For Players and Parents

Nutrition Information

For Players and Parents

JRPC Nutrition Workshop

Your Sport

Nutrition can have a significant effect on your hockey performance. Your ability to run to a ball a number of times in short bursts, stick and ball control, decision making or shot stopping are all key performance tasks that nutrition has been shown to affect. Unlike conditioning there is no “nutritional age” as such, but there will be things that are important to support your phase of development growth, as well as boost performance.

Training Diet

Traditionally many hockey players have focused on improving their nutrition towards the weekend game. However, the daily demands of your busy lifestyle either from school, college or work as well, as training, will limit your hockey performance practice if you don’t get your nutrition consistently right. Hockey players require a variety of foods and should aim to include:

·  Fruits and green vegetables every day in any form e.g. cooked separately or on pizza toppings

·  Breads and cereals – pasta, brown rice, oats, potatoes, noodles, lentils, couscous

·  Low fat dairy products – including milk, yogurt and cheese

·  Lean meat – chicken, game, fish, eggs and other more vegetarian forms of protein such as pulses e.g. beans, lentils, chickpeas

·  Healthy fats – olive oils, nuts, seeds, avocado’s, oily fish

Guidelines for a healthy balanced diet for sport

ü  Eat a variety of foods each day

ü  Eat regular meals – don’t go for long periods without eating

ü  Potatoes, pasta, rice, bread, breakfast cereal – base your meals and snacks around these foods (without adding extra fats and oils)

ü  Include good quality protein e.g. meat, fish, cheese, eggs or beans, lentils, pulses or nuts, with main meals. Choose low fat varieties and cook with minimal fat

ü  Fruit and vegetables – eat at least 5 servings a day, one of which can be fruit juice

ü  Milk and dairy products - eat a minimum of 2-3 servings a day and choose low fat milks, cheese and yoghurts

ü  Keep well hydrated by drinking plenty of fluid throughout the day. Drink plenty of water and try to keep sugary and fizzy drinks to a minimum

Performance Nutrition

Carbohydrate

Carbohydrate is the fuel of choice for training. Hockey players should base their meals and snacks on healthy carbohydrate rich foods. This includes seeded or grainy breads, wholemeal crackers, brown pasta, rice, noodles and starchy vegetables such as sweet potato.

After matches or training your body will more readily use the carbohydrate eaten and taken into muscles to recharge your system. In the 2-hour period post exercise additional carbohydrate based foods are useful especially if you have another game the following day. Here bagels, wraps, bars e.g. Trek, Eat Natural varieties, Alpen style cereal bars, low fat Muller Rice pots or flavoured yogurts are all good choices. In very hot conditions sports drinks can be useful to top up energy levels, but in many cases the “light” options available today are more than adequate.

Protein

(Chicken, game, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, tofu, beans, pulses, red meats, milk, peanut butter, cottage cheese, reduced-fat cheese)

Protein requirements for hockey players are greater than those for people who are the same age but not as active. As hockey involves physical contact and heavy workloads in training, it is important to include as many different sources of protein to encourage adaptations from training and recovery from games. Red meats and vegetarian sources of protein e.g. chickpeas and beans are also great sources of iron. It is important to include up to 3-4 portions of these a week. The rest of the time, choose lean protein sources such as chicken, white fish, turkey and beans, pulses and lentils.

Fat

Fats get a really bad press, but are vital for your sport’s performance and physical development during periods of growth. As your brain is 60% fat, the type of fat you eat will go into replacing fat tissue in the brain every so often. So the general rule, “you think like you eat” is a not a bad way to look at things. The more bad fats in your diet from chocolates, pastries, fatty red meats, takeaway foods, creamy sauces or frying with bad oils, the more difficult it will be to make that quick decision or quick movement which, in hockey, can determine winning or losing game. Choose healthy fats such as olives, olive oil, nuts and seeds, avocado, oily fish and coconut oil.

Vitamins and Minerals

Provided you have a good appetite and you choose to eat a varied and well balanced diet, it is likely your diet will contain sufficient vitamins and minerals for optimal health. Choosing to eat only a few favourite foods may supply adequate carbohydrate fat and protein, but may limit your intake of vitamins and minerals.

·  Milk and dairy products are important sources of calcium for the development and maintenance of strong, healthy bones.

