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Eating Before Participating In A Sports Activity

It is very important for athletes to plan out something to eat before a sports activity. This will prevent the unpleasing effects of hunger and the distractions that are caused by hunger. It will also help one to maintain energy store during this sports activity.

Exercising on a full stomach is definitely not recommended. Food that remains stored in the stomach leads to upset stomach, nausea, and cramping. You should allow a meal to fully digest prior to participating in the sports activity. This will assure you that you have enough energy, while reducing stomach discomfort. Depending on what you have eaten, and how much of it you have eaten, this may take anywhere from 1-4 hours. Every person is definitely not going to be the same as the other. Therefore, it is recommended that you experiment before workouts/sports activities to determine what exactly makes the best outcome for you. If you have an early morning workout/sports activity it is advised that you wake up early enough to eat and fully digest your pre-sports activity meal.

If you don’t wake up early enough to do this, you need to make sure that you try your best to eat or drink something that is easily digestible at least 20-30 minutes prior to the sports activity. Remember, the closer you are to the time of the sports activity the less you should eat. You may have a liquid meal closer to the start time of the sports activity as your stomach will digest liquid substances a lot quicker than solid substances.

Do you want some ideas on what you should eat as a pre-sports activity meal? A pre-sports activity meal should include foods that are high in carbohydrates as well as easy to digest. Fruits, breads, pasta, energy bars, and drinks are some good examples of what can be included in your pre-sports activity meal. Carbohydrates also increase the amount of stored energy (also called glycogen) within your body’s muscles. Depleted glycogen store can result in an event called ‘hitting the wall.’ When this event occurs, you start to rely on anaerobic metabolism for the energy that your body requires. This is a lot more difficult and occurs at a much slower rate of conversion.

Planning is critical in an all-day sports activity. Consider the length of the event, the amount of your meal, and the amount of fluids that you will consume. You should plan in advance as well as prepare snacks and meals that you know will sit well with you from past experience. Do not experiment with something new on the day of your sports activity.

Foods that contain a lot of fat are very difficult as well as slow to digest. Hot dogs, doughnuts, fast foods, potato chips, nachos and candy bars remain extremely high in fat and will remain in your stomach for a long amount of time. Avoid or limit your use of these foods as your pre-sports activity meal, because, most likely they will remain with you throughout the length of the sports activity.