A good breakfast before a competition

WHAT SHOULD I HAVE FOR BREAKFAST BEFORE A COMPETITION OR HARD TRAINING SESSION?

Definitely, nutrition is one of my main concerns before each competition or long training session.

Believe it or not, I've met people who prefer to do exercise in the mornings on an empty stomach and I wonder: Do they really maximize their performance?

If you are one of those, I recommend you to change that habit. It is proven that you can increase your performance in competitions and hard trainings if you feed properly due to the ammount of proteins and carbs (main source of energy) in the body. It also helps you to recover glycogen (for the storage of energy) after the physical activity.

The Larisa Paez Nutrition Center's professionals gave me a list of indications I should follow for my breakfasts and morning meals, which I want to share with you:

1. LOW IN FAT AND FIBER: This facilitates the gastric emptying process and prevents gastrointestinal problems during a competition. It is preferable to eat white flours like white bread, pancakes and no whole grains. You should avoid high-fat content food, normal cold meats, aged cheeses, sour cream, sweet cream, among others.

2. HIGH IN CARBS: This allows maintain blood glucose and maximize glycogen storage. You can eat bread, jams, cereals, honey, among others. You can also use a liquid supplement or a smoothie before the work out if you find difficult to eat solid food.

3. MODERATE IN PROTEIN: It is not required to ingest protein, but if you want to, you can have low-fat small quantities in your breakfast before the activity. Some of the examples that could be included in your breakfast are eggs, chicken and turkey ham and white cheese.

4. RIGHT IN LIQUIDS: This allows to maintain the right hydration. You should consume around 400 to 600 ml of liquid, about 2 to 4 hours before the event. You can drink natural juices, sports drinks, milk or coffee.

Remember, DO NOT eat food that you don’t tolerate, nor spicy meals or something you’ve never eaten in the past.

Manage to eat complete meals around 2 to 3 hours before the event or 1 hour before if you are planning to have a snack.

I hope you can use these tips to boost your performance.

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