Here’s a quick one for anyone who shows up to practice or a game running on fumes.
The idea is simple: fruit plus something sugary, such as a banana and honey, can be a really quick way to boost energy for a practice or game. That’s it. That’s the whole trick.
I’ve used this in my current training for rugby, in both games and practices, and see pretty good results from it. Nothing fancy, nothing that requires a meal plan or a trip to a supplement store — just a banana with a little honey on it, eaten at the right time.
A little bit of the science: the reason banana plus honey works so well is that you’re getting two different types of sugar — glucose and fructose — at the same time. Your gut actually absorbs those two sugars through separate doors. Glucose goes in through a transporter called SGLT1, and on its own that door has a bit of a bottleneck, capping out around 1 gram per minute. Fructose uses a completely different transporter, GLUT5, so when you pair the two together, your body can pull in sugar through both doors at once instead of backing up at one. Research on athletes has shown this glucose-plus-fructose combo can push carbohydrate uptake up to roughly 1.75 grams per minute — about 65% more than glucose alone. Honey happens to be a near-even mix of fructose and glucose, and a banana brings its own natural blend of sugars along with a bit of fiber, so together they’re a pretty efficient little one-two punch.
Timing: this can be done anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour beforehand. That window gives your body enough time to start converting that sugar into usable energy without leaving you sitting there feeling weighed down when the whistle blows.
And here’s the part I really want to stress — this isn’t about having a perfect diet or planning your meals days in advance. It’s kind of a quick emergency fuel-up if you or your athlete hasn’t eaten much that day. Life happens. School runs late, work runs long, mornings get chaotic, and sometimes the pre-game meal just doesn’t happen the way you wanted it to. That’s completely normal, and it doesn’t mean you’re behind or doing something wrong.
So if you or one of your athletes is staring down a practice or a game with an empty stomach and not much time, don’t overthink it. Grab a banana, add a little honey, eat it 30 to 60 minutes out, and get after it.
Small fix, real results. Try it before your next session and see how it feels.
If you found this helpful, please share it or email back to continue the conversation!
Ian Smith,
Owner Mountain Speed, Strength & Fitness