Have you given into diet trends such as keto, paleo, fasting or low carb in an attempt to gain more muscle and lose body fat?
Do you know what the scientific consensus is regarding the effectiveness of these modalities in footballers?
Are you confused about what exact role protein, fat’s and carbs play in optimizing your performance and how you can manipulate them to give you 95 minutes’ worth of elite level stamina?
Are you familiar with the demands of your sport and how that should dictate what you eat every day?
I know, I’m throwing a lot of questions at you but this is what you need to know before you embark on a “diet” change. These questions are the reason why YouTube and google can’t help you out. Nutrition gets much more nuanced when it comes to footballer performance.
I am sure you’ve heard it a thousand times after a match or high intensity training
day….. Coach says: “go home, get some rest - stretch, and eat well”.
WHAT DOES EAT WELL EVEN MEAN. There is absolutely no context in that statement.
Imagine the coach spoke like this about individual and tactical roles within the team.
Picture the coach, instead of telling the wingers to tuck in and stay central when the team is
defending the ball on the opposite side of the field, says to the wingers: “hey go out there and have fun and practice well”.
HOW THE HELL is the player (you) supposed to know what your tactical responsibilities are
with no specifications.
No coach would ever do this right? They would instead get down to the nitty gritty and blast
your head off with every tactical detail they could think of; open your body, see the field, tuck in centrally, be aware of the man around you, stay connected to the unit etc.
Yet, when it comes to nutrition and football the waters become very murky and often misleading.
What does eating well entail? Eating burgers and fries?
Meal guidelines should change around the pre and post-match/ training windows – does the phrase “eat well” account for this?
Eating to gain lean muscle mass is different from eating the day before a match or to increase stamina.
Protein, fat and carb distributions need to change day to day based on training volume and
intensity.
So where are the specific, detailed oriented guidelines when it comes to football nutrition?
We have the answer to that: