With more Pleasant Valley students becoming involved in extracurriculars in addition to sports, student-athletes often find it difficult to maintain a nutritional lifestyle.
Gym teachers and coaches push for-student athletes to eat well-rounded meals, especially after working out. Jane Wheeler, coach of the girls’ cross country team, said there is a specific window after exercising in which athletes’ bodies absorb nutrients better. She said, “It’s ideally 30-60 minutes after you finish a workout. That’s why it’s so important to eat, so you recover and rebuild the muscles you just worked.”
However, many students in early lifting classes or who have activities immediately following school lack a firm meal plan for their day. Olivia Schilling, a member of the girls’ track and field team, said, “Last spring, a lot of days I would forget to bring food to school. So I would lift in the morning and not eat anything until hours later at lunch.” She added, “I’d feel super fatigued at practice later.”
What one eats before their workout is just as important as what is consumed afterward, which is why planning ahead is so crucial. Muscles need protein and carbohydrates after exercise to build new muscle tissue and help the body recover. Without these, fatigue will increase and the rate of glycogen synthesis, the storage of glucose in the muscles, can reduce by up to 50 percent. Athletes need glucose to be stored in their muscles because they use it during intense exercise.
Wheeler strongly encourages student-athletes to plan ahead and bring something to eat when they know they will be exercising. She said, “Students that don’t fuel themselves and are busy with school, work, and sports, by the end of the season, their body just doesn’t have resources anymore. So they either get sick, hurt, or just don’t finish the season very strong.”
More student-athletes are working to heal their bodies after exercise with food. Lauren Buechel, a cross country runner, said, “It’s super important because you burn so many calories and you need to refuel your body.” She suggested protein bars or toast with peanut butter as easy things to bring to school as a post-workout snack.
