Super Bowl Game Day Nutrition

[Jeff Serven]

If you were playing in the Super Bowl this weekend what would you do for game day nutrition? Starting with the night before what would you eat, how much would you sleep, what supplements if any would you take, what time would you consume your last real food before the game, what would you do for nutrition during the game and what about after? 

 

I'd be interested to hear your game plan. 

 

Here is 3 guys I train and their super bowl rings. 

[Keilani Gutierrez]

hmmm....good question.

I've been primarily exposed to sports where weight cuts occur and their associated eating sorcery to achieve those weight cuts. however i've seen how this affects performance, like endurance, reaction and punching power in fights. i'd like to see me having a seamless transition, if at all possible. so the day before and day of the game, i'd like to be eating the same(energy-wise). 

all my meals are based on my BMR + my activity level. basically, if im really active, i eat like a lot. if im not so active, i can chill and eat three times a day and be good.

pre night meal: been a fan of making home made sauces so, home made Worcestershire sauce with papaya to marinate a 6-7oz churrasco. side of rice and beans or mashed potatoes with salad. im flexible with carb sources but ive been really craving this recipe for a while. it could also go good with a side of mofongo and have the churrasco be in it with a mushroom broth. damn, i love puerto rican food.  meal would probably be around 600-800 calories. i'd sleep like a baby. no casein or a glass of milk for this guy!

supplements: i drink a multivitamin, calcium, vitamin d3, vitamin c, if need be. i've heard vitamin c helps the synthesis of collagen proteins, so i like that.....from my limited understanding of tissue regeneration.

sleep: lately i've noticed i thrive on 6-8hrs depending on stress levels. i get stressed before competition, so i usually get my sleep in but feel restless when i wake up. sometimes i dont need to have an alarm on because ill be so ready to go ill be up before it rings. try my best to get 7hrs the least here.

wake up: morning rituals, drink water, munch on some bread while i make breakfast.

breakfast: i've been eating sandwhiches as of late, so i can go with a maple honey turkey, peppercorn cheese, honey mustard, salad sandwhich OR an omelette with virginia ham, extra veggies like diced cabbage, onions, peppers, cilantro, maybe some avacado. two maybe three eggs.
 

 

depending what time the game is at (since i dont really follow football itd be cool to compare it to my martial arts background): the sign in opens 8:30am closes 11:30am. competitions start 12-12:15 and ends at around 3pm. i would liked to have eaten breakfast early, like 6-7am so i can have a quick bite to eat before the competition started. enough to keep me a tad satisfied, nowhere near enough to make me have to throw up. learned that from experience haha

so maybe like a fruit smoothie of sorts with whey, oats and plain yogurt or peanut butter.

hydration: i need about a gallon of water in me a day, during competition prep i have come short before but anything past a gallon or two makes me feel....sloshy.

I base my measurements in my meals per Dan Benardots recommendations in Advanced Sports Nutrition. 2nd edition.

any thoughts? i'm willing to learn!

[Jeff Serven]

Keilani, thanks for the contribution! Lots of stuff there. Whats your bodyweight and whats your biggest cut for comp and at what age? Thanks.

[Mark Schoenhard]

I wouldn't change any foods I normally eat.  Perhaps up the intake a little and more water unless I was a punter.

[Keilani Gutierrez]

Keilani, thanks for the contribution! Lots of stuff there. Whats your bodyweight and whats your biggest cut for comp and at what age? Thanks.

155-160lb and could never go beyond losing 15lbs. so cutting weight made me feel absolutely miserable, even with the added carbs to bring the weight up on competition day. I was around 168 at the time and lost about 12lbs. only did it once and i absolutely hated it. that was a few months ago and am currently 27yrs old. after a while, i stabilized at 156-158 with the new conditioning i was doing, which i could simply deload before competition and is my usual tactic since that occasion. I try to align my deloads or simply let the competition fall where it may and simply not workout that week aside from training jiu jitsu and weighted mobility.

(competed in BMX but didnt cut weight for it, 15yrs old until about 19-20.. mostly martial arts competition background. kata, point fighting, submission grappling is what i've been mostly into the past year.)

[Joachim Nagler]

Since these guys have two weeks before Superbowl, I'd do a taper before game day to really top of the glycogen stores which these guys need for these really short play intervals. So the last meals the day before are going to be more on the carb side. 

 

I guess at that level you can really afford to test for deficiencies and take the supplements accordingly (well before game day). I guess Magnesium and Vitamin D3 are very important. Also maybe creatine could be of help for the short energy burst.

