Competition, whether it’s serious or fun, is no joke, folks! Chances are that when you step out onto that court, field, pitch or wherever else, you want to do your very best every time. Training and dedication are part of how you get there, but so is your nutrition. What you eat is important for your sports performance all the way around, but on game day, your nutrition is especially crucial.
Your meal choice
What foods do you eat before you have a game? What is the breakdown in macronutrients of these foods?
Once you know the answers to these questions, you can consider your meal choices on game day more carefully. Generally, you’re going to want to stick to what you are used to. If you’ve been eating a lot of chicken, steak and rice, for example, you’re not going to want to suddenly switch to a big bowl of pasta before a game. You don’t know how your body is going to react to it. If you want to get in some additional carbs, increase the amount of a carb-heavy food you already eat rather than bringing in something new.
Your meal time
You wake on the morning of a big game, and you’re ready to get that first meal in. Here, you want to aim for some multiple-transporter carbs. This is a combo of a fruit carb and a starch, and it can boost your energy levels all day. This happens because your carbs are converted into glycogen, which is stored within your liver and muscles for breaking down to be used as an energy source by your body. There are, however, varying breakdown levels for the different carb sources. When you eat more than one source of carbs together, such as fruit and starch, you can process and store more glycogen.
As for how many times you should eat on game day, that depends on you. Many athletes eat every three hours, with the last meal being three hours before the competition start time.
Your electrolytes and hydration levels
You normally can’t control the environment you’re competing in, and the temperatures will impact your physiology while you compete. Therefore, it’s important to be consistent when it comes to your electrolytes on game day. Sip an electrolyte beverage or add some salt to your meal. You need electrolytes to keep your fluid levels balanced when you compete, and this is necessary for powerful muscle contraction.
