Soccer Carbs or Fat? page

[Blake123]

Hey I'm a sixteen year old junior that is starting up high school soccer season. We are going to be doing 2 hour practices every day of the week with games interspersed as well. I am also looking to do weights in the mornings and on the weekends. I tried to switch over to fat burning and my performance suffered drastically so im looking to make the switch in the offseason

My question since im still going to be eating carbs but quality carbs such as sweet potatoes and fruits and veggies shuld i adjust my fat intake accordingly i still eat a good amount but since my body is still carb burning does my body not need as much fat?

[iniQuity]

Our bodies always need fat, but play around and find a range that helps you feel and perform at your best. If I could relive my soccer days I would NOT have gone to all-you-can-eat at pizza hut with the team during our two-a-day practices. The second practice after stuffing ourselves silly with pizza always sucked. Keep eating your sweet potatoes, squash and fruit, but don't go purposely avoiding fat. Given your activity level and age, I would not fear fat gain. Soccer workouts are very taxing on the body, so make sure you eat well.

[Nasno]

I went very low carb (50g or less) back in May and found that moderate training and VLC was ok.
7 weeks ago I cranked my routine from running 10 miles a week to 20-25 to prep for a race. I also added weight training three times a week to my MMA/BJJ twice a week. I also went back to work and got very strict with my diet to try to cut-off and weight gain from going back to a desk job.

I promptly hit the wall two days after my race.

After a week of research, I decided to crank my calories and carb intake up (bananas, squash, avocados, sweet potatoes, etc) for a week and try to reset my metabolism (lost 45 lbs in the last year on LC or VLC). I'm feeling better, but have realized that in order to keep up with increased cardio demands, I need more carbs, or less activity, and I like to run too much.

I'm planning on adding a carb refeed once a week. If you want to follow PB along with the demands of HS soccer, I'd check out refeeds.

[erica057]

I'm planning on adding a carb refeed once a week. If you want to follow PB along with the demands of HS soccer, I'd check out refeeds.

It is my understanding that weekly refeeds are more for resetting certain hormones when you're in a caloric deficit (more on that here), as well as replenishing intramuscular glycogen. For athletic performance, targeted carbs pre- or peri-workout are preferred (this is what I do for boxing).

@Blake123: What is your carb intake like throughout the day? Some PB'ers do not limit items like fruit, honey, and sweet potatoes, while others (like myself) eat very low carb.

If you eat very low carb, I'd give it a shot, keeping your fat intake high, and try it for 2-4 weeks without extra carbs, seeing if you can maintain athletic performance. And as Nasno said, it could be worth doing a weekly refeed to replenish glycogen stores. If your athletic performance suffers I would add in some carbs around your workout, preferably starches rather than fruit, as fructose is far from ideal for this purpose.

If you eat moderate-carb (i.e. plenty of fruit, honey, etc) your body is likely not fat-adapted and you will need to continue fueling yourself with carbs.

[AmyMac703]

Never played soccer, but I do play rugby, which is probably similar as far as being a lot of continuous running, etc. I personally always want to have a breakfast of balanced carbs and protein before a game (i.e. eggs and fruit, chicken salad, or something like that). No need to limit your fat intake (well, eating a pound of almonds a day isn't advisable, but you get what I mean ), but I also don't eat a lot of it before a game because it makes me feel lethargic when I do.

[Blake123]

Ok thanks, umm my carb intake i guess is pretty high because my parents arent really on bored with the entire thing and i do eat plenty of fruit maybe thats why my body has a such trouble adjusting due to the fact that i still am having fruit.

A typical day would be eggs or oatmeal with fruit in the morning i bring a sandwich and a banana for lunch have sweet potatoes broccoli and some lean protein before practice and after depends but a higher fat and protein source.

Also, how long is a carb refeed an entire day or just one big meal?
Your help is very appreciated thank you

[StoneAgeQueen]

I love it when we get junior Groks coming here!

[confused_monkey]

I am also a soccer player. And I have been running on low carbs, below 50g for four months now due to gut issues. I can't say my results have been positive because I lost a lot of power and muscle in my legs. I was consuming about 270g of fat but all it did was give me heavy diarrhea and no actual energy. If I were to introduce starch in the form of a sweet potato, when would be the best time to have it, before or after a workout?

[iniQuity]

I am also a soccer player. And I have been running on low carbs, below 50g for four months now due to gut issues. I can't say my results have been positive because I lost a lot of power and muscle in my legs. I was consuming about 270g of fat but all it did was give me heavy diarrhea and no actual energy. If I were to introduce starch in the form of a sweet potato, when would be the best time to have it, before or after a workout?

Experiment with both. I do sweet potatoes post workout because the theory is that you deplete your glycogen stores in your muscles and starches/carbs help to build that back up. In theory, you should have enough for your next workout. We have some people here that do more serious training and consume their starches a few hours before, so try both and see how you feel and let us know!

[grokka]

oatmeal, fruit, sandwich, banana, sweet potato? are you seriously wondering why you don't work well with fat?