Supplements & Nutrition
With more players and families focused on maximizing health and nutrition, we get lots of questions on how we train, what we use for supplements and what our diet is centered on. We hope that this page will answer those questions and so much more. And if there is any information that you do not see but would like to, please send us an email request and we will be sure to post it!
For starters, our top 3 pre, during and post training drink supplements. These are ones we have fallen back on time and time again for the best training and competition energy levels and the fastest recovery from match to match, or training session to training session.
Skratch
Skratch Labs made their mark in the cycling industry but has gone mainstream as it's popularity has grown. It's the simplest drink mix out there, low sugar but enough carbs to keep you going, no crazy additives, just straight simple sugar, so for people who have stomach issues with other drinks, bars, eating, etc, Skratch will usually work for everyone.
Garden of Life sport
A vegan sport drink this one contains just a little bit of protein as well as some carbs. Some people feel the carb/protein mix stimulates testosterone production and therefore improves training and recovery time. What we have noticed is that it's a great training supplement because it keeps you from feeling hungry and has a great blend of vitamins and minerals along with it's carb/protein balance that works.
Cytomax
The original carb drink for pros. Developed for endurance cyclists cytomax is not only a highly scientific carb drink, it's been used since the late 80's by the top athletes in every sport. Considered an isotonic carb drink, it's absorbed directly without having to pull water from the body to digest the sugar. It also reduces the acidity level in the stomach allowing for easier digestion of carbs and lowers lactic acid levels during training reducing post training soreness. The only drawback, it doesn't work for everyones stomach. AND! some versions have caffeine, so make sure you avoid those!
Nutrition
On to nutrition! So many fads, fancies, concepts and information on nutrition these days. And we have tried them all! Every combination of fat, carbohydrate and protein and we always come back to the ratios that make us feel the best and give us the best recovery turnaround and best energy for training and competition.
80-10-10
80% carbohydrate 10% protein 10% fat
In this day and age you can find information on the internet to support any diet. All we can do is reiterate to our athletes that we have tried them all and after almost 10 years of research, our top coaches who still compete full time professionally all agree, the vegetarian/vegan approach makes them feel the best! Protein is media hype and the dairy, cattle and grain industries are mega-corps that stuff sensationalized media down our throat. Don't believe it. Mothers milk which feeds us during the time in our life when we are growing the most is only around 7% protein. So if we can grow all of our body's systems as a baby off of mothers milk, what possible reasoning could there be to support the need for more than 7-10% protein in our diet!
Below are some links to the documentaries, books and sites we have used to build our nutritional guidelines. With support from the original 80-10-10 concept, blood typing diet, genealogy, and some hair follicle and blood testing for food allergies, we have built our concept of the perfect diet. Each individual is so unique and there are so many environmental factors that can effect your ability to assimilate food that it is important for everyone to be as educated as possible and work to build a diet that makes you feel good, perform great, and maintain optimum health.
