Dragonwing Blog
Nutrition for athletic girls is a source of confidence!
Nutrition for athletic girls is a source of confidence!
March is National Nutrition Month and we’d like to share tips on good nutrition for girl athletes. Balance is key. It is important to include lean protein, nutrient rich carbohydrates (whole grain, non GMO if possible), low-fat dairy, fruits, and vegetables in an athlete’s diet. It is essential to be properly hydrated, so drink your water throughout the day! Some folks say 1/2 your body weight in ounces – shoot for at least eight glasses.
To prep for a game, start out with a hearty breakfast rich in carbohydrates to keep your energy up, move on to a balanced lunch containing protein vegi, carbohydrate combination, spread out protein consumption throughout the day, try to avoid bad fatty foods (eat the good ones like avocado), and eat your last meal two to three hours before game time to be sure you have digested it. For our recommendations for post-game recovery foods check out our guide here!
Join the conversation and leave us a comment on what food routine works for you
My Road to Recovery
Even though I’ve been spending a lot of time doing exercises and physical therapy, the hardest part of my recovery process is simply not being able to do the sport that I love. I’ve been fencing for five years and have never gone this long without fencing.Luckily, the summer is the slowest time of the year when it comes to tournaments, as the number of national level tournaments is very limited. I normally do lots of training over the summer, but this time I took a seven-week break from my sport and focused on my recovery. I spent a few hours almost every day with either my physical therapist, chiropractor, or swimming trainer. Here I am doing plank exercises on the porch -- in my Dragonwing Racer Sports Bra and Chill Weight Capri Leggings, of course! Because swimming is a low impact form of exercise, I could do it for as long as I want without injuring myself any further. In fact, the swimming helps speed up my recovery because it develops many of the muscles that I don’t use as much when I fence. My chiropractor and physical therapist give me stretches and exercises that will eventually get rid of my tendonitis. I do these exercises with them and every day at home. About three times a week, I will go to my fencing club and take a 20 minute one-on-one lesson with my coach where I do mostly arm work with some light footwork and no lunging. I’m determined to get better as soon as I can so that I don’t have to worry about my knee when I am older and my injury could be worse.