This week at futbollab we want to tell you what is the ideal way to eat during the training week, whether for yourself or to advise the members of your team, we are sure that you will get some useful advice.
Diet directly affects our performance, so we must be aware of the foods consumed during training and competition, since they will affect our performance in training and/or matches.
Obviously it is essential to eat a balanced diet, maintaining a good level of hydration of the system to avoid fatigue and promote good recovery. Therefore, a planned diet is the best solution and the biggest secret to being able to maintain high performance on the field throughout the 90 minutes of the game.
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⚠ IMPORTANT ⚠
Not all players are the same! We have to be very clear that each player is a world so there is no single diet for the needs of all players.
Our players must know what their individual nutritional goals are and what dietary strategy should be followed to achieve those goals. Additionally, each player's needs change with the season, so players must be flexible to accommodate these circumstances.
As stated Felipe del Valle Pascual, responsible for nutrition Sevilla FC, “You compete like you train and play like you eat.”.
The key is to receive the correct amount of energy to keep our body healthy and our performance optimal. Absorbing excess energy will generate an increase in our body fat, but if we consume less than we should, our performance is likely to decline, potentially causing injuries and/or illnesses. Carbohydrates provide your muscles and brain with the fuel they need to cope with the stress of training and competition. It is important that we know what foods are for each player, along with the amount they should eat and when to do so, in this way we can satisfy their carbohydrate needs.
THE DIET
If we want to optimize the results of our training and achieve a quick and better recovery for our footballers during and between exercises and other activities, we must take into account which foods are optimal for each case.
A well-selected diet offers many benefits to all athletes, some of them are:
- Obtain and maintain an ideal weight and physical condition.
- Confidence, since they will arrive well prepared for the game.
- Obtain high performance in matches on a regular basis.
- Reduce injuries and illnesses and the risk thereof.
- Being able to also make food an enjoyment, without it needing to be a restriction. Mainly at social events.
The problem is that many coaches do not know what is the best diet for their players or do not take nutrition into account, therefore, the players do not know these advantages either and never manage to satisfy their nutritional goals, and in some cases not even establish them. This can cause some problems or difficulties, among the most common are:
- Inadequate preparation of food and drinks, making a poor selection of ingredients and quantities.
- Poor selection of products and foods when shopping and especially when eating out.
- Very busy lifestyle, making it difficult to consume appropriate foods.
- Very frequent trips.
- Low or outdated knowledge of sports nutrition.
- Indiscriminate use of supplements and foods for athletes.
Taking all this into account What would a perfect meal be like?
NOTE: Remember that each player is different and unique, with different goals and different needs depending on the objective to be achieved, so before starting any diet a review should be carried out with a nutritionist.
Here we bring you an example:
- Incoming: Salad or soup.
- First course: Lentils with rice and vegetables.
- Second course: Salmon with baked potatoes with salad.
- Dessert: Piece of fruit or a dairy product (yogurt/curd/rice pudding).
- Bread: We recommend that the bread be whole grain or made from some low-refined cereal flour, as it will provide much more fiber than white bread.
- Drink: the good and familiar water. But without overdoing it, since drinking a lot of water at mealtime dilutes gastric juices and can slow down digestion, causing heaviness.
And you, do you pay the necessary attention to the nutrition of your footballers when training?
If you want to improve the performance of your team, don't hesitate any longer.