Best football pre game meal

But the one constant is the pre-game meal. Just about every player needs the same things right before a game. No matter what they eat throughout the week, they all need a great pregame meal. So what is the optimal pre-game meal?

The pre-game meal should be served about 2 hours before game time. Players need tons of hydration and tons of carbohydrates. Of course, hydration is a must and should start the day before. But with professional athletes, hydration is a way of life.

Twenty-four hours a day, 7 days a week, they must be well hydrated. This is the rule. This assumes that practice is not overtly intense. For pre-game meals, the ration changes to This is to be served 2 hours before a game, with plenty of fluids. Each athlete should eat to their hearts contention, but not over eat. You can break the meal into to parts. Eat one portion, wait 20 minutes, then eat the other.

This allows your stomach to tell your brain you are full. Carbohydrates are the most important nutrient you can consume to provide energy before a football game. Common carbohydrate foods include pasta, potatoes, cereals and bagels. Electrolyte replacement sports drinks and specially designed energy bars are other sources of carbohydrates. Your body converts carbohydrates to glycogen, the primary energy source stored in the muscles. When you exercise, your body converts stored glycogen to glucose -- or simple sugar -- and uses it for energy.

During the early stages of moderate exercise, carbohydrates provide 40 to 50 percent of the energy requirement. Higher work intensity, such as running the ball full speed down the field, utilizes an even greater percentage of carbohdyrates, note J. Anderson et al. For maximum game-time energy, most food should be out of your stomach, broken down and absorbed by the start of the game.

Renowned coach Chris Carmicheal suggests eating your last full meal at least two and half to three hours prior to exercise for it to be properly digested. Carmicheal notes that eating between. The closer you are to game time, the lower on that range you should aim — for example, if you are eating a snack one hour before play, aim for.

A pound player would thus consume about 50 to 95 grams of carbs one hour prior to the game's start. Avoid downing quick carbs in the minutes before game time. If you really want to be at your best, then you need to be looking to tuck in to these carbohydrate-rich foods in quantities somewhere between g of carbs per kg of body weight before competing, where your game is over 60 minutes. An average sized man, about 70kg, should therefore be looking to eat a pre game meal of around 70g of carbs.

If you want to see what a portion of food providing 70g of carbs looks like, see our 11 pre-match meal suggestions for some quick, quality, affordable ideas that you can start using immediately.

Advice varies on when to begin tucking in to your pre game meal. Despite there being some variation, pretty much all of the experts agree that you should eat in the hour period before you play a game. Personally, I like to eat about 2. On the other hand, if you leave it too late then you could end up feeling bloated and heavy for the game, as well as not giving your body enough time to break the meal down into the energy it needs.

Just click the picture below which illustrates a few of the options to go to the article. At some point most of us have got it wrong, sometimes resulting in pretty unpleasant consequences. Get starchy carbs and avoid either of these rookie errors:. Sports drink manufacturer Powerade suggest slowly consuming of ml of fluid not necessarily a sports drink per kilogram of body weight starting 4 hours before the game. What works for one person might not work for another. The only real way to find your perfect pre game meal for you is to start off with the guidelines above and then adjust it for your needs.

Experiment with different foods and timing of your meal until you get the right combination. Each time you try something new, listen to your body and use it as feedback. Did you feel weak and lethargic or fully fueled and in peak condition? Experiment, test and refine until you find your perfect set-up.