• It is hugely better for the wrestler to eat a “little bit” all day than to shove a huge amount of food down in a panic after weigh in or at lunch or dinner. Satiated but not sleepy is what we are shooting for and to keep their blood sugar even all day. No dips No spikes.
• If one of them does get “spikey” or gets a headache, treat it with water and over the counter Excedrin migraine medicine. Have the wrestler drink as much water as they can and then after they eat and before they go to bed, they need to crank the water. Three or four big glasses. Also, especially during the day, the Excedrin migraine medicine is awesome. Something in the combo of aspirin, actemetiphin and caffeine makes the wrestler feel better while their body levels out. They will not experience as much of the spike and the symptoms of a spike in their heads.

AFTER WEIGH IN:

• For wrestlers who had difficulty achieving competition weight on the Monday or Tuesday prior to the tournament and may have had to put more emphasis on reaching competition weight in the days immediately prior, I really want them to have whole wheat pasta with a red sauce and olive oil. Especially if limiting water was something they chose to do in the 24/48 hours prior to weigh in.  They need to eat and drink very slowly. Plain water w/ “emergen c” vitamins (trader joes) added to the water gives it good flavor or for the truly dedicated a lemon/lime or orange squeeze.

• In general, the post weigh in can be a whole wheat or pumpernickel bagel (noah’s) with sugar free peanut butter (safeway/albertson’s no at trader joes) or if they can’t take it cream cheese. Interestingly, you want them to put a lot of sugar free peanut butter or cream cheese on the bagel. The brown carbs in the bagel will convert in their blood streams way to quickly with out the fat of the sugar free peanut butter and cream cheese to slow it down. Their bodies will literally go for the peanut butter and cream cheese and the conversion of the brown carbs will go slower and last longer for more extended energy. If they consume the bagels w/out peanut butter or cream cheese they will experience a “spike” in blood sugar. Whether or not the wrestler literally feels the spike, their muscles will and this is where the performance problem lies. Some wrestlers will report that they feel great when they spike but a few hours later they are drained. Usually they will eat the exact same thing again because they think they “just did not get enough” of it the first time. The blood sugar cycle will repeat and then they drain, but in about ½ the time they did the first time…..so they do it again and again and again till basically they are in brain fog and their muscle explosiveness is gone. Think of it as a heroin addict that needs to shoot more each time to get the same high they go the first time.

DURING THE TOURNAMENT

• The number one rule is a can of liquid protein (trader joes) with in 15 to 30 minutes of competing in EACH match. This prevents muscle canabilization and will keep their energy up. You will notice, on a whole, that your team’s endurance and muscle explosiveness will be higher. You may get comments like “wow, your team is in great shape and specifically, they have great endurance”. No matter how good of shape they are in prior to a tournament, if their bodies have to take protein from their muscles every time they wrestle, they are going to be VERY weak by the end of the day. While the wrestler may not think he is weak and they may say it is “normal” for them to feel the way the do, their blood chemistry and muscle effectiveness is a mess. Once they compete with protein after each match, either they or you as the coach, will notice the difference.

• Whole wheat pasta with red sauce and olive oil is the staple for eating through out the day. Get someone to make it the night before, get some plastic forks and you are off to town. Most of the wrestlers will ask again and again for more bagels….two is the maximum and a couple of hours apart….two much effect on the blood sugar to have more. We are trying to avoid spikes.

• Vegetables of any kind and hummus. At trader joes you can get bagged vegetables and huge tubs of hummus. All you need are some paper towels : ) and they are off and running.

• Plain water and “emergen c” vitamins.

• LUNCH: It is easier than ever to feed the wrestler an “effective” lunch than ever before. If you are buying in mass, go for the “wrap”. Whole wheat tortillas, cream cheese or mustard, sliced turkey or chicken, maybe a slice of cheese if they can’t use cream cheese on the tortilla and then all the vegetables inside (tomatoes, onions, lettuce) you can get them to eat. If they need more than one, revert to the whole wheat pasta with red sauce & olive oil. Too much meat protein will cause their bodies to focus on digesting it and will send it’s blood supply and energy to the stomach and away from everything else they need to wrestle.

• DINNER: If there is no weigh in for the second day, head to a good Mexican restaurant. Chicken, Fish or Shrimp fajitas are great (stay away from steak, to hard to digest overnight). Don’t eat the tortillas unless they are whole wheat and this includes corn tortillas. They can have black or refried beans, all the salsa they want, quacamole (good fat) rice if it is brown, vegetables, etc.

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