The 4-2-1-0 nutrition timing framework prevents fourth quarter fatigue: eat a full carb-heavy meal four hours before, a carb snack two hours before, 500 mg sodium one hour before, then 30-60g carbs per hour during games over 90 minutes. Recovery meals with carbs, protein, and fat prepare you for the next day.
If you are completely gassed in the fourth quarter of your game, you need to be following the 4-2-1-0. Here's the rules. 4 hours before the game, you need to have a full meal. High carb, moderate protein, low fat. A great example could be some oatmeal, banana, and a little bit of a peanut butter drizzle on top. 2 hours before the game, you wanna be having a high carb snack. Dried mangoes in a granola bar is great. 1 hour before, you wanna be having electrolytes. I recommend about 500 milligrams of sodium. So a Liquid IV, half of an Element, anything like that is great. During the game, if your game is longer than at least 90 minutes, you wanna be making sure that you're having at least 30 to 60 grams of carbs per hour. A great example of this could be 2 applesauce pouches at halftime, 1 banana at halftime, or if you don't wanna eat it, you can also drink it. You can have just like a sports drink. And then after the game, you need to make sure that you're having a very balanced meal with carbs, fats, and protein. So some rice, some chicken, some veggies cooked in olive oil, something like that can be awesome to get you ready to roll for the next day.
