Preparing for a PT Test Part 1: Eating Habits

This list has been adapted from Preparing for a PT Test, for more info check it out.

1. Stay Hydrated

This is the simplest and most intuitive of the tips I will offer, but at times it can be most difficult. It is much more complicated than drinking water. Drinking too much water at once without eating will flush the body of electrolytes. Water should be drank at a rate of 16oz/hour. This is half of what we can safely process in an hour. The important thing to realize is that this must be done gradually throughout the entire day before.

2. Do not Carbo-load
We have grown up with the belief that we should be eating a large amount of pasta or carbohydrates the night prior to a PT test. The only result of eating a large amount of pasta or rice is having to get rid of the pasta a few hours later. If this happens to be the following morning, I couldn't imagine a worse time to have to use the bathroom.

3. Avoid Taking Multi-vitamins
Multivitamins may be helpful in meeting your daily needs for certain nutrients; however, there is such a thing as too many vitamins. Taking a large amount of vitamins to give yourself a boost on the morning of a PT test will only hurt your cause. Your body uses a great deal of water and energy to process and remove extra vitamins. If you want to take vitamins the night before a PT test, do not exceed half of a multivitamin.

4. Avoid Fried Food
Fried food will hurt your performance in a number of ways. The most drastic of these is the effect it has on blood chemistry. Fatty foods cause a huge spike in blood sugar, followed by a large crash. Following this crash is a significant drop in energy. This is the last thing you want to happen when preparing to store energy for a big day.

Bottom-Line
Eating a healthy, well balanced, light meal with plenty of water throughout the day will best prepare you the night before a PT test.