Eating before Competing Part I

by Ola Bykowska

 

I remember my first Junior Championships and how nervous I was during that morning. At breakfast before start I couldn’t eat anything, my hands were shaking. After a couple of very important races, my stress level vastly decreased, and now I can basically eat whatever I want while stressed out. There is only one limitation: some foods may not digest properly before racing and cause stomach problems.

 

The matter of pre-competition meal concerns every athlete. Unfortunately, our bodies are not good at multitasking. Even during strength and power events, the hormonal response in our body known as “fight or flight”, may not let us digest food the way we do it every day. How to avoid awful feeling of fullness or bloating during those most important days of your athletic career?

 

 

1. Eat the last meal no later than 3-2 hours before competing. If you feel hungry later on, snack on something light, for example banana, like the runner Mike Inge, who say this fruit is the best snack, because it does not upsets his stomach while competing and keeps him from feeling hungry. Banana is a perfect food before competition, because it contains a lot of carbohydrates, which are main source of energy while exercising. One medium banana has about 100 kcal, 27g of carbohydrates, and is a great source of potassium, which is lost during strenuous exercise.

2. Eat complex carbohydrates. The thrower Mohsen Anani says, that it comes to the competition day, he concentrates on eating carbohydrates. Similarly, javelin thrower Kim Hamilton, makes sure she has enough nutrients to fuel muscles by eating protein and complex carbohydrates days before competition. Complex carbohydrates (example: rice, wholegrain bread, pasta, or potatoes) are broken down into glucose more slowly than the simple ones (example: sugar, candy, white bread), therefore will provide energy constantly and will keep away the uncomfortable feeling of hunger for a long time.

3. Experiment with different meals before practice, not the competition. Some people may have problem with digesting properly before competitions foods containing fats, very complex carbohydrates, such as wholegrain pasta, beans, or different kinds of veggies. Personally, I could never eat cucumbers or peanut butter on the day of competition. It is very important to experiment with eating different foods before practice and pick the ones that do not cause indigestion problems. Javelin thrower Igor Janik makes sure he has easily digestible foods during his pre-competition meal. His usual meal before event is pasta with chicken, veggie salad and a glass of orange juice. To get a quick energy boost he also eats just before the start a source of simple carbs such as chocolate or energy bar.