The best foods to carry around with you are both healthy and easily transportable. Some great options are:. There are so many reasons to drink water, such as its ability to control your appetite, its positive effects on your metabolism and its crucial role in muscle building and energy production.

Whenever you feel thirsty, reach for a glass of water, not a can of soda. Keep in mind, there are a variety of foods you can eat that provide equal nutritional value. Experiment with foods you like that fit into these categories and see what you come up with for your football meal plans.

Of course, everyone knows there are two components to any health and fitness program. Eating a healthy and balanced diet is certainly one piece of the puzzle, but the other piece is just as important.

This second piece is exercising. While everyone should exercise to become healthier, athletes must exercise far more intensely than the casual gym-goer. And just as different types of athletes eat differently because of their varying goals, they must exercise differently to achieve their purposes.

It might seem natural to think that if you want to build muscle mass, you should work out for as long as you can, to the point of complete exhaustion. But the opposite is true. Your workout sessions should rarely or never last longer than 60 minutes.

There are several reasons for this. After an hour, the hormones that help you build muscles — such as growth hormones and testosterone — start to dwindle. Worse than just fatiguing yourself for no reason, you could even do real harm to your body. By training for longer than an hour, your body will not be able to recover as quickly from workouts.

This phenomenon is called overtraining, and it can even lead to muscle and strength loss. In most cases, keep your breathing periods between sets to a minute and a half or less. This technique helps you squeeze more exercising into your allotted minutes-or-less session, and it also helps improve your cardiovascular health.

Built-in breaks are important, since they allow the water in your body to enter into the muscles, helping them grow larger and stronger. Your body needs time to recover between sessions of intense exercise. During recovery time, your muscles do the most growing. This training mistake is extremely counterproductive, and can even lead to your strength weakening.

Sure, if you did 30 push-ups every day for the next year, you would be better off than if you did nothing at all. To advance your strength gains, you need to be constantly topping your last workout.

If you did 30 push-ups last week, you need to do 31 this week. Progressive pushing and advancing is the only way to grow stronger and reach the potential you want to reach.

Our muscles adapt much more quickly than we often want to give them credit for. Instead, mix up your training routines. Throw new exercises into the regimen and retire old ones, then recycle them at a later date. This technique is known as muscle confusion, and it is extremely effective for building strength.

By constantly changing things up, your body keeps stretching itself and growing stronger. It never has the opportunity to grow complacent. Poor form is a trap many of us fall into. We want to increase the number of weights we can lift as fast as possible. If you begin lifting weights and performing training exercises incorrectly, you run a great risk of hurting yourself.

Not only that, but the exercises might not even perform their intended purpose if you do them incorrectly. No matter how impatient you feel, always take the time to learn to do things correctly. Our bodies exist in a three-dimensional world.

They only allow your bodies to move in two-dimensional ways, which means you can only work a limited set of muscles. Because of this, your best course of action is to rely primarily on free-weight training that allows your body to move properly through space.

The following exercises are specifically on this list because of the way they will help football players build muscle and gain weight. However, as with our sample meal plan, this example is just one possible training plan.

Feel free to develop your own regimen, using this as a base, or to substitute exercises you prefer that are similar to these. While you can add many possible variations to this weekly exercise plan, it makes an excellent starting point for you to formulate your own training schedule.

Instead, we focus on all these things, and we want to encourage our athletes to do the same. Gain more knowledge about nutrition, strength-building exercise and related topics by contacting us today. Summer Camps Read More X. Summer Camp Registration is Open! Learn more X. Lancaster Manheim, PA.

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What Is a Healthy Diet for Football? As a serious athlete, you are asking your body to do a lot. Like a race car needs the correct type of fuel to maximize its effectiveness, so does an athlete.

You need to understand and think about what you are putting in your body if you want it to reach optimal performance. While for some athletes, talent can overcome less-than-ideal dietary composition for some time, it tends to catch up with everyone eventually. The risk for weight issues, injury, illness, and cramping are greater for those who do not meet and maintain adequate intake and stores.

Energy from the right fuel also translates to staying strong throughout the entire season, which is what every coach wants to see, especially if the team has a playoff run. Overall, there are three types of nutrients that give the body calories: carbohydrates, protein, and fat.

