The Scientific Basis of
Nutrition and Physical Performance

If you listen to any news programs for any length of time you will sooner or later hear that we need to be health conscious with our diet choices. This, of course, is a true statement!! However, what we all must remember is that there are extremists out there that will tell you that eating certain foods is unhealthy and thus before you decide to take their opinion as a truth - it would be highly advisable to get a second opinion.

 

Now lets talk about nutrition and racquetball…are there any special foods that have to be consumed in order to play well?? The answer to this is simple: NO!

 

A well balanced diet including protein, carboydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals and water is all that is required to provide all the adequate nutrients for a healthy person. However, if you are engaging in a fitness program designed to increase muscle mass, strength or power it would be advantageous to increase the amount of protein and anti-oxidants consumed. Additional protein will aid in muscle growth and the anti-oxidants help protect the body from damage occurred during exercise.

 

A few important things to remember about eating for performance include:

  1. Choose foods which will not cause gastrointestinal (stomach) upset such as acidic foods or juices and spicy foods as these types of foods increases the amount of stomach acid that is produced.
  2. Avoid large meals as large meals will cause a large increase in insulin to be released and insulin is how the body removes glucose (sugar) from the blood - a large spike in insulin which occurs following a large meal will actually lower your blood sugar and will cause you to feel tired and sluggish.
  3. To optimize performance it is advisable to eat your pre-game meal 3-5 hours prior to competition which will give your stomach time to empty before game time.
  4. If you have to play first thing in the morning it is advisable to eat a small amount of bland food which will quiet morning stomach pains (and well what's better than a bagel in the morning??).
  5. It is advisable to avoid high glycemic index foods (i.e. sugar, candy, potatoes, white bread) as these foods will induce a large insulin spike and will actually lower your blood sugar levels.

Finally, even though I have given you several tips about optimizing game day nutrition for performance - it is necessary to remind everyone that no matter what you eat the day of your game - it is what you eat the day before that will have had sufficient time to be digested and absorbed and thus available for use as energy during competition.

 

J Timothy P. Scheett, Ph.D.

Research Fellow and Semi-OK Racquetball Player

The Human Performance Laboratory

Ball State University

Muncie IN 47304

tscheett@bsu.edu