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Welcome to Coaches’ Corner which is a new addition to the Parkonians web site and is primarily a section that will hopefully help you with your pre and season fitness to improve your performance on the pitch.

As you know, pre-season training has started and is currently running on a Saturday (Start time 1.30 till 3.pm) and Wednesday (Start time 7pm till 8.30 pm) we plan to run a set routine for every player regardless of position played, for the first 3- 5 weeks.

This will then build up to more game and positional relevance as we move closer to the start of the new season in September.

Please take time to look at the various articles that I will post on the site that I hope you find helpful and beneficial in getting you better prepared for what we hope is another successful season.

Please show your support by attending the training, not only to the captains Peter Hillan, Richy Peters and Paul Didsbury  but, also to the club to ensure we give our best to the game we all love and enjoy playing .

I look forward to seeing you at the next training session and please if there is anything you would like help on regarding exercise and nutrition please let me know.

Regards

Steve Lowndes

What to eat / Not to eat?

Exercising or playing a game on a full stomach is not ideal. Food that remains in your stomach during an event may cause stomach upset, nausea, and cramping.

To make sure you have enough energy, yet reduce stomach discomfort, you should allow a meal to fully digest before the start of the event. This generally takes 1 to 4 hours, depending upon what and how much you've eaten. Everyone is a bit different, and you should experiment prior to workouts to determine what works best for you.

What to Eat

Because glucose is the preferred energy source for most exercise, a pre-exercise/game meal should include foods that are high in carbohydrates and easy to digest. This includes foods such as pasta, fruits, breads, energy bars and drinks.

Planning

Consider the time of your game /training, the amount of your meal and the energy required. Also, be aware of the amount of fluid you consume. You should plan ahead and prepare meals and snacks that you have tried before and know will sit well with you. Do not experiment with something new on the day your planning to exercise or play.

Suggested Pre-Exercise/Game Foods

Eating before exercise/game is something only you can determine based upon experience, but some general guidelines include eating a solid meal 4 hours before an exercise/game, a snack or a high carbohydrate energy drink 2 to 3 hours before the event, and fluid replacement (sports drink) 1 hour before event.

1 hour or less before exercise / game

• fruit or vegetable juice such as orange, tomato, or V-8, and/or
• fresh fruit such as apples, watermelon, peaches, grapes, or oranges and/or
• Energy gels
• up to 1 1/2 cups of a sports drink.
• to 3 hours before exercise / game
• fresh fruit
• fruit or vegetable juices
• bread, bagels
• low-fat yogurt
• sports drink

3 to 4 hours before exercise / game

• fresh fruit
• fruit or vegetable juices
• bread, bagels
• pasta with tomato sauce
• baked potatoes
• energy bar
• cereal with low-fat milk
• low-fat yogurt
• toast/bread with limited peanut butter, lean meat, or low-fat cheese
• 30 oz of a sports drink

Nutrition ~ Eat Yourself Fit

Eating Well

Increasing the frequency of when you eat helps burn more fat than eating the same amount but infrequently.
Eating healthily every three hours means that the body burns the fat and keeps the muscle, which leads to a virtuous of circle of allowing the body to burn even more fat.

If you eat a few big meals, then the body catabolises the muscle tissue, which means you start to burn off muscle, reducing the gains from training or just general activity.

Fat Affects Your Shape

A balloon containing 1kg of muscle tissue would be smaller than a balloon containing 1kg of fat. Work off the fat and not the muscle and look leaner.

Focused Snacking

One of the best ways to eat frequently is to snack. Snacking is easier if it matches the your desire at that moment. For instance, they may feel like something sweet, so they should eat a food that satisfies that craving.
In which case you should eat some fruit. For something more stodgy, you could try eating low fat cheese.

Eat "Negative" Calories

A portion of brussel sprouts is worth about 50 calories. However, roughly 75 calories are used in its digestion and absorption, so burning 25 calories of body fat. Other negative calories foods include broccoli, carrots, celery, leeks, apples, kiwis, satsumas and strawberries.

Lose Fat not Weight

Comparing your absolute weight is not a good indicator of whetheryou are gaining or losing weight in the right way. If you are gaining muscle, then it is possible you could be putting on weight. A body fat monitor is an inexpensive way of measuring body fat, and easier to use that other methods like callipers. You can buy Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis scales for around £20- £30

A Guide to Body Fat Ratios

Back in the Gym: Work Efficiently

A few reminders about gym work.

• Your should maintain good form and posture throughout your training sessions.
• You need to concentrate on working the muscle, not the joint.
• Small movements don't make as much difference as working the muscle through the full range of motion. For instance, with a pull up, go all the way down and then all the way up.

Training Circuits

As you know, if you have been attending recent training, we are concentrating on building up our aerobic fitness, upper and lower body strength and ball handling skills. Although this will help with your general fitness, you should look to do your own program at home or in the gym, just an extra 90mins exercise over the week will improve your general fitness and stamina and also help you to loose weight and tone your body and muscle structure.

Here are a few ideas for you to use at home or gym, I would suggest that if your just starting on a exercise program then short reps (5-10) of each one, then building it up over the weeks.

Please remember to warm up all parts of the body before starting on your exercise session, and that you do not over strain your body doing too much too soon.