Swim Swam Nutrition Article


Your Assignment- Eat like a CHAMPION!!


I think it is amazing how much work, time, and effort you put into your daily workouts for swimming. Here at The Great Wolf Swim Team, we coaches always want to maximize the time that you spend in the pool to “train” your body and mind to be the best athlete that you can. However sometimes the owner of your body (that’s YOU) doesn’t always treat or even fuel that body as well as you should. If we want to be a World-class swimmer, why don’t we eat like one?

In your workouts you burn one pile of a lot of energy(calories), usually in the form of carbohydrates and fat, then you repair your body by using protein. This is a very simple explanation, but think about this: where do you get all the energy and body fixing building blocks that YOU require? It would be great if we where all plants and we could get ALL the energy we need from the sun (Winter would be interesting?!) We can only get ALL the material that we need through one place and that is our mouth! And even more interesting is that you are the one that puts all those important nutrients into your mouth to be incorporated into your body!!!!! This is an amazing amount of control that you have over the development of you as a swimmer and as a person. It is what you put in your mouth that will make you as successful as any workout that you swim.

The following recommendations will help you stay on the right path:


The Right Kinds of Carbs


1. Pasta
2. Rice
3. Bread

Each if these are excellent. But what do they have in common? They’re all white!

One of the most overlooked sources of carbohydrate is fruit. Yes, FRUIT. Fresh, canned, frozen, dried or juiced. No matter how you look at it, fruit is an excellent source of carbohydrate. Not only does fruit provide carbohydrate in the form of natural sugars (versus refined sugar), the bright colors of fruits indicate that they are also excellent sources of vitamins and minerals, including a sub-group called anti-oxidants.

You might recall that exercise is the stimulus that leads to training adaptations. And that adaptations to training occur ONLY if you give the body the right kinds of fuels during periods of rest. Make sure that the bulk of your diet comes from complex carbohydrate sources (approximately 50-60% of your total caloric intake). It's important that these carbs are predominantly in the form of whole grain breads and cereals, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, yams (or sweet potatoes) and beans. Try to stay away from white pasta, rice, breads and bagels as much as possible. They have an unfavorable effect on blood sugar levels and can really hamper your performance in the long run. 
Protein Intake


Watch the Fat
Don't Forget Fruits and Vegetables
Overall water consumption for kids age 9 to 13 should be 2.0 to 2.5 liters per day, whereas 14-18 year-olds should strive for 2.5 to 3.5 liters, with girls falling near the lower end of the range, and boys at the higher end. Keep in mind; we're talking about water here, not juices, sports drinks, or soda. This should be your target for each and every day, with your fluid requirements increasing with athletic activity. Everyday you walk by water fountains in the hallways at school. STOP AND DRINK!!!



Are you taking a Multimineral/ Multivitamin?


Every chemical reaction in your body (from burning the fuels you but in your mouth to repairing your muscles after a workout) requires a “key “ of sorts that turns on the chemical reaction. Those keys are in very small amounts but, like a car, if you have no key then the car doesn’t work. The keys in your body are the vitamins and minerals (iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc etc) that you have a hard time getting enough in our daily diet. Supplementing with a daily multimineral/multivitamin is almost a requirement for keeping enough “keys” around to get ALL your chemical reactions working correctly.

Provided that you've adhered to the guidelines listed above, there are a couple of steps you can take the day of the meet to help make sure that you perform at your best.


Eat Breakfast!








What to Bring on Meet Day:








4. Whole grain pretzels, crackers and cereals.






What not to bring, or bring less of:






3. White Bagels and Breads.








7. Soda. This one's an absolute no-no!





Now that you are schooled on the eating habits of champions we want you to sit down, with your parents and think about what you will eat for your 4 meals a day on any regular day that you have practice. That may not sound right, but if fact you are fueling yourself every time you put something in your mouth!!! You eat a good breakfast, you eat lunch at school, something before practice and finally an after practice meal. Think of all the information from above and with the help of the parents, come up with items that you enjoy. Remember, you already workout like a Champion- you need to eat like one too!


BY MIKE MEJIA, M.S., C.S.C.S//Special Correspondent to USA Swimming

Coach Scott Birklid, M.S., Nutritional Biochemistry and Exercise Physiology