How to Fuel a Match After 40: Calories, Macros, and Timing
Coach Brian joined Chris Nicol on the Racket Athlete Podcast for a full conversation about fueling a racket sport after 40. He covers calorie needs, protein and carb targets, electrolytes, and what to eat during a match. The numbers hold up for any sport you play hard.
Most men over 40 train hard and then eat by accident. They fade in the third game and blame their conditioning. This episode covers the calories, macros, and meal timing that hold energy steady from the warmup to the last point.
Start With What Your Day Costs
Fueling starts before you reach the court. Coach Brian looks at the whole day first. Strength training, walking, desk time, and family duties all pull from the same tank. That total is your energy expenditure and it sets every number that follows.
Most men have no idea how many calories they eat in a day. Fewer know how many they are supposed to eat. Calorie awareness comes first.
The range is wide. A man with a sedentary job who plays an hour a day or a couple of times a week might need 2,000 calories. A man playing 90 minutes multiple times a week who is on his feet for 10,000 steps and lifting might need 3,000 calories a day.
The Three Macros and the Real Numbers
Protein builds and repairs the body. Carbs supply the energy you burn on court. Fat covers hormonal balance and takes up less room on the plate than most men expect.
Most men average 160 to 175 grams of protein a day, plus or minus based on bodyweight. Women have a 100-gram minimum and often land at 130 or 140 grams. The reason is the same for both. You break muscle down and then you rebuild it.
Fat runs somewhere around 50 to 70 grams a day for women. Men land anywhere from 60 to 80 grams and even up to 100 grams when calories are higher. Fat is not much food by volume. Clients start paying attention and ask where all of it came from.
Carbs are usually the remainder. A workable ratio is 40% of calories from carbs and 30% each from protein and fat. That puts carbs at 150 grams for a woman up to 300-plus grams for a man who is moving a lot. On a heavy output day carbs can run 50 or even 60% of calories and that is fine.
Micronutrients and Electrolytes
Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals. A balanced plate with a lot of color plus a men's one-a-day covers most men. No hard thinking required.
Performance changes the math. Electrolytes on top of the one-a-day make sense around training itself.
Gatorade got its name because the Florida Gators could outperform their competitors in the third and fourth quarters. Read the label now and there is not a lot of electrolyte in there. Sodium and potassium are present in smaller amounts than you would expect. What is in there is sugar.
Sugar has a place. Timing is what makes it useful, and around a hard hour or 90 minutes on court glucose earns its spot. For an actual electrolyte product, read the potassium and sodium on the panel and time it around your workout based on how much you sweat.
If you are starting out, a men's multivitamin is enough. Men who are serious about the sport can add higher-sodium tablets before and during play. Coach Brian has also had athletes take caffeine tablets at 50 or 100 milligrams before a session for a small edge in energy and perceived exertion. How hard you go and how long you hold it is partly a head game.
Eating While You Travel for Matches
Plan first. Know where your food is coming from before you are hungry and standing in a pub ordering fish and chips. That plate is heavy on carbs and fat in a way that does not help your training.
Look at what is around you. A sit-down restaurant or a fast casual place you can grab and go. A hotel with a continental breakfast or one without. If the hotel feeds you, use it.
Build breakfast on protein and carbs. Eggs or yogurt are the fastest protein. Coach Brian looks for about 40 to 50 grams of protein in a meal for men and around 30 grams for women. Add oatmeal for the carbohydrate. Most hotels have it, and that is a solid start to the day.
No hotel breakfast means finding a high-protein breakfast sandwich instead. Egg and Canadian bacon or another low-fat protein source. Sausage sits in your stomach and does not move well once you play.
Lunch is a deli sandwich with high-protein lunch meat, plus fruit and vegetables like carrot sticks and an apple. A supermarket works when a restaurant does not.
Fueling During the Session
Training itself runs on simple carbohydrates. Granola bars, bananas, fruit, and crackers all work. Some supplements carry glucose.
Coach Brian's favorite for a racket player is honey. Keep it with you. A squirt in your mouth keeps you alive and wiry for about 20 minutes. Do it again in 20 to 30 minutes and you have the second half of the hour covered.
The point is keeping glucose moving so you do not hit the wall with no gas left in the tank.
A Competition Day, Hour by Hour
Take a typical weekend competition. Two matches in one day. One at 9:00 and one at 12:00.
Breakfast is strong and heavy on carbs with some eggs. Four to six hundred calories gives you a real start. Grab fruit to carry with you for later.
Most men do well eating one to three hours before a match. That window keeps food from sitting heavy and gives your muscles and blood sugar time to do what they need to with it.
In the match itself the fuel is honey, sugar, glucose, and candy. Hard candies and gummy bears are strong sources of energy in high-intensity bouts. A couple of gummy bears deliver sugar and carbohydrate without sitting heavy. Granola bars, graham crackers, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich also work before a match.
Between matches, add protein. A protein shake, a protein bar with fruit, and a deli sandwich all do the job. Greek yogurt works if you have a refrigerator nearby and want a protein source that is not meat.
