suplement intake or specific food before soccer game

[ephs]

what would be good food before a soccer game or maybe a suplement shortly before the game? some team mates drink energy drinks or even coffee. what do you guys think? what about dextrose?

[Dub]

Coffee will help performance, but I think it only works if you don't use caffeine regularly. Not a must.

Eat a meal of carbs and protein 2-4 hours before an exercise, and you are good to go. If not possible or preferrable, take a smaller snack or a supplement mixture of carbs and proteins ½h-2 hours before the game. The meals from the day before the event also have an effect (muscle glycogen storages).

Sport nutritional science is quite the open field, with lots of different approaches working.

Dextrose is cool, it's pretty quickly absorbing, so ½-1 hour before the event should do the job. You don't need too much of it. Always add a small amount of protein to the mix as well.

[Stefan 93]

What about eating during half time? Maybe bananas or honey would be good.

[Dub]

What about eating during half time? Maybe bananas or honey would be good.

Well, half time carbs might have some effect. But it will be a minor one. Carbo-sources are somewhat beneficial in long lasting endurance events, but I wouldn't say 45 minutes is long enough. The problem is the lack of hexokinase while exercising. What in means is simply that the muscle can't take carbs from the circulation too efficiently. You can take carbs during exercise, but especially during a short bout not too many will get to the actual muscle to be used during that event.

[Stefan 93]

I don't know about that, but I see many tennis players which eat bananas...
And I guess that they have similar running patterns. They walks all the time, and then run for a couple of meters.

[robertscott]

I don't know about that, but I see many tennis players which eat bananas...
And I guess that they have similar running patterns. They walks all the time, and then run for a couple of meters.

tennis matches can go on for a really long time, much longer than football matches

[Dub]

Tennis is less steady state. Its super fast or walking, not really any jogging phase. The metabolism and length is totally uncomparatable in my mind to football, where the half-time could be 45 minutes of steady state running and a couple of fast sprints.

[Donna32]

Surely, coffee works if you want to boost your concentration and energy level fast, but it is a really short term effect, it wears off really quickly, you can use it only for as long as you don't get used to it (then you just don't feel it anymore), and the worst effect during the game - you are thiiiiirsty aaaaall the tiiiiiiiiiiiiiime!!! and then you need water and then you feel heavy..etc..

Anyway, I am really cool with supplements, but on the long run. I don't like those quick boosters. There's always a downside that cancels them out.