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Pre-season Soccer Nutrition
During off season energy requirements will change for soccer players, as they rest from their normal training. As physical activity off-season is significantly reduced, players will need to reduce their food intake, or they are encouraged to take up aerobic exercise to prevent increased body fat levels pre-season. Pre-season may be a time when players need to reduce body fat levels and increase muscle mass, to improve strength for the coming season. Pre-season training is physically demanding, players will be training at very high exercise intensity. The body will rely heavily on carbohydrate to fuel exercising muscles. Players need to be able to recovery quickly between training sessions and matches, to ensure that they go into next season injury free. A healthy balanced diet along with a programme of fitness training will help the player to develop stamina and improve performance. The demands of training and matches can be mentally and physically challenging and a good diet will help maintain energy levels over prolonged periods of time. Good nutrition can help improve concentration, endurance, coordination, immunity and promote muscle repair and regeneration after each session.
- Choose a variety of foods
- Eat regularly around training sessions – ensure that you start to refuel within 30 minutes of finishing the session, use low fat milk shake drinks, sports recovery drinks, protein based sandwich with fruit juice or a sport drink
- All meals and snacks should be based around carbohydrate rich foods – choose pasta, basmatic rice, wholegrain and seeded breads, wholegrain cereals, oats
- Eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day to provide antioxidants to protect body from infection and injury
- Choose good quality protein from lean meat, chicken or fish, eggs, or if vegetarian choose beans, pulses, lentils, tofu
- Make sure to include omega 3 fats in the diet – from 2-3 portions of oily fish (mackerel, sardines, pilchards) or if vegetarian from flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnut oil
- Choose low fat dairy products to provide calcium and vitamin D
- Keep well hydrated each training session, sports drinks can be used to help provide energy, electrolytes and fluid – choose hypotonic or isotonic drink
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