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gaston muñozspoke with a Boston River nutritionist, ESPN About the current of sports nutrition in Uruguayan soccer, indicating what it provides to the players at halftime, how diet plans vary in relation to the position on the field, the importance of anthropometric measurements on the scale, the MAT and its myths , and the value of the roast of the complexes.
Muñoz, a nutritionist since 2017, started working at Boston, a club that has played in the first division since 2016, last December: “My first task was to be able to do a nutritional assessment of the whole complex and, based on the nutritional assessment, correct certain eating habits and provide them with a plan according to their energy needs.”
“Nutrition assessment first involves calling them to my office, we collect the player’s personal data, food data, we do anthropometric measurements to know their body composition and based on all these data we come up with a meal plan. and provide some recommendations so that athletes can feel good energetically and improve their performance in some way”, he stressed.
There are ‘anthropometric measurements fold, circumference, diameter’ that allow us to know how the athlete’s body is built, how many kilos of muscle it has, how much fat, how many bones. “Then we compare that data with the reference values of the norm in football,” he said.
The nutritionist stressed that ‘each position has a different reference value’: “For example, full-backs are the ones that need to be leaner, yes or yes, with less fat because they are the most are the ones to cover distance; defenders, forwards and goalkeepers are generally a bit thicker and more muscular, they have a different biotype”.
In turn, the professional pointed out that hearing “a player is over three kilos” actually conveys little information: “Weight varies a lot throughout the day. A football player weighs 80 or 82 kilos, it tells me nothing. The scale is a small complement to other information that is more important”.
“There are also players whose most of the adipose tissue is concentrated in the buttocks, so at first glance it seems that they were overweight, but in fact not, but because of their genetics and biotype they concentrate a large amount of adipose tissue. Those are their buttocks and legs, feet, but really, when that’s assessed, someone is in a nutritionally adequate state for football,” he said.
And he added: “It is very common for someone from the outside to say that a footballer is overweight, and you have to explain that no, genetically his adiposity is concentrated there, but really what we need to see is a global is, not only the weight, but its tissue”.
Muñoz highlighted that the vast majority of footballers have received his offers well, although He regretted that there is a large percentage of players who reach first-class without previous experience with a nutritionist.
“I think it is essential that clubs have a professional at the training stage who can accompany them in the process because the key is to instill habits in teenagers, not when one is already a professional, but to build habits throughout their life. To the youth to reproduce the habits” he said.
What to eat on match days and the worst possible habits
The nutritionist remarked that if teams play in the morning, they collectively have breakfast at the hotel where they concentrate, ‘to include real food from homemade bread or bakery bread, eggs, cereals, oatmeal, fruit Original’, Cheese, Curd’.
“If it is played in the afternoon, we have breakfast or lunch beforehand, depending on the timing of the game. And the same for the night: breakfast, lunch and snacks “They said.
Regarding what happens during matches, Muñoz said that players are provided with isotonic drinks at halftime, and may also be given a “supply of rapidly absorbing carbohydrates such as sweet gummies”.
Post-match he commented: “We use whey protein, pizza as carbohydrates and I also try to give them dry fruits, mainly walnuts or chestnuts to help with brain fatigue.” Good contribution of Omega 3 which is important. Athlete”.
He then stressed that ‘good hydration is very important, mainly in summer and when there is a lot of humidity, to avoid cramps and dehydration; It is necessary to still consume water and some isotonic drinks, not only on the day of the game, but on the days preceding it.
And he pointed to the worst habits that could be: “Skipping breakfast is what is done for one time issue, to sleep a little more but if you are a professional you have to eat, you have to cover all your meals because it is the fuel that you need to improve performance And will give to cover your needs. Another important aspect to avoid is the consumption of ultra-processed foods, so it is good to educate the athlete so that they can read nutritional labeling, labeling thoroughly”.
The Met and the Roasts
nutritionists, who also indicated It’s a Myth That You Have to Eliminate All Flour to Lose Weight (‘There is no element that is going to make you gain weight or make you lose weight, but it is the set of all food’), he also talked about barbecue, a typical ritual of sports facilities, mainly in Rio de Janeiro. La Silver in D.
“Roasts are barbaric, food is as essential as a social role. It seems to me that in these cases it’s very important to unite the group, to stick together; it’s super interesting as long as it’s accompanied by some salad and wine.” is saved”Munoz said.
And he said about meth use: “The first thing is Mate is not a substitute for any food, we cannot substitute mate for any type of food. and the other It’s a great moisturizer, but water would be ideal. Players who drink mate have been compared to players who do not drink mate and it has been observed that those who drink mate become more hydrated in the match, this is a point in favor of mate,
“Another important thing about Mate is that it has caffeine, so all this will stimulate the football player’s nervous system, it will keep him more alert, it will delay his fatigue, so the topic of Mate is very interesting, But hydrate between matches on time, ideal would be water. If they tell you ‘I don’t drink water in the morning, mate drink’, it’s not like that. The ideal would be to wake up, have a nice glass of water, have breakfast, and then drink mate. Nor is it an idea to replace a glass of milk or curd with mate”, he highlights.
