EAT RIGHT TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL FOOTBALLER LIKE MESSI OR RONALDO
Football is a game that requires a high level of strength, speed and proficiency; all of which depends upon what, when and how much a football player eats and drink.
The efforts applied during training, and competition is also needed to be applied for proper fueling because many times players overlook nutrition which results in poor performance. Hence, appropriate diet is very important for football players.
Football is a stop-and-go play which involves utmost muscular efforts to move or stop the ball, and also the players have to carry the extra burden of wearing equipment like pads and helmet; all this necessitate the consumption of a diet that meets the energy requirement.
The primary fuel for football players is carbohydrates as football requires short bursts of energy, eating adequate amount carbohydrates is critical.
Therefore the ideal diet for football players should include 55 to 60 % of caloric intake from carbohydrates with relatively low fat intake (25%) and 15% of calorie intake from protein. This diet along with exercise will help to increase muscle mass.
Increasing the intake of fat will also increase the muscle mass due to the increase fat storage but will not contribute to strength. Moreover, with improper carbohydrate intake players will have inadequate glycogen store for recovery for the next training session.
Thus, emphasis should be given to food containing carbohydrate with lower fat example: boiled potatoes over fries, fresh fruit yogurt over ice cream.
Therefore to have an edge over your competitors you should supply your body with optimal fuel. To get the full potential out of yourself, the diet should be the first thing to start with in the morning irrespective of whether you are hungry or not.
As often as possible choose whole, unprocessed and low-fat foods as fat take longer to digest and makes the player feel cumbersome and lethargic. There choose foods such as multigrain vegetable sandwiches, oats with low-fat milk.
You should also take care of your meals immediately after the training session as players are the hungriest during that time. Ideally, for optimal recovery, choose snacks that contain 6-gram protein and 35-gram carbohydrate, to be consumed within 30 minutes after training for maximum benefit.
Example includes: chocolate milk, toast with peanut butter. Last but not the least to perform and recover successfully replenish your fluids at regular interval with a good electrolyte replacement drink and keep a water bottle during the day to keep yourself well hydrated.
