Before games we need carbohydrates, this means eating things like beans and tuna to raise our energy levels. Jaffa Cakes, toast and scrambled egg are also good things to eat. Good fillings to eat with sandwiches are things like turkey, ham, tuna, beef. It is best if no mayonnaise or if any, low fat is used. An athlete needs to drink lots before and after strenuous training. If this is not followed, they will become dehydrated and be more likely to get headaches and not recover as quick. Drinking lots of fluid before activity will help the athlete work at a harder level for longer
NUTRIENTS
Carbohydrates – They make up bout 55% of our daily diet. They provide us with energy so they are very important to our bodies. Examples of good carbohydrates are – Bread, Pasta, Potatoes and Rice. Proteins – They make up about 15 % of the bodies daily diet. They help the body grow and repair itself, if you are trying to build muscle you need a lot of protein in your diet. They are found in foods such as Soya, Meat, Fish, Eggs and Milk.
Fats – They make up about 30% of our daily diet. They are the biggest source of energy although they are very hard to burn off, so obviously not ideal for an athlete. They provide energy and keep us warm. They are found in things like olive oil and margarine as well as saturated fatty acid found in meat and animal products. Vitamins – These make up a small amount and are not as valuable to our body as the previous three, however, they are needed to help our bones, teeth and skin grow. They are also needed for many of the body’s chemical reactions.
Vitamin A…This is handy for growth and night vision and found in eggs, vegetables and liver. Vitamin C… This is good for your skin and gums- you get scurvy without it. Can be found in fruit and veg. Especially citrus fruits e.g. Lemons and Oranges. Vitamin D… This is good for strong bones and prevents you getting Rickets. Can be found in milk, fish, liver and eggs but mainly made by the skin in sunshine.
Minerals – They are needed for healthy bones and teeth. Help build other tissues and are needed for many chemical reactions in the body. Calcium… This is needed for bones and teeth but also muscle contraction. Can be found in milk, green veg, cheese and sum fish. Iron… Good source of haemoglobin in red blood cells (you get anaemia without it) There’s lots in liver, beans and green veg. Note: With a properly balanced diet you don’t need vitamin supplements and my athlete will not be using them.
Vitamin C cannot be stored so you need to eat it on a regular basis.A six-mile run is set up and the athlete does this once a week to improve and test the fitness levels in comparisons to previous weeks. This will be done on a day not close to a match day and will be timed. Sit up bleep test. This is an exercise on a tape which tests the athletes muscular strength particularly abdominal muscles. It gives a level out so if completed to the best of the athletes ability with training in between the athletes level should improve.
Press up bleep test. Very similar to the sit up bleep test in that it operates its self on a tape and works with bleeps. This is tests the athletes muscular strength of the arms particularly the biceps and triceps. Sprinting test. The athlete runs the sprint as fast as possible then has 20 secs to get back to the start before they have to run the sprint again, this is repeated 10 times and the average time in between the start and finish of the sprint is recorded. This improves the athletes ability to sprint over short distances faster and more often. See diagram below
This exercise is intended to monitor the leg muscles. The athlete stands against the side of a wall and holds a piece of chalk in his hand. He jumps and makes a mark as far up the wall as possible. The height of the mark is taken down and after 5 repeats of the exercise an average is given. To improve the height of the jump see Exercise plan skills page 21. This skill is very important for jumping E.g. for a header.
After each training session or match, it is important that you cool down properly. There are many ways to cool down but the aim is the same for each method. Cooling the muscles down after exercise and doing some stretches so that our body is restored to normal and our muscles aren’t stiff and tight the morning after. Doing a cool down makes us less likely to feel the affects of lactic acid in the muscles and means we can perform at our peak the next day with out feeling the affects of the previous workout.
If we don’t cool down and stretch the muscles after exercise we will not get rid of the lactic acid in our muscles. This will affect our ability to perform the next day and make our legs feel tired. Lactic acid builds up when the muscles are performing without oxygen (an-aerobically). This happens in football a lot due to the periods in the game where you are doing more than your body can cope with, during this time lactic acid builds up and makes the legs feel heavy and contributes to the other factors already noted.
There are many ways to cool down but they are not long and therefore I haven’t designed many different methods. The two methods are below and can be used however the athlete wants although it is important one is completed after each game or training session. The player jogs around the centre circle after the match at a slow pace for one circuit, this is followed by one circuit skipping and then a 3rd and final circuit of a slow walk shaking all the body off. Then a full range of stretches are completed. See pg … This cool down involves running back and forth across the pitch, the athlete will do different exercises to cool down the body during the 4 sides of the pitch to be completed. These are shown below.