What/when do you eat before fencing?

[ThatReallyHurt]

Hello - I hope this hasn't been covered already, but I was wondering what people eat before fencing at the club or in a tournament.

On club nights, I find myself having a pretty big lunch and then not eating supper until after I get home from fencing (around 9:30 PM). If I eat a regular lunch and then have supper (even a light one, say salad or something starchy) an hour or two before fencing, I feel like I've got a lead weight in my belly when I'm in class.

I'm hoping to finally enter a tournament in a month or so, but realizing that it can be a whole day event, it's probably not too practical for me to:
a) not eat all day, or
b) get up six hours before the tournament starts and eat then.

Do you eat at all before fencing, and if so, what kind of food do you eat?

[bg0687]

I always eat a Clif Bar before fencing. It has all of the energy and protein you need. Plus, it doesn't taste half bad. If you eat it 30 minutes to 60 minutes before fencing it works like a charm. I find that I have increased stamina and power.

[SenorEste]

Eh, Eating well in general is probably best.

Lisa Campi who directed at Temple this past weekend, and who went to Carolina wrote an article about fencing and food about a decade ago, it's an interesting read. She mentioned it too me while I was at Temple.

American Fencing Article

I usually eat normally the day before a competition, perhaps just a few more carbs than normal. The day of and during the competition I eat lightly breads, granola bars, fruit, some sugary stuff too. Usually not large quantities, but small bites throughout the day, along with plenty of water. Being a college student, any food my teamates bring along and let me bum is all good too.

When the tourney is over I usually have a craving for meat sandwiches of any sort, or pasta.

As far as normal practice and whatnot it really doesent matter what I eat, or when. Between classes, practice, homework, and trying to have a social life scheduling food can be difficult, needless to say I eat erratically.

[riptide]

Spiders, ants, human flesh, the blood of my enemies, etc...

[AndrewH]

For a tournament that starts in the morning, try a bagel and some cereal for breakfast, nothing too heavy. For a tournament that starts later in the day, load up on protein at breakfast with eggs/sausage. During fencing, bring along granola bars/energy bars or similar snacks, as long as they're not sugar intensive it's fine. Avoid sugar while fencing at all costs (with one exception, to be covered later). If you prefer water over gatorade, you should bring a banana or two to snack on because you'll be losing a lot of potassium through sweat and that will suck your energy away if you don't replace it.

The one exception to sugar while fencing: late DE rounds. Once you've been fencing for several hours and are at the late stages of the DE rounds, a sugar boost will give you the short term energy you need to finish off the day. Keep a chocolate bar handy incase you find yourself in the top 4 and need energy fast.

[The Mormegil]

stay away from lots of protein or fat for a tournamentor practice. the body processes carbs the fastest and easiest. since my practices on saturdays are like tournaments, i eat a Quaker Oats oatmeal bar, glass of OJ about 1.5 hours before practice. maybe a banana, then drink lots of COLD water, a little watered down powerade, and a banana through practice. Practice last from 8:30am-11:30am or later. I did an allday tournament like this plus another oatmeal bar and bannana and was fine all day. A little bit of protein is fine.
check out "Eat to Win" by Robert Hass.

[mrbiggs]

Usually a bagel in the morning.

For lunch (oftentimes betwixt the pools and DE's), I eat a turkey pastrami sandwhich. There is nothing better.

Then I run out of food, and get pizza from somewhere. Then I wish I hadn't.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Apron strings and old shoes.

[The Mormegil]

Apron strings and old shoes.

have you sought help, there are people who can help you

[ThornOfTheBlood]

I usually eat a nice big dinner of pasta or other loaded carb'd foods the night before, the n I usually eat eggs and some kind of meat for protein in the morning. Cereal bars are great for a bite or two in between pool bouts or DEs if you need to calm your nerves a bit, gets you thinking on chewing and not fencing for a few minutes. Uh...other than that I usually wait until after everything is over to eat anything substantial, A. because I don't want to get an upset stomach and B. I'd probably spill some kind of red(ketchup, sauce, etc.) all over my jacket

[Inquartata]

Scrambled eggs and orange juice the morning of a competition, fish the night before and steak afterward...but this is probably as much a matter of habit and superstition as nutrition.

Still, habit is important. My system functions best on a consistent diet, even if it's consistently junk food. Change added to the other stresses of competition is a Bad Thing.

[suregrip]

I don't eat ANYTHING during tournament day. If I do, I feel like I'm carrying a 10 pound rock around in my stomach. After the tournament, however, I feast like there's no tomorrow.

[pammie003]

I try to eat a larger-than-average dinner the night before, plus a bedtime snack. I do this because I know I'm usually too keyed up to eat breakfast the morning of, although I try. It usually ends up being something light, like a banana and a glass of milk.

During the tournament, I run on water, apples and granola bars (sometimes muffins). If I fence for longer than about 4 hours, I add in some Gatorade.

My practices are at 4:30 pm, so I have lunch 1 and lunch 2 at about 11 am and 3pm respectively. Second lunch is usually small, like half a sandwich and a piece of fruit. I eat again post-practice (at about 7:30 or 8pm). Occasionally I need to snack at practice at well, and I then eat the tournament-foods listed above.

[Monkeyboy]

One egg white, one dry piece of toast, one half bannana, one small glass of milk, one LARGE glass of O.J. 3 to 4 hours before the tourny. One orange after pools, with a few small carrots. Gatorade all day. Afterwards, the biggest hamburger I can find.

[D'Artag-NOT]

The night before a tournament I eat normally. On the day of a tournament, if competition begins in the morning I eat a light breakfast--usually cereal. If competition begins in the afternoon, I eat a regular breakfast and a light lunch with an emphasis on proteins. I can't possibly fence effectively fasting.

I bring apples and chewy granola bars to competitions in case I feel myself fading.

I have a gap of about 1-1/2 to 2 hours between the end of my work day and the beginning of practice, so I eat a light dinner. Otherwise I lose stamina.

[grotto]

for club, I just eat a regular dinner before. For a tournement. light breakfast, bagel, pancakes or some such. During the tournament I like cliff bars and tons of water, for the DE rounds I like the stuff called GU. It is kinda like pudding, as a power bar. It is complex enough to not crash you (like sugar) but digestable enough to eat before the bout. (like 10 min before)

[achilleus]

I eat a lot. The whole day. Food is fuel for the body. Your body needs protein, carbs and fat to get the neccessary fuel. Especially if you want your body to perform like a sports car.

By staying away from heavy foods (breads, pastas, red meat, etc...) you can get the nutrients you need without feeling heavy. This means fruits, veggies, cottage cheese, protein powder, yogurt, etc...

The energy bars and gels are great short term boosts.

Some people can't eat all due to nerves, I know a russian coach who taught such students to drink some sort of strange brew to sustain them throughout the day. It worked for them, even though they complained that it was nasty.

[Victor]

I feast on the hearts of my opponents' children.

[bwoodward]

Before practice I eat a fairly normal meal ingredient-wise, but a lot less than normal. I try to be finished at least an hour and a half before practice.

[Zelda]

Day of a comp its generally cereal and toast in the morning, generally toast with Vegemite. During a comp, marshmallows, gatorade (I make my own up from powder), natural confectionary jellies, rice crackers, unsalted nuts....anything I eat has to be snack size. I am a chronic brower most of the time....but will forgot to eat for days on end except for a slice of toast late at night.