Sanford Sports recommends the following snacks that are energy-rich and full of flavor — and usually available at the standard roadside c-store. Choose a package of almonds, trail mix or peanut butter with fruit for a snack full of carbohydrates and healthy fats — sure to keep a young athlete energized.

For protein with some staying power, add a packet of nuts or a serving of cereal to Greek yogurt. Swap the caramel corn for a bag of air-popped or plain salted popcorn. Add a package of nuts for a snack that provides carbohydrates and healthy fats.

Jerky is a high-protein snack that can be eaten with pretzels, applesauce or fruit for another balanced snack option. When choosing a protein bar, grab one made with nuts for a snack with plenty of protein and carbohydrates.

A protein bar is a great pre- or post-game choice. Drink chocolate milk to promote recovery after workouts. These are all good options for the quick pit stop on the road to games or practices. Posted In Children's , Healthy Living , Nutrition , Sanford Sports , Sports Medicine.

Written by Justin Kautz. April 9, Nuts, trail mix, fruit and popcorn are easy to pick up at a gas station and will keep young athletes fueled up. Photo by Getty Images. Whole grains such as brown rice are considered healthier than refined grains such as white rice because they contain more fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

They are also absorbed more slowly their glycemic index is lower , so they provide more lasting energy and facilitate less fat storage. Real energy bars — the kind designed specifically for use before, during, and after exercise — are great for fueling and refueling around workouts as they provide abundant, fast energy.

Before and after workouts, choose bars that are high in carbs, moderate in protein, and low in fat and fiber. With 44 grams of carbs, 9 grams of protein, 3. For snacking, choose bars made from real food — fruit, nuts, and whole grains — and with minimal added sugar, like Picky Bars.

RELATED: 4 Make-Your-Own Energy Bar Recipes. Milk-based foods such as yogurt are very rich sources of carbohydrate. A six-ounce serving of blueberry yogurt supplies 26 grams of carbs. Yogurt is a better choice before and immediately after exercise, because it has a higher glycemic index, so the carbs go to work quickly.

For a healthier option, opt for a brand with less or no refined sugar. RELATED: 10 Ways to Use Protein-Packed Greek Yogurt. Old-fashioned oatmeal is an ideal pre-exercise breakfast choice. Sports drinks such as Gatorade and Skratch Labs Sports Hydration Mix provide the carbs you need to fuel your muscles during exercise, along with water and electrolytes for hydration.

Because they are high in sugar, though, these products should be used immediately before, during, and right after workouts and races. RELATED: Sports Drinks Are Cutting Out Sugar.

Is That Good for Endurance Athletes? Tomato sauce is a rich source of carbohydrate at roughly 21 grams per cup , as well as various vitamins and minerals and antioxidants such as lycopene.

Studies have shown that thanks to these antioxidants regular tomato sauce eaters have a lower risk for certain diseases, including prostate cancer in men. Whole-grain breads are a better than choice than refined grain white bread when making toast or a sandwich.

One cup of whole-wheat spaghetti provides 37 grams. As with other grain-based foods, whole-grain pasta supplies more nutrition, yields longer-lasting energy, and promotes less fat storage than regular pasta.

Whether baked, mashed, or roasted, sweet potatoes offer a delicious and satisfying snack that provides a sustained release of energy. The high fiber content also aids in digestion and keeps you feeling fuller for longer, preventing mid-workout hunger pangs.

Greek yogurt, known for its creamy texture and high protein content, pairs perfectly with antioxidant-rich berries to create a scrumptious and nutritious snack. The combination of Greek yogurt and berries provides a balanced mix of carbohydrates, protein, and essential vitamins.

The carbohydrates in the berries offer a quick energy boost, while the protein in Greek yogurt helps with muscle repair and recovery.

Start your day off right with a bowl of hearty oatmeal. Oats are a complex carbohydrate that provides a steady release of energy throughout the day. They are also rich in fiber, which aids in digestion and helps regulate blood sugar levels. Customize your oatmeal with toppings like fruits, nuts, and honey to add extra flavor and nutrients.

Whether eaten hot or cold, oatmeal is a versatile and filling snack that fuels your body for optimal performance. Energy bars have become a staple for athletes due to their convenience and nutrient-dense composition.

Look for bars made with natural ingredients and a good balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats. These bars are designed to provide a quick energy boost and sustain your endurance during long workouts or competitions. Be sure to choose options with minimal added sugars and artificial additives.

Quinoa, often referred to as a supergrain, is a complete protein that contains all nine essential amino acids. Apart from its protein content, quinoa is also a fantastic source of complex carbohydrates.

This grain offers sustained energy release, making it an ideal choice for athletes. Quinoa can be incorporated into salads, used as a base for stir-fries, or even made into delicious protein-packed energy balls. Trail mix is a classic snack for athletes who are always on the move.

It is a combination of nuts, dried fruits, and seeds, providing a mix of healthy fats, carbohydrates, and protein. The nuts supply long-lasting energy, while the dried fruits offer a quick burst of natural sugars.