These energy-giving nutrients can be found in varying amounts in foods. Essential nutrients that also help the body to use energy, but do not have calories, are called vitamins, minerals, and water. According to the Position Statement of The American Dietetic Association, Dietitians of Canada and The American College of Sports Medicine on Nutrition and Athletic Performance, athletes do not need a diet substantially different than percentages recommended for non-athletes.

The dietary percentage ranges recommended are:. Those are pretty large ranges, and they do get more specific for football players based on time of year, training goals, and position played on the field.

In addition, using ranges only goes so far in being effective. Ideally, players should calculate their carbohydrates, protein, and fat needs in grams, based on bodyweight. For all athletes, including football players, fueling should primarily come from carbohydrates.

There is a longstanding myth that football athletes should bulk up by consuming lots of protein, but nothing is further from the truth. While small amounts of protein are essential, carbohydrates are recommended for fueling most of the training during practices and games for all positions.

Why are carbohydrates so important? All carbohydrates we consume are turned into glucose in our bodies, which resides in our cells. When we need energy, our bodies utilize the glucose in our cells to function.

Glucose not used immediately is then stored in the liver and muscles and is called glycogen. When we need energy, and the glucose in our cells is depleted, the liver makes glucose from its glycogen stores. But if there is nothing in the store, there is no energy.

In addition, carbs are the main nutrient to help our bodies recover after a tough workout. Especially during tough preseason workouts, a football player needs carbs continually to realize complete recovery. The consequences are feeling flat, an inability to build muscle, and even depression.

Ongoing depletion can also lead to overtraining syndrome. Therefore at each meal, about half to two-thirds of your plate should be filled with carbohydrates. What are carbohydrates? Carbohydrates are composed of three elements: carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.

Carbon dioxide gas absorbed in leaves donates carbon and oxygen. Water and carbon dioxide combine to yield the major energy source for the body called glucose. But not all carbs are created equal.

One type is simple carbohydrates, which are broken down by the body quickly, and found in processed and refined sugars such as candy, table sugar, syrups, and soft drinks. No more than 10 percent of your calories should come from simple sugars because they are lower in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytonutrients which help your body to use fuel, stay fit, recover faster, and reduce the risk for injury and illness than complex carbohydrates.

Complex carbs are our heroes. They take longer to break down and have more nutrients, such as fiber and vitamins. Fiber is key because it slows down the passage of food through the digestive tract and the release of sugar into the bloodstream. That leads to better blood sugar control and more even energy levels, as well as regularity of stools.

For those athletes who want to lose weight, fiber provides a feeling of fullness. It also has a cholesterol-lowering effect, for long-term health. Fiber is found in whole grain bread and cereals, fruits and vegetables, beans, oats, nuts almonds, pistachios and others with the woody shell , popcorn, brown rice, potato skins, corn, and peas.

Protein is important for football players because it helps to build and repair muscle, helps the muscles contract and relax, builds ligaments and tendons that hold muscles and support bone, and assists with recovery by preventing muscle breakdown.

Protein is also needed for building hormones like insulin that regulate blood sugar and the thyroid for metabolism, for supporting the immune system, and for regulating the digestion of food. Without adequate dietary protein, you run the risk of injury, illness, or just feeling run down.

Protein also provides energy in times of extreme need when carbohydrate stores are depleted. Another important thing to know about protein is that you need it in small amounts throughout the day, especially if you are trying to increase muscle mass. A lot of busy athletes make the mistake of consuming all their protein at dinner, snacking on easy-to-grab and low-protein foods at other times of the day.

It also helps keep you feeling fuller than if you just had carbohydrate-based meals and snacks alone. Protein can be found in chicken, fish, turkey, red meat, eggs, cheese, milk, and soy products.

These foods contain all the essential amino acids, the building blocks of protein. The best protein sources are low-fat, but that can be tricky to find. Meat and dairy often contain fat in large amounts. Therefore, look for lean cuts of meat and low-fat dairy products.

Immediately after a game, players reach for a classic protein and recovery shake. For the pros, these are often personalised but for example, this would be a ml with 30g of protein and 50g carbs. So teams from Wolves to Juventus now commonly also have healthy hot snackable food in the changing rooms.

