This begins with getting amino acids in our body with our last meal. They are full of fiber, are slow digesting carbohydrates and are extremely nutrient dense, especially kale (1). How you perform is greatly affected by what you put in your body beforehand. An extremely important part of pre-game preparation is being fueled to compete. This is not what we want. Doing this successfully is easy if you have a nutritionist guiding you. This meal should be balanced with carbohydrates and protein. Without adequate, balanced nutrition, you won’t have enough energy to play your best. This will keep our muscles running all game long. What should I eat before my event? It has long been advised that players should eat a high Carbohydrate meal up to 3 hours before a match. So we have just covered many ways to fully prepare yourself for coming into a game as prepared as possible. I also would eat a banana as well with breakfast. Yerba Mate, which is a traditional South American tea, which gives similar effects of alertness, energy and focus (9). Wake up 4 hours before important games or soccer events, eat a simple breakfast (bread + a nut butter), and then go back to bed. I go into depth with amino acids and protein here. This is important to consider because goals Also, eating fruit or carbohydrates in general, with protein and fat slows down the digestion of the carbohydrates, which in turn helps suppress and insulin spike. Another alternative is to drink Yerba Mate tea. This timing also depends on individuals’ metabolisms, but 3-4 hour window is where you should begin your experimenting at, trying to get the timing down for yourself better and better each game. You might have your own routine established and if so, you shouldn’t suddenly change it. Don't eat too much before hand, maybe have a meal 2 hours Therefore, rely on the timing of your meal to determine how much you should eat. Preparing mentally for a game through food choice is not really discussed often, but it is actually surprising the effect that food has on your thinking. Now you can get an enhanced effect of this high energy alertness with an overall sense of calm by drinking coffee and supplementing with L-Theanine, since regular green tea does not have much caffeine in it, and it’s L-Theanine levels are not that high. Rather, if your pre-game meal is These foods are broken down slowly and provide energy over a long period of time. To avoid this sick and heavy feeling, we need to eat our last meal 3-4 hours before our game time. We perform better when fully hydrated. Your body uses amino acids for almost all body functions, and when you’re pushing your body in a game of soccer, your body needs amino acids more than ever. Keep sipping on water, sports drinks and juices, but avoid soft drinks. This includes breakfast on game day. Starchy carbs include potatoes, breads, cereal, pasta, fruits and vegetables. The carbohydrate sources I recommend for game day are spinach and kale. A banana or half of an energy bar also works in the half hour before game time. This will take evaluating how you recovered and ate the past few days. A banana before warm up can help as well. You just spent 7-8 hours not drinking water, and your game is coming up. And how many hours should I eat before the game? Get 2 glasses of water in you within a half an hour of waking up. Now lets look at a couple of ways we can put this into practice. This timing depends on what and how much you eat. The eggs have the essential amino acids we need to provide energy for our muscles and are enough calories to provide us with energy for the game. However, too much water in our stomachs when we go to play can lead to a heavy feeling and sometimes side cramps. This means your body is not in that big of a glycogen deficiency. Before a soccer game, you need to consume a large quantity of carbohydrates, a moderate amount of protein and a low amount of fat. Soccer requires speed, endurance, a consistent energy supply and focus. Another way you can prepare, as I prefer to, is with a smoothie. Make sure it’s nothing big that will take the resources of your blood circulating away from your muscles and brain. Taking your game day nutrition seriously will give you the solid foundation to display all the hard work you’ve been putting in at practice. Besides what to eat before a soccer game, for best performance your body needs adequate hydration. This, combined with have plenty of glycogen storage, physical preparation through trainings and having some salt with breakfast or in a sports drink will keep you from getting cramps during a game and embarrassing yourself, because you’re better than that. So what should I eat? When it comes to pre-match meals, starchy carbohydrates are your friend as they break down into glycogen really effectively. List of Foods for Soccer Players. This is a common practice among elite athletes. I like to sauté them in olive oil before adding the eggs in. When you eat a big meal, your body sends more blood to your stomach to help with digestion. 2-4 eggs the morning of a game will leave you with amino acids and nutrients to keep your body in high gear for 90 minutes. So, if your glycogen storages are full the morning of the game, then that is perfect. Prepare the tea the night before and put it in the fridge. Lets begin by looking at what you need of your body come game time and work our way backward to see how our food choices can optimize our bodies to meet the requirements. Your energy will be high, you will feel light, alert and aggressive yet relaxed and composed at the same time and it’ll last the entire game. Some kids will need two hours to digest before they play. This is where things start to get fun. If you are a soccer player, you need to stock up on energy to last you through the 90-minute game. High in fiber and potassium, it will help give your body the glucose it needs to function so your body is running on all cylinders. Drinking sports drinks in slushy form was shown to improve exercise endurance by 10% (, I know I said early don’t skimp on the yolk, but the coconut oil provides the saturated fat needed in this smoothie, Cacao powder is damn awesome, and I’ll talk about it in the future. If you didn’t refuel your muscle glycogen storages properly the last couple days, then a small side of oatmeal can help. Do not skimp on the eggs with egg whites. As I have covered before about amino acids, animals are our best source of them. After main meals, snacking is encouraged. resources of your meal to how... The carbohydrate sources I recommend for game days last couple days, then small. 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