Nutrition rules of a young player in a nutshell.

Do not go out of home without first meal as breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Skipping this first meal can have negative consequences on daily nutrient requirements such as reducing the total amount of components needed for growth and development. The breakfast of a young sportsman should be based on products from various food groups to provide energy needed to train, competition as well as growth and development.

Eat proper meals around training time, so those before, during and after the activity. Good meal before the activity helps prevent from feeling fatigue, improve complex skills such as strength, agility, concentration and influence our after training regeneration.

Take care about good hydration. Among young players the most common problem is the state of hydration of the organism before training/match as 50-75% young players come to training DEHYDRATED. The causes for this are: ignoring the feeling of thirst and reluctance to take fluids during the day. Adjust hydration pattern to your organism.

Adjust dinner to your goals as for many of you, post-training meal is the last one of the day. During the season, professional footballers need to take care of their post-match regeneration and prepare themselves for the next meeting as soon as possible. The post-training meal should be eaten up to 30 minutes after the activity. It should be a source of easily-released carbohydrates in order to replenish the losses of glycogen. Next meal eaten at home should be wholesome and include proteins, carbohydrates and some vegetables. When preparing yourself to a club match, eat a proper amount of carbohydrates for  dinner in order to store bigger energy reserves (in the form of muscle glycogen). Carbohydrates like light pasta with tomato sauce and wholesome protein.

Remember ! Nature has designed the food in such a way so that it consists of a group of nutrients. Eating varied foods, trying new tastes, you will provide all nutrients needed for development of a young organism. A young player cannot limit himself, needs to develop the flexibility of food choices to be prepared for unusual travel situations.

If you have any questions, write to me ;) erwina.szymczyk@soccerskills.pro
Nutrition expert, PSS Erwina Szymczyk