Check out this ultimate soccer smoothie called The Hulk!

This is a guest post by Casey Ames, the Head Trainer at Optimal Soccer, the college soccer website which helps players take their game to the next level.

Casey is an expert in soccer nutrition and uses his website to cover topics such as fitness, lifting, muscle recovery and sports psychology.

Casey’s smoothie ticks all the boxes for your pre-match needs, as well as laying a great foundation for your post-game recovery.

Blenders at the ready…

Enter Casey

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Hey everyone! I’m Casey, the head trainer over at Optimal Soccer. Pain Free Football was nice enough to let me talk to you all about my pre-game smoothie. It’s a recipe that I have put together and used to cover all the nutrition a player would need coming into a game.

Let’s start with the benefits that this soccer smoothie will give you:

No, not THAT.

This smoothie comes out to be around 1,000 calories and is split about 50% carbs, 25% protein and 25% fat, which is what you’re looking for going into a 90 minute game.

Since there is a decent amount of protein and fat, along with the cinnamon and the type of carbs, the carbs will be slowly released into your system to keep your energy high throughout the whole game.

The cacao powder will improve your mood through increasing the amount of dopamine and serotonin in your brain, which means you will be motivated, happy, energetic and calm. The perfect mindset for a soccer game.

It’s packed with a variety of vitamins, minerals and electrolytes. These are the small nutrients that keep your body running in top gear.

It has about 75 grams of protein, which appears to be a lot, but the extra protein, along with the turmeric, will help you avoid breaking down your muscles for energy and will improve recovery after the game.

Make sure to have this smoothie about 3 hours before your game, to give yourself time to digest it and get the nutrients flowing through your body at the time the whistle blows.

[NOTE from PFF: the numbered annotations link to the science ;-)]

The Ultimate Soccer Smoothie

1.5 cups almond milk

1 cup egg whites

1 cup water

30 grams whey protein isolate – I use unflavored, because I like having less chemicals. But getting flavored will really influence the flavor of your smoothie if you choose to go that way.

½ cup spinach

½ cup kale

2 tablespoons cacao powder – Cacao powder is awesome. It’s packed with antioxidants (more than any other food) and adds a great chocolate flavor to the smoothie (1).

3 tablespoons almond butter – Almonds are better for you than peanuts, but they are pricier, so don’t feel bad going with peanut butter if the budgets tight (2).

2 teaspoons cinnamon – Cinnamon is great for many reasons, including insulin sensitivity, which will in turn help your energy stay level rather than spiking and crashing (3).

2 teaspoons turmeric = Curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, is the most anti-inflammatory food in the world and it’s anti-catabolic (4). This means you’ll recover faster and lose less muscle.

½ of an avocado – Great source of monounsaturated fat and vitamins.

½ cup black beans

1 tablespoon coconut oil – This is one of the best sources of saturated fat. It also has Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), which work directly with cells to give them an extra boost and maximize performance, aka making your brain and body work better (5).

1 frozen banana – I allow the bananas to get spotted brown, and then I peel them and toss them in a freezer bag.

½ cup frozen blueberries

I make the smoothie in two steps, all the liquids and kale/spinach first, then I blend that. Then I add everything else in and blend again. It helps liquify the greens better.

Now while this smoothie appears to be a hodgepodge of random foods, I have picked all of them to fill a specific need for a soccer players needs. And surprisingly, as I’ve forced players to realize, it tastes good. The cacao powder, almond butter and banana are the driving flavors in it, which makes it taste chocolaty and sweet.

This smoothie will get you revved up for your game, physically and mentally. Be prepared to be more focused, have more energy and recover faster. The way you eat greatly influences how you play and recover, so make sure you are making the right choices.

I hope you enjoy making the soccer smoothie. To make things easier, I’ve included an image you can save to your phone as a shopping list.

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Folks, this could easily become the single best piece of knowledge in your nutritional locker. Please do us a favor: Spread the word, tweet about it!

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Over To You…

… just tell us about the last time you got injured playing soccer. What was the injury and how long were you out for?