What to Eat Before, During, and After a Workout

Sports offer so many things to both kids and adults. Playing sports can build skill, confidence, coordination, camaraderie, character, and sportsmanship. It’s also a fun way to keep our kids—and ourselves—physically active. You hate to see all those great health benefits undone by poor food choices. After all, we’re not just training young bodies—we’re also training eating habits and patterns that will last a lifetime.

Here are some tips on what kids—or anyone for that matter—should eat before, during and after athletic events.

Tip #1: What to Eat Before a Workout

It’s not a good idea to hit the field on a full stomach. Having a lot of food in your stomach when you’re exercising can be uncomfortable and slow you down. What’s more, it’s not going to provide energy for the event because most of it won’t be digested until the game is over. Ideally, you want the kids to eat a normal-sized, healthy meal—you know, the kind with protein and vegetables and stuff—a couple of hours before they exercise.

If it’s been more than three hours since their last meal and it’s going to be a long activity, a small pre-game snack might be a good idea.  A banana, orange, or other fruit are good portable options. A small bagel or a few graham crackers would also work. The half-hour before the game is also an ideal time to hydrate with 12 to 20 ounces of water. Drinking sports drinks before exercising really makes no sense.

Tip #2: When Should You Drink Sports Drinks?

It’s important to keep athletes hydrated, especially during long events. Water is the ideal hydration beverage. If you are working out very hard, very long, or in very hot conditions, sports drinks like Gatorade, which contain electrolytes, are helpful. But water is really all you need for shorter or lower-intensity exercise.

Tip #3: What to Eat During a Workout

Bodies can easily store enough energy for about 60 minutes of sustained, high-intensity action. 

Bodies can easily store enough energy for about 60 minutes of sustained, high-intensity action. I’m not talking about an afternoon spent in the outfield, on the bench, or waiting for your event at the meet. I’m talking about 60 minutes actually running around the soccer field, basketball court, or long-distance trail.

If the practice, game, or meet involves constant, intense exercise for significantly more than an hour, a small snack during a break will help keep the kids’ energy up. Again, you want foods that can be quickly digested and absorbed, such as fruit or fruit juice. 

High-tech goos and gels aren’t essential but they are formulated for exactly this circumstance—to provide easily digested carbohydrates for intense workouts lasting longer than sixty minutes. You probably don’t want a protein bar or anything with a lot of fat or fiber in the middle of the game because these are more work for the body to digest.

Tip #4: What to Eat After a Workout

Any balanced, nutritious meal will make a good post-game meal. In particular, you want to make sure it includes complex carbohydrates (such as pasta or whole grains) and some protein to help repair muscles. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount of protein, by the way. A little bit goes a long way.

If it’s going to be a couple of hours before that post-game meal, the kids are probably going to want a snack. (When do kids not want a snack?) But why sabotage the benefits of all that healthy activity by letting them eat junk food afterward? Trail mix with roasted nuts and dried fruit provides the carbohydrates and protein that your body is looking for after a work-out, and it’s easy to carry without refrigeration. Try to keep portion sizes moderate so that they’re still hungry for that healthy meal that’s waiting for them at home.

Tip #5: Calories Still Matter

Exercise burns calories, of course. But a lot of people seem to think that calories eaten before, during, and after an athletic activity are all simply cancelled out by the fact that some exercise was involved.  In fact, they still count.

One of the reasons that so many kids are overweight these days is that they are consuming too many calories and burning too few. Getting them into sports is a great way to adjust that balance in the right direction—unless unfettered pre- and post-game snacking means that they end up eating five calories for every one they burn out there.

To find out how many calories kids need to support healthy growth—and to fuel their athletic endeavors, check out the calculator on NutritionData.com. 

Also the Get-Fit Guy did an episode on sports nutrition with some more great tips on what athletes of any age should eat to get the most out of their workouts.

If you have a nutrition question for me, send an email to nutrition@quickanddirtytips.com or post it on my Nutrition Diva Facebook Page. If tweeting is more your thing, I also have a handy little Twitter account. 

You can also search the archives using the search box at the top of the page. There’s a good chance I might have already answered your question in a previous article.

Have a great week and remember to eat something good for me!

RESOURCES: 

What to Eat Before and After Exercise (Get Fit Guy)

Calorie Calculator (Nutrition Data.com)

Online Guide to Eating For Sports (For kids and teens)

Feeding the Young Athlete by Cynthia Lair (Amazon.com)

Image courtesy of Shutterstock