Kick off time will dictate whether you eat breakfast and lunch and what you eat. But the main aim of your pre-match meals is to top up glycogen stores. The later the kick off, the more likely these will be depleted during the day. Shoot for meals that offer slow-burn carbs and come low in fibre, lower in fat to avoid any stomach troubles and moderate in protein.

Last-minute fuel-tank top-ups can help see you through the first 45 minutes. Energy bars make good snacks more than an hour before kick-off, while gels, carb drinks and chews can be eaten for extra calories post-warm up and even right up to kick-off.

Half time top-ups need to tick two important boxes. They should provide fast-acting carbs to power your second-half performance and — crucially — play nice with your gut.

Our bitesize boosters, energy chews , also make it easy to take on smaller amounts of carbs, and tailor your intake as necessary. That means replenishing glycogen stores and providing your body with the protein building blocks it needs to repair muscle.

Or stick a Veloforte Mocha bar in your kit bag to support muscle recovery. From Recovery Bars to Recovery Shakes, Veloforte now offers an all natural way to get your golden ratio. Forza and Mocha offer up to 12g of protein, Recovery Protein Shakes up to 23g!

Having this overview will help to refine your fuelling needs. Not to mention looking at shifts between the on and off-season. There are many variables to good hydration and understanding your unique needs requires trial and error and attention to detail.

Monitoring your sweat rate in different conditions, paying attention to thirst and urine colour can all help you build a sensible approach to fluid intake.

Veloforte exists to help active people fuel better. By Team Veloforte June 28, Cart 0 items. FREE shipping will be applied at checkout Sorry, looks like we don't have enough of this product.

Your cart is currently empty. Shop by Health Goal. Items Free. Checkout Free. Nutritional requirements for football players Footballers need strength, speed and power and that means eating to support training and exercise that ranges from weights sessions in the gym to sprint sessions through the park.

Protein Protein is a critical building block for the body. Fat You need good fats to help with the uptake of fat-soluble vitamins A,K,D and E that support recovery, energy supply and your immune system.

Vitamins and Minerals We all need to ensure we get an adequate supply of vitamins and minerals. Spinach Easily blitzed in a smoothie or added to salads, this supergreen has high levels of iron plus vitamins A and K which can help reduce inflammation, support bone health and reduce fatigue.

Eggs Poached or boiled, eggs are a great source of protein and essential amino acids. Oily fish Protein-packed oily fish like salmon and mackerel are also high in omega 3, making them ideal recovery fodder and great fighters against inflammation.

Cruciferous vegetables Low-fat, low carb, high-fibre veggies like broccoli, kale, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and cabbage and other cruciferous vegetables offer excellent nutritional bang for buck. Avocado Smashed up on wholewheat toast or added to energy-boosting smoothies, avocados are full of good fats and loaded with vitamins and minerals the long list includes vitamin K, Folate, Vitamin C, Potassium, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Vitamin E, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, zinc, phosphorous, Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2 and Vitamin B3.

Beetroot and beet juice Beetroot is full of nitrate that can improve stamina to help you push harder, for longer, improve blood flow, and help lower blood pressure.

Importance of hydration for football players The fairly recent introduction of drink breaks into the pro game shows the importance of hydration for footballers, not just for performance but for safety too.

Men need approximately 55g and women 45g of protein per day. Considering that in the UK the average intake of protein is actually 88g and 64g for men and women respectively, you can see that this should not be an issue. Protein comes from a variety of sources and 10g can be provided simply by eating 2 eggs, ml milk, 30g cheese, g of meat, fish or chicken; or g yogurt.

Rather than worrying about how much protein we are getting in general, recent research has indicated that the timing of when we take the protein might be more important.

A hit of g of protein is desirable straight after exercise to help your muscles to grow, repair and adapt. Vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients your body needs in small amounts to work properly and are absolutely necessary in order to maintain your long-term health.

Essential vitamins include A, C, E, B6 and B12; whilst minerals include things such as iron, copper, manganese, magnesium, selenium, sodium, zinc. You can get all of these things from nutrient-rich foods like vegetables, fruits, beans, grains, lean meat, fish, dairy products and unsaturated oils.