The addition of seeds, such as chia or flaxseeds, boosts the nutrient content with omega-3 fatty acids and fiber. Swap your regular crackers for whole grain ones, and pair them with a creamy serving of hummus. Whole grain crackers offer complex carbohydrates, while hummus provides a combination of protein and healthy fats.

The synergy between the two creates a snack that sustains energy levels and helps repair and rebuild muscles after a tough workout. Experiment with different flavors of hummus for variety and taste.

Last but certainly not least, fruit smoothies are a delicious and refreshing way to refuel and rehydrate after a workout. Sports nutrition and energy bars are great because they take the thinking and the prep time out of the equation and give you a portable, non-spoiling meal specifically designed to fuel you for sport.

The only drawbacks? They can be expensive, and some have tastes or textures that are less than awesome. But with dozens of brands and flavors to choose from, you can experiment and find what works best for you.

Fuel up with some protein bars that have no artificial sugars. Toss a bottle of coconut water in your gym bag before you leave for school, then down it an hour before practice starts.

Another easily packed snack, pretzels are high in carbohydrates as well as sodium, which you lose through sweat. Powered By: Stack Sports. Sports Connect. FOLLOW STACK. Write For Us. Advertise With Us.

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Training Sports performance training is the physical and mental process of working toward specific athletic, performance or fitness goals through a regimented program.

Research shows that to significantly improve sports performance, overall athleticism and physical ability, athletes must complete training sessions in addition to playing their sport.

Training refers to the workouts, exercises and drills they perform outside of organized practices to improve their Strength, Speed, Conditioning and Flexibility, as well to rehab and prevent injury. Well-rounded programs also include Sports Psychology training.

The process requires participants to understand and observe NCAA rules and regulations, conduct thorough research, schedule home and campus visits, network and communicate appropriately, and, for most student-athletes, engage in self-marketing. Learn best practices from athletes who have achieved success and the experts who have helped them.

Get Recruited Today Nutrition Proper nutrition provides athletes with the energy, nutrients and hydration they need to progress in their training and perform optimally.

Here's the simple truth: There are many high-carbohydrate foods beneficial to both your health and athletic performance. The key is choosing the right ones.

These 10 are the best energy-sustaining foods, all loaded with powerful nutrients to keep your body running on premium fuel. Need help managing your food intake? Make sure to download athleats , a mobile app that tracks everything you need to know about your nutrition.

Heart disease still tops the charts as the No. With a mere half cup of cooked oats providing four grams of dietary fiber, adding rolled oats to your diet will help you meet this recommendation. Fiber not only helps reduce risk for heart disease, it slows glucose absorption into the bloodstream, helping maintain peak energy levels and curb appetite.

Rolled oats are also an excellent source of B vitamins great for stress management and energy production and contain a significant amount of zinc for immune function. Lentils produce a low-glycemic response, meaning you won't experience a spike in blood sugar followed by an energy-sapping crash.

Also loaded with dietary fiber eight grams per half-cup serving , lentils provide the feeling of satiety, helping mute those intense cravings for sweets.

Lentils also are packed full of folic acid, a nutrient essential for keeping cardiovascular risk low and guarding against birth defects. Just three figs provide a whopping 30 grams of good carbohydrates along with a multitude of B vitamins, calcium and potassium to help ensure peak muscle function and optimal bone health.

Figs also are an excellent source of soluble pectin fiber, shown to lower cholesterol and ultimately reduce cardiovascular risk. For a tasty snack, try serving quartered fresh figs with a dollop of reduced-fat ricotta cheese or flavored yogurt.

In comparison to other calorie- and fat-dense nuts, chestnuts contain less than one gram of fat per ounce while providing a hefty dose of fiber, vitamin C and folic acid, nutrients important for immune function, formation of collagen and reduced risk for cardiovascular disease.

Chestnuts are tasty in stuffing, pilaf, vegetable side dishes and soups. Or try them as a snack by themselves. A one-cup serving and a mere 80 calories later, you get 20 grams of energy-enhancing carbohydrates, four grams of appetite-curbing fiber as well as a significant amount of vitamin C, a potent antioxidant that keeps the immune system revved.

Blueberries have the highest ORAC oxygen radical absorbance capacity score of any fresh fruit, which means they can destroy free radicals in the body before they cause damage to healthy cells.

In addition, the dye that makes blueberries "blue" has been shown to improve memory, balance and coordination. Blueberries are a tasty addition to cereals, salads and smoothies. In the colder months when fresh blueberries are less prevalent, opt for the frozen variety.

Yogurt has always been touted as a nutritional powerhouse, partly because it's loaded with calcium, a critical nutrient considering osteoporosis affects 20 million women each year. Rich in vitamin B, yogurt also helps prevent fatigue.

And plain yogurt just may be the perfect recovery food for athletes, as it promotes glycogen replenishment and muscle recovery. Give yourself an energy boost after your next workout by slicing a ripe banana into a cup of plain yogurt.

Make sure your yogurt contains active cultures called probiotics, hugely beneficial to immune function. The USDA reports more people are eating refined white bread, which lacks quality nutrients due to processed flours. Rice bran boasts superior nutritional credentials, with five grams of carbohydrates and more than two grams of fiber in a mere two tablespoons.