·  Calcium intakes are often lower than recommended, especially in 16-18 year olds of both genders, and more so in females than males across the age groups. This is of concern because a failure to achieve maximum bone density may increase the risk of fractures and developing osteoporosis (brittle bone disease), in later life. Vitamin D aids the absorption of calcium.

·  Deficiency of iron reduces the ability to transport oxygen around the body, causes fatigue and will affect your ability to train and compete. Average iron intakes in young women are less than the recommended levels.

·  Red meat is a good source of iron, zinc and B vitamins – remember to eat 3-4 times a week and buy the leanest cuts, which are low in fat.

·  Brightly coloured fruits and vegetables e.g. tomatoes, carrots, peppers, blackcurrants, green leafy vegetables, oranges, are excellent sources of antioxidant vitamins which can help promote recovery after training - so add some colour to your plate at each meal!

Hydration

There are many reasons why we can get dehydrated. At school or college this can be through large class sizes in small warm rooms, or in offices, cars or trains (especially the undergrounds) through air conditioning or air circulation systems. Either way, playing hockey dehydrated will not only make our decision making and endurance worse, but could also end up suffering from injury or illness.

Dehydration can occur through not drinking enough, eating poorly, but most importantly in hockey, through sweat loss. Everyone will sweat at different rates so it is important to check your urine colour first thing in the morning to see how well hydrated you are. If it’s dark, you need to drink more. Good fluid choices before training include squash, water, low fat milk, or, if required to encourage you to drink, a carbohydrate “Lite” sports drink. Poor choices of fluids include energy drinks and alcohol that only make you more dehydrated!

Eating before training or competition

Eating a varied and well balanced diet should ensure that stores of glycogen in your muscles and liver are high enough to delay the onset of fatigue. Ideally you should eat a carbohydrate rich meal or snack with a drink between 2-4 hours before any strenuous training or competition to ‘top up’ the glycogen stores. Avoiding fatty foods is important as they take longest to leave the stomach and may cause discomfort. If you feel anxious or sick and unable to eat well before exercise avoid solid food and replace it with a smoothies, soup or yoghurt or yoghurt.

During training or competition

·  Take any solid snacks and/or liquid carbohydrate out with you

·  Take plentiful supplies of water or your preferred drink

·  Plan ahead and decide when to take a water/drink/snack break

Food for recovery – eating immediately after training or competition

Carbohydrate rich foods that are absorbed quickly are good choices for refuelling muscles immediately after exercise, and combined with a small amount of protein can aid repair and recovery. BUT remember to eat a balanced meal to provide other nutrients.

Developing your own nutrition strategy for matches and training

Pre-match / training food intake:

This meal should be eaten 2-4 hours before the match. It should be high in carbohydrate, low in fat, low to moderate in protein but with a low amount of fibre if nerves send you running to the bathroom.

Too much protein will slow down the movement of foods from the stomach and will make you feel uncomfortable. It should provide approximately 200-300g carbohydrate.

·  Pasta with tomato based sauce with chicken and vegetables

·  Stir fried noodles or rice with vegetables and lean meat, chicken or prawns

·  Vegetable and chicken risotto

·  Oats with milk/yoghurt

·  Toast/muffins/crumpets with honey, jam or marmalade

·  Spaghetti in tomato sauce or baked beans on toast

·  Sandwiches with lean meat, tuna or salmon

·  Jacket potato or sweet potato with low fat toppings such as baked beans, cottage cheese or low fat soft cheese, tuna and sweetcorn

Pre-match /training snack (60 - 90 minutes before):

You may find it beneficial to eat a small carbohydrate snack 60 - 90 minutes before the match to top up energy levels. This could include:

·  Fresh or dried fruit

·  Smoothie

·  Cereal bars

·  Rice cakes with jam or honey

·  Fruit loaf / malt loaf

·  Sports drinks

·  Low fat yoghurt

Pre-match / training fluid intake:

400 - 600ml water should be consumed 2 –3 hours before exercise to allow sufficient time for your body to get rid of any excess fluid. Only start drinking sports drinks 10-20 minutes before you start exercise. Sports drinks are useful before exercise if carbohydrate intake during the day has not been optimal or if there has been a long gap between the last meal/snack and the training session or if the session will be high intensity.

