A Look into the Colossal Diet of a Football Player
With football season upon us, spirits and team loyalty is at an all-time high for everyone. However, as we see these amazing athletes perform unprecedented physical achievements, it is important to also realize just what these players have to go through to reach that level of ability. This is no secret – but the diet and training of a football player is much different to that of any regular person.
Recently George Morgan – a football trainer for the current England Squad opened up on his experiences and the methodology he used to train his team of titans. He stated that it is no easy task – and it is important to realize the different roles each person serves and ensure that they consume foods as per their requirement.
When speaking on calories, he added that while they don’t really have any specific calorie limit they try to reach – each player eats about five to six times every single day. The food eaten is good-whole food, and can range anywhere from 3000 to 5000 calories. Again, each player eats to ensure that they have energy for their specific role, so let’s say someone is partaking in a very strenuous role while on the field; they would need to consume more carbohydrates to remain active all throughout the game. This means a long list of healthy red meats, fish and chicken are to be eaten.
Usually however they like to remain light on carbohydrates, as high amounts of energy are not required during practice sessions. But whenever it is time to really go all out on the field, then it is expected to go ham on some protein.
When speaking on snacks and training, George stated: “At the training ground we always put on breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack. Breakfast is between 7:30am and 9:30am. It depends on when their first session is but we want them to be eating an hour before they start.” Snacks are usually eaten after training or gym sessions, and are there for add a big spike to one’s protein, which is needed for faster mending to one’s muscles. He stated that snacks play a very important role for these athletes. As they are required to eat at least once every three hours, snacks help to keep those timeslots filled. As mentioned above, something like a protein smoothie is usually preferred, but things like rice cakes can also be utilized.
They make sure not to just consume the ready-made store ones though, as the choices need to be hand-picked to ensure that they’re healthy. “But if it’s a low energy day it might be something like an avocado and boiled eggs so something with more fat, whereas on a high energy day we will be more carbohydrate based. We like to get the guys to prioritize their nutrition, so even if it is just a snack, they will come into the dining room and sit down to eat.”
Simply reading through this might have cause a headache for some people – but it really does opens one’s eyes and makes them realize that from training to game-day, the life of these athletes is nothing short of a feat of strength.
