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Nutrition This week we will cover the often forgotten topic of Sports Nutrition. We will be covering some of the main aspects of Sports Nutrition this week. We will start with general nutrition and then move into topics such as
In this day and age where everyone is so busy it is often the little things that get forgotten. Take breakfast for example. How many of us have been late to work, school or an activity and so have skipped breakfast. This is a fairly common thing to do however it can adversely affect your Hockey Traning or Game. Too often players come to morning training sessions with an empty stomach. We have seen on many occasions players start to fatigue quicker and start to feel faint as a result of not eating breakfast. As such it is essential to try to eat a meal before coming to play. It doesn't have to be a large meal, indeed a large meal will often sit in your stomach and can be distracting during a game, however a eating small meal a couple of hours before playing will assist you greatly in building up your energy stores for the coming session. Hydration Hydration is an important aspect of Sports Nutrition. It is important to arrive at the rink for training or games already having drunk at least one litre of water. Players will also want to drink between 1 and 2 litres of water during the game and then some more afterwards. Now this may seem like alot of water to drink however Ice Hockey is a very vigorous sport and many players find that their clothes are soaked at the end of the game. It is essential to remember that once you feel thirsty you are already dehydrated. Post Hockey Refueling It is a good thing to have something small to eat after a hockey session. Research has shown that the body absorbs carbohydrates better within the first 30-60 minutes after playing. Now fast foods aren't really the recommended type of Post Hockey Snack. Nutritionists recommend foods that contain high -glycemic carbohydrates as this speeds up and helps maximise refueling. For examples of good post hockey snacks please refer to the list below Bananas It is recommended that a Post Game Meal be eaten about 1-2 hours after the game however in most cases it is not practical to do this as the games finish late. This makes the Post Game Snack even more important. Nutrition Sources If you want to find out more about Sports Nutrition you can consult the following sources: Australian Institute of Sport - www.ais.org.au/nutrition/ Australian Sports Commission - www.ausport.gov.au/info/nutrition.htm "Complete Conditioning for Ice Hockey" by Peter Twist
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