What should tennis players eat before a match

Good sodium and chloride sources include:. Carbohydrates are crucial to optimal performance in tennis. Even if you eat a good meal before a match, after 60 to 90 minutes of intense singles play, your carbohydrate stores will likely be significantly decreased. Generally, you should consume about grams of carbohydrate per hour during play and practice. During periods of intense training or competition, aim for three to five grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight grams per day for a pound player.

Foods with a high glycemic index — to quickly raise your blood sugar level — are good choices, too. Examples include plain bagels, ready-to-eat cereals, crackers, pretzels, honey, certain candies and some sport drinks those with carbohydrate primarily from glucose, sucrose or a glucose polymer. All tennis players differ in what foods and which nutrition strategies will help them best. Congratulations, you made it through another tennis match! Wipe the sweat off your brow and get ready to chow down on a post match meal.

Try and consume a well balanced, high calorie meal within 30 minutes of walking off the court to maximize benefits. Your main goal is to replenish sodium and carbohydrate levels , which can take up to 48 hours post match.

Happy eating! That's right. Load up on all those carbs, baby. Pasta is a great source of complex carbohydrates , which help repair glycogen stores. Add salt to the water when making pasta to bump up your sodium intake, which is the goal post-match! Check out these pasta recipes that are sure to satisfy your athletic appetite.

Ah, one of my favorite go-to meals. Chicken , rice, and vegetables will always have the key to my heart. This well balanced meal contains the perfect ratio of lean protein, fat, carbohydrate, and essential vitamins and minerals.

There are so many ways to spice this meal up , so get cooking! Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner? I'm talking pancakes, waffles, eggs, ham, potatoes Pancakes and waffles are high in complex carbohydrates, eggs are a moderate source of protein, lean meats supply protein and fat.

In tennis, proper nutrition and eating right is crucial to performing at a high level. Join our community of tennis players and participate in the conversation. Improve your game with premium instruction that provides you with step-by-step video training. Receive our brief weekly recap of the 5 most interesting things we dig up in the world of tennis.

Carbohydrates fuel high-intensity work, which correlates to the energy required for serving, traversing the court and returning the ball. Muscles store carbohydrates as glycogen, and consuming small amounts of carbs on a regular basis ensures maintenance of maximum glycogen levels. Eating before a tennis match can also help prevent low blood sugar, which can sometimes lead to light-headedness and fatigue.

Nutrition researcher Patrick Owen Ph. However, Dr. Smaller snacks of calories or less can be eaten one hour pre-workout, but you should experiment with the timing and meal size to suit your individual needs.

Low GI foods whole grain contain a lot of fiber, which is not digested by the human body. Consuming fatty foods the night before a match is a terrible idea, as they take an extremely long time to be digested, which will make your body work too hard just to process your dinner.

In addition, there is always a risk of getting an upset stomach and staying awake at night. Marathon runners begin loading up on simple carbs about a week before a marathon, just so they can have enough energy throughout the race. While a tennis match does not require the same amount of energy as a marathon, it can still take between 2 to 3 hours. For that reason, you want to make sure you eat a good amount of carbohydrates the night before, so you can fill up your glycogen reserves and have enough energy during the match.

You should try to have breakfast at least 2 to 3 hours before a match, just to give your body enough time to process the food. My best suggestion in order to avoid that is to try to have breakfast about 3 hours before your match and then make sure you have some snacks packed up in your tennis bag.

The idea behind your breakfast on game-day is the same one as for dinner the night before: make sure you eat enough carbs and a little bit of protein. Steering away from fatty foods is even more important during breakfast; otherwise, you may end up feeling indisposed during your match. Hydration at this point is increasingly important as well, so make sure you are drinking enough fluids.

Well, now you might be warmed up already and match time might be coming up. We need to keep in mind that you might not have access to a store at that time or a restaurant, so you need to be prepared.

Here is a list of the best foods to eat before a tennis match:. While carbs have gotten a bad reputation in recent years, you need to accept that, as an athlete, carbs will be your best source of energy.

With the 23 options we provided above, you should have enough information to develop a healthy routine for your tennis matches. Once again, the important thing to remember is to stay away from heavy and fatty foods, and lean towards simple carbohydrates.