Fuelling the 3 o'clock kick off.

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Football is meant to be played at 3:00pm on a Saturday. This dates back to when factories would close early on a Saturday to allow their football team to play a fixture. These factory teams have evolved into some of the biggest clubs in the English game today. But, more importantly, the 3 o’clock kick off allows plenty of time to get the body properly fuelled for a match and maintain high levels of performance.

Football Physiology

To know what fuel is needed for the body to utilise, it is vital to understand the exercise physiology of the sport and the intensity reached. Football is a team based intermittent sport, meaning players will perform low intensity movements (walking, jogging and standing) interspersed with high intensity movements such as sprints, tackles, turns, jumps as well as accelerations and decelerations. Analysis has shown that around 70% of a match consists of low intensity aerobic (using oxygen) movements with 150-250 high intensity anaerobic (without the presence of oxygen) actions (1). Although these high intensity exercise bouts seem to make up only 30% of a match, these actions cannot be disregarded as they can prove critical to performance and the outcome of the competition (2).

Nutrition for optimal performance

Carbohydrates are king when it comes to exercise and sports. As muscle glycogen is the predominant substrate for energy production during a match, carbohydrates are of prime importance. When carbohydrates are consumed, they are converted into glycogen and stored in limited amounts in both the liver and muscles as an energy store (burke, 2011). With muscle glycogen depletion commonly contributing to fatigue, players should adopt strategies to maximize muscle glycogen content (3). An adequate amount of protein (20-25g) should also be ingested for satiety, protein synthesis and recovery (4). Now lets get into what you should be eating for high performance.

Breakfast

Players should have the last large meal 5 hours before competition. In the case of the 2/3pm kick off this is usually breakfast. After an overnight fast the liver is nearly almost depleted of glycogen (5). Ingestion of a carbohydrate rich meal (140-330g of carbohydrate) 3-5 hours prior to kick off increases muscle glycogen levels (6) and improves exercise performance (7). Thus, players should focus on easy to digest carbohydrate and protein rich meals. For example, 1 large bowl of protein porridge with skim milk, 250ml glass of unsweetened orange juice and one medium sized banana.

One hour until KO.

The 30-60 minutes prior to KO provide an opportunity to get an extra top up of easily digestible carbohydrates (30-90g). Players will commonly be provided with the likes of bananas, energy gels, sport drinks or handful of jelly sweets here.

Summary

If you want to perform to the very best of your ability, then fuel yourself correctly. Focus on easy to digest meals loaded in carbohydrates and some protein. Then go out on that pitch feeling energised and ready to perform.

References

1. Oliveira, C. C., Ferreira, D., Caetano, C., Granja, D., Pinto, R., Mendes, B., & Sousa, M. (2017). Nutrition and supplementation in soccer. Sports, 5(2), 28.

2. Dupont, G., & McCall, A. (2016). Targeted systems of the body for training. Soccer Science; Strudwick, T., Ed.; Human Kinetics: Champaign, IL, USA.

3. Rampinini, E., Impellizzeri, F. M., Castagna, C., Coutts, A. J., & Wisløff, U. (2009). Technical performance during soccer matches of the Italian Serie A league: Effect of fatigue and competitive level. Journal of science and medicine in sport, 12(1), 227-233.

4. Strudwick, T. (2016). Soccer science. Human Kinetics.

5. Gleeson, M., & Jeukenbrup, A. (2004). Sport nutrition: an introduction to energy production and performance. Human Kinetics.

6. Coyle, E. F., Coggan, A. R., Hemmert, M. K., & Ivy, J. L. (1986). Muscle glycogen utilization during prolonged strenuous exercise when fed carbohydrate. Journal of applied physiology, 61(1), 165-172.

7. Neufer, P. D., Costill, D. L., Flynn, M. G., Kirwan, J. P., Mitchell, J. B., & Houmard, J. (1987). Improvements in exercise performance: effects of carbohydrate feedings and diet. Journal of applied physiology, 62(3), 983-988.