Fencing food

[Almightynoitall]

just started fencing this year... in my few tournaments I've participated in, I've stuck to what worked back in the days as a High School Varsity Wrestler... Soy-Fruit shakes, Ghoulash, Bananas, Corn Nuts/Pine Nuts/Almonds, and/or beef jerky.

[Almightynoitall]

Originally posted by MyraTrue
Sabresque-
Even while I fence, I am not hungry. I've fenced a few tournaments on an empty stomach, and I've done just fine. But I know this can't be right, so I try to eat. But I drink insane amounts of gatorade and water, or powerade, which is not as expensive.

Also, a zinc lozenge before going to bed at night before, during, and after tournaments will help your digestive system, your sore muscles, and cramping at nights...

[Inquartata]

Originally posted by Aeric
I don't know about you, but fencing is almost all about endurance in the DEs. My friends and I usually lose about 3 to 4 pounds per competition. I use up a gallon of gatorade and half a box of chocolate chip granola bars myself.

Everyone congratulate me on my restraint in not yielding to the temptation to cast tongue-in-cheek aspersions on the endurance of foilists!

Ahem.


Anyhoo...water loss is not the same thing as glycogen depletion. You don't start to get that until you have been exerting yourself relatively strenuously for 1-2 hours. That's continuously, as in a race, not as in the stop-and-start exertion of fencing.

Look, fellows, if you think CL is giving you some sort of advantage, that's great. But it's probably psychosomatic, and CL is not an easy regimen, particularly if you cling to the old depletion phase method. Face it, if you have a 7-person pool and three DEs and you run out the clock in every single bout you will have fenced a total of 48 minutes elapsed time. You will have had brief rests every time there's a touch or an off-target, longer ones between bouts, and probably a longer one between pool and DE table. This is not a triathlon we're talking about here,and if it's "all about endurance" it's MENTAL endurance, not physical.

Do a search on CL. You'll find explanations like this one
( under "Fallacies, 1. )

http://www.centralhome.com/ballroomc...te-loading.htm



and this one ( under "Who should CL?" )

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/HQ/00385.html


to see the current thinking on who might get a benefit from CL. Nowhere are you going to find fencers mentioned.

[Inquartata]

Originally posted by arcon
On a more serious note, bananas are good and theyre easy to
hide when food's not allowed in the erea.

In other words,


"Is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

[Army Fencer]

Inq,

I see a solid day of epee fencing a little more strenous than "shorter runs, such as a 5- or 10-kilometer race, weightlifting and recreational biking or swimming."

I will concede that some (even most) local tournaments don't demand that kind of energy, but a lot of the bigger tournaments (like sectionals, regionals, NACs, and world cups) DO. Fencing is both mentally and phyiscally exhausting, especially at large tournaments with a lot of good fencers. I need that extra energy to fence at my peak.

And if I treat all tournaments like big tournaments (local tournaments included), I get in the good habit of always treating my body right and am therefore more likely to be at my peak no matter what tournament I go to.

(Oh, and yes, your brain needs glucose, too.)

[Inquartata]

The point remains: fencing is not continuous and does not go on unabated for the amounts of time needed to delete either muscle or liver glycogen. And if you are able to eat during the breaks you needn't even be USING muscle or liver glycogen---you're replenishing blood glucose as you go.

I used to engage in practice sessions in which a partner and I would fence continuously for up to an hour. We got parched, but our muscles were fine. No trembling, no wilting, no pain. Hence no glycogen depletion. Even THAT didn't suffice.

OK, maybe we sabre fencers are just supermen....

[arcon]

Hey, the banana in the pocket......youre a funny guy.

This really happened. In a tournament I was called for my bout and when i came
to the strip i had mask in hand with the mesh facing the floor.
When i went to put my mask on seeing that the director was ready to start the bout and a banana fell from my mask. I think
the director stated: "you cant eat that now!"

[Rolls]

I have an eating routine that I have found helpful.

The night before the tournament, I buy somewhere from a foot and half to three feet of Subs from Subway. I usually get the Turkey sub with only cheese on white bread.

Basically, my idea is that I have trouble eating anything heavy and this is as light as it gets. But at the same time I need energy. I'll try to eat six inches before, during, and after the tournament. The good thing is that 'cause I can't eat a lot at one time, I can wrap it up and try eating more in 5 mins or so. Also, you can get a couple of bites in between pools, etc.

Rolls.