Leicester Hockey Club

 Training and match-play preparation and recovery - Written by Hannah Macleod, Leicester 1st Team Player

I’m afraid to say good nutrition is not going to make you run faster, score more goals or get you in the starting line-up week after week. But, your diet is central in supporting your training and enabling you to recover between sessions and matches. Not to forget, a good diet is also essential for long-term good health. You’ll be amazed how much more stable your mood swings are if you ditch the mid-afternoon chocolate bar and fast food dinners! When the topic of nutrition comes up a lot of people automatically think about losing weight- rubbish! A good diet, in this instance, is all about energy, recovery, health, mood and performance. 

The aim of this first article is to provide you with some simple, easy and practical nutrition tips you can implement specifically around matches and training.

A varied well-balanced diet, that meets the energy demands of playing and training, will provide all essential nutrients. Essentially, the diet of a hockey player needs to be established around a rich-source of carbohydrate, moderate levels of protein and small amounts of fat. Carbohydrate is the key nutrient for energy. The body can only store a small amount of carbohydrate so these stores need to be topped up regularly. Protein plays a role in building and repairing muscle. The average western diet provides more than enough protein to meet your needs.

Pre-match preparation

When should I eat?

Food consumed before training or matches is only useful once it has been digested.  This means you need to time your food intake so that the fuel becomes available when you really need it.  The time required for digestion depends on the type and quantity of food consumed.  Generally, foods higher in fat, protein and fibre tend to take longer to digest than other foods, and may increase the risk of stomach discomfort during exercise.  Large quantities of foods take longer to digest than smaller quantities. A general guide is to have a meal about 3-4 hours before exercise or a lighter snack about 1-2 hours before exercise. You need to experiment to find the timing, amount and make up that best suits you.

What should I eat?

Food eaten before exercise should provide carbohydrate.  It should also be low in fat and moderate in fibre to make digestion easier and reduce the risk of stomach discomfort. 

The following foods are suitable to eat 3-4 hours before exercise:

-          Crumpets with jam or honey + flavoured milk

-          Baked potato + cottage cheese filling + glass of milk

-          Baked beans on toast

-          Breakfast cereal with milk

-          Bread roll with cheese/meat filling + banana

-          Fruit salad with fruit-flavoured yoghurt

-          Pasta or rice with a sauce based on low-fat ingredients (e.g. tomato, vegetables, lean meat) 

 The following snacks are suitable to eat 1-2 hours before exercise:

-          Milk shake (For Goodness Shakes, Fuiji Shake, Yopp) or fruit smoothie

-          Sports bars (check labels for carbohydrate and protein content)

-          Breakfast cereal with milk

-          Cereal bars

-          Fruit-flavoured yoghurt

-          Fruit

Post-match recovery

Recovery from training or a match requires replacing depleted carbohydrate stores and repairing muscle damage. The ‘magic’ window for recovery is the first 20 min after exercise. During this time, your body is able to process and absorb nutrients much quicker. Suitable foods to consume during this time include:

-          Sports drinks

-          Yoghurt

-          Fruit

-          Milkshakes

-          Cereal

-          Sandwiches

-          Toast with banana or honey

-          Fruit buns or fruit loaf

Your recovery does not end there. You should aim to eat a high-carbohydrate meal with some protein within two hours of finishing to completely restore your energy stores and reducing the risk of impairing your immune system. Excellent meal choices include spaghetti bolognaise, jacket potato with baked beans, chilli and chicken stir-fry.

Give it a go! Let me know how you get on and good luck for the weekend.

Hannah MacLeod  BSc PhD

Leicester 1^st Team Player

Useful website links:

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/nutrit.htm

http://www.lucozadeshop.com/news-list.html

http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/recipes/survival_I

http://www.gssiweb.com/Article_List.aspx?topicid=2&subtopicid=108