Eating for Success!

Team..Please read this..

It will help you get to your goals!!

~ The following are the most common questions serious high school athletes have concerning nutrition and how to improve athletic performance.

1. What Are the Basic Principles of Sports Nutrition?

The three most important principles of sports nutrition are to stay hydrated, to provide fuel for your muscles, and to promote optimal recovery after training and competing. Apply these principles correctly, and you can maximize the gains from your training and compete at your best.

To apply these principles effectively, it’s helpful to think about sports nutrition in three phases: before, during, and after exercise.

• Before exercise, focus on going into your training session or competition fully fueled and fully hydrated
• During exercise, rehydrate and refuel if necessary to delay the onset of fatigue
• After exercise, take the necessary steps to promote a fast recovery

2. What Should I Eat Before Exercise?

Eat foods that are good sources of carbohydrates and that are familiar to you. Examples of high-carbohydrate foods are shown in the table below. Carbohydrates are the most important fuel during intense endurance exercise, and your stores of carbs are relatively small. So it’s important to go into long training sessions or extended competitions with your carbohydrate muscle fuel stores fully loaded.

Competitions are not the time to experiment with unfamiliar foods during the pre-exercise meal. Instead, try out new foods prior to training sessions. Also, steer clear of foods that are high in fiber or fats before exercise. These foods tend to be slow to digest, and can cause an upset stomach during exercise. A moderate amount of protein with your high-carbohydrate pre-game meal is fine.

IDEAS FOR HIGH-CARBOHYDRATE PRE-EXERCISE MEALS

• Cold or hot cereal with fruit or fruit juice and low-fat or nonfat milk
• French toast or pancakes with maple or fruit syrup
• Toast with jam or honey and low-fat yogurt
• Breakfast burrito (scrambled eggs, salsa, and cheese in a flour tortilla) and fruit nectar
• Bagel or English muffin with jelly and/or peanut butter, banana, and fruit juice
• Pasta or cheese ravioli with low-fat, tomato-based sauce, French bread or low-fat breadsticks, steamed vegetables, low-fat/nonfat milk, pudding snack, canned fruit
• Grilled chicken sandwich with frozen low-fat yogurt and baked potato with low-fat sour cream or salsa
• Turkey sub sandwich with tomato, lettuce, mustard, baked chips, fruit juice, low-fat frozen yogurt
• Thick-crust cheese pizza, low-fat gelato, and canned peaches
• Baked or grilled lean beef, chicken, turkey or fish, steamed rice, dinner roll, cooked green beans, low-fat frozen yogurt, fruit juice

3. When Should I Eat Before Exercise?

Consume a high-carbohydrate pre-exercise meal about 2–4 hours before the start of a competition or training session. Strive to consume about 200–300 grams of carbohydrates at this meal. Consume another 40–60 grams of easy-to-digest carbohydrates about 30–60 minutes before the start of exercise.

4. I Exercise Early in the Morning, What Should I Eat?

If you have an early-morning competition or training session, consuming a full meal before exercise isn’t realistic. So instead, consume your high-carb meal the evening before, and then have a carbohydrate-rich snack with fluids when you first wake up. Be sure to test this early-morning fueling regimen during a training session first, before you implement it prior to an important competition.

IDEAS FOR QUICK-TO-DIGEST, HIGH-CARBOHYDRATE SNACKS

• Fruit smoothie made with mango/banana/berries and low-fat or nonfat milk or yogurt
• Fruit or vegetable juice
• Small roll or sandwich made with a banana and honey
• Low-fat or nonfat yogurt or fat-free frozen yogurt, gelato, or sorbet
• POWERBAR® PERFORMANCE bar
• POWERBAR® ENERGIZE bar
• POWERBAR® GEL
• POWERBAR GEL BLASTS^TM
• POWERBAR®ENDURANCE sports drink

5. I Usually Get the Jitters Before Competitions and Don’t Have an Appetite. What Should I Do?

Don’t let the jitters cause you to skip eating and miss out on carbohydrates altogether before a competition. Instead, try sipping liquid carbohydrate sources in place of solid foods. A fruit smoothie or a meal-replacement drink is a good alternative when nerves have your stomach tied up in a knot.
6. I Get Hungry at Competitions, Especially During Warm-Ups and Between Events. What Can I Eat?

Make sure to have easy-to-digest, high-carbohydrate snacks on hand for when you get hungry at the venues where you are competing.

