovery shake that will include some carbs (typically 60g) and protein (typically 20g) instead of solid foods, the protein can be absorbed at a rate of 10g of protein per hour and carbs also being quick. [8]

On the other hand, that omelette you had at 0800hrs would take 7 hours to process. [9]

Fine for that breakfast meal, but not ideal a couple of hours before kick-off.

You will know your body, so if in the past you’ve eaten something, and it hasn’t settled in your stomach avoid eating it again.

Also aim to drink water during the morning and pre-game. Your urine should be pale yellow. Depending on the intensity of the game and climate you may drink around 100-200ml per 15 minutes. Again, you may know how thirsty you feel or get during a game.

Supplements

Supplements are a contentious issue in sport. However, caffeine is a proven stimulant and can be found in beverages such as coffee, soft drinks, in energy gels, tablet and even gum form.

Supplementation of 200mg has demonstrated improvements across a few performance parameters for rugby players. [10]

A further study has also noted that caffeine supplementation increased player ‘engagement’ in rugby sevens. [11]

Half-time

This break in the game is another opportunity to replenish carbohydrates stores. Rugby is a high impact game which uses lots of energy. Carbohydrates can be replenished easily through sports drinks, foods or gels.

Every player is different. However, to ensure the player can get the most amount of carbs easily that can be absorbed quickly and with minimal distress a gel is probably the safest option.

These typically contain 25-30g of carbohydrate that can be consumed quickly. The problem with any solid foods or sports drinks is that the person my feel bloated after consuming them or they may just not have the appetite.

A further option is a carbohydrate mouth rinse.

Key points

Okay, lets round up the article with the key take away points:

• Prepare 24 hours before the game starts.
• Aim to consume for 6-10g of carbohydrate per kg of bodyweight.
• Do not do any vigorous exercise during the time before the game.
• Top up glycogen stores with a breakfast of carbohydrate and protein sources
• Ensure breakfast is 7 hours prior to kick-off.
• Have a light lunch avoiding fats and fibre.
• Ensure you are hydrated.
• Around 200mg of caffeine can improve performance.
• Consume a carbohydrate gel at halftime.

If you take these points on board you should be able to avoid ‘hitting the wall’ whilst you are playing and not feel bloated or sluggish.

If your coach insists on a high intensity warm-up before the game starts immediately replenishing carbohydrate stores with a carbohydrate gel or if you can stomach it, a sports drink or bar.

What to eat before rugby training?

Rugby training usually doesn’t involve as much stress and isn’t necessarily as high impact nor as exhausting. However, the same principles would apply in this scenario, too.

Maintain the same standards during training and it is likely to reflect in your game.

These are the personal views of Ben Bunting, a former player at Chesterfield Panthers and currently studying a Postgraduate in Sports Exercise and Nutrition at Leeds Beckett Carnegie School of Sport (Leeds Beckett Carnegie School of Sport).

References:

[1] Girard, SE. (2000) Endurance Sports Nutrition. Champaign: Human Kinetics.

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2958805/

[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6019055/

[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6019055/

[5] http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/10768/1/2019morehenPhD.pdf

[6] https://med.libretexts.org/Courses/American_Public_University/APUS%3A_An_Introduction_to_Nutrition_(Byerley)/Text/05%3A_Proteins/5.04%3A_Protein_Digestion%2C_Absorption_and_Metabolism

[7] https://www.umass.edu/nibble/infofile/fiber.html

[8] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16779921/

[9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5828430/

[10] https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-019-0286-7

[11] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28002181/

Further reading