What is the best way to prepare (nutritionally) for an E-Sports tournament?
First, start by considering a bigger question that will guide your nutrition choices: What does performance look and feel like for me?
In e-sports, especially ultra-endurance events, performance may mean focus, energy, clarity, enjoyment, and quick decision-making. These qualities depend heavily on proper nutrition. If these resonate with you, here are some essential strategies to fuel your success.
1. The number one priority? Eating ENOUGH!
Even if you’re sitting, your body still needs energy to function and perform. Your baseline energy needs are at least 1500–1800 calories daily, even if you sleep all day. Add the energy cost of sitting, moving, and focusing, and aim for 2000–2500 calories or more. Fueling properly supports your performance, mood, and mental clarity.
2. Aim to eat regularly.
Gaming makes it easy to forget to eat, especially with hands busy and time flying. Skipping meals can impact your mood and focus. To avoid this, set reminders to eat every 3–4 hours. Regular meals and snacks help stabilise energy levels, improve concentration, and support better decision-making.
3. Don’t forget the fluid.
Dehydration affects focus, reaction time, and decision-making. Balancing hydration is key, even if you want to avoid frequent toilet stops. Drinking with meals or snacks reduces interruptions while keeping you hydrated. You can also add electrolytes to drinks for a performance boost.
4. Be inspired by the Mediterranean:
Although a trip to Europe would be ah-mazing, we will just be being inspired by the Mediterranean for this performance preparation. This is all about focusing on options that you can have more of and add into your days of food, shown to help with your health and mental performance. Can you have oily fish 1-2 times per week? Is there a way you could add more salads or veggies to your lunch or dinner? How could you add some nuts, or seeds to your meals or snacks?
5. Plan, prep and pack
To ensure that at least one key part of you making it through such an epic tournament is taken care of, planning your food for the day(s) is a real performance hack. This could include simply writing down a bit of a plan before you head into the tournament, prepping some snacks or easy meals to take with you, and packing some basic options to ensure you can not only eat enough, but eat regularly (Tips #1 & #2!).
If you’re an e-sports athlete looking to amplify your performance for an event, look no further. To learn more about how to connect with one of our Performance Team and learn more about how we can help you outperform the competition look below.
