Appreciate the responses, plenty to think about and implement for next time. I realize I did not specify in my original post, but I only do this 5 hour agenda once a week and was looking for advise particular to diet leading up to/after that session. I try to play 2-3 times a week during the winter when I am able to get indoor court time, but if not I spend 60-90 minutes/day in the gym alternating days between weightlifting (push/pull/legs+abs) and cardio (jump rope, cycling/elliptical if sore).
Are you eating breakfast? It sounds like you may not be eating enough for how physically active you are. A banana, carb-focused lunch, and whey protein isn't enough. Get your complex nutrition in earlier in the day, so closer to play time, you can focus on simple carbs (nothing overly high in fiber or fat close to match time). Smoothies in the morning are an easy way to get veggies, fruit, protein (even some fat from almonds/walnuts and avocado, and more carbs from oats that I like to put in) quickly in an easy-to-digest form. If you look at marathon runners (extreme example, but just to give you an idea), they carb load multiple days ahead of race day. With how much you are playing, one carb-loaded lunch won't make up for basically not eating the rest of the day.
Make sure your stretching routine is comprehensive. Lots of guys just touch their toes a few times and call it. That's fine if you're young but as you get older your body will need a lot more help to maintain mobility.
I will also say that no matter how fit you are and how well you are eating, being physically active for 5 hours will naturally come with some fatigue. But of course I'm not sure exactly how tired you are getting if it points to issues beyond that.
I have not been eating breakfast, so I will have to be more diligent about consuming more in the day. I don't actively track/count calories but my diet is inconsistent and swings from 800-8000 calories/day. Per smart-watch data; I burn on average~1626 active calories/day, (gym days ~1100 calories, tennis days ~1700-2000 cal, 5h tennis day ~3400-4000 cal). I have primarily lived off of obscene amounts of cashews, greek yogurt w/frozen fruit, chicken breast, and eggs along with assorted junk food/alcohol so there is definitely room to improve. I added carbs to my (non-cheat) diet more recently to support the weekly 5 hour endeavor, which I have noticed helped with my energy levels during my longer matches. Will definitely be getting out the blender and trying some smoothies for breakfast.
My stretching routine is spotty at best, but I know I will need to be better. At 25, I know I can get away with it, but not something I should keep neglecting. I have included yoga on my cardio days for my balance/flexibility but still find it hard to get motivated relative to weights or especially tennis.
I agree with the above. That's a lot of activity at the end of the day and even if you are fit, you aren't a machine. Fatigue is inevitable.
But you can always become more fit, right? If I train diligently enough, I can raise my tolerance for performance while fatigued.
pizza and/or burritos if you want to challenge yourself
I've gotten the munchies and tried after a frozen pizza and pint of ice cream. I would fart from the exertion on every serve and could not move well. Kept it all down, but know better now.
Fast burning carbs probably won’t help 6hrs later after you are starting to get in the groove and exercising. Slower releasing carbs. Or during play… fruits
What are slower releasing carbs? I have been going with either pancakes or noodles w/random sauce, which I think are simple carbs?
Do you run out of energy or do your legs get fatigued? It is more common for people to feel sore and tired in their lower limbs when they play long sessions like this. A solution is a workout gym regimen to improve lower body strength.
You should eat a proper balanced dinner (without heavy food) around 5:30 pm if you are going to play so much.
My legs progressively get more tired but I would say it is more whole-body fatigue. I notice it takes me more mental effort to maintain my RHS and footwork and errors will start creeping up, though I can still raise the level back up for clutch points (to an extent). I include legs 1/week in my workout regiment, along with jump-rope for heart rate maintenance during workouts, cardio sessions, and on-court warmup. I do sometimes start to feel very close to cramps in my legs when I go to bed after the 5hr day though, but usually too tired to do anything but try to sleep through it.
My idea behind eating just yogurt/banana as dinner was because I wanted to avoid having anything that would take a lot of energy to digest and feeling heavy/slow during play. Will have to think about what I can add to my dinner to sustain me through the evening, while still feeling 'light'. Would help with the leg cramping feeling at night as well I assume.
