Fueling During the Game: More Than Just for Runners
During game fuel is often an overlooked aspect of athletic performance, and it’s commonly thought of as something only necessary for long-distance runners or ultra-marathon athletes. However, the truth is that many athletes—across a variety of sports—can benefit from fueling during the game.
During a high-intensity workout lasting around 90 minutes, the body can deplete its primary energy stores. This is particularly relevant when we consider the length of games for high school and college athletes, which typically last 60-90 minutes, not including warm-up time. During this time, the body continues to use up its energy reserves.
Research has shown that in basketball, athletes who fueled during the game performed better in the 4th quarter—running faster, experiencing less fatigue, having more energy, and recovering more quickly.
Why During-Game Fueling Matters
To maintain peak performance throughout the game, fueling during play is essential.
However, when it comes to game day nutrition, there’s one key rule: nothing new on game day. The last thing you want is to introduce a new food that causes discomfort or sends you running to the bathroom. That’s why it’s important to train your body to handle certain foods during practice. Identifying what works best for you is the first step.
What this means, is that you can’t start fueling on game day… on game day. It has to happen during trainings, just like you practice for a game we are doing the same idea with fuel. Before we get into how to train the gut, we are going to talk about what foods should we be having to keep energy levels high.
When we are thinking about different types of food to use for game day fuel we want to remember a few important factors:
- High in simple, easy to digest carbs
- Low in Fiber
- Low in Protein
- Low in Fat
The reason for this is the rate of digestion, carbs break down easy and don’t take long to be absorbed and used up. Protein, Fiber, and Fat all take awhile and then the body can’t use the energy for the muscles because it is breaking down food. As well as the food will be jostling in the gut because it is not being broken down as quickly causing stomach aches.
For more tips around snacking, check out. https://nutritionatplay.com/2026/01/26/15-favorite-pre-workout-snack-ideas-from-a-sports-rd/
Training Your Gut: A Gradual Approach
Training your gut for game day fuel is similar to how you’d approach a fitness program. Start small and gradually build up. Begin by consuming a small snack 60 minutes before practice and sip on a sports drink during training. Once you notice that the snack doesn’t upset your stomach, you can begin adjusting the timing—try eating your snack
I suggest working on training your gut at least a week or two before games or events start. This gives you some time to build the confidence around eating and knowing how different foods make you feel. I have had lots of athletes tell me they don’t like the way the gels or gummies feel in their mouth or the way they taste. That is okay, lets do something different. That is the same if you don’t like sports drinks, okay, let’s do something salty with some carbs and top it off with water. But remember, we are fueling your body to perform at it’s best, so just because you don’t like the way something taste doesn’t mean we just don’t fuel. We need to make sure to find a different option.
Think Practical!
Depending on your sport there may be different items that are the most practical. If you are going for a long run and need fuel it probably isn’t practical to carry a non peeled cutie with you. But if you are just going into the locker room that may not be an issue. So remember to think about the sport or activity that you are doing when you are planning for your during game fuel.
For most during game fuel is going to be something quick and easy to grab, for some, the struggle may be remembering the snack. It is okay to put a few non-perishable items into your bag for those game days that you do forget. That is when I would recommend throwing a package of skittle from Halloween into your bag or even keeping an extra applesauce pouch. You are a busy human, you are going to forget and not always have it together. So help your future self out and give them a gift when they really it need it!
Want more help?
For more help putting this into practice, check out our website https://nutritionatplay.com/ or shoot us an email at info@nutritionatplay.com to learn more about working with us one on one!
