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Jackson Haen, RD, LD, CSCS
Written by a Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association Registered Dietitian (RD). To learn more about sports nutrition and CPSDA, go to www.sportsrd.org.
Sports nutrition education often focuses heavily on pre, during and post-game fueling. Sport specific nutrition recommendations are well established, and while many athletes understand their game day needs, most may not recognize the importance of nutrition the day after a competition.
Background
The day after competition, athletes will commonly prioritize rest and physical recovery with various modalities. With a day of reduced physical activity, athletes may not prioritize or see a need for increased fueling. While rest and recovery should be prioritized, it is important to remember that nutrition is a key factor in the recovery of tissue and replenishment of energy stores. New findings on the residual metabolic effects of competition highlight a potential need for further athlete education and support the day after competition.
Recent Research: The Residual Metabolic Effects of Competition
Hudson et al. (2019) investigated the daily variations of resting metabolic rate (RMR) in professional rugby athletes, which provided insight on the metabolic effect of competition in collision sports. The researchers measured RMR in a group of players every morning in a rested, fasted state to monitor the residual metabolic effect of the previous day. Additionally, collision number and severity were assessed using professional film analysis to gauge any impact on possible RMR changes. In comparison to the baseline measurement, the researchers found that participants saw a significant increase in RMR the day after a full contact competition. RMR increased an average of 231 kcal/day, with a large range of responses, players saw increases “between 240 and 1000 kcal” (Hudson et al., 2019). This increase was mainly attributed to the increased number and severity of collisions seen during match day. Costello et al. (2018) saw a similar effect utilizing doubly labeled water over a two-week training period. While workload was matched over the two weeks, one week contained a session with physical collisions while the other did not. Despite matching training loads, average energy expenditure was significantly greater when collisions were included in training.
While the above evidence illustrated the possible metabolic changes that could occur following a rugby match, the question remained if the effects were exclusively due to collisions, until a follow up study was conducted in 2023. Cater et al. (2023) conducted a study investigating daily variations in RMR and energy intakes of male professional soccer players where, generally, we see fewer and less severe collisions. Similar to the previous study, RMR was measured daily in a rested and fasted state. Unique to this study, the researchers also monitored and recorded player intakes throughout the week. This group found that the day following a soccer match RMR increased significantly compared to baseline, which was correlated with a significant increase in running efforts and demands. Additionally, though athletes saw RMR increases around 261 kcal/day, they did not increase their energy or carb intake as the researchers found no significant difference in nutrition periodization across the week. This highlights a potential knowledge gap or need for behavior change within athletes following the day of competition.
Application for the Sports Performance Team
Underfueling is a common concern for in-season athletes, which can lead to complications such as fatigue, increased risk of injury and illness, as well as poor performance. Significant increases in metabolic rate following a competition may increase the risk of underfueling, especially in athletes who compete multiple times within a microcycle or contact athletes who may see increases up to 1000 kcal/day if they have experienced multiple severe collisions (Hudson et al., 2019). Educating athletes and possibly finding ways to increase opportunities for fueling the day following a competition has the potential to reduce the risk of underfueling or at a minimum reduce the impact game day +1 may have.
Daily nutrition is largely in the hands of the athlete, making education a key step in the prevention of underfueling. Athletes unaware of their increased RMR following a competition may decrease their intake on rest days due to lower activity, and possibly under eat as a result. Helping athletes to understand that their calorie needs may be higher than they presume on game day +1 due these metabolic changes can provide rationale for increased fueling. Opportunities to meet the increased fueling will vary. All athletes can be encouraged to follow a similar routine on off days so meals aren’t missed entirely, especially in the morning, and provided lists of budget friendly snack options that can serve as extra calories at home. Opportunities could also be created at team activities the day following a game, if resources are available. A great example of this would be integrating nutrition with athletic training room hours, providing athletes an item like a smoothie or having an assortment of snacks present following their recovery work. In both cases, high carb options should be recommended. Alongside RMR increases, game day requires frequent eccentric loading, which is known to impair muscle glycogen restoration (Costill et al., 1990). This may warrant higher carb intakes on game day +1 to improve our ability to replenish muscle glycogen stores and meet increased needs. While interventions will vary by team, it is critical in all cases that athletes gain an understanding of the increase in their nutrition needs following a competition, and how that can possibly contribute to underfueling.
Conclusion
Rest and recovery of the athlete is vital the day following a game, it is important athletes recognize nutrition is an integral part of the process. Recent studies in sports nutrition research have found that athletes can see a significant increase in metabolic rate the day following a competition, but may not adequately increase their energy intake to meet these increased demands. With underfueling being a concern for in-season athletes, addressing the risk game day +1 RMR increases pose could be an important step in lowering this risk. Educating athletes on the metabolic changes that can occur after a competition, promoting regular routines, and increasing opportunities for fueling can all decrease associated risks. The sports performance team plays a crucial role in promoting nutrition as a recovery tool, with the literature presented in this article hopefully serving to further the need for nutrition to be on the forefront of athlete recovery practices following a competition.
Carter, J. L., Lee, D. J., Perrin, C. G., Ranchordas, M. K., & Cole, M. (2023). Significant Changes in Resting Metabolic Rate Over a Competitive Match Week Are Accompanied by an Absence of Nutritional Periodization in Male Professional Soccer Players. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, -1(aop), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2023-0069
Costello, N., Deighton, K., Preston, T., Matu, J., Rowe, J., Sawczuk, T., Halkier, M., Read, D. B., Weaving, D., & Jones, B. (2018). Collision activity during training increases total energy expenditure measured via doubly labelled water. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 118(6), 1169–1177. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-3846-7
Costill, D. L., Pascoe, D. D., Fink, W. J., Robergs, R. A., Barr, S. I., & Pearson, D. (1990). Impaired muscle glycogen resynthesis after eccentric exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology, 69(1), 46–50. https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.1990.69.1.46
Hudson, J., Cole, M., Morton, J. P., Stewart, C., & Close, G. L. (2019). Daily Changes of Resting Metabolic Rate in Elite Rugby Union Players. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 1. https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0000000000002169