 

I'd also make sure these guys hydrate properly.

 

I think they should sleep enough to be well rested but not so much that they are drowsy all day. Since these are serious athletes this is going to be more than for most of us. Maybe 9-10 hours?

 

I don't know how long before the game the teams have to be at the stadium and when the warm-up starts, but the last meal would be maybe 1-2 hours before, but it should not be too far from the game so that you are hungry again. It should be protein and easily digestible carbs, so that the digestions doesn't take too long and impedes the game. 

 

During the game it would be sport beverages to replace the energy and to prevent glycogen stores from running dry. 

 

After the game, well, I guess these guys are going to celebrate all out

 

 

So, how far off is this? Are you going to tell us what you'd do? Also, who are you rooting for?

[Blairbob]

 I've always a been a terrible sleeper the night before whether I'm a coach or athlete, so I really like chilling the day before. Day before a WL meet, I'm something between a sloth and Garfield the cat. Naps, chilling/reading, some light mobility stuff or walking.

I like to be in bed the night before early, just in case I don't sleep very well so I'm at least resting. Like the day before, horizontal A LOT. I find even laying in bed can be very recuperating.

OTOH, a FB game is longer than a WL meet and more plays. OTOH, no need to make weight. I'd probably eat many carbs the night before. Meat and potatoes, chili, beans/rice, etc.

Gametime is around 3pm so my guess is the last solid meal would have to be done before noon because of warmup and prep. It might just be a nice hearty breakfast and lighter fare between 11-1pm. 

During the game, I'd probably be drinking powdered gatorade and whey protein or whatever. Fruit/Fruit jerky I find it invaluable during WL training which is often 3 hours and bursty. Maybe yogurt as I've had kids and myself do fine on that during competitions. These days, I lean towards nothing fatty and any protein should be either liquid or low in fat (jerky, fowl).

I'm not sure when their last practice is. Do they get Saturday off or have a light Sunday morning practice? Do they have a light practice on Friday or when is their last practice and last heavy practice?

Afterwards...I'd eat and drink pretty much anything I damn well please. Eat all the eat, drink all the drink...live it up. Unless you lose. I like to always have a beer post Comp. Or beers. And figure some IceCream/Milkshake pie/cake/donut/cinnamon roll. Probably a HYOOOGE burger or A pizza or a mega burrito (at least).

Supplement-wise. I like my VitD and I'd like to get more of it via the sun but it's winter which means it's not warm to even go outside half naked even if it's sunny. Creatine, yes. Possibly Beta-Alanine and Citrulline Malate. I've stopped both of those but the data out there shows they are beneficial for high energy/rep work (CF).

Also, during the Game. Well, actually before. Excedrin. Health-wise, it's ambiguous but it works. And this gets back to stimulants. Caffeine. Hell yeah, but timing and dosage have to be played with to be right. Maybe Yerba Mate as I believe that can have a longer half-life? My buddy loves "Spike from T-nation" but the Yohimbe makes me just want to throw up and heart race.

Also, Tiger Balm possibly a capsaicin ointment for joints that are really messed up. Especially if it's cold. I know Kishirina likes to apply capsaicin as she warms up for sessions. Then again, Russia is probably never warm. Ever.
 

[Chris Garay]

If you were playing in the Super Bowl this weekend what would you do for game day nutrition? Starting with the night before what would you eat, how much would you sleep, what supplements if any would you take, what time would you consume your last real food before the game, what would you do for nutrition during the game and what about after? 

 

I'd be interested to hear your game plan. 

 

Here is 3 guys I train and their super bowl rings. 

I think I'm more interested to hear your game plan Jeff, but I'll bite! All of these answers would be preceded by "it depends" on the player, the position, his experience, etc. And this would assume that the player has some familiarity with these habits beforehand, obviously not trying to change anything the night before the Super Bowl if they've made it that far!

• Night before: Full-sized meal of protein, starches, and vegetables. Steak, potatoes, and asparagus, for instance.
• Sleep: At least 8 hours, ideally some of which are before midnight, in a cool, dark, silent room.
• Supplements: Multi-vitamin, fish oil, probiotic, vitamin D, magnesium, and zinc.
• Pre-game: Eat a balanced meal ~2 hrs before warm-up starts. Include protein, healthy fats, fruits, and vegetables. Chicken, avocado, spinach, and blueberries, for instance. Drink a coffee or tea before warm-up for caffeine.
• During: Sip on a drink of electrolytes, amino acids, creatine, and sugars. Solid food (fruit and protein) at half-time if needed?
• Post-game: If they win, anything! Ha, and if they lose... still anything? If it were any other game or workout, probably would emphasize a post-workout mix of protein, carbs, amino acids, magnesium, etc. But if they win the Super Bowl... champagne?

