Yes, we get it, it’s hard to get up in the morning — it’s even harder to get up with extra time to eat something before practice. It doesn’t matter which sport you have practice for, that morning fuel is going to kick start your body to get you in performance mode. Here’s why fueling before morning practice matters.
For parents and coaches, you might feel like you’re talking to a brick wall when you tell your athlete to eat before morning practice, especially if you have a die-hard non-eater, or one that says they get sick if they eat too early.
For the athletes reading, if you’re not already eating something before practice for the reasons noted above, that means you haven’t found something that works for you. This article is for you.
Reasons to Eat Before Morning Practice
Hydration
Typically, when you eat something in the morning, you have something to drink with it – water, milk, or juice. Recent research concluded that 20-44% of adolescent athletes are dehydrated and most of these athletes are performing high-intensity exercise while dehydrated.
Another study that examined swimmers’ hydration status in the morning before practice, found that 67% of the swimmers were considered dehydrated before they started practice.
When you eat something in the morning, you get to jumpstart your hydration as well. It can be a glass of water or juice, or having milk with your cereal. All of these can help move your hydration status in a positive direction, which will help your performance at practice.
Energy
Obviously (but maybe not), you need energy to perform in your sport. If you’ve never eaten before practice and you make it thought a practice with no issues, you probably think that you are a marvel and do not need to waste your time eating, when you could be sleeping.
Here’s where the logic might get you. It’s true that you can probably make it through a practice just fine on an empty stomach, but are you really performing at your best? You probably aren’t. It might be worth adding some calories to your morning routine and see how your performance improves.
More Calories
For most athletes, staying in energy balance is essential — this means that you are eating enough calories to equal the calories you burn. You never want to be in the negative. When you skip breakfast, you put yourself in negative balance early and then you’re forced to play catch up.
Depending on your sport, and time and intensity of your practice, you could be burning 500-1000 calories, or MORE in your first practice of the day. Starting on an empty tank will impact your performance and your ability to get enough calories in during the rest of the day – especially if you have another practice in the afternoon.
What to Eat Before Morning Practice
There aren’t a lot of hard and fast rules to what you should be eating. You’ll hear rules about eating a lot of carbohydrates before, but easy on the fat and protein. To an extent, yes, those are the “rules,” but it really comes down to what your body can tolerate. Now, it’s not suggested that you slam a fast food breakfast before your morning swim practice — that could end up closing the pool down if your body decides to revolt against you.
Here are my suggestions:
- Emphasize the carbs, lighter on the fat and protein — IF you have a cardio focused practice (swimming, running, soccer, cycling).
- Light on the fiber if you’re not accustomed to eating a lot of fiber in the morning.
- Go easy on the caffeine. You’ve probably read about caffeine being used as a performance enhancer, but it can also stimulate your gut to do some not so nice things in the morning.
- Go light on everything if you’re just starting to eat in the morning.
- Drink something when you first wake up — preferably water.
Ideas for Morning Pre-Practice Food
- Bagel with jam
- Avocado toast
- Cereal and milk
- Smoothie
- Homemade quick bread or muffins (banana bread, blueberry muffins)
- Scrambled egg on toast
- Protein shake
- Banana and peanut butter
- Small turkey wrap
As you can see, the options for a quick morning bite are pretty much endless. What’s important is that you eat something that will give you energy and not leave you sluggish.
Pre-Practice Food Timing
Obviously, the further out from practice you eat, the more you can eat, but once again, the rules are only limited by your sport, intensity of practice, and of course, your own digestive system.
If you’re eating 2+ hours out from morning practice, not only are you probably tired, but you’re able to eat more food. If you only have 30 minutes, you can still eat, just not as much and watch the heaviness of your meal, aka high fat. Fueling before morning practice matters!