If you are eating a balanced diet there is no need to take extra vitamin supplements. Again, a balanced diet will contain all the anti-oxidants that you need. Here are some examples:. Some might assume that fat should be totally avoided.

These are fine in moderation, but a high intake can have effects on health. Eating well in general will ensure that you have a reduced risk of injury and illness and that you maintain general fitness and an ideal bodyweight, which will help you in life in general, as well as your sport.

A balanced diet will give you everything you need for each of these. A balanced diet focuses on getting a mix of foods, and eating foods with high nutritional value.

Cut out the crappy, convenience foods from your diet and try to eat good, natural meals. Note: some of the stock pictures in this article have been used, and adapted, under the terms of creative commons from Wikipedia. i try and eat hi engery foods chicken and rice and flapjacks at least 3 hours before kick off and before i play have a energy drink and jaffa cakes.

i find this works and aftr game if we win then any food goes! What to eat before a football game? What to eat at halftime in football? Half-time foods should be high-energy, quick to eat, and take little preparation.

Orange halves, walnuts, peanut butter, and boiled eggs are all great options. What to eat after a football game? Recommended nutrition for football after a game can be found in bananas and dried fruits as they provide potassium for muscle relaxation. Carbs and proteins, such as a turkey sandwich, will help with muscle renewal.

How much water should a football player drink? What do football players drink before, during, and after a game? Are sports drinks recommended for football? Football snack ideas When it comes to nutrition for football, the best snacks are things like low-sugar granola bars, carrot sticks and hummus, nuts and seeds, popcorn, and dried fruit.

What do famous football players eat and drink? How football data can help you understand what is the best diet for you? You may also like. How Lillestrøm Sportsklubb Uses Playermaker to Transform Football Player Development At Lillestrøm Academy, a commitment to player development is paramount.

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Professional players have low levels of body fat and high levels of lean mass and bone mass. This combination allows them to have higher levels of strength and speed.

Football is a high-intensity sport, with hundreds of calories burned in each game. Having the right nutritional strategies means that players can avoid fatigue and consume an adequate amount of hydration and calories to promote performance and recovery. Great sources of protein include fish, salmon, lentils, and beans, while carbohydrates include pasta, rice, bread, sweet potatoes, and oats.

Fruit and vegetables are a must for vitamins and fibre, and healthy fats can include eggs, avocado, nuts, and dairy. For optimal performance, players should avoid saturated fats such as fried foods, cakes, and pastries, as they take a long time to digest.

On average, during a minute game most players can expect to burn between calories. Again, the number of calories a player needs to eat will vary depending on factors such as weight, height, age, and how the level of intensity during play.

In general, an adult male may need around 3, to 4, calories per day, while a lighter female player may need about 2, to 3, calories per day. Players need carbs, protein, and fat.

Carbohydrates provide energy, while protein helps you to build muscle. You also need fats to fuel long exercise sessions and to replenish glycogen after a game. Make sure you leave at least 3 hours between eating and the start of your game and keep it light with small portions of bread, rice, lean chicken, and fruit.

A player should drink between litres a day, depending on how much sweat is lost during a match or training. Sports nutrition experts suggest that players should drink water or sports drinks at least hours before the start of a game, and should have more at half-time.

The amount of hydration needed after a match depends on the amount of weight loss; ideally, players should aim to consume around 1. Some sports drinks help to replenish energy quickly, while others help with recovery afterward.

The best sports drinks for performance are coconut water and electrolyte drinks, while the top choices for recovery include smoothies, milk, and hypertonic drinks. For his football nutrition, Ronaldo plumps for egg-white omelettes, wholewheat pasta, fish, and quinoa. He tries to avoid sugar and eats six small meals a day.

Messi loves to eat porridge, protein shakes, and high-fibre fruits such as mango and apples. He also consumes lots of healthy fats like olive oil.

Neymar goes for high-protein spinach and eggs for his sports nutrition, as well as eating almonds and seeds throughout the day as snacks.

Nutrition for football players may seem complicated, but Playermaker can help you to understand your energy requirements based on your total effort and work rate in practice and games, and also based on the number of high intensity bursts you had. If you work with a nutritionist, they will likely use this information along with other factors to optimise your diet.

