A little sports nutrition background about me. I have a Bachelor's degree in Dietetics (Nutrition) from Iowa State University. Along with this, I have spent the majority of my life facing real-life experiences in the sports nutrition area. I have been a triathlete for 10 years completing my first Ironman in Louisville last August. I grew up in an athletic home. My dad is a premier ultra-distance cyclist often doing races of 24hrs or more and completing Paris-Brest-Paris twice (a 750mile ride across France in under 65hrs). My mom has been a triathlete for 12 years and often competes in adventure races, running races, and recently took up CrossFit. I have been part of a crew for many of my dad's longer races including his attempt at the Race Across the West - the first 1,000miles of the bicycle Race Across America. I was also part of the crew for the full Race Across America. During all of these experiences I provided nutritional and light medical support.
Along with all of this experience comes many failures. But I think the best way to learn about what works best is to find out what does not work well. Here are some things I have found out through experience:
- Eating a full meal <2hr before a workout is a bad idea
- High fat food immediately prior to a workout can lead to stomach issues
- High carb food immediately prior to a workout can lead to cramping
- Too much water (as well as too little water) can lead to cramping
- Completing a practice with no food in your stomach can cause no energy towards the end of the practice
- Not eating for >2hrs after a workout can lead to no energy/strength the next day
- Eating a good mix of carbs and protein before and after workouts can give you just the right amount of energy and strength you need to complete those really tough practices
BASICS
Let's start with some basic nutrition information. Energy in the body is like currency. Your body is like a bank. When you eat, you are depositing energy in the form of calories. When you do anything at all, you are spending these calories, or spending your "money". You expend calories when you walk, run, swim, even when you sleep! If you sit around on the couch all day and don't get any physical activity, you obviously don't spend that many calories. An average male (5'8" 180lbs) will expend about 1800 calories in a day (while getting no physical activity). An average female (5'4" 155lbs) will expend about 1450 calories per day (sedentary). Any thing you do above and beyond being sedentary requires more calories or "money in the bank". There are 3 types of food that give you the calories you need to perform daily activities. They are: carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Bottom line here: the more activity you do, the more calories you need. You don't ever want to finish a day with less calories than you started with. You won't feel too hot the next day and your workouts are bound to be less than stellar.
CARBS
Pasta, rice, bread, chips, crackers, potatoes, fruit, veggies, candy, sugar. These are a few examples of carbohydrates. Carbs provide your body 4 calories for every gram you consume. So if you eat 10grams of carbs, you provide your body with 40 calories. Carbs come in two basic forms: simple (candy, sugar, fruit) and complex (pasta, grains, rice, potatoes). Simple carbs provide you with more of an instant energy. Complex carbs provide you with more of a long term energy. Most individuals' bodies break down carbohydrates pretty easily. This allows your body to create energy from these foods quickly and efficiently.
PROTEIN
Meat, dairy, legumes (beans). Protein also gives you 4 calories for every gram you eat. Much of the energy your body gets from protein goes toward repairing and rebuilding your muscles. The best protein for your muscles to repair themselves is going to be lean meat, followed by dairy, and then legumes.
FAT
Oil, sweets, grease. Unlike carbs and protein, fat gives you 9 calories of energy for each gram you consume. So pound-for-pound fat packs more energy than protein and carbs combined. Does this mean you should eat all kinds of fat to have more energy? Probably not...you can try it, but I'm sure you won't feel to great afterwards.
So exactly what should I eat before, during, and after my workouts? I have come up with some pretty simple solutions to this question. A big key to eating the right things, is not to change everything completely, but to substitute many food choices and alter minute details of your normal diet.
Before morning practice: You sleep in until the last possible moment and rush to morning practice. On your way out the door try grabbing a small something to eat. Don't grab something with too much flavor, fat, or sugar. Something that works well for me in the morning is one or two slices of bread. This will get something in your stomach without much effect on your stomach during a tough practice. You could also try putting some jelly on it, but I would stay away from the peanut butter due to a high fat content. If you still think you have no time, set your morning snack out the night before in a Ziploc bag so you can just grab it on the way out the door.
Lunch before afternoon practice: You probably don't have much of a choice as to when you eat lunch during the day, but the best time to eat is somewhere between 3 and 4 hours before your afternoon practice. This allows your food time to digest, but not too much time where you will use all of that energy for other activities. Your lunch should consist of lighter food choices like fruits and veggies, carbs, and some protein and fat. Go a little heavier on the carbs and take it easy on the protein and especially fat. You definitely don't want to over-stuff yourself at lunch, but you need to get some form of energy. A salad without any substance (like a little chicken) usually will not do the trick. You will burn off the little amount of energy that it provides rather quickly and it won't last until practice.
During practice: At the very minimum during practice you should be drinking water. I would recommend 20 fluid ounces for every hour of practice. Think about it. You are working out in roughly an 80 degree pool and exerting more effort than your probably would during a run. When you run in 80 degree weather for 2 hours, you sweat and get dehydrated. The same thing happens in the water. So DRINK WATER! Another option is watered-down sports drink. I wouldn't recommend drinking sports drink without watering it down because the sugar content is pretty high. However, if you buy the newer versions of Gatorade or Powerade, they contain less amounts of sugar and are fine without watering them down. If your coach is nice enough, and if you plan ahead, a small snack in the middle of practice might help you in those hard sets at the end of practice. This snack would need to be small and light without much flavor, fat, or protein (like a granola bar).
Immediately after practice: We're talking within a half-hour of practice being over. The main thing you need to do is drink some fluids to replace all you lost during your workout. Again, 20 fluid ounces would be a good start here. The second thing you need to do is replace the energy your body lost during the workout. Start out with some simple carbs. This is where sports drink comes in handy. It provides you with fluid and sugar at the same time and you don't have to worry about it having an effect on your stomach in the pool. One last thing I would recommend immediately following practice is a shower. I think your family and people around you will appreciate this.
A while after practice: Here we are talking about 1-2hrs after your workout. Primary focus here is to resupply your body with energy. A good rule of thumb would be a 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein. So if you eat 40grams of carbs, you should also eat about 10grams of protein. Eat until you are full. All three forms of energy are essential for your body to recover from a difficult workout (carbs, protein, fat).
Swimming makes you hungry. That's all there is to it. Just remember: fuel, hydrate, and refuel. This will help you get the most out of your swim workouts.
Here is where I want you to let me know what works well for you before, during, and after workouts. Tell me about something you eat or a time you found out something that didn't work for you. Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a comment!
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