During-match / training food and fluid intake:

During exercise, your fluid intake will be dependent on a number of variables such as climate, intensity of session, clothing worn and access to drinks. It is easy to remember to drink in hot conditions but be aware that sweat losses can be high, even in winter months when you are wearing lots of layers. Sip fluid little and often throughout training. During matches, drink 200-300 ml at half time and sip fluid little and often during substitutions. Do not gulp your drink!

Water or squash is sufficient for low intensity sessions up to 90 minutes. For higher intensity exercise of 90 minutes or longer, sessions in the heat or matches, a sports drink would be of benefit. This will supply carbohydrate to boost energy levels and electrolytes to help stimulate water absorption and replace electrolytes lost in sweat.

Carbohydrate gels can be consumed alongside water during sessions lasting longer than 90 minutes or during matches. No more than 2 gels (60-70 g carbohydrate) should be consumed during a session.

Post-match / training

Effective recovery is crucial when you are training regularly. If you are at a tournament or are training within 8 hours you should aim to have a carbohydrate rich food or drink within 60 minutes as the muscle can store carbohydrate as glycogen more efficiently during this time.

You should aim for 1.0 - 1.2g carbohydrate per kg body weight. If you weight 60 kg this equated to 60 – 72 g carbohydrate. This amount should be consumed within 60 minutes and a normal meal should be eaten within the following 2 hours. Your recovery snack or drink also needs to contain some protein to facilitate the repair, growth and development of muscle tissue. Ideally the snack should provide approximately10-20g protein.

If you have longer than 24 hours between sessions, your focus should be on rehydration and eating a healthy balanced meal containing some carbohydrate, protein and plenty of vegetables within 2 hours of finishing.

The following are examples of recovery snacks all providing 50g carbohydrate. They can be combined with each other for variety and to increase the amount of carbohydrate provided. For example 500ml fruit juice and one English muffin and jam provides 75g carbohydrate. Milk or yoghurt based drinks are an excellent way of consuming protein after training.

·  650 – 800ml sports drink

·  500ml low fat milk shake e.g. Yazoo, supermarket brand

·  500ml fruit juice

·  500ml fruit smoothies

·  2 large bananas

·  3 medium pieces fruit

·  2 crumpets/English muffins with jam

·  2-3 slices malt loaf

·  2 tablespoons raisins/sultanas (70g)

·  5 dried dates/100g dried apricots (~14) or figs (~5)

Recovery snacks/drinks providing ~50g carbohydrate and 10-20g protein include:

·  500ml Friji milkshake (51g carbohydrate, 17g protein, 4.0g fat, 310kcals)

·  500ml semi skimmed milk plus one cereal bar e.g. 9bar, Nature Valley (46.3g carbohydrate, 18.5g protein, 4.8g fat, 297kcals)

·  Homemade fruit smoothie with 150g yoghurt, ½ pint fruit juice, I banana plus 3 tablespoons skimmed milk powder (~65g carbohydrate, 20g protein, 300kcals, 2g fat)

·  I round sandwiches (thick sliced bread) with low fat spread and tuna/ chicken/ meat/cottage cheese plus one piece fruit (400kcal, 64g carbohydrate, 22g protein, 9g fat)

·  200g low fat yoghurt plus cereal bar and banana (61.5g carbohydrate,12g protein, 4.8g fat, 331kcals)

After exercise the fluid required to replaces losses should ideally be consumed within 2 hours to ensure that optimal hydration is achieved as soon as possible in case a further event is imminent. Start rehydrating by consuming 400 – 600ml of fluid over a two hour period immediately after finishing.

The post exercise rehydration drink should contain carbohydrate to help replace glycogen stores and sodium to help conserve water and encourage the drive to drink (i.e. an isotonic or hypertonic sports drink).

Special issues & requirements for Hockey Players

Vegetarian

Being a vegetarian in hockey need be no different to players who eat meat. The only difference is that you need to be well organised with your dietary choices. Vegetarian ingredients generally tend to be higher in fibre. This is healthy but can cause problems, as fibre can reduce absorption of key nutrients such as iron, so it is essential that steps are taken to maximise the absorption of each meal. Using fruit juices at every meal, adding dried fruit, such as chopped up apricots to cereals, while avoiding tea and coffee at main meals, will boost your iron stores.