IDEAS FOR QUICK-TO-DIGEST, HIGH-CARBOHYDRATE SNACKS

• Fruit smoothie made with mango/banana/berries and low-fat or nonfat milk or yogurt
• Fruit or vegetable juice
• Small roll or sandwich made with a banana and honey
• Low-fat or nonfat yogurt or fat-free frozen yogurt, gelato, or sorbet
• POWERBAR PERFORMANCE bar
• POWERBAR ENERGIZE bar
• POWERBAR GEL
• POWERBAR GEL BLASTS
• POWERBAR ENDURANCE sports drink

7. What Should I Drink Before Exercise?

The best drink before exercise is either water or a sports drink. Water is fine if you are already pretty well-hydrated and fully fueled going into your competition or training session. A sports drink containing carbohydrates and sodium, such as POWERBAR ENDURANCE sports drink, is a better option than plain water if you’ve not had a chance to fully hydrate and top off muscle fuel stores before exercise, especially if your activity will last an hour or longer, or if you’ll be exercising in hot or humid conditions.

8. When Should I Drink Before Exercise?

To hydrate optimally, drink 14–20 fl oz (about 400– 600 ml) of water or sports drink 2–3 hours before exercise. This should lead to urine production. If it doesn’t, or the urine you produce is dark in color, drink extra fluid about 2 hours before exercise. This will allow sufficient time for urine to be eliminated before starting exercise.

Drink another 8 fl oz (240 ml) while you are warming up just prior to exercise. Finally, it’s a good idea to practice your pre-exercise hydration protocol during training sessions before implementing it for important competitions.
9. Should I Eat Fruits or Vegetables Before Exercise?

It’s a great idea to top off your muscle fuel stores by eating carbohydrates before exercise, and fruits and vegetables are examples of foods rich in carbs. However, your pre-exercise meal and snack should only include foods you’re familiar with and know won’t cause digestive discomfort during exercise. If you want to experiment with new foods before exercise, do so before practices and not before competitions.

10. Why is it Important to Stay Hydrated During Exercise?

Dehydration impairs your ability to perform athletically, and this impairment occurs when you lose as little as 2% of your body weight due to fluid loss. That equates to just 3 lbs (1.4 kg) for a 150-lb (68-kg) athlete. This degree of weight change due to fluid loss occurs commonly in many sports. To stay hydrated during exercise, it’s now highly recommended that you consume fluids at a rate that closely matches your sweat rate.
11. How Much Fluid Should I Drink When Exercising, and How Do I Determine My Sweat Rate?

To prevent dehydration during exercise, try to consume fluids at a rate that closely matches your sweat rate. This generally requires about 13–26 fl oz (about 400–800 ml) of water or sports drink every hour of exercise, preferably in smaller amounts taken frequently, such as 3–6 fl oz (about 100–200 ml) every 15 minutes. However, your fluid needs can vary considerably, depending on your size, your sport, and the conditions in which you are training or competing. Therefore, calculating your sweat rate is the best approach to determining your hydration needs, and it’s really quite simple. For a step-by-step guide to calculate your sweat rate and to obtain a personalized plan to meet your unique hydration needs, click on the POWERBAR® Sweat Rate Calculator.

12. What Are Some Practical Ways I Can Increase My Fluid Intake When Training or Competing?

Get into the habit of carrying your own sports bottle to competitions and practices. You may even want to bring 2 or 3, and put your name on them. This will allow you to have complete control over when you’re hydrating, what you’re hydrating with, and what volume you’re consuming. Keep your sports bottle close at hand during competitions and while training, so that you can take sips at every opportunity.

A break in the action is your chance to rehydrate. For example, take the opportunity to rehydrate during time-outs, whenever you’re on the bench, during quarter and half-time breaks, and between heats or events. Most athletes can easily consume about 5 fl oz (150 ml) during a quick stop in play, and even more during longer breaks. Each gulp from a sports bottle is about 1 fl oz (30 ml). The good news is that dehydration is completely preventable. But to accomplish that goal, you’ve got to use breaks in the action wisely.

13. How Do I Know If I’m Hydrated?

You can check your hydration status before exercise by monitoring the color of your urine. A light-yellow color is consistent with adequate hydration. If your urine is darker, more like the color of apple juice, that’s a sign that you may need more fluids.

Monitor the effectiveness of your during-exercise hydration regimen by weighing yourself before and after training sessions or competitions. Remember, the goal is to avoid dehydration, and that means losing no more than 2% of your body weight during exercise. If your weight loss is greater than 2%, make a conscious effort to take in more fluids during exercise.
14. Should I Drink Water or a Sports Drink During Exercise?

Water is fine to hydrate with for light workouts or short competitions in mild weather conditions.

