What Should Youth Athletes Eat Before A Game?

While we often discuss injuries and preventing injuries, today I’m tackling a bit of the “performance” side of Feldman Physical Therapy & Performance. Let’s talk about what your athlete should be eating to get ready for for game days.

Glycogen
Liver vs Muscle storage
Carb-loading
Bodyweight: KG vs Lbs
Day Before & Day Of

Keep in mind these are our general guidelines and ideal recommendations can change from athlete to athlete based on needs. In the same vein, the following can also apply to high-quality training sessions and not just competition days. But truthfully, we mostly get asked “what should we have little Johnny eat to get ready for his games” and the title isn’t as catchy for practices ::shrug::.

Yes, your food is your fuel. And more specifically, your carbohydrate intake (measured in grams) is going to be the most talked about fuel source regardless of specific dietary approaches; the lion’s share of athletes will be using carbs for fuel because carbs provide significant energy while minimizing potential digestion issues.

Food is stored as “glycogen” in our liver and muscles. The liver is responsible for keeping a steady level of blood sugar and does this by slowly releasing that glycogen into your blood stream as needed. Your muscles, on the other hand, will need fuel for activity and as that demand goes up from prolonged activity, your body uses the glycogen store in your muscles to feed/fuel those muscles during activity. This is why people discuss “carb loading” because the concept is analogous to filling your gas tank in your car BEFORE the road trip starts. If your muscles are going to be working harder and longer, then it’s most effective to have their energy stores maxed out going into said activity. Otherwise you risk fatiguing quicker and will need to refuel frequently during and that is not always ideal.

Now the concept of “carb loading” is actually fairly complex. It’s not simply “eating a bunch of carbs” the day before. Ironically the advice I’m about to give IS as simple as making sure you eat a lot the day before but that’s because for most athletes that is a sufficient approach over the often bastardized concept of true carbo-loading which takes place over days. True carb-loading requires an extreme depletion of all carbs followed by a subsequent maximal intake timed appropriately. As you can see it’s a bit involved which is why we recommend the much simpler approach that only needs basic calculations.

Which brings us back to those team pasta parties the day before a game! How much should they be eating and when? While a lot of this is dependent upon the individual the simplest formulas are based on the athlete’s bodyweight in kilograms (BW / kg). Most of us measure in pounds (lbs) so to convert to kg you simply divide your BW in lbs by 2.2.

If your athlete weighs 176 lbs then 176 / 2.2 = 80 kg.

Using this approach we can start to plan the carb intake the day before and day of. Current recommendations are for an athlete to consume 6-8 grams of carbohydrate per kg of bodyweight the day before a competition or quality training session. So for our 176 lb high school or college athlete their target carbohydrate intake is north of 500g for the day.

80 kg x 6g = 480 g of carbs

Seems like a lot? Good. Now you’re getting the idea! This is a non-negotiable and unfortunately far too many younger athletes are misinformed or have other priorities when it comes to food intake. Well, performance is just that; performance…and there is such a thing as “poor performance.”

Back to our 176lb / 80kg athlete…how are they ever going to hit that? Well it starts with breakfast and requires some discipline and planning throughout the day.

1 cup of oatmeal will net north of 80g.

Banana: 30g

Smoothie: 30-80g

Pb & j: 40g

Bowl of rice: 50g

Granola Bar: 44g

Pasta: 44g per serving

Ice Cream: 60g

Once the athlete understands the needs they start planning ahead & the granola bars and fruits, etc. as snacks become crucial to supplement the intentional meals to hit the target carbs. No excuses!

The day of the competition is slightly different in that timing is far more important. Remember the glycogen stores are in the liver and the muscles so we want to ensure max glycogen availability in both so a higher carb meal of 1-3g per kg of bodyweight should be consumed about 3-4 hours prior. If the game is earlier in the day then the meal will most likely be breakfast and if the game is afternoon then a good breakfast is necessary in addition to the specific carb meal. Again our 80kg athlete will need a meal containing 80-240g carbs a few hours before competition.

The reason we stay away from fats, fiber, and proteins is they tend to take longer to digest. Any food that is still in your GI system will not only require blood to digest (and you want as much blood volume/fluids available for your working muscles) but they may also cause GI distress in the form of cramping, gas, or bathroom trips. This is why it’s a general rule of thumb to stick to carbs and the simpler the better as you get closer to game time. Fruits can be ok despite their fiber content depending on the fruit and the athlete. Their high “bang for the buck” simple sugars are a great option.

Immediately before the game it’s recommended to consume 30-60g of simple sugars. The same for halftime if possible to maximize energy availability. Options are high carb mix drink, granola bars, fruits, juice, GU gels, etc. Thankfully there is no shortage of options now on the market.

I hope this provides some assistance in terms of guiding your athletes for their games. An unfortunate and growing theme we see in clinic is insufficient food intake and this is an issue for a number of reasons. Not only does injury risk SKYROCKET with low energy availability but it lowers the performance ceiling often without warning until it’s too late.

So please share this with your family, friends, coaches, and especially your athletes. It may seem like a tall task but when in doubt, snack it out!

Happy Eating!