Nutrition & Recovery Tips
Tips for Match Preparation and Recovery in Rugby
Fuel up on Carbohydrates for a couple of days prior to each match (i.e. as you taper your training volume and intensity). This includes:
- Breakfast cereals
- Breads of all types
- Rice, pasta, noodles, couscous
- Crackers and crispbreads
- Healthy cakes and muffins
- pancakes and pikelets
- Buns, scones, popcorn, pretzels.
- Cereal bars, fruit bars and sports bars.
- Fruit and juices of all types
- Vegetables such as potato and corn
- Honey jam and syrup
- Sports drinks, cordials.
Try to spread your food and drink over 5-6 meals a day.
Reduce fat and protein intake therefore leaving more room for carbohydrates.
Avoid or limit:
- Butter, margarine
- Oil, supafry
- Cream,
- mayonnaise
- Fatty meals
- chicken skin,
- High fat takeaway foods such as potato chip and corn chips, roasted nuts,
- chocolate
- Rich sauces and gravies
- Excess high fat dairy products such as cheese.
Eat smaller servings of:
- Meat, poultry
- fish seafood,
- eggs
- Dairy products.
Increase fluid intake - especially water, sports drinks, cordial and juices. As muscle stores glycogen they also store water.
Avoid alcohol during at least 24-48 hours before a match.
Eat a high carbohydrate meal the night before a match such as:
Pasta with a tomato based or low fat sauce with a small amount of lean meat, chicken, fish or seafood added if desired.
Stir fry or Asian meal with lots of rice, noodles or couscous .
Small serve of very lean meat, chicken or fish with plenty of potatoes and vegetables/salad.
Add bread, a fruit-based carbohydrate-rich dessert and plenty of fluids.
Players who find it difficult to consume food on match days should try to include a supper of toast, pancakes, a reduced fat milk or "carbohydrate" drink the night before.
Eat a suitable pre-match meal approximately 4-5 hours before the match. Easily digestible, low fibre carbohydrates and fluids are all that are normally required to comfortably satisfy hunger. Small snacks of fruit, bread, or meal replacement drinks may be consumed up to 2 hours before play begins.
Examples of suitable pre-match meals include:
Cereal and low fat milk and fruit
Bread/toast/muffins/crumpets and jam/ honey/banana/ spaghetti
Pancakes with honey, jam or syrup
Pasta or rice with low fat topping
Large fruit salad and yoghurt
Liquid meal replacement.
Drink water and/or sports drinks/carbo-loading drinks regularly and 'prime' your stomach with 1-2 cups of fluid during the warm-up. Ensure that your urine is pale coloured and dilute prior to the match.
Avoid excess caffeine just prior to the match as it may lead to dehydration, stomach upsets or diarrhoea.
Start recovery immediately: Replace carbohydrates and fluid stores with appropriate drinks and food. Good examples include sports drinks, cordials (particularly sports cordials), non-cola soft drinks, fruits such as watermelon and pineapple, some cereal-type bars and white bread sandwiches. Avoid drinks containing alcohol and caffeine.
Complete recovery: Eat a proper meal or snack/drink containing some protein (meat, poultry, fish, seafood or dairy products) and more carbohydrates as soon as possible to complete your recovery. Remember that many 'fast foods' are low in carbohydrates and high in fat so not useful for recovery.
Keep drinking fluids over the next few hours - 2 to 3 litres is a good goal. If you have lost a lot of fluid, make sure you include some sodium (salt) as part of your recovery, e.g. in a sports drink or in your meal or snack.
Avoid alcohol if you are injured, ill or exhausted. If you are of legal drinking age and choose to drink - stay within healthy drinking guidelines.
For the day or so after the match you may like to include larger servings of protein to aid repair and recovery, as well as helping to gain and maintain lean tissue along with your heavier training sessions.
The Australian Sports Commission has more Sports Nutrition information http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition
