Handling nutrition during three a days (help Clemson!)

Hey, in a couple weeks I have 3-a-days for football coming up. It’s from 6am-6pm with the first physical practice starting at 7 and ending around 10-10:30. The next practice begins around 12-12:30 and ends around 2:30-3. The final practice starts around 4:30 or so and ends around 6. There is some give inbetweent the actual practice times, but recovery is pretty much the same throughout, never shorter than listed usually. I am wondering how I should handle nutrition during this period. I am thinking something like this

Meal 1, before first practice:
-Protein shake
-Various fruit (banana, pine apple, etc.)
-500mg-1g of vitamin C
-multi-vitamin
I feel I need to add something here, but I am not sure what.

Meal 2, after first practice:
-Sipping diluted gatorade
-Various fruit, again
-Protein shake
-brown rice / egg whites
I know I need to add some stuff, but I am at a loss. I was thinking of adding cottage cheese, but that may upset my stomach. Thoughts? I may have tuna in here too.

Meal 3, after second practice:
-Same thing at meal 2 really. Maybe a natural peanut butter sandwitch.

Meal 4, after 3rd practice:
All physical work is done at this point
-protein shake
-various fruits
-fish or chicken of some sort
-flax seed oil
-multi vit

Meal 5, before bed:
-1.5 cups of low fat cottage cheese

  • 3-4 grams of flax seed oil

Recovery modalities being used:
-Contrast showers everyday, possibly multiple times a day
-self massage and home-made foam rollers
-icy hot (or similar substance) under saran wrap and sweats in sore areas
-Salt baths on the weekends

There’s a lot of work needed on this obviously, so if anyone has any suggestions at all in recovery methods, nutrition, supplementation, or anything, please let me know. Most of our practices are pretty intensive. First practice is offense, lots of running around and through plays. The second practice is defense and has lots of hitting and short runs. The third practice probably has the most running as it is special teams. Often, “conditioning” (aka wind sprints) are done after the 3rd practice. I have access to showers after every practice (although they are rarely used inbetween due to meetings) and I have access to an ice-bath between and after. I can get an ice-bath most days, so long as there is not a huge line for it.

Thanks for any and all help you can give me!

Hmmmm…not a CFTS method of training or anything I am thrilled about but that is the culture of the game.

I suggest using xtreme formulation’s ICE for the three a days…not only will you help central fatigue you may help with repair during training without too much elevation of insulin. Since bcaa’s elevate insulin slightly…they will help with repair but since the rise is not high, it will not yo yo your blood glucose levels. leucine can stimulate protein synthesis through various pathways such as the rapamycin (mTOR) and 70-kDa ribosomal protein S6 kinase path. It also primes the loop of eIf4E-binding protein and increases the eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)4E with eIF4G (1). My athletes are doing 3 or 4 2 hour practices and are getting very strong…the main change was ICE and of course the immunogrow. They not only need to absorb, but do it fast since they have a two hour gap of rest or down time.

I would also get more solid food such as vegetables and lean animal meat. A lot of shakes will make your Squats increase…squats on the can!Sodium should be used (no gatorade) with dry meals in replacement of the GES (glucose electrolyte solution). Have some sort of REAL grain in the morning and use the breakfast desert.

D’s Cheesecake (Nightmare’s Super wife)

STEP ONE: Thin layer of honey and real granola and cinamon on a round cake tray.

This layer provides the fuel for the first part of the day and is caloric dense.

STEP TWO: Slice strawberries or mash blueberries into very low fat cottage cheese after you mixed in vanilla grow. Spread 2-3 inches thick on the pan.

This layer provides slow acting protein with high levels of anti-oxidants with low GI carbs. Make sure you frost it overnight int the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge. rotate the process every day to keep the food ready.

STEP THREE: ADD walnuts or other healthy nuts (sprinkly half a handfull or less for healthy fats and for flavor say 3-5 grams to make it a P and C meal).

This helps with keeping your hunger pangs away.

STEP FOUR: EAT and destroy.

(1) J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2001 May;86(5):2136-43. Branched chain amino acids activate messenger ribonucleic acid translation regulatory proteins in human skeletal muscle, and glucocorticoids blunt this action. Liu Z, Jahn LA, Long W, Fryburg DA, Wei L, Barrett EJ.

Do you think I would have enough time inbetween practices to have chicken, fish, eggs, or even pork? I know it’s not a good method at all, but it is either do the practices or don’t play, so I can’t really argue with them about it.
Thanks for your help Clemson.

three solids is a good goal…3:15 and 7pm and the grow cheesecake in the morning.