Then repeat the carbohydrate plan before the second match. A granola bar is enough. Nothing heavy.
Lunch comes after the competition is done, around two o'clock. Dinner is a protein, a vegetable, and some starchy carbs. That last meal can run 500 to 1,000 calories and that is fine.
Carbs Are Not the Enemy Here
A lot of players are scared of carbs. Time them right and eat the amount your body needs for the work you are doing, and they are not a problem.
You need a certain amount of calories in your body to perform at the level you want. A percentage of those calories falls into protein, carbs, and fat. On the higher output days more of that percentage comes from carbs.
Save most of the vegetables for a non-competitive meal like dinner. On match days lean on starchy carbs, simple carbs, breads, cereals, and pretzels that sit lighter and process faster.
The Mistake That Costs Men the Match
The bigger mistake is spending every hour on training and none on food. Coach Brian puts it at 99% of athletes doing the exercise piece and skipping the rest. That is where the problems come from.
He works through the event with his athletes by asking questions. Where is it. When do you compete. When do you warm up. When do you cool down. When does food need to be in your hands. How far away is it and are you in a hotel for the weekend.
You can be as motivated as you want. Run out of gas in the middle of a match and you get beat.
Start Here This Week
- Get calorie aware. Track a normal week and a heavy week so you can see the difference between them.
- Set protein first. Most men average 160 to 175 grams a day.
- Put 40 to 50 grams of protein in each main meal.
- Carry simple carbs to the court. Honey, a banana, or a granola bar.
- Eat your pre-match meal one to three hours out.
- Add protein between matches for recovery.
- Read the potassium and sodium on any electrolyte product before you buy it.
Coach Brian's final word on the episode is a fair trade. Spend as much time learning what is in your food and how it affects your body as you spend on drills, training, and equipment. You will perform better and outlast a competitor who never gave food a thought.
Get Started
Want a simple place to begin this week? Grab the free Lose 3 lbs in 3 Days plan at thecalltorise.com. It gives you protein-first meals, a daily water target, and a step goal without cutting calories or adding workouts.
If you would rather ask your own question and get an answer live, join Coach Brian on a Health Hot Seat session.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many calories does a man over 40 need to fuel a sport like squash?
It depends on his total activity for the day. A man with a sedentary job who plays an hour a day or a couple of times a week might need 2,000 calories. A man playing 90 minutes multiple times a week with 10,000 steps and a lifting session might need 3,000 calories a day.
How much protein should a man over 40 eat for performance?
Most men average 160 to 175 grams of protein a day, plus or minus based on bodyweight. Women have a 100-gram minimum and often land at 130 or 140 grams a day.
How many carbs should an athlete over 40 eat?
Carbs are usually the remainder of your calories. A workable ratio is 40% from carbs and 30% each from protein and fat, which puts carbs at 150 grams for a woman up to 300-plus grams for a man who is moving a lot.
What should you eat during a squash match or a hard training session?
Simple carbohydrates that digest fast. Honey is Coach Brian's favorite, and a squirt every 20 to 30 minutes keeps glucose moving. Gummy bears, hard candy, granola bars, and bananas also work.
How long before a match should you eat?
One to three hours before is the window that works for most men. It keeps the food from sitting heavy and gives your muscles and blood sugar time to use it.
Is Gatorade enough for electrolytes in a racket sport?
Gatorade has sodium and potassium in smaller amounts than most people expect, and a lot of what is in the bottle is sugar. Read the potassium and sodium on any electrolyte product and time it around your training.
What should you eat while traveling for matches?
Plan before you are hungry. A hotel breakfast of eggs or yogurt plus oatmeal is a solid start. Men should aim for about 40 to 50 grams of protein in that meal and women around 30 grams.
What is the Call To Rise program?
The Call To Rise is a 100-day coaching program for men over 40 built on strength training, individualized nutrition, and real accountability. The average man who works with Coach Brian for the full 100 days loses 20 or more pounds, and the guarantee is that Brian keeps working with him until he does.
CEO l Head Body Tranformer
Brian Parana is a men’s health coach with 23+ years of experience helping busy professionals improve their body, energy, and day-to-day habits while still leading at work and at home. His coaching is built around practical nutrition, training, sleep, and accountability, with a plan tailored to the person in front of him.
Over the years, Brian has helped thousands of clients through his work as a personal trainer, CrossFit gym owner, and online coach. He has also coached an Olympic silver medalist, a 2-time Olympian, and a CrossFit World Champion.
Brian is the host of the Driven For Health Podcast, where he shares real-world strategies for men who want to feel strong again and stay consistent without making health a second job.
He’s also the creator of The Call To Rise, a 100-day fat loss experience for driven men who want to drop 20–30 pounds, boost energy, and rebuild confidence through strength training, personalized nutrition, and high-accountability coaching. Many men join because their blood pressure, cholesterol, or blood sugar is heading the wrong direction, and they want a clear plan that fits real life.
Brian is married to his high school sweetheart, Amber, and they have four kids. Their family has traveled to all 50 states and 4 continents, with a goal to reach all seven.
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