FOOTBALL NUTRITION TIPS

Most goals are scored in the last 15 minutes of a football match - that critical juncture when some players are exhausted and just trying to hang on, while others are feeling strong and getting a second wind. By making sports nutrition an integral part of your game strategy, you can help keep yourself ready for every game and playing at your best at every match.

For most hobby and professional football players, matches consist of two 45-minute halves with a 10- to 15-minute halftime break. All of this may be preceded by 30 minutes or more of warm-up prior to a match. Elite male players have been studied and found to cover almost 10,000 metres during a game. That's over 36 football fields in length. Elite women players typically cover about 8,500 metres or 31 football fields. One-third of the distance is traversed by sprinting. Even goalkeepers put in the mileage, typically covering a distance of about 4,000 metres during a game. Midfielders tend to cover the most ground, since they play both offense and defence. Forwards travel less, but since they're constantly on attack, much of their time on the field is spent sprinting. Defenders cover less territory, but their movements are frequently lateral or backwards.

There is little rest for the weary on the pitch. Players have been observed to change speed or direction up to 1,000 times in a game. Sprinting, dribbling, jumping, tackling, passing, and shooting are high-intensity anaerobic elements of the game, and these activities are intermingled with lower-intensity running. While there may be a few periods of walking here and there if you're lucky, for the most part competitive football is nonstop, and the effort rapidly burns up your limited stores of muscle fuel. It also leads to hefty fluid losses due to sweating. There is a performance price to be paid for this work. When fuel and fluids are in short supply at the start of a match or during play, on-the-field performance suffers noticeably.

The three most important principles of a sports nutrition game plan for football are to stay hydrated, to provide fuel for your muscles, and to promote optimal recovery after playing. Applying these principles in combination with the correct sports nutrition products will allow you to can maximize the gains from your training and play your best on the field.