Best,

Chris

[Jeff Serven]

JN12, Im not rooting for earthier one. I don't train anyone on either team, no horse in the race.

 

Chris, Champagne sounds like the best post game there is!

[Jeff Serven]

Haha! Blair Bob your crazy! Capsaicin ointment burns like hell! haha! Good post 

[Ryan Bailey]

Hey Jeff, this sounds like a fun exercise, I think I will chime in:

Pre game dinner:

630-700 pm, the usual: meat-veggie-tuber-fluids.

Because of the fact that it's a huge game, and there might be significant nerves, I think I would generally cut down on the amount of fiber, veggies, seeds, and make sure I slow cook the tubers longer to cut down on the inulin factors that may influence game day digestion (if you know what I mean).

Suppliments:

The usual mainly through liquids: Nettle tea the night before with its calming effects to hopefully get to bed early: 9 hours of sleep. Been on a Turmeric tea kick lately so I could have that on hand throughout the game day.

Game day: 3 small pregame meals spread out:

Breakfast: the usual small omlett with less veggies this time, but I would add more carbs for game day meals because of the anaerobic bursts of power involved with football (not enough to get unsulin all crazy), maybe a handfull or 2 of oatmeal with elderberry syrup drizzle.

Small meals of light rice, olive oil, minimal avacodo/meat/veggie, salt.

After superbowl win, and before going to Disneyland, I would roll into the celebrity team party with Coldplay (I think they are playing at halftime) and teammates, eating large plates of spicy chicken wings and heaps of guacamole, washing it down with a miller high life; to keep it real you know :-)

Kidding aside:

Jeff I am really interested in what Mr. Harrison, Casillas, and More ate during the game. Does this caliber of athlete really need to eat during a 1 hr sporting event? Or, does their body have the training to get them through with water only?

Looking forward to hearing more. You are really teasing us here with your inside knowledge in regards to athlete's prep for tomorrow's game, ha ha.

[Jeff Serven]

Ryan, we went from champaign to miller high life haha. Each athlete is different and a super bowl game is usually 4 hours in length so calories are definitely needed but as to how is up to the imagination. Food, liquid nutrition, etc. 

[Ryan Bailey]

Ryan, we went from champaign to miller high life haha. Each athlete is different and a super bowl game is usually 4 hours in length so calories are definitely needed but as to how is up to the imagination. Food, liquid nutrition, etc.

Hey, but its the "champagne of beers". Haha, minor point, all in fun.

Oh ya, 4 hours is a long time. I can see the need for calories. I can't imagine the amount of food these guys must need to take in. I sometimes wonder if some of them eat like crap and still perform awesome, or if all of them have the nutrition dialed in. Maybe it varies on positions, but I would imagine they are all fueling well to perform at that level. I imagine the real key would be the 9 or 12 month, consistant fueling period leading up to that big game that would matter most?

[Blairbob]

"I can't imagine the amount of food these guys must need to take in."

John Welbourne said he ate 5300-5500 to maintain weight and up to 6000 per day to gain or during training camp. FYI, John was 6'7 320 and pretty lean as a lineman (though he was also popped for AAS and on AAS there is more efficient nutrient partitioning etc). On his website (CrossFitFootball) he suggests 15 calories per pound of BW. So for an example, a #220 player would be around 4000 calories. So your tailbacks, lighter quarterbacks, bigger safeties, and small linebackers might be around that bodyweight (though WR and CB are often around #200 if taller or less as well as most of the special teams besides the long snapper). 

Speaking of Miller High Life, that sounds pretty decent right now. I think we're out of Pacifico but post-long workout/CrossFit competitions where I'm sweaty AF, I'll drink pretty much any beer so long as it's cold. 

Funny thing, Michelob has a Superbowl commercial for their lite beer that is all about atheletes/fitness enthusiasts. Apparently, they've been pursuing that niche for the past few years.

[Travis Widmann]

Nachos, wings, beer.

 

Oh, you mean the athletes? No idea.

[Jeff Serven]

Haha! Best answer yet.