Smokey Point Volleyball Club: Health & Nutrition

Nutrition

The following information is based on a seminar we had with Jordan James last season and a seminar that was put on by IRG the year before. We are hoping to make it available again this season and I encourage you to take advantage when the opportunity comes. While we should be eating properly all year, it is important that we recognize the additional nutritional needs the athletes require to perform at their peak. Coach Barry

In a way the body is like a sports car. The energy system is the engine. If you put low quality gas in the tank, the engine sputters knocks and pings. The same goes with the bodies energy system falters when low quality meals don’t supply the right nutrition. It can’t reach peak performance without the proper supply of nutrients to fuel the muscles that we use for motion.

Poor nutrition also causes problems in the neurological system meaning that we react lethargically and don’t process information efficiently.

Four Steps to Success

1.      Assess your own nutrition

2.      Identify any negative nutritional habits

3.      Make better choices

4.      Choose effective meals

Rules of Good Nutrition

Eat breakfast every day. Breakfast means “break-fast”, and should be done within thirty minutes of getting up. Research shows that people who regularly eat breakfast have lower body fat than those who don’t. By the way, an Egg McMuffin doesn’t count as breakfast.

Eat 3 – 4 meals a day with 2 – 3 snacks in between. Here again, fast food doesn’t count as either a meal or a snack.

There should be a high quality source of protein at every meal such as dairy, meat (poultry and fish), and nut butters. Vary the type of foods you eat to get protein from day to day. Meals should be no longer than five hours apart. Avoid high fat protein foods which are slow to absorb.

Balance your caloric intact with your level of activity each day.

On light training days decrease your intake of fast-digesting carbohydrates.

Have fresh fruits or vegetables with every meal. They are natural sources of the vitamins and minerals the body needs to strengthen the immune system and accelerates recovery.

Drink water. Drink enough to stay hydrated at all times. If you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. Studies say that 90% of Americans are dehydrated all the time and only drink 65% of the fluids they need. Dehydration causes many physical problems, but the most serious affects are on the brain. Dehydration causes the brain to physically shrink in size creating abnormal pressures. It causes the brain to “run” at a higher than normal temperature which slows brain function, affects neurological processing, and damages the brain on a cellular level.

Your goal should be to super hydrate before exercise, then maintain hydration throughout and replenish after exercising. Drink 16 0z in the 90 minutes prior to exercise, 4 – 8 oz every 20 minutes during and at least 24 oz after heavy training to maintain proper hydration.

Sports Drinks

The primary ingredient in most is high fructose corn syrup. Depending on the study you read it is the greatest thing since sliced bread or the worst think you can possibly do to your kidneys. Either way it is a useless sugar that does the body no good.

If you are eating properly you don’t need them if you are doing less than 60 minutes of continuous strenuous exercise. The primary ingredient in all of them is a fast burning simple sugar and has none of the proteins the body needs in recovery.

Energy Drinks

DON’T DRINK THEM...PERIOD.

They cause elevated heart rates, which combined with exercise can cause cardiac arrest in young athletes.

Again most are high in high fructose corn syrup. In addition to the sugars, they have super doses of caffeine or caffeine derivatives.

Some say that they get their ingredients from “natural” sources. If you are eating a healthy diet, you are already getting all these “natural” vitamins and minerals. There is no need to get them from a drink that also contains concentrated amounts of caffeine and other stimulants.

As a side note, SPVC strictly enforces a no-tolerance policy concerning energy drinks. We consider the risk to young athletes too high to tolerate use of any of these products. Therefore any player caught using them could be subject to disaplinary action or suspension from play.