It’s a football player’s full-time job to take care of his body to make sure he can withstand the warfare that happens every week on the gridiron.
For NC State football, the most important part of getting ready for a game and recovering from one is to eat the right foods. It’s crucial for players to correctly refuel their bodies after hard practices and intense games.
Natalie Faustyn is the director of Football Nutrition at NC State, and it’s her job to make sure players are staying at a healthy weight throughout the season.
“Our goal is to get enough calories to recover from practice,” Faustyn said. “So making sure that muscle tissue is being rebuilt because we don’t want guys losing a ton of weight during the season. It is a higher risk for injury if you’re losing a lot of weight during the season.”
A player like graduate linebacker Payton Wilson racks up 7,000 to 9,000 yards during a single practice, leading to 10 to 12 pounds of weight loss in one session. Someone with that much output has to hit certain checkpoints to make sure his body is properly prepared and recovered.
Faustyn and her staff provide players with everything they need, including breakfast, lunch and high-protein and high-carb snacks. Ultimately it’s up to each player to make sure he’s getting what he needs to perform at a high level.
“They know what they need best, and so we just give them a lot of options so they can eat whatever they feel comfortable eating,” Faustyn said. “Those who know how to fuel their bodies correctly and really try to eliminate fast food or foods that maybe are higher in fat, things that are not as nutrient-dense, it shows their ability to last throughout the season.”
While players are fueling up throughout the week, it’s the job of Dantonio Burnette, assistant athletic director and director of strength and conditioning, to get his players ready for a physical game while keeping their bodies and minds fresh.
“I tell people all the time, we’re not just strength coaches, we’re managers of stress and fatigue as well,” Burnette said. “My goal is to keep the nervous system fresh, so that when they show up on game day, they’re not fried from just doing all these heavy squats and lifting heavy weights.”
One might think football players are lifting heavy all the time, but during the season, the focus stays on keeping players explosive. Saving heavy lifting for the offseason and training for longevity during the season pays dividends when it comes to performance on the field and restricting the wear and tear on player’s bodies.
“Science is very big as it pertains to developing the athlete,” Burnette said. “It’s not like the old days where you don’t listen to the science and it’s just heavy, heavy, heavy lift all the time and now guys are just fried. … Our guys are just as fast at the end of the year than they are at the beginning of the year.”
Once game day arrives, every player on the roster is ready to go because of the work they put in during the week with the help of Burnette and Faustyn. About four to five hours before hitting the field, everyone gets a solid meal that can include chicken, steak or shrimp along with some form of carb.
This meal gives players all the nutrients and energy they need to perform at a high level, and after the game, they eat a similar style of meal that’s more carb-heavy to help the body recover from the beating it just took. Players usually opt for chicken and rice or hibachi.
It’s also important for players to get liquids in their body after a game.
“We also have cherry juice which is really good for anti-inflammatory purposes and actually helps you sleep,” Faustyn said. “So after a hard game, it can help your muscles relax and have a good night’s rest.”
While Faustyn and Burnette’s main jobs are to maintain athletes’ bodies, it’s also important for them to be leaders since they’re around these players as much as anyone else.
“I tell people I’m part of the culture and developing the culture of having really good young men that are prepared to not only represent a university on a football field, but represent our University out in the community as well,” Burnette said. “The more authentic we can be, the more we can help develop these guys and help them understand their strengths and their weaknesses. Leadership is the most important piece for us.”
