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If you are serious softball player, then, you may have undergone a rigorous training for the past several weeks, working on tapering and perfecting your performance for the coming tournament. You may know that aside from improving your performance, you need to carefully watch what you eat and drink. And so, you may be eating a lot of foods rich in carbohydrates, consuming a lot of water and loading up on vegetables like broccoli and beans. But is this the right thing to do?
What you eat before the game seriously affects how you perform on the field. But what you may be doing is so extreme that you are not really helping your body to achieve proper nutrition. You may be skipping a meal, consuming too much food and drink or munching on foods that may not agree with your stomach. So, in order to avoid some common nutrition mistakes, here are some softball nutrition tips that you can follow and can help you get ready for your game.
First Mistake: Consuming a Boxful of Pasta
Most softball players think that they need to load up on carbohydrates to achieve optimum energy that they would be able to expend during the game on the next day. But the problem with carbo loading is that your body may not be able to burn all of the carbohydrates that you consumed, which can lead to digestive problems and even cause you to rush to the toilet often during the game.
How to Fix This:
Eat in moderation and do this days before your game. For instance, for breakfast, you can eat oatmeal. For lunch, you can have potatoes. And finally, for dinner, you can eat pasta. Be sure to consume food that is enough to satisfy your hunger so, you do not have to experience indigestion our sleeping problems.
Second Mistake: Consuming Gallons of Water
Hydration is very important but if you are going to drink more water than your body needs, you would have a bloated feeling as well as harm your electrolyte levels. This can lead to muscle cramps and even worse, hyponatremia, a fatal disease caused by exceptionally low sodium levels.
How to Fix This:
Several days before your game, you can drink a variety of fluids that you would normally consume to achieve proper hydration. You can drink water, juice or sports drink. And during the morning on the day of your game or approximately three hours before, you can consume about sixteen ounces of water or other fluids so, your body would have the time for processing the fluids.
Third Mistake: Consuming Too Much Fiber
It is good to eat a lot of fruits, vegetables and other sources of fiber but the problem with eating too much fiber is that if you are not used to eating these, you may experience uncomfortable gas and coupled with pre-race jitters, you would feel stomach pain.
How to Fix This:
Avoid from eating too much fiber a few days before your game, especially when your body is not used to digesting a lot of fiber. You can opt for cereal but be sure to eat small amounts only. You can also eat small amounts of fruits of vegetables.
Fourth Mistake: Missing Breakfast
You may get nervous and jittery on the day of your game that can cause you to lose your appetite. But even so, it is very important for you not to miss breakfast because dong so would mean that your body would not have the energy that you need to perform well and last through all the innings of your softball game.
How to Fix This:
If you have no appetite on the day of your game, be sure to get up from bed a few extra hours so, you can have a slow breakfast. If your stomach has a hard time digesting solid food, then, opt for fruit smoothies that can give you the energy that you need without making you feel overly full.
Fifth Mistake: Attempting to Consume a New Dish
Remember not to eat any new dish that you may not have tried before the game, especially because if the food affects your body abnormally, this may lead to diarrhea or other digestion problems.
How to Fix This:
Be sure to eat what you are familiar with several days before your game. You can eat cereal or any food that you are used to in small amounts.
As mentioned before, it is very important for you to achieve proper nutrition in order to help you stay at the top of your game. So, be sure to avoid the five common nutrition mistakes given above and at the same time, follow the
softball nutrition tips that can steer you away from committing these mistakes.
Marc Dagenais is a softball peak performance coach that helps softball players and coaches improves their game by sharing with them the tips and strategies used by the world's best softball players and coaches to achieve extraordinary performances. Visit his site and sign-up to get his FREE
softball hitting tips!
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