A day in the life of a high school student-athlete can be challenging. Take Temika, a junior in high school, and Conor, a sophomore. Each wakes up early, one for a strength training workout, and the other for jazz band practice that starts at 7:30 a.m. School starts at 8:15 a.m., and after seven head-spinning class periods, Temika races off to a cross-country workout while Conor dons pads in preparation for football practice. Home by 7:00 p.m., there’s just enough time to grab a quick bite before hitting the books to plow through the hours of homework still ahead. Study groups, music lessons, games, scrimmages, and the occasional tutoring session also need to be crammed into their busy schedules. And did we mention the SAT, ACT, and AP exams on Temika’s junior-year agenda? And, of course, each is balancing a complex social network through a dizzying array of cell phone calls, emails, text messages, instant messages, Tweets, and Facebook.
Where in this daily frenzy do teenage athletes have time to understand sports nutrition, let alone meet their sports nutrition requirements?
In just a few short pages, we download the sports nutrition information that you need to be a better athlete, along with simple, practical tips for ensuring that you meet those needs. And, best of all, there won’t be a quiz on this!
Just the basics — hydration and fueling muscles
We get it. You are crazy busy. So let’s just cut to the chase: What you eat and drink before, during, and after exercise can make a big difference when you train and compete — for better or for worse! Here’s how to get it right.
Even if your event only lasts a matter of seconds, you put in hours every day in training, and that takes a metabolic toll. Carbohydrates in the form of glucose, in your bloodstream, and bundles of glucose packaged together — called glycogen — in your muscles and liver, fuel all this training. However, your carbohydrate reserves are in very short supply. Just a few hours of exercise will seriously deplete your stores. And once you hit empty, fatigue sets in, and your ability to perform athletically plummets.
Hydration is another important factor. Water is your body’s #1 ingredient — and for good reason. Every cell in your body is bathed in a watery medium that includes dissolved minerals known as electrolytes, which help properly regulate fluid levels inside and between cells. When you’re well hydrated, your cells and tissues function at their best, and therefore you do too. But during exercise, working muscles generate loads of internal body heat that would quickly shut you down if not released. Your body cools itself by sweating, but in the process you lose the very fluids and the key electrolyte sodium that are essential to keeping you properly hydrated. Lose too much fluid and sodium, and your body becomes dehydrated, your heart has to work harder to keep up, and you start to heat up. That’s no way to PR at the next meet.
Running low on muscle fuel and becoming dehydrated are not rare events. Each can develop within the span of a single practice or workout. Deficits can also accumulate from one workout to the next, such that at the end of the week you’re running on empty, and your performance makes that abundantly clear.
To avoid the performance-robbing effects of dehydration and running low on carbohydrate muscle fuel, you’ve got to hydrate and fuel before exercise and rehydrate and refuel during exercise when needed. The following are easy-to-implement strategies to do just that:
Grab and Go
If you’re like most teens, sleeping is priority #1, and avoiding tardies and detention comes next. Quite frankly, a sit-down breakfast on a school day isn’t even on the radar screen! But that doesn’t mean breakfast is out. Your body and your brain need the carbs. So grab a piece of fruit, a roll or bagel, or a cup of yogurt on your way out the door, and eat it in transit. Apply the same strategy for early-morning workouts.
Pack a Water Bottle
Fluid deficits can be carried over from one day to the next, and you need to be hydrated for what’s in store today. So get in the habit of carrying a water bottle in your backpack, and take sips regularly throughout the day.
Make Lunch Count
If you’ve got practice or a competition after school, lunch is your pre-exercise meal. Make it count. Carbs with some protein should be on the menu. If your at-school lunch options are limited, pack food the night before and carry it in your backpack. Sandwiches, bagels, rolls, fruit, fruit drinks, plain or flavored milk, and juices will all help keep your stomach from growling and your muscle fuel stores topped off in preparation for the exercise ahead.
Ten Pre-Exercise Snack Ideas
For busy student-athletes, snacking is survival. Snacks are best consumed an hour or two before a workout or competition, and they should primarily be composed of carbs with a little bit of protein. Steer clear of slow-to-digest snacks rich in fat or fiber, as they can cause an upset stomach. Not sure what constitutes a performance snack? Here are 10 carbohydrate-based, moderate-protein options:
- Fresh fruit such as a banana, apple, or orange with milk (low-fat or nonfat; plain or flavored)
- Yogurt with fruit
- Plain or flavored milk (low-fat or nonfat) with crackers and peanut butter
- Juice with pretzels or crackers
- Fruit smoothie
- Breakfast cereal with milk (low-fat or nonfat)
- Bagel or roll with jam or piece of fruit
- Fig bars with juice or milk (low-fat or nonfat)
- Sports drink, such as PowerBar® Endurance sports drink
- Energy bar or energy chews
Match Fluids In with Fluids Out
During exercise, you lose fluids constantly. The problem is that your sense of thirst doesn’t kick in until you’ve already become dehydrated, so you need a proactive plan to consume fluids regularly during exercise. The goal is to take in fluids at a rate that keeps pace with your sweat rate. This generally requires that you drink about 13–26 fl oz (400–800 ml) — the size of a typical sports bottle — every hour during exercise. Smaller volumes taken frequently is preferred. Try to consume 3–7 fl oz (100–200 ml) every 15 minutes or so (1 gulp equals about 1 fl oz). Water is generally fine for exercise lasting less than an hour. A sports drink is a better option for exercise lasting much longer than an hour, and anytime it’s hot or humid.
Refuel During Exercise, If Needed
For light workouts under an hour, you don’t need to refuel during exercise. But if you’re exercising for much longer than an hour, consuming carbs during exercise can help prevent fatigue. Consume about 30–60 grams of carbs during every hour of exercise. The carbs need to be easily digested and absorbed. PowerBar
® offers some great options that you can tailor to your specific needs and tastes. Options include:
- PowerBar® Gel
- PowerBar® Gel Blasts™ energy chews
- PowerBar® Performance Energy bar
- PowerBar® Energy Bites
Maximize Strength Training Workouts
If you’re heading off to lift, make sure you have the amino acid building blocks you’ll need to repair and build muscle in response to your workout. A minimum of 15–25 grams of protein just before or after working out will provide what you need. A convenient option for getting this protein, along with important muscle-fueling carbs, is the PowerBar ProteinPlus
® 30g protein bar. Chow down on half the bar on the way to the weight room, and the other half after your workout.
Promote Recovery
Your job as an athlete isn’t done just because practice is over or the day’s competition has ended. That’s just half the battle. The other half is giving your body the chance to recover and adapt to your hard work. For that, you need to replenish depleted carbohydrate stores, provide protein for the repair and building of muscle tissue, and rehydrate by providing adequate fluids and sodium. PowerBar
® Recovery beverage is a fast and convenient option to start the recovery process. Just pour the Recovery beverage powder into the water into your sports bottle, add water, and shake. In seconds, you’ll have the carbs, protein, sodium, and fluids to start reloading, repairing, and rehydrating. And when you do finally make it home after a long day, dinner is crucial to continuing your recovery. With your schedule, making the sit-down meal with the family may be the exception rather than the rule. So dive into the refrigerator and forage for leftovers. Load up on carbs, add some lean protein, and take in plenty of fluids.
Want more details?
For more information on meeting your sports nutrition needs, click on
Sports Nutrition for Teen Athletes at PowerBar.com.
References:
Habash DL. Child and Adolescent Athletes. In: Sports Nutrition: A Practice Manual for Professionals. 4th ed. Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutritionists Dietetic Practice Group. Dunford M, ed. American Dietetic Association. 2006: 229–252.
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