Eat For The Sport

The first thing to remember about eating is that fencing is not an endurance competition so forget most of the things you know about food and athletics.

The second thing to remember is to stay hydrated. It is important to drink throughout a competition even if you don't feel thirsty.  Otherwise, your performance will decrease and you won't understand why. Sport energy drinks: they are good for you except for your teeth. These drinks will help keep your performance level up but also destroy your teeth. If you drink pop the sugar on your teeth help cause cavities due to the acid eventually created. Sports drinks are full of these acids and so rot out your teeth quickly. Drink your sport fluid but finish off with a "swish-and-swallow" of plain water to get rid of the acid left in your mouth.

Breakfast and Early Preping: No matter how early the competition starts, a fencer should be awake two to three hours earlier. This is the time it takes to awake, eat, travel and warm up. Any high quality breakfast can be eaten since there is enough time to digest the food. Just don't over eat or eat a breakfast of coke and a donut. Such breakfasts will hurt performance unless other foods are eaten. Also remember to forget about "carbo loading", fasting, protein supplements and other eating practices prior to a competition. Some have merits if used correctly in the proper sport at the right situation. Success as a fencer is hurt by all of these practices.

Lunch and snacks: At competitions, lunch should be a continuous snack of high quality food. Some sugar foods are fine if most of the other foods are proteins, complex carbohydrates or from other healthy food groups. A fencer needs to avoid being full from a large meal or hungry from not eating. Both lower performance results.

Supper: At competitions, supper does not exist. It is something that occurs after the meet is over and the fencer has left the venue. If the event lasts late the fencer is probably doing well and the lunch routine of snacking should be continued to the end of the meet.
 
Avoid this myth: "For extra energy, eat sugars that digest quickly just before a bout." False!!! If the fencer is not hungry it won't have an effect. If the fencer is hungry, the new food in the stomach quickly causes the glucose (sugar) in the blood to be withdrawn, leaving the fencer with less available energy for ten to fifteen minutes. This is a natural reaction that prepares the body to use ingested food. Fencing on an empty stomach is preferable to eating just before a bout when hungry. The best thing to do is to eat throughout a competition and never become hungry.

Myth-Liquids will make you throw up: It is difficult for a person to know how much liquid he/she really needs. A little liquid satisfies thirst, but when wearing absorbent clothing as in fencng, it is difficult to realize how much sweating occurred. The layers of clothing makes a fencer hotter and increases liquid loss. Jackets should be partially opened between bouts to allow heat to escape. The fencer needs to drink a lot of liquids to prevent dehydration which results in decreased ability without the fencer's awareness. Dehydration is preventable, but the fencer must drink continuously throughout the entire competition.
 
Summary: Eat moderate amounts of food and drink liquids throughout the entire competition. You should never become hungry or feel full. Keep hydrated to avoid losing ability without knowing it.