“Fueling for Performance”

Being smart means being prepared.

Food does not make you fast. Quality training and recovery makes you swim fast. A critical part of quality training and recovery is quality nutrition.

Keep in mind: A swimmers energy requirement depends of several variables; age, gender, body weight and level of training. The amount required depends of the athlete.

  1. Fueling the body

Calories – provides energy to the body before/during/after exercise

  • High performance athletes (swimmers) require a high caloric intake.
  • Athletes need to maintain a balance of calories with their energy output.

Nutrients – “Chemicals” that supply the body with energy.

  • A balance ofcarbohydrates, protein and fats is essential for optimal training.

Carbohydrates

  1. 3 types – sugars, starches and fiber (whole grain breads, cereals, rice, fruit and vegetables.
  2. Carb’s are important to maintain blood and glucose levels during exercise and to replace muscle glycogen.
  3. A swimmer needs ample carbohydrates since low glycogen (converted carbo’s) leads to early fatigue.Your body is burning energy even when not in the pool.
  4. Sugars (simple carbs). Naturally found in fruit juice (fructose) and table sugar (sucrose) or corn syrup.

Proteins(repairs muscle)

  1. Responsible for the growth of new muscle tissue and for repairing damaged tissue and red blood cells.
  2. Most of us get more protein than we need.
  • Highly active athletes (swimmers) may require a slightly increased protein level.
  • Lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, low-fat milk, yogurt, cheese, peanut butter and nuts.

Fats– Keep it in focus.

  1. All “fats” are not bad.
  2. Fat intake should not be restricted. It’s an important part of an athlete’s diet.
  3. Swimmers should get 20-25% of there calories from fat.

Good and Bad “fats”

  • Good fats (Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated)
  • promote heart health (fish, nuts and vegetable oils)
  • Bad fats (Saturated and Trans fats)
  • Saturated fats are not especially healthy, but the body can tolerate modest amounts (found in meats and other animal-based foodstuffs).
  • Trans fats are ordinary veg. oils chemically turned into hydrogenated oils. Imagine Crisco Oil in your arteries. (found naturally in some foods; potato chips, stick margarine, some baked products, etc.)

What do we know:

  1. Your body burns carb’s and fats first.
  2. If your body runs out of C & F it burns protein and breaks down the muscle. This is not healthy.
  3. Protein’s purpose is to rebuild and repair muscle.
  4. “Good” fats are good. “Bad” fats are bad.
  1. Hydration

2 reasons to drink fluids: (1) stay hydrated, (2) provide body fuel

  • Caffeine is a “dehydrant”. Not good.
  • Just a 2% drop in body weight because of dehydration could have a negative impact on your performance.
  • Don’t wait until you’re thirsty (too late - you’re already dehydrated)
  • Hydrate before/during/after training.

Before training

  • Drink fluids all day. Staying hydrated during the day is as critical as during and after.
  • A variety of fluids is healthy (fruit juice, water, soup, etc.)
  • If your urine is clear – you are properly hydrated.
  • Variety is key to a healthy diet.

During training

  • DO NOT SHARE WATER BOTTLES. Have your own fluid source.
  • Couple of sips every 15-20 minutes.
  • After about 90 minutes your body may need a supplementary fuel source (Gatorade or Powerade, etc.).

After training – your body is still burning energy

  • Water is an excellent choice.
  • Sports drinks are easily digested and absorbed (Gatorade/Powerade)

What do we know?

  1. Carbohydrate drinks provide sugar (glucose) to the blood prolonging strenuous exercise and delaying fatigue.
  2. How well a fluid (sports drink/water) works depends on:
  3. How much and how often it’s ingested
  4. How long it takes to get absorbed into the blood stream
  5. Whether or not it gives us energy.
  1. Get Smart – Get the Facts on Food
  • Read the food labels. Know what you’re eating
  • Learn the facts – make informed choices.
  • Read the food labels and learn more about what you eat.
  • Compare foods for fat and calorie content.
  • Which ones are high/low in saturated and trans fats.
  1. Nutrition Tracker and USA Swimming (

USA Swimming’s Nutritional Tracker allows swimmers to find out the nutritional value of an individual food item, recipe or entire days worth of meals. Once you have told the program about your daily activity routine, it will calculate your individual nutrient requirements (calories, carbs, protein, fat and all of the vitamins and minerals). A comparison of your actual daily intake will identify your nutrition strengths and weaknesses.

Go to USSwimming.org. select Tips & Training, Nutrition Center and Nutrition Tracker. You will be prompted to “create an account”. Simply follow the instructions on the “Nutrition Tracker Personal Tracking System” and off you go.