If your exercise will last an hour or longer, and any time you’re exercising in the heat or humidity, a sports drink that provides carbohydrates, fluids, and sodium, such as POWERBAR ENDURANCE sports drink, is a better option than plain water. The advantages are many. First, a sports drink provides carbohydrates to fuel your muscles during exercise. Second, athletes freely consume more fluids when their hydration beverage is flavored, as is the case with a sports drink. Third, sodium and carbs in a sports drink cause the fluid in the beverage to be absorbed more quickly. The sodium also helps maintain your drive to continue drinking fluids when exercising, which is crucial to meeting your fluid needs. Finally, the sodium also helps you retain the fluid that you’ve consumed. Conversely, drinking plain water doesn’t refuel muscle, it tends to satisfy your thirst before your fluid needs have even been met, and it can lead to the elimination of fluids, via urination, even though you’re still not fully rehydrated.
15. Should I Refuel with Carbs During Exercise?

For training sessions and competitions lasting less than an hour, it’s usually not necessary to refuel. Your carbohydrate stores should be adequate to meet your muscle fuel needs.

When training or competing for an hour or two, or even longer, refueling with carbohydrates during exercise can extend your endurance and boost your performance.

• For exercise lasting 1–2 hours, consume 30–60 grams of carbs during each hour of exercise.
• If your training session or competition is going to last even longer, consume 45–90 grams of carbs during each hour of exercise. Be sure to use POWERBAR products that feature POWERBAR® C2 MAX carbs, such as POWERBAR ENDURANCE sports drink, POWERBAR PERFORMANCE bars and POWERBAR ENERGIZE bars, POWERBAR GELs, and POWERBAR GEL BLASTS. POWERBAR C2 MAX is a dual source carbohydrate energy blend that delivers maximum energy to muscles fast.

16. How Do I Use POWERBAR Sports Nutrition Products to Refuel During Exercise?

You can mix and match POWERBAR products to meet your muscle fueling needs during exercise lasting an hour or longer. Take the opportunity during training sessions to refine your carbohydrate refueling strategy.

• POWERBAR ENDURANCE sports drink is a convenient powder designed to be mixed with water. Each 16 fl oz (480 ml) serving provides 34 grams of carbs and 380 mg sodium. During exercise, consume this beverage at a rate that closely matches your sweat rate. This generally requires about 13–26 fl oz (about 400–800 ml) every hour of exercise, preferably in smaller amounts taken frequently.
• POWERBAR GELs provide 27–28 grams of carbs and 200 mg sodium per packet. Consume 1 gel every 20–45 minutes during exercise, along with a few mouthfuls of water. The combination of a gel and water is designed to be used interchangeably with POWERBAR ENDURANCE sports drink during exercise, if you are looking for a little variety.
• POWERBAR PERFORMANCE bars provide 41–45 grams of carbs per bar, and POWERBAR ENERGIZE bars provide 42 grams of carbs per bar. Consume 1–2 bars per hour during exercise if chewing is feasible.
• POWERBAR GEL BLASTS feature a chewy outer shell and a tasty liquid center designed to provide an extra blast of carbohydrate fuel. Each chew offers 5 grams of carbs along with the key electrolyte sodium. Consume 1–3 gel blasts every 10 minutes or as feasible during exercise or during breaks in the action.

17. What Can I Do to Recover Quickly After Exercise?

Your body is ready to start the recovery process just as soon as you finish training or competing. But to get going on recovery, you need to provide the necessary nutrients, including carbohydrates to restore depleted muscle fuel stores, protein to repair and build muscle tissue, and fluids and sodium to rehydrate.

Carbohydrates: If you don’t compete or practice again within 24 hours, your usual high-carbohydrate meals and beverages will generally promote a full recovery within about 24 hours. But if you compete twice in a single day, rapid recovery is a must. This can be a problem in tournaments where you’re in an unfamiliar venue and you don’t have ready access to your usual sources of foods and fluids. For these situations, plan ahead. Bring a cooler, and make sure it’s packing a convenient recovery drink, such as POWERBAR RECOVERY® beverage, or other foods and beverages that will provide the fluids, sodium, carbohydrates, and protein needed to get the recovery process started. To speed carbohydrate muscle fuel restoration after exercise, consume about 0.5 grams of carbohydrates per lb (1.1 grams per kg) body weight within 30 minutes of finishing and repeat this within 2 hours or consume a high-carbohydrate meal. For a 150-lb (68-kg) athlete, that equates to 75 grams of carbohydrates after exercise, and then again 2 hours later. Continue consuming easy-to-digest, high-carb foods and beverages up until 30 -60 minutes before your next competition.

