How To: Compete at Your Best

HEY! Influenza Here.
In this guide, I will be teaching you preparation skills, and what to do/what not to do, before competing in a sport, or just in recreational games. And the precautions for after a contact sport.

Outlined in this thread:
1.Foods/Drinks - What you should eat/drink, early in the morning, right before the big game, and after.
2.Preparation - What is the key thing to do before a game.
3.It's Over- After the game/night time.

Okay starting off.
1. Foods/Drinks

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In the morning, there are a few key things you should avoid eating:

• Greasy foods - Eggs/Bacon. Anything that may have anything bad to do with your heart. This includes pepper&salt.
• Oily based products - I'm talking butter. Try to stick to margarine if you're eating toast, at all times. (Less fat, and better for you).

Foods I would suggest eating:

• Any foods that cover your food groups, try to make sure you get that dairy in you, for strong bones.
• Try to eat a bowl of cereal. Try to buy cereals like "Cheerios"
  as it's a good source of grain.
• IF possible, try getting steak(little extreme, but very good for you), as it provides plenty of protein.
• ALWAYS try to get a glass of orange juice in the morning for the Vitamin C.
  This is good in both ways, you get a serving of fruits, and you also have a more likelihood of preventing getting sick.

Now, right before the game, I suggest you eat an energy bar. I myself will eat a Snickers before the game, as it provides sugars+energy to give me that little boost.
Try to avoid and ENERGY drinks, that are anything related to:

• Monster Energy
• Rockstar Energy
• 5-hour Energy

Also, try to not drink any soda, as proven, it slows down your speed. I run track, so I've been told to never drink soda.
as these drinks contain a lot of caffeine, which causes extra stress that is unneeded on your heart.

During the game, depending on your resources, try to drink something along the lines of Powerade, or Gatorade. These give you liquids, as well as proteins+ sugars, which is a lot healthier than water alone.

After a game, if you're an athlete, you know how tired you get after a competitive game. So, what you want to do is eat. try to eat before 7:00pm. As proven, you're usually more lazy in the evening than you are during the day, so you'd gain more calories if you waited until after that time.
I suggest eating some kind of Italian food. I've found during my highschool career, that our coaches push Italian food on us all the time. So, like linguine, or lasagna would be good.

2. Preparation
There are many things to focus on for preparing for the big game.
First off, sleep.
You don't want to be tired. This is key. You should get roughly 9-10hours of sleep before a competitive sport.
This helps you stay alert to what is going on around you.
Secondly, make sure you stretch out your muscles. If your coach doesn't already having you do that, suggest that to him/her. For example, in football, you really want to stretch out your hammies, back and neck. You don't want to pull a muscle, or injure yourself.
Finally, a quick jog. This will get your blood pumping. It will get your respiratory system starting to go. For example, again. In football, during half-time, coaches usually encourage you to be moving around, so that your muscle do not constrict, or relax too much, because if they do, they will begin to get sore.

3. It's Over
Alright! Your game is finished! Hopefully you've won.
Now. This is essential.
Your first instinct is to go home, plop down on your couch, and relax. Right? Wrong.
Infact, that's the worst thing you should do.
First, you should get some food into you, most likely your dinner.
As I've stated earlier, you want to eat some sort of Italian food, as it would fill you up.
Secondly, drink lots of fluids. You've lost a lot of water/fluids from your body(most likely if you were running). You want to put those liquids back inside your body. Again, try to avoid Pop/Soda.
Finally, sleep.
You will need this, it will give your body time to heal itself. All your muscles will be torn, and they need to rebuild itself. Now, before you plop down on your bed and crash. You want to have a nice hot shower. This will ease your muscles, and make them less tense, so in the morning, you won't be so cramped up.

There's my three step guide on, "How To: Compete at Your Best"
This is MY guide, and I take 100% responsibility for it.
Results may vary.
Hope I helped!
EDIT: PUT IN WRONG SECTION. MOD/ADMIN Please move to : Outdoors/Recreational ​