Magnesium and match day nutrition
Answer
Magnesium is not a match day nutrient. It works through daily intake, so it belongs in the routine rather than the plan for the day. Fluid, a normal meal three hours out and sleep do the work.
Key takeaways
- Is magnesium part of match day nutrition?
- Only in the sense that the daily serving happens on that day too. It does not act on a match day timescale.
- What does belong in a match day plan?
- Fluid across the day, a normal meal about three hours out, and something carbohydrate based closer to kick off if the appetite allows.
- Does anything need timing precisely?
- Food and fluid, loosely. Nothing in this supplement category does.
What a match day plan actually contains
Breakfast that is normal rather than experimental. Fluid from waking rather than from the changing room. A meal about three hours before kick off that the player has eaten before on a match day, which rules out trying something new. Something small and carbohydrate based an hour out if the appetite allows it.
That is the entire evidence backed match day plan for a club player, and none of it is bought from a supplement shelf.
Where the daily serving fits
Wherever it normally goes. Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate provides 300mg of elemental magnesium in a two capsule serving at 22p a day, and a Saturday is one of the days it gets taken rather than a special occasion for it.
Taking extra on a match day is not supported by any figure and heads towards the 400mg supplemental guidance level, which exists because higher intakes have a laxative effect. That is a poor thing to introduce before eighty minutes of rugby.
The full version
- Best magnesium for match dayWhy nothing in this category acts on a match day timescale, and why the marketing concentrates there anyway.
- Magnesium before a rugby matchThe pre match timing question in full.
The product
Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate
Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate is the 300mg elemental one at 22p a day, taken on match days the same as every other day and at the same point in the routine.
- 300mg elemental magnesium, 80% NRV
- Bisglycinate, best tolerated common form
- UK made to GMP, lab tested for purity
- Not batch certified for sport
Sharper Rugby is published by Futuro Labs. If you buy through this link Futuro Labs earns from the sale. Prices are set by Amazon.
Questions players ask
Should I take extra magnesium on match day?
No. No figure supports it and higher supplemental doses have a laxative effect.
What should a player eat before a match?
A normal meal about three hours out that they have eaten before on a match day.
Does anything in this category act acutely?
No. All four products work through intake over weeks rather than hours.