Protein: Muscle tissue repair and building is another important facet of recovery. Muscle tissue is made up of protein, and protein is made up of building blocks known as amino acids. When you consume protein foods, the protein is digested and broken down into its component amino acids. These amino acids are then absorbed and repackaged into the proteins your body needs to repair and build muscle tissue. Consuming 10–20 grams of protein as soon as possible after training or competing will provide the amino acids needed for repairing muscle tissue damaged during exercise, and for making new muscle tissue as an adaptation to your training. If you do resistance training workouts, consume 10–20 grams of protein just before and immediately after lifting to ensure an adequate supply of amino acids for the muscle tissue repair and building process.

Fluids and Sodium: Even if you are diligent in your efforts to hydrate during training sessions and competitions, you may lose more fluids than you take in. Weigh yourself before and after exercise to gauge your net loss of fluids. Replace this fluid after exercise by gradually drinking 23 fl oz (680 ml) of a sports drink, recovery beverage, or water for every 1 lb (0.45 kg) of weight lost. Consume sodium sources along with your fluids. Rehydration will be more effective when sodium is included with the fluid and food you consume as you recover. If your loss of fluid during play consistently exceeds 2% of your body weight, try to increase your fluid intake during subsequent training sessions and competitions to avoid dehydration.

18. How Do I Use POWERBAR Products to Speed My Recovery After Exercise?

POWERBAR® RECOVERY bar and POWERBAR® RECOVERY beverage are specifically designed to be consumed as soon as possible after exercise to kickstart the recovery process. POWERBAR RECOVERY bar provides 30 grams of carbs for muscle fuel restoration, 12 grams of high-quality protein for repairing and building muscle, and 8–10 grams of fat to help replenish lipid deposits found within muscle tissue. A 16 fl oz (480 ml) serving of POWERBAR RECOVERY beverage provides 40 grams of carbs for rapid muscle fuel restoration, 6 grams of high-quality protein for muscle repair and building, and 500 mg of sodium for optimal rehydration. Consume a POWERBAR RECOVERY bar if you feel like something solid and satisfying. Consume POWERBAR RECOVERY beverage if you want something light and thirst-quenching that you can easily chug. In either case, be sure to jumpstart recovery by consuming one of these products within 30 minutes of finishing your training session or competition.

19. What is the Effect of Protein Intake on Performance?

It often comes as a surprise to athletes, but protein doesn’t fuel your performance during exercise. Instead, that’s the job of the carbohydrates you eat, along with your stores of fat. That being said, the protein you eat does play an important role: It helps in the repair and building of muscle tissue in response to training and competitions. Try a protein shake just after each workout!Your muscles are made up of proteins. Proteins are composed of biological building blocks called amino acids. When you eat food, whether it’s a piece of meat or a slice of bread, whatever protein is present is gradually digested and broken down into its amino acid building blocks. These individual amino acids are then absorbed and repackaged together in different configurations to make the specific types of proteins you need, including muscle protein.

20. How Much Protein Should I Eat Per Day?

Timing of protein intake is as important as total protein intake. By consuming about 20 grams of protein a while before and/or just after working out, you can be sure your muscles have access to the amino acid building blocks needed for the repair and building of muscle tissue after exercise.

As for total protein intake, teenage athletes require about 0.68–0.91 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily (1.5–2.0 grams per kilogram). For a 150-pound (68-kg) high school athlete, this equates to 102–137 grams of protein daily. Most athletes easily consume this amount of protein or more in a day. Consuming more protein than you need offers no performance benefit, and it does not further increase your muscle mass.

21. What Can I Eat to Gain Muscle and Bulk Up?

If you’re trying to bulk up and add muscle mass, your muscles need a stimulus to get bigger and stronger, and that requires a well-designed resistance-training program. In addition, you need to provide the nutrition building blocks to increase muscle mass in response to your workouts. Two critically important nutrition factors for building muscles are calories and protein.

Cutting calories or dieting will work against your ability to bulk up. In fact, if your goal is to build muscle mass, you’ll actually need a surplus of calories every day, so plan on consuming an extra 500 calories daily when you’re training to build muscle. In addition to extra calories, consume 10–20 grams of protein just before and/or just after working out. This will help to ensure that your muscles have access to the amino acid building blocks needed for the repair and building of muscle tissue after workouts.

