By far one of the most important factors of athletic performance for athletes is balancing the correct nutritional requirements with their chosen sport. Corey Green from Athletic Institute calls this “Fuelling the work”.
“All too often we meet a lot of young athletes who eat the same thing each day, regardless of whether they are playing sport or enjoying a well-deserved rest day. Most mornings usually start with a bowl of cereal or a couple of slices of toast. This is fine if they have some intense activity sometime in the morning, but chances are they probably don’t usually do anything overtly physical until after school. When working with our athletes we educate them on what food sources correctly fuel their specific activity.”
It’s important that young athletes and their parents understand that non-refined carbohydrates (such as sweet potato, vegetables, fruits, lentils, beans etc) are not only good for you, but they are also a necessary fuel for hard activities such as a game of football, netball, basketball or 1500m run.
Contrary to popular belief though, there IS a place for refined carbohydrates, the key is when to eat them. An example would be eating white bread with Nutella or jam within 90-minutes of hard activity. This will improve performance and reduce gut stress due to having a lower fibre content. Eat good quality carbohydrates at all other times and not closer than three hours before hard activity.
What do we mean by “hard activities” We measure this in terms of their heart rate (HR), so if their HR is going to be 80% of maximum heart-rate (220 minus your age) for short, regular burst then we need to fuel that session with carbohydrates.
If they have a skills session that’s not overly demanding or a rest day, then we would prefer athletes eat more protein and healthy fats. An example would be scrambled eggs, with a side of avocado and mushrooms.
As most people are aware, ultra processed or refined foods are not something that promote good health, so things like white breads and sugary cereals to start your day isn’t a great option unless you are going to use that fuel within a couple of hours. Young athletes should also start to moderate the amount of food they eat depending on daily activities, so days they are more active, they should eat more and on less active or inactive days eat less.
Energy requirements are not only crucial for performance, but also for optimal recovery, so below is a breakdown of the main macro nutrients and examples of a high protein breakfast and a high carb breakfast.
