The Protein Bar as an Overlooked Fix
Often overlooked in the realm of competitive sports is the use of a protein bar as a snack that contributes to, rather than subtracts from, the quality of your game. Even over the long haul of several consecutive high stakes matches.
Protein bars are essentially chocolate bars with all the bad stuff replaced with good stuff.
They come in the same shape and packaging as something more sinful, like a Snickers or Mars, but they contain usually ten to fifteen grams of protein per bar. About half the size of a reasonable portion of meat.
A bit of a subjective measurement, but it’ll fill you up if you’re hungrier than normal during play and it’ll digest quickly without bogging you down as you try to get around the court.
Table tennis players involved in heavy competition have unique needs that aren’t seen at many other elite levels of competition. Games are shorter and more frequent; thus, nutritional intake needs to mimic that. Intake must also be quickly digesting so players can worry about the quality of their game.
Protein bars meet this standard easily. Their taste usually makes them a pleasure to eat, they’re filling, and, most importantly, a couple minutes after you’ve eaten one you’ll feel as if you never did.
A personal favourite of mine are Zone protein bars – I’m comfortable eating more than one if I absolutely need to, and they’re useful for airport travel and long, remote car rides, too.
Most protein bars come in multiple flavors and are remarkably tasty – graham cracker, chocolate fudge and mint chocolate are some of the varieties I find just as tasteful as a calorie, fat and sugar loaded ‘traditional’ chocolate bar.
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