At Lillestrøm Academy, a commitment to player development is paramount. Seeking to optimise training methodologies and player evaluations, the academy implemented Playermaker and with this. Playermaker has officially been awarded the FIFA Quality and FIFA Basic certification to become the first, foot-worn tracking device to be allowed within official match.

However, the body's glycogen stores are limited and quickly deplete during exercise, which means a footballer needs to have a high percentage of carbs in their diet.

Most players tend to focus on non-refined carbs, such as:. Protein is essential to build muscle and repair any damage to muscles from football training or matches. Footballers need to consume a lot of protein to maintain their form, develop muscles and complete a full recovery from exercise.

They do this by eating certain foods, such as:. Alongside eating food that contains protein, players will also use protein shakes. Protein shakes are an excellent way for players to hit their protein intake targets easily.

While meals and food play a big part, eating a large meal before a match can cause discomfort and lower performance. Protein shakes provide the same nutritional benefits without making players uncomfortable on the pitch. But, there are healthy fats and unhealthy fats, and the good ones are a vital part of any diet and help increase nutrient absorption in the body.

However, moderation is paramount to reap the benefits of fat as too much can put players at risk of increasing their fat mass, which will slow them down on the pitch and reduce performance. Players tend to focus on foods that contain monounsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids, such as:.

Food provides us with macronutrients, micronutrients, fibre and water. We've already covered the three main macronutrients: carbohydrate, protein and fat. But micronutrients are essential too. While they don't usually provide energy, they play a significant role in a player's health and performance.

A footballer's diet will provide many of the vitamins and minerals they need, but there are some common deficiencies , including:. These deficiencies can impair cardiovascular function and endurance, bone mineral density and immune function.

To avoid the adverse effects of these deficiencies, footballers will often take multivitamins daily. The importance of hydration in a footballer's diet cannot be overstressed. Over 90 minutes, a footballer can sweat over a litre, making hydration vital for keeping up their performance and health in general.

Dehydration can cause a drop in cognitive function, lowered aerobic capacity and lethargy, so footballers must stay hydrated before, during and after the match. To do this, most players will:. Beyond drinking water, players will also use a sports drink for hydration.

These often provide hydration alongside carbohydrates and electrolytes that help fuel their performance on the pitch. Using supplements is common in the modern game. While a planned and balanced diet is vital, supplements allow players to manage their nutrition in a much easier and more exact way.

Players use a variety of supplements for different purposes, such as:. Chicken or turkey, lean red meats, beans, dairy, eggs and fish are all good options. Branched chain amino acids, or BCAAs, which are often touted in supplements, are readily found in dairy and meat.

Protein supplements can be useful if it becomes difficult to get in the amount of protein needed during the day, or for game day and practice fueling. Football players also need fat, but the nutritious kind. Too much fat usually hydrogenated and saturated can lead to increased risk of heart disease and excess calorie intake that can lead to undated weight gain, says Machowsky.

Too little fat can affect nutrient absorption and ultimately impact performance as well, so moderation is the name of the game here. Include 1 to 2 servings of fat in meals in the form of fatty fish, nuts and nut butters, seeds, meat, dairy, avocado and olive oil.

Snacking on real food about 2 to 3 times per day keeps players satisfied and adequately fueled between meals. Optimizing performance means players need some serious nutrient bang for their calorie buck and whole foods win the nutrient density competition every time.

If you want to play at the top of your game, reduce the junk food. Remember that food is functional, and it serves a purpose. When that purpose is helping players recover after two-a-days, that food needs to be filled with as much high-quality nutrition as possible.

Think whole fruit such as apples and bananas with ¾ cup low-fat cottage cheese or yogurt, a handful of nuts or 2 tablespoons of nut butter on a piece of whole grain toast, lettuce roll-ups with turkey, avocado and mustard, a protein shake or smoothie made with plain Greek yogurt, fruit and 1 to 2 tablespoons of almond butter, for example, or pop a few turkey meatballs a common player favorite.

Beware of symptoms like unusual shortness of breath, loss of coordination, racing pulse even during a break , significant cramping, headache, nausea or vomiting and dizziness. If untreated, severe dehydration can be life threatening.