Nutrition for soccer players is very important, and has big impact on every soccer players performance in games, and practice.
There are different foods that are great at fueling an athletes body, helping it reach peak performance levels.
There are also foods athletes should avoid, especially on game day. Some foods will cause the player to move slower, and get fatigued quickly, when playing in a fast paced soccer game.
As a young soccer player I never really followed what I ate, or how much water I drank prior to games, or training.
With age comes wisdom, so I started to do research about
nutrition in soccer, and its impact to the performance on the field.
After reading many different articles about nutrition and soccer players, I realized that proper nutrition makes a big difference on the players stamina as the game goes on, especially during the 2nd half of the game.
Eating the proper soccer foods will make soccer players recover quickly, from constant short sprints, and direction changes occurring during any game or practice.
Quicker recovery will improve the players overall performance on the field, allowing players to stay concentrated throughout the entire game.
Proper nutrition allows
oxygen to flow freely to the brain, helping players stay concentrated,
and improving every part of the players performance on the field in the game.
Soccer is a sport that demands players to perform many short bursts of speed, change of direction, running with the soccer ball, and jogging, during a typical 90 min soccer game.
Average soccer player will cover 3-9 miles during every game, depending on the level of soccer being played, from amateur to professional.
Proper soccer foods are rich in carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates produce a chemical in our bodies called Glycogen, and Glycogen is than stored into our muscles, and liver.
Because
of
game intensity, short sprints and sudden change of direction will
deplete soccer players Glycogen levels during the games.
When the Glycogen is spent, our bodies start to use fat as the reserve fuel, making the
player very fatigued for one simple reason; fat is not a very efficient
provider of instant energy, and its burned by our body slowly.
Fatigue on the field leads to lower mental concentration, leading to players reaction, speed, and thought
process to suffer.
Proper nutrition for soccer, and eating foods rich in Carbohydrates, will create enough Glycogen stored in liver and muscles, so that soccer players can perform at peak level from the beginning of the game, until the final whistle.
Soccer nutrition can be looked at as Soccer Fuel, making the body perform at the same level of intensity for the whole 90 minutes of the game.
Many players have the skills and talent during the first 10-30 min of the game. Touch on the ball is great, passing and shooting are on target, and concentration is superb.
However,
after the initial 10-30 min into the game, soccer nutrition comes into
play making the player fatigued, and tired without the proper nutrients.
This leads to lower mental concentration, and slower decision making on the soccer field, as the game goes on. Touch on the ball will start to suffer, and so will passing and shooting, due to being tired.
Fatigue creeps up on soccer players as the game goes on.
Players use up all of the Glycogen stored in the liver and muscles during the first half of the game, leading to the use of stored fat as fuel, later in the game.
This
happens when players eat foods that are not nutritional, and rich in Carbohydrates to create loads of Glycogen, the fuel.
GLYCOGEN STORAGE brings peak performance in the game, for the full 90 minutes of the game!!!
For more information on nutrition for soccer player visit The 10 Nutrition Rules to Live By.
Nutrition for Soccer is fuel for the body. Learn more about soccer nutrition importance.
Soccer Hydration - Why is Hydration so important to soccer players.
Soccer Nutrition Myths that have been proven wrong over the history of the game.
Carbohydrates Definition in basic terms is carbon, oxygen and hydrogen, hence the word CARBOHYDRATE.