James Morehen; Sports Scientist for Nutrition X and Sports Performance Nutritionist at Widnes Vikings writes in the first of a series of blog posts around pre-game meals, explaining why exactly it is important to get right what you put in your body in the build-up to a big game.

There is no ‘perfect’ 24-hour pre-game diet to follow as a rugby player. I say this because every player is different in terms of body composition (body weight, fat mass, muscle mass) but also in what they can and can’t consume in the days leading into a game due to nerves, adrenaline or other factors like the feeling of being too full. Below I will try and address the key areas that I believe contribute to a successful 24 hour pre game nutritional intake but by no means is this a one size fits all approach.

Rugby players are in a league of their own when it comes to physical and mental preparation for games. They spend 3-4 months during pre-season hammering their bodies both in the gym and on the field, whilst manipulating their nutritional intake in an attempt to arrive at the start of the season displaying an optimal body composition profile and physical fitness.

These physical changes (improvements in strength, speed, power, agility recovery, endurance etc) all take time to develop and are periodised in line with what the strength and conditioning (S&C) coach is trying to develop at different stages of pre-season. With this in mind, S&C and sports nutrition go hand in hand throughout the grueling pre-season months and during the long in-season periods to develop the changes in player adaptation. The result of a whole season of periodised nutrition and conditioning is powerful, functionally fit athletes adopting low body fat and high lean mass, two variables key for rugby players.

Typically, the most important day of the week for players is game day and how to arrive at kick-off having fuelled the body adequately. It is still unclear as to what the underlying reason for reduced performance in a game is. A popular explanation is the attenuation of muscle glycogen leading to premature fatigue during prolonged intermittent exercise. Players who start a game with low carbohydrate intakes can be almost depleted by half time.

Moving forward, if the candidate for fatigue is gradual reductions in muscle glycogen, what should we be eating 24-hour period before kick off?

This has been an area of interest for myself and a group of my research colleagues at Liverpool John Moores University recently, who for the first time ever in competitive rugby, conducted a muscle biopsy on players before and after a competitive game. The aims for our research group was to asses the physiological demands of an 80 minute rugby game under two dietary conditions, low (3g/kg) and high (6g/kg) carbohydrate diets 36 hours before kick off, to provide recommendations regarding nutritional intake.

The data from this particular study are still unpublished but initial numbers show that all players arrived at the start of the game with similar amounts of muscle glycogen. This may be due to the fact that in the days leading up to a game, players will tend to taper training, seeing a reduction in physical activity to allow players to be rested for the game.

There was no significant difference between either a 3g/kg and 6g/kg 36 hour pre game diet, so it is interesting to speculate whether consuming 3g/kg carbohydrate is sufficient to fuel rugby competition and a traditional carbohydrate load is not necessary for players who follow a normal mixed diet.

I believe that if players are consuming a normal diet consisting of high and low GI carbohydrates, good quality sources of protein, varied fruit and vegetable intakes and maintaining good hydration levels leading into a game, then arriving at game day fuelled adequately should be easily achieved. Additionally, consuming enough carbohydrates on the day of a game is easily achievable if consuming the right foods and fluids.

Therefore, what would I suggest to consume during game day – 1?

In the follow-up blog I will give an example of a strategic meal plan that follows approximately 3g/kg carbohydrates for a typical rugby player with a body weight of 90-100kg. As eluded to at the start, this will not be the perfect meal plan for every player, and depending on individual preferences fluids and/or other food sources may want to be substituted in to accommodate preferences.

James Morehen is part of the team who have developed Nutrition X’s range of fully tested products, which have become the No.1 choice of sports nutrition for numerous elite athletes, amateur sports people and casual gym users alike. For more information, or to discuss your sports nutrition requirements, please contact James via www.nutritionx.co.uk