Sunday, May 13, 2012

Swimming Nutrition

If there is one thing that I know for certain about swimming, it is that every workout leaves you unbelievably hungry.  I remember finishing swim practices and literally eating for an hour or more. Without fail when I step out of that pool after any sort of workout, my body craves food.  Usually I feel like eating A LOT of protein mixed with a little bit of carbs.  Something to get my body refueled whether it be for another practice the next day or just so I don't feel awful in the morning.

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
Keep in mind, almost everything related to nutrition is very individual based. That means what works for me might not work for you.  With that in mind...let's dive in!

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!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

SHOOT!

After the last few posts only vaguely relating to swimming, it's time to dive back in.  I know, I know.  Chris that was a lame pun.  Well, I'm a very punny guy.

In this post we're going to be specifically focusing on breaststroke.  When I started swimming in 6th grade, I couldn't do breaststroke to save my life.  My coach Judd would have referred to it as "not the breaststroke, but the stroke you would use to save your drowning grandma."  He definitely had a unique way of putting things.  Could be the fact that he's been coaching high school swimming for 47 years... Every race I entered - whether it be breaststroke or an IM - I would get DQ'd.  I would hope to be seeded in the middle of the pool so that the officials couldn't see my illegal kick, but it rarely helped.  I quickly learned in YMCA swimming that everyone and their dog swims the 50 free so I decided to stay away from the sprints if I ever wanted to place very well at state.  Now, there is nothing wrong with the 50.  It is probably the most exciting race in swimming.  BUT if you're not a very fast sprinter, why not try and find your niche right!?  So my second year swimming I switched to the "tough" events.  500 free, 100 fly, and 200 IM.  These were the events that not as many people swam so statistically I had the best chance of placing well at the state meet.  Only one thing.....swimming the IM meant I had to work for countless hours on my breaststroke.  It just didn't seem natural to me to point both feet out at the same time.  But finally, after a couple solid months of drills, dryland practicing (I would lay on my stomach with my toes pointed out while watching TV), and practicing some more I achieved a legal kick.  And now that I didn't have to worry about getting DQ'd, I could focus on my speed.  All of this work with breaststroke meant a couple of things that I wouldn't find out until late in my high school career.  1) Breaststroke had gone from my worst stroke, to my #2 strongest stroke (behind fly).  2) My IM's were seeing drastic improvements due to my willingness to work on my weakest stroke.  And 3) With all this emphasis on breaststroke, I had all but forgotten about backstroke.  Not a good thing for a state IM swimmer.  My senior year at state my 200 IM split ranks (out of 24) were: Fly-5th, Back-22nd, Breast-9th, Free-10th.  I finished 16th.  But enough about my breaststroke story.  Let's get to it!!!

Breaststroke may be the most complicated of the four strokes when it comes to mechanics.  There are so many things to remember.  Through the years, it has change drastically.  Below are some videos over the years.

1980
 
This is a video of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.  Here you will see Duncan Goodhew of Great Britain win the 100m breaststroke.  Take careful notice of his stroke:
  • His head is pointed forward the entire time.  
  • The underwater pullouts of the entire field seem rather short.  
  • The timing of the stroke is a lot different than you would see today.
  • He has more of a glide after the kick than everyone in the field, but it is still abbreviated.
  • HIS HEAD IS SHAVED! Who shaves their head for the Olympics anymore? Are today's swimmers too cool? 
  • He doesn't have a specialized $750 technical suit.
  • His time of 1:03.34 would convert to 55.26 for 100 yards.  This would just barely be an Iowa High School record.
 1992
 
This is a video of the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.  It shows Mike Barrowman claiming gold in the 200m breaststroke.  Here the stroke has definitely changed since 1980.  Mike Barrowman was one of the pioneers of the "wave-style" breaststroke that we see today.  He set 6 world records, won 3 consecutive NCAA titles, and had an NCAA record that lasted from 1990 all the way until 2001 when current Olympic standout and American favorite Brendan Hansen broke it.
  • The wave breaststroke institutes more of an up-and-down movement in the water while moving forward. 
  • He keeps his hips up nice and high so as not to drag them through the water.
  • The underwater pullouts are longer and more "glide-oriented".
  • Notice the "donkey kick" