TackleAfrica’s London Football Marathon may not be the Marathon Des Sables, but it is a pretty serious test of your sporting endurance and as such can be hugely impacted by your nutrition on the day. At our studio in the City of London, we place a huge emphasis on nutrition not just for sports but also for executive performance and we will often see the impact of poor diet on exercise capacity. Getting nutrition right before, during, and after exercise will often make the difference between winners and losers. The margin can be that wide, especially as the day draws on and fatigue starts to kick in.
To help you get through the event physically and mentally, we have put together some top tips for your nutrition and fitness on the day.
1. Hydration is your number one priority
The excellent filtered Bobble sports bottle is a great cost saver on bottled water
It is well accepted that even mild dehydration reduces performance. Combined with hot weather, more serious dehydration further impacts body cooling and can lead to more serious problems. Athletes will measure post event hydration by weighing themselves before and after events, a kilogramme of weight lost is the equivalent of one litre of fluid that needs replacing. One study showed that a loss of 1.5% of bodyweight was enough to reduce strength, leaving you less able to push off opposing players or jump for a header.
If you don’t happen to have a set of scales in your kitbag a simple field test for you is to monitor urine colour throughout the day. Anything but clear or very light yellow is a sure indicator you need to get more fluid in. Aim to take fluids on before, during, and after the game.
As we exercise we sweat, which means not only losing fluids but also the valuable electrolytes that are contained in the body, such as sodium and potassium. In extreme cases this has led to a condition called hyponatremia where sodium levels in the body drop dangerously low. While the chances of you suffering from this are rare, you are quite likely to experience some of the symptoms such as muscle cramps, fatigue, nausea, headache, and muscle weakness. To avoid this make sure you are taking in fluids that contain some of these electrolytes. This can be a sports drink or a home made effort such as diluted fruit juice with a small amount of salt added.
2. Try a carbohydrate/protein mix instead of just water
Of course water intake overall is very important, but intense exercise has a wide range of effects on the body that require a little something more. For example, hard exercise causes muscle damage, glycogen depletion (reduction of stored sugar), immune system suppression, and increased cortisol secretion (a key stress hormone that can cause breakdown of lean muscle amongst other things). Your best bet to minimise this effect is to use a drink pre and post exercise that contains a mixture of carbohydrate and protein.
- Convenient Protein Shakes are essential to stop muscle breakdown
Contrary to popular belief, protein drinks aren’t just for bodybuilders. The right mix of protein and carbs can actually help restore levels of stored sugar faster and more effectively than either on their own. More importantly it can leave you feeling fitter and stronger for your next game than the guys who are just tanking the water. Here is one option on how to do it:
Pre-Game: Sports drink with 4-6g of whey protein and 20-25g of simple carbs (maltodextrin, glucose etc but NOT fructose).
During Game – An isotonic sports drink (simply meaning it has a consistency similar to bodily fluids and is therefore easily absorbed and digested).
Glutamine is essential for recovery and muscle repair
Post Game: Sports drink with 10-15g whey protein and 40-50g of simple carbs. I also like to add a couple of teaspoons of glutamine and some vitamin C. We retail a wide range of products and all our shop assistants are full time trainers/coaches who can point you in the right direction for your requirements.
Of course if you don’t fancy this, there are some studies that have shown chocolate milk to be an excellent recovery drink post exercise…..
3. Use ice and cherries to speed recovery of any knocks and bashes.
Ice is one of the oldest and most effective treatments in the book. Immediately after a game you should ice any areas of soreness. This doesn’t mean you need to go and jump into an ice bath, but it does mean that any twisted ankles, sore knees or aching hips need to be pro-actively treated if you want to keep playing and not seize up after a few games. To make your own low-cost ‘cryogenic cup’ simply take a polystyrene cup (as often found at hog dog stands at freezing cold rugby matches) fill it with water, freeze it, and then once frozen keep in a coolbag. When you want to use it, simply tear off the bottom half of the cup and use the exposed ice to massage the sore area for 10-15 minutes.
Data confirms Montmorency Cherries speed recovery
Another fantastic recovery product we use with our athletes, and is utilised by premiership football and rugby teams is CherryActive. CherryActive products (liquid concentrate or capsules) contain a rich mix of natural compounds, including anthocyanins, which are known to have anti-inflammatory properties. Research, from London South Bank University, shows how athletes, who include CherryActive Concentrate in their diet, have significantly quicker muscle recovery and less soreness from intense exercise. We are one of the only Central London retailers of CherryActive Products so pop into our shop, 11 Artillery Lane to learn more.
4. Employ a simple warm up and cool down before/after each game.
The benefits of a warm up are fairly well established so I won’t bore you with them here. Let’s get straight to what to do.
Pre-Game: Stretching work should be dynamic in nature, start with generalised movements (arm circles, hip circles, running on the spot) for 5-8 minutes before moving to more specific movements (short sprints and turns, jumps, backward/sidewas running) for 5-8 minutes.
Post-Game: Stretch out the lower body using 10 long exhalations per stretch and performing 2-3 sets per muscle. Pay attention to areas such as the hamstrings, calves, quadriceps, hip flexors, and groin. Take as long as you need to feel no outstanding areas of muscle tension.
5. Eat smart to maintain overall energy
Getting some food in over the course of the event will be a challenge with the relatively short recovery times. You are best to aim for foods that you can digest quickly and easily – steer clear of hot and spicy food, very high fat foods, and in particular beans and pulses that tend to cause many digestive problems even without exercise. Eating smaller meals more often through the event and as far away in time as possible from kick-off is the best solution. Trail mixture (a combination of nuts, fruit, seeds etc) can be an easy way to get plenty of calories in fast without taking on a lot of heavy stodgy food. Sports nutrition bars can also offer an easy and fast alternative to looking for a cooked meal by giving a good combination of carbohydrate and protein. If you have a bit longer between games then a slightly more substantial feed will keep you going for even longer. To aid recovery even further take a short nap between games and tune out with some music to get yourself rested for the next match.
The Foundry’s Football-athon Five Fitness Fixes were brought to you by Graeme Marsh, Director of The Foundry. As well as offering our nutritional advice to all participants of The TackleAfrica London Football Marathon, The Foundry is sponsoring the FC Team who will be taking part. For more information about the event, please go to the TackleAfrica website or contact tom@tackleafrica.org.
The Foundry is a specialist health and fitness company in The City of London, specialising in personal training, sports conditioning, rehab and retailing health and fitness products. Please visit www.foundryfit.co.uk or contact info@foundryfit.com for more tips and info.
Related posts:
Speak Your Mind
Powered by Facebook Comments