Meal Plan for My Female Volleyball Athlete

Introduction

For today's blog, I am going to be sharing about a sample meal plan for my female volleyball athlete. My player is 147 pounds (66.7 kg) and I calculated her energy requirements by multiplying her weight in kg by her energy expenditure level, which in this case was Moderate Activity (37 kg/kcal/d); therefore after calculating 66.7 x 37 = 2,467 kcal/d is the amount she needs to be consuming. Specific nutrients that she needs to take is 50-60% of CHO, 10-25% of Protein, 15-30% of Fat, and AT LEAST 9 cups of water a day. With the 2,467 calories needed, they should be consumed throughout 3 separate times of the day: Pre-competition (2-4 hours prior competition), Competition (Match that lasts at least 1 hour), and Post-competition (30-60 minutes after competition).

Meal Plan

Pre-Competition

My athlete's pre-competition meal, which is 2-4 hours prior to competition is going to consist of:

CHO: 2 slices of Wheat Bread (155 cal)
Protein: 1 oz of White Turkey (38 cal)
Fats: Avocados on Toast (530 cal)
Hydration: 2 cups of water

 

This would help a lot in gaining that energy needed for the competition to come within 2-4 hours. It allows a good amount of calories and energy through the balanced out consumption of nutrients that will give the body time to breakdown the food for energy to perform in the competition (Sports Dietitians Australia).

Supplement #1: I am going to make my athlete consume a Beta-Alanine supplement because it helps the individual do more work over a series of sets or sprints leading to greater gains in strength, muscle mass, and performance (Kern and Robinson).

Competition

My athlete's competition meal, which is for a match that lasts less than an hour consists of:

CHO: Banana Sports Bar (290 cal)
Protein: 25 g of Almonds (152 cal)
Fats: 0.3 cups of Trail Mix (231 cal)
Hydration: 1 bottle of Powerrade Sports Drink (in portions) (200 cal)

During this time, we do not want to have the athlete consume heavy foods because we do not want them to feel uncomfortable or sick in any way during the competition; therefore, I made sure that my athlete's competition meal consisted of energy given foods that were more snacks. They gave a source of energy quickly and they were not heavy foods. They were enough to get them through the end of the game (Sports Dietitians Australia).

Post-Competition

My athlete's post-competition meal, which is usually 30-60 minutes after competition consists of:

CHO: 1 box of Lean Cuisine Pasta with Shrimp (340 cal)
Protein: 7 Shrimps (80 cal)
Fats: 6 oz of Yogurt with Nuts (220 cal)
Hydration: 2 cups of water

 

Since my athlete has finally finished their day of competition, they are now able to eat foods that will give their body the nutrients it needs to replenish the work that it has been through throughout the day. By doing this, I added a good amount of carbs to make sure muscles are recovering and being replenished with an additional source of protein along with it (Sports Dietitians Australia).

Supplement #2: The second supplement I would give would be during the post-competition meal and it would be the Omega-3 Fatty Acid supplement. This could be found in seafood such as fish, shrimp, and much more so it will be a good source to obtain from the shrimp. I chose this supplement because it allows my athlete to recover faster, reduce muscle soreness, and burn fat more thoroughly (Seims).

Supplement #3: Finally, I would make my athlete consume the supplement Casein also during the post-competition meal because it is a fast and easy source of calories to keep the body at it's best. It also does well in synthesizing muscle protein and preventing muscle catabolism (VolleyCountry).

Nutrient Tracking Program

To develop my athlete's meal plan, I used the app that I use most MyFitnessPal. It is helpful to track food and to obtain the correct amount of calories within the food you are consuming throughout the day. It also helps keep track of goals and what foods could be better than what you are normally obtaining. In these screenshots I attached above, I included the food they obtained, the amount, and the calories that it costs throughout the day.

References

Benjamin Kern, and Tracey Robinson. “Effects of Beta-Alanine Supplementation on Performance and Body Composition in Collegiate Wrestlers and Football Players.” Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, BioMed Central, 31 July 2009, jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-6-S1-P2.

“Food for Volleyball.” Sports Dietitians Australia (SDA), www.sportsdietitians.com.au/factsheets/food-for-your-sport/indoor-volleyball/.

Seims, Dana. “Top Nutrients for Beach Volleyball Players.” The NVL, 22 Mar. 2016, thenvl.com/2016/01/top-nutrients-for-beach-volleyball-players/.

“Supplements in Volleyball.” VolleyCountry, 31 May 2017, volleycountry.com/training/supplements-

in-volleyball.