Download NUTRITION 1. Fluid Requirements for swimmers

PSA
Pongola Swim Academy
PONGOLA 3170
PERSEEL/PLOT
62
POSBUS/P.O.BOX 62
Coach: Willie Heystek
TEL: 034 4131780
e-mail
[email protected]
FAX: 034 4131780
CELL: 084heystek
NUTRITION
1. Fluid Requirements for swimmers:
Everyday the body needs a minimum of 1.5 litres. This excludes the additional requirements
from doing any physical activity. Not consuming enough fluid leaves you tired and reduces
the effectiveness of the body. Carrying a water bottle around is a good practical solution to
ensuring that you can drink regularly and stay hydrated. Not fully re-hydrating after a
training session or becoming dehydrated before a training session or gala will affect
performance.
To ensure that you are hydrated before, during and after training and galas you need to
follow the guidelines below:
" Drink 500ml 2 hours before and 125-250ml just before training and galas.
" Drink 125-250mls every 15 minutes during training. Minimum intake during a 1hr session
should be 500mls. Sweat losses during 1 hour of swimming are usually between 500mls -1 ½
litres. This depends on how hard the training session is, (the harder you work the more you
sweat), how humid the pool environment is, (if the environment feels sticky and muggy you
will sweat more) and how hot it is, (the hotter the temperature the more you will sweat).
" Minimum intake after a 1hr session should be 1 litre. 150% of sweat lost needs to be
consumed in order to fully re-hydrate. Research has found that drinking until you are not
thirsty anymore only replaces 30-70% of sweat lost compared to the 150% required. 2%
dehydration causes a 10% decrease in performance. Further dehydration has an increasingly
negative effect on performance and ultimately health. Dehydration of 7% of a person's body
mass will cause them to collapse and require hospitalisation.
2. Carbohydrate Requirements for swimmers
Carbohydrate is the fuel needed by the muscles to power high intensity activities such as
swimming. Carbohydrate eaten is stored in the muscles as GLYCOGEN. Muscles can produce
energy very quickly from glycogen so that you can do short sprints and maintain a readily
available energy supply throughout a session. It is therefore very important to start a session
with a high level of carbohydrate stored in the muscle (glycogen).
Foods that have high carbohydrate content include:
" Rice, pasta, potatoes, breakfast cereals.
" Bread, fruit, vegetables, yoghurts, milk.
" Sweets (not chocolate) and soft drinks.
To ensure that you have enough stored carbohydrate in the Muscles the following advice
should be followed:· 2 - 4 hours before a competition or training eat a high carbohydrate
meal, such as:
" Large bowl of breakfast cereal
" 2-3 sandwiches (banana, jam, ham)
" Spaghetti bolognaise (lots of spaghetti)
" Large baked potato and baked beans
PSA
Pongola Swim Academy
PONGOLA 3170
PERSEEL/PLOT
62
POSBUS/P.O.BOX 62
Coach: Willie Heystek
TEL: 034 4131780
e-mail
[email protected]
FAX: 034 4131780
CELL: 084heystek
" Curry with rice (lots of rice)
2-4 hours gives the body time to digest food consumed so that you are not swimming on a
full stomach. It should be noted that some meals which are high in fat such as a full English
breakfast take longer to empty from the stomach and therefore are more likely to cause
distress when swimming.
· Consume a well balanced meal 1-2 hours after training or competition.
" Spaghetti bolognaise
" Meat, vegetables and potatoes
" Lasagne
Swimmers however often face the problem of training and competing at hours that do not
easily lend themselves to eating a meal 2 to 4 hours before training or competition i.e.
morning training or morning sessions at competitions. The following information gives
advice on how to overcome the lack of time problem:
" Eat a meal high in carbohydrate the night beforehand.
" Experiment with different snacks that are high in carbohydrate in the time available i.e.
from waking up to starting the workout. This is often subjective to each swimmer. Some may
not be able to stomach anything others may like two slices of toast or a banana for example.
" Look to use a sports drink during and after the training session. In cases where food can
not be tolerated before a training session a sports drink is a suitable replacement. Using a
sports drink (homemade or commercial), particularly for those with heavy training
schedules, can offer a practical solution for swimmers to meet their dietary and fluid
requirements. Remember to use chewing gum and to brush teeth regularly to prevent tooth
decay.
Drinking the homemade sports drink before (125-250mls) and during training (125-250mls
every 15 minutes) will provide the body with enough carbohydrate to fuel performance and
enough fluid to prevent dehydration. Research carried out on football players has shown
that those who consumed a sports drink ran 30% further in the second half of a game than
those who did not.
3. Tips for achieving a healthy, balanced diet
The balance of good health model is a guide of what your diet should be like to attain all the
vitamins, minerals you need. It also shows how to get the right amount of carbohydrate,
protein and fat in the diet.
Another important issue relating to healthy eating is that there are over 40 vitamins and
minerals that the body needs. These have a range of functions for example:
" Calcium is needed for strong bones and is found mainly in milk and dairy products.
" Iron is needed to transport oxygen around the body so energy can be produced and iron is
found mainly in meat products.
" B-Vitamins are needed to produce energy and are found mainly in breakfast cereals,
breads and vegetables.
PSA
Pongola Swim Academy
PONGOLA 3170
PERSEEL/PLOT
62
POSBUS/P.O.BOX 62
Coach: Willie Heystek
TEL: 034 4131780
e-mail
[email protected]
FAX: 034 4131780
CELL: 084heystek
" Vitamin E is needed for health skin and is found mainly is nuts and fish.
Although 40 vitamin and minerals sounds a lot if you eat a varied diet it is easy to get them
all in. Variety is the spice of life.
Five portions of Fruit and Vegetables a day are recommended because they are an excellent
source of vitamins and minerals. Eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day from a
variety of source will ensure that the body gets the required amounts of vitamins and
minerals it needs. This is the reason why the coaches are trying to send out the message of
eating "5 a day".
4. Fad Diets
There are many fad diets in the media that are sold to people often looking to loose weight.
It is important to realise that such diets can be very damaging to a swimmers ability to train
and compete. They can often have health consequences in both the short and long term.
Any weight initially lost is usually water and then lean muscle tissue and not fat. These diets
are also not sustainable due to their inability to meet the body's energy requirements.
Indeed in the long term people who go on diets regularly make it harder for their bodies to
metabolise and loose fat which equates to weight gain over the years.
The Atkins diet, Cabbage Soup, South Beach diet, celebrity diet, Eat Right for your Blood
Type and Zone diet are all examples of faddy diets.
" All based on a gimmick and most recommend a limited range of foods. As competitive
swimmers you need to get all the vitamins and minerals your body requires.
" Most of the fad diets recommend low carbohydrate (Atkins). This is the very fuel that is
needed to power your swimming.
Remember to eat healthily and stay hydrated so that all your work in the pool can be fully
utilized and you can swim fast!!