ABSTRACT
During a typical training week, a soccer player undertakes individual and team-based sessions encompassing endurance, speed and strength conditioning, skills practice, tactical drills, and match-play (Bangsbo, Mohr, & Krustrup, 2006). The nature, volume, and intensity of the training programme vary according to the time of the season, the calibre of player, and the player’s position and individual goals. For professional players, pre-season camps may involve a schedule of twice daily practices. During the competitive season, the week may also include one or two matches. This review will cover the players’ needs for energy and carbohydrate to fuel, recover, and optimize the adaptations from these sessions. Ideas for future research in which the timing and macronutrient composition of energy intake might be manipulated to further enhance training adaptations are covered by Hawley, Tipton and Millard-Stafford (2006). The present review is limited to strategies for which there is good support for positive outcomes, and warns against strategies for which there is clear evidence of detrimental outcomes. It will also focus on research undertaken over the last decade, and thus on the enhancements in our knowledge since the 1994 Consensus on Food, Nutrition and Soccer Performance.