Furthermore, it provides 23 percent of the RDA for magnesium, a nutrient directly responsible along with calcium for the production of adenosine triphosphate ATP , for energy during metabolism, as well as conversion of glycogen to glucose for use as the body's fuel during exercise. Rice bran can replace up to half the flour in any quick bread or muffin recipe and be added to recipes for meatloaf and casseroles.

If you don't plan on baking in the near future, try sprinkling rice bran on cereal, salad or yogurt. Despite some concerns about the glycemic response of large portions of pasta, this common carbo-loading meal can be a healthful addition to your diet. Whole wheat pasta provides nearly 40 grams of energy-rich carbohydrates per one cup cooked serving.

In addition, whole wheat pasta provides five grams of dietary fiber, most of it insoluble fiber, shown to reduce risk for breast cancer. To ensure you are buying the healthiest whole wheat pasta, look for at least four grams of dietary fiber and five grams of protein per two ounces dry or one cup cooked serving.

Be sure to watch portions and try to add a protein chicken, ground sirloin to your plate to avoid craving that second pasta portion. And, of course, add some veggies for color, fiber and an array of health-enhancing nutrients. Despite this vegetable's impressive nutritional profile and appealingly "sweet" flavor, consumption of sweet potatoes is on the decline.

A look at the facts might change your mind about this nutrient-dense veggie: A four-ounce sweet potato contains a mere calories with a whopping 28 grams of carbohydrates and more than percent of your daily requirement for beta-carotene. A sweet potato also packs in more than a quarter of your daily needs for vitamins C and E, nutrients shown to prevent cell damage in athletes competing in extreme environments altitude, heat, cold, pollution , as well as enhance muscle recovery after intense training.

Sweet potatoes are also an excellent source of iron. Expand your intake of sweet potatoes beyond Thanksgiving by stirring them into chili, adding some to your favorite potato salad recipe and adding shredded raw sweet potato into hamburger, meatloaf and meatball mixtures.

Also, try using mashed sweet potato as a ravioli stuffing. Considered by many to be winter's most delicious fruit, oranges are rich in natural sugars for a quick energy boost, yet provide three grams of fiber for sustained energy.

In addition, just one navel orange meets an entire day's requirement for vitamin C, while providing immune-enhancing flavonoids, helping to keep colds and flus at bay. Your heart will also benefit from the folate in oranges.

Opt for the whole orange rather than juice , and be sure to eat the spongy inner layer that lies right under the colorful part of the skin to ensure you are receiving energy-sustaining fiber.

Besides using oranges as a tasty, convenient snack, try adding sections of oranges to salads or smoothies, or using the juice as a marinade for meat. More Food And Nutrition Articles. Adding family members helps ACTIVE find events specific to your family's interests.

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The first piece of having some of the best snacks for athletes on hand is stocking your pantry with them! Athletes have higher needs than the general population, so using healthy snacks to support those needs especially as pre game snacks is essential. Starting with a nutritious make ahead breakfast is important and convenient, and then continuing to eat well throughout the day will yield the most benefits.

It would probably leave you unfulfilled, hungry, or extra full for hours if we only relied on three meals. Healthy foods are necessary in order to replenish energy stores and fuel performance during exercise or competition. However, finding the right food can be difficult since many popular options may not have the ideal nutrient makeup.

Athletes need to eat well in order to keep up their performance and recovery. This usually translates to high carbohydrate snacks and foods, but protein is also an important part of the recovery process.

Recovering from any race, such as full or half marathon recovery , requires ample and consistent protein.

Here are some differences in pre workout vs post workout nutrition. Aiming for consistent protein intake throughout the day is important, and finding easy high protein options helps.

While you can certainly get enough protein from foods, sometiems including a protein powder is both helpful and convenient. Check out this post about protein powders for runners.

These high protein overnight oats or blueberry chia overnight oats are a great way to recover from a morning workout. My favorite go-to for the best store-bought snacks for athletes is Thrive Market.

They have so many fun and nutritious options, plus they are shipped right to your door. There are several healthy and nutritious packaged snacks on the market. processed foods. Like the storebought snacks, many of these also work as healthy snacks for athletes on the go.

Carbohydrates are the primary macronutrient group that fuel activity, so it only makes sense that we aim for higher carbohydrate snacks.

When runners are carb loading , having high carb, low fiber snacks available can be helpful. Carbs are helpful for glycogen storage for longer endurance events, but they are also important after the event in helping with recovery meals for athletes.

Many runners also prefer these real-food ideas for ultra running nutrition. Having a variety of snacks for sports is important, and preferences and nutrient composition may vary slightly depending on the type of sport and age. Endurance athletes, like runners and cyclists, may be able to use higher-sugar snack options very quickly, like many of these homemade running snacks.

So as you can imagine, healthy running snacks are typically high-carb, so they can support endurance activity, making them good snack options for runners. Here are some great options for what to eat before a morning run :. These snacks are a little higher energy to support strength and endurance sports, so can work as snacks for soccer players or even snacks for football players.

Many of these work well as snacks for teenage athletes.