Below are a few practical strategies to get the calories and protein you need to build muscle:

Don’t skip meals or go long stretches without eating. After an overnight fast and when you skip meals, the breakdown of muscle outpaces the building of muscle tissue. To flip the switch to promote muscle building, you need to eat. So don’t skip breakfast or other meals, and be sure to consume some high-quality protein with each meal.

Promote the repair, building, and recovery of muscle tissue by providing protein, carbohydrates, and calories as soon as possible after workouts. For a muscle-building boost, keep a stash of POWERBAR PROTEINPLUS® bars in your gym bag, and down one as soon as possible after that last lift of your workout.

22. What Is a Healthy Diet?

A healthy diet provides the calories, carbohydrates, protein, fat, fiber, and essential vitamins and minerals you need to support growth, to keep you healthy, and to help you achieve your full potential as an athlete.

For example, a typical teenage male athlete weighing 150 lbs (68 kg) and exercising more than an hour daily requires about 3,200 calories per day. To achieve this calorie intake, a variety of foods is recommended, including grains, vegetables, beans, fruit, dairy foods, and meats.

As a practical strategy, you can ensure that you’re eating a healthy carb-rich diet during meals by filling ¾ of your plate with carbohydrate foods like cereals, grains, pasta,
bread, potatoes, fruits, vegetables, and beans. Fill the other ¼ of your plate with protein foods like meats, poultry, or fish and low-fat or nonfat dairy products. Choose lean cuts of meat, and trim the fat and skin from poultry. Fish, nuts, and seeds contain healthy oils, so eat these foods frequently in place of meat and poultry.

Also, plan meals and snacks ahead of time. By thinking ahead, you can ensure that healthy food choices are always available to you, and you won’t be tempted by quick fixes like fast foods and packaged snacks, which are often relatively higher in fat, sugar, and calories, than foods prepared at home.

In addition, strive to eat smaller high-carbohydrate meals and snacks frequently throughout the day. This will help maintain your carbohydrate muscle fuel stores and will help you ward off the extreme hunger that can lead to overeating and unwanted weight gain. And by consistently replenishing your carbohydrate muscle fuel stores, you’ll be able train longer and harder, delay the onset of fatigue, and help your muscles recover faster after workouts. Better workouts will translate to better performances during competitions.

To learn more specifics about a healthy diet for your weight, height, gender, and activity level, go to MyPyramid.gov.

23. What Foods Will Increase My Height?

Your height is largely determined by your genetics, and a healthy diet will enable you to achieve your full growth potential. Consuming inadequate calories, protein, or other key essential nutrients for a sustained period of time may suppress your growth, but consuming more of these nutrients than you need on a daily basis will not make you grow taller.

24. What Are Good Supplements to Take?

If you are consuming a healthy diet, you probably don’t need to consume dietary supplements. However, if your diet is somewhat limited by food allergies or intolerances, you may benefit from a once-daily multivitamin/mineral supplement and/or a supplement with calcium and vitamin D. Ready-to-eat cereals are often fortified with vitamins and minerals, and can also serve as an excellent source of these essential nutrients.You may add a clean protien shake post workouts , to aid in recovery.

25. What Are the Effects of Energy Drinks?

The “energy” in energy drinks comes from sugar and caffeine. The sugar concentration of these drinks is generally too high for them to be appropriate to consume during exercise. In fact, the high sugar concentration can actually impair hydration and lead to stomach upset during exercise in some individuals. Caffeine intake in the hour or so before exercise or during exercise may be of benefit to endurance athletes involved in events of an hour or more in length. Recent studies suggest that a total caffeine intake in the range of 70–150 mg prior to and/or during exercise may be all that is needed. However, the disadvantage of energy drinks as a caffeine source is that caffeine levels are often not indicated on the product labels, and in some cases can be extremely high, leading to symptoms such as nervousness, anxiety, inability to sleep, agitation, stomach upset, and rapid heartbeat.

A reliable and measured option for caffeine intake prior to or during exercise is an energy gel. For example, POWERBAR GELs are available in flavor varieties that contain 25–50 mg of caffeine per gel packet, or that are caffeine-free.
The Gels are more concentrated than a drink would be.

26. How Does Sleep Affect My Performance?

Recovery after exercise is critical to realizing the gains from all of your training, and adequate sleep is a vital component of the process of recovery. In addition to providing your muscles with the rest they need, sleep allows many other systems in the body to reset and rejuvenate themselves. Scientists have found that athletes who get inadequate sleep don’t function optimally during exercise, and their use of carbohydrate muscle fuel is impaired. In short, you have a better shot at performing at your best when you get adequate sleep before training sessions and competitions.