Fueling
the Young Athlete
-Carbs
are essential, but it’s important to have them at the right time.
The
most important time to load up on carbohydrates is immediately after a hard
workout. This will replenish the glycogen (stored energy) in the muscles that
were just worked. For example, many
teams and athletes eat a high carbohydrate (usually pasta) meal the night
before a big game, which is good but a more important time to eat that high
carbohydrate meal would have been immediately following their last practice or
game. Immediately after intense exercise the muscles are “wide open” to store
carbohydrates for future use. If the athlete waits more than 1-2 hours post
exercise to consume his/her carbohydrates, he will have missed the valuable
“window” of opportunity to load up his fatigued muscles. Carbohydrates taken in
later than that window are much less effective at loading the muscles.
TAKEAWAY- Ingest a high carbohydrate meal immediately following all intense
games, practices and workout sessions. A good meal would consist of bread,
fruit, pasta and juice. Keep fats relatively low during this meal (ie: if
having pizza, limit sausage and pepperoni, stick with toppings of just cheese
and if desired, some veggies.)
-Sugar is not always the enemy- There is a time and place for
it.
Immediately
following a hard training session or game, as mentioned above, is the ideal
“window” to load carbohydrates and replenish stored energy (glycogen) in the
muscles. Sugar is a very fast acting carbohydrate that can help accomplish this
goal quickly. With that in mind, immediately following a game or workout is the
best time to take in sugar, like juice or even some homemade cookies (see
recipe here: Homemade
Oatmeal Cookies). Knowing that young athletes often have a taste for
sweets, it is not necessary to forgo them completely, but simply to eat them
when they will actually be beneficial to their performance, which is during
that post-workout window.
TAKEAWAY- Sugar in the young athlete’s diet
should be limited, but is allowed and actually recommended during the post
workout (post game) window. This can be in the form of juice, Gatorade, fruit
or homemade cookies.)
-Hydration is key. Game day water could arguably be the most
important factor in performance and endurance that day.
- Even a slightly dehydrated athlete will see their performance and endurance significantly impaired. One of the easiest things to do to increase performance is to ensure that the athlete takes in 16-20 fl oz. of water 2-3 hours before exercise and an additional 8-10 fl oz. of water 10-15 min before exercise. It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that but it is VERY important.
“All men are
created equal, but some men work harder in preseason.”- Emmitt Smith
-Protein is important to include in a growing athlete’s
diet, but it is not important in the pre-workout meal.
·
Healthy proteins like eggs, turkey,
chicken, etc. are important to fuel a growing body but a pre-game meal of
chicken breast and salad is a big mistake. Keep the protein meals for all meals
other than the pre-game and post-game meals. Keep those meals predominantly carbohydrate
based (potatoes, breads, fruits, etc.)
Scott Baumann
Strength and performance coach
