Fueling As A Soccer Athlete

Ema Thake, MS, RD, CSSD

Director of Performance Nutrition

How can good nutrition help you be a better athlete?

• Exercise and training for sport are ENHANCED by good nutrition
• The body performs better when it has the right fuel at the right time

​

• What is GOOD NUTRITION?
• Proper FUELING
• Quick RECOVERY
• Nutrient TIMING
• HYDRATION

​

Carbohydrate

• BEST source of fuel
• Stored in the body as GLYCOGEN
• You want your GLYCOGEN stores at FULL capacity!!
• Fruit, Dairy, Starches, Veggies, Sports Drinks/Chews/Gels

PROTEIN

• Helps REBUILD and REPAIR muscle tissue
• Helps your body GROW!
• Meat, Dairy, Fish, Eggs, Peanut Butter, Nuts, Soy, Beans, Lentils

FATS

• Energy source at rest and low intensity (what you’re using for fuel sitting here right now)
• Best sources:
• Fatty fish like salmon, avocado, Extra virgin olive oil, nuts, nut butters, cheeses

Don’t forget those micronutrients too

• Vitamins and Minerals… needed in small amounts but you NEED them!
• Vitamins A, B 1-12, C, D, E, K
• Minerals like…
• Calcium, Iron, Zinc, Magnesium, Selenium, Manganese…the list goes on!
• Where to find?
• Different foods contain different nutrients. Which is why it is important to get a balanced diet!
• Carrots and Sweet Potatoes = high in beta carotene (Vitamin A)
• Citrus Fruits = high in Vitamin C
• Dairy products = high in Calcium
• Clams = high in B12 (cobalamin)

​

​

What’s on your plate?

• Main components
• Whole Grains & starches (energy)
• Lean proteins from animal & plant sources (muscle building and recovery)
• Fruits and Vegetables (antioxidants and fiber)
• Healthy Fats (cell and immune health)
• Fluids (hydration)

​

Typical Training Day

High Minutes/Hard Training/Game Day

LOW MINUTES/ EASIER TRAINING DAY

Nutrient timing

• Pre-Game Meal about 3 hours before game-time
• Focus on starchy carbohydrates, fruit, with some protein.
• Don’t try anything new on game-day
• Pre-game or pre-training snack about 30 minutes before
• Focus on quick digesting carbohydrate. Avoid high fiber and high fat foods
• Post-game or post-training snack and/or meal 30 minutes after
• Focus on carbohydrate, protein, and fluids

Before Training

A meal or snack should:

Provide sufficient water for hydration

Low in fat and fiber

High in carbohydrate

Moderate in protein

Contain familiar foods to be well tolerated during activity

**Easy to digest, provide quick but sustained energy, hydrate you!

Turkey or PBJ sandwich with some fruit

A bowl of cereal or granola with milk or Greek yogurt + berries

​

​

​

Whole grain toast with peanut/almond butter, banana, and some honey

​

​

​

​

Pre-Training Meals/Snacks:

Chicken breast with rice and cooked veggies

​

Grain bowl with brown rice or quinoa, tofu, and mixed veggies

Early morning activity

• Energy stores are depleted over night and beginning exercise with low blood sugar is likely to lead to early fatigue
• It is not always practical to wake up to eat four hours before the training, so…
• Consume small snack 60-90 minutes before
• Eat high quality (whole grain) carbohydrates with your protein at dinner the night before
• Have an evening snack before bed the evening before

Early Game? FUEL UP!

• 1 plain oatmeal packet +1 flavored oatmeal packet + (soy) milk + banana + WATER
• 1 Clif bar + 1 banana + WATER (good example if you can’t handle a lot before morning games)
• 2 slices of whole grain toast or bagel with nut butter, a piece of fruit + WATER
• A waffle with peanut butter, berries, a glass of milk/soy milk

Fueling DURING Training and Games

• Playing/training >60 minutes:
• You should be considering supplementing with carbohydrates in the form of chews/a small bar/PowerAde/PBJ halves/fruit
• Minimal minutes/day off/ light day situation:
• Focus on pre and post fueling + hydrating with water instead of PowerAde or other sports drinks
• Be INTENTIONAL about what you are consuming. Fuel with PURPOSE
• Keeping your energy up to play at 100% for the entirety of your minutes
• Fueling appropriate before and after to promote recovery
• Hydrating to prevent dehydration-related symptoms as performance detriments

Recovery Nutrition Benefits

• Top up energy stores in your muscles and liver. This is essential for the recovery process and being ready to go again the next day – or even later that same day!
• Rehydrates by replacing fluid and electrolytes that are lost in sweat during times of heavy training and competition
• Allows the immune system to properly manage the stress that training puts on the body
• Building lean mass to improve performance and reduce risk of injury or illness

​

Quick recovery

• Within 30 minutes of finishing training or a game, it is very important to have a recovery snack or meal!
• Your body’s cells are fully ready to accept and take in all the of the nutrients you feed it
• This snack (or meal) should be high in
• Carbohydrate
• Protein
• Fluids
• Keep something in your soccer bag, or have your parents bring it when they pick you up

What should you recover with?

• Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
• Ready to drink protein shake or homemade smoothie
• Piece of fruit + chocolate milk
• Greek yogurt with granola

BREAKING DOWN YOUR DAY:�

Wake Up

Breakfast before school

Classes

Mid-Morning Snack

Classes

Lunch at school

​

​

2:30 – Afternoon snack (may be before training)

Train? Study?

6:45 – Pre training Dinner/Recovery

Train? Study?

Snack/Post-training Recovery

Bed

H20-oooooooh yea!

• Increased heart rate
• The body temperature where you start sweating increases (remember, you need sweat to cool you down, so this isn’t good)
• Increase in muscle glycogen use (using more energy)
• Decrease in endurance capacity (time to exhaustion is shorter)

• Ow! Cramp!
• Consume fluid + electrolytes to maintain fluid balance in cells
• NOT ALL CRAMPING IS HYDRATION RELATED! You need muscle glycogen (aka carbs before training) to avoid cramping
• For training >60 min, alternate between PowerAde and water

Man, it’s hard to be a female athlete in today’s world…

• Body weight can be a very big discussion in todays world – especially as a female athlete…
• It is more important to focus on performance and work ethic – these are two of the most important things on the soccer field and as an athlete!
• Comparing body types to professional athletes or other personalities on social media can be harmful
• We talk about body composition in the world of athletics – body weight can be a really poor measure of good performance!
• We look at lean mass (muscle) to see how strong and powerful an athlete is!
• Labeling certain foods as “bad” or restricting entire food groups can be bad for your performance and for your health! Let’s talk more about “sometimes foods” and when is best to fuel our bodies with certain things!

​

​

​

​

​

​

So, what do we do about it??

• Let’s support each other!
• Use language that builds each other up as athletes!

“Hey! You crushed it today at practice – you look so strong!”

instead of…

“man you’ve lost weight, your performance is great!”

• Encourage one another to focus on performance and health instead of body weight
• Focus on fueling your body for what you CAN do! Focusing on a healthful lifestyle will ultimately have you feeling great!

Questions?