Prime, Perform, Recovery

By now you've probably seen those Gatorade commercials promoting their relatively new G-Series line of products.  Gatorade wanted to expand and find their products in the hands of athletes every step of the way from the pre-game warm up, to the post-game cool down.  And as tempting as "energy gummies" and protein sports drinks were, I've decided to take a different route.  Here is my customized "G-Series", tailored to do everything that Gatorade's line promises to do without excessive sugar levels, or unnecessary additives, preservatives, or food dyes.

Prime:

There are two ways to look at this really.  There is the day before physical activity, and the immediate moments before physical activity.  Surely you know of long distance runners carbo-loading the day before a big race.  Well the same concept applies for beach volleyball, except I usually try to do equal parts complex carbs and veggies.  But this is the less interesting and less relevant version of the 'prime' aspect.

About 3 hours before I anticipate playing, I take two supplements: one 1000 mg fish oil concentrate, and 8-12 mg of astaxanthin (depending on how long I anticipate playing and how hot/strong the UV intensity is that day).  The only reason why I take the fish oil is so that it can compliment the astaxanthin, which it is fat soluble.  Astaxanthin is an uber-potent antioxidant, doubles as an anti-inflammatory, and cherries on top are that it acts as a natural sunscreen that protects you from the inside out (so no need to lace your skin with harmful chemicals), AND it has be shown to improve physical endurance through its antioxidative properties and by increasing your lipid metabolism.  Basically it tells your body to burn the fat you already have stored in your body before burning through the glucose in your muscles.

Finally, I get as much water an electrolytes into my system.  Potassium is rather easy to come by in the form of a banana or orange juice, but I usually take one 400 mg Magnesium pill just before I play.

Perform:

As athletes all we've ever known growing up is Gatorade or Powerade.  We had no reason to think that they weren't good for us because there was no other option to make us doubt, but the time has come that more and more options are making their way into the mainstream, and although I do like to see some healthier options made available like coconut water, I still prefer my own homemade sports drink.

It is always a plus to know all the ingredients that go into what you ingest and where they came from, and so my go-to has been the following.

Per 32 oz.
2-3 green tea bags
1 lemon cut into eighths, or 1 lime and 1/2 lemon cut into eighths
1.5-2 tbls of raw organic honey
a pinch of salt (about 1/8 tsp)

Only brew roughly 26 oz of green tea since you will need room to add the fruits to your container.

When it comes simple sugars, there are 3 main ones that you can and should consume:  fructose, sucrose, and glucose (you could also throw dextrose in the mix too, but it just gets converted into glucose when it enters your body), and all 3 are found in fruits and vegetables, so if you forget to make your own sports drink, be sure to check the ingredients list of whatever you buy and be wary of any sweeteners that aren't the 4 mentioned above.  The only artifical sweetener I approve of is Stevia.

Recovery:

Here comes the fun part.  Even though Gatorade Recovery may bolster 16 g of protien it also contains 40 g of sugar.  Yea, no thanks.  I've never been big on protein shakes, or any of the behemoth size containers of various protein powders.  I'm not saying they don't work, it's just not my cup of tea.

But every week you can find one large of food in my fridge:  quinoa.  As a vegetarian I don't have the luxury of getting a steak burrito at Chipotle and calling it a day.  Although all vegetables have protein in them, most of them are incomplete, but not quinoa.  Toss in some black beans, red peppers, tomatoes, onions and hot sauce and I got everything I need after a long day at the beach.  It is very filling to stave off any crazed runs for junk food, and has plenty of protein (8g per cup).  Add in the black beans and you can take in at least 12 g of protein alone in one serving.

When it comes to recovery, I'm a big advocate of loading up on nutrients to allow your body's natural healing processes to operate at its optimal levels, so  when my body is really hurting there is two things that I gotta have.  Spirulina and chlorella.  I usually take 1.5 tsp in a fruit smoothie, and just take the chlorella in pill form.  They are both complete proteins, and super dense nutritionally, but that isn't why I continue to take them.  These two algae based foods increase your body's nitric oxygen, which in turn help prevent soreness by giving your muscles plenty of oxygen to recover after going through several hours of anaerobic exercise.  There is probably more I could say about them, but I have never been sore the next day after having both, which is key in helping me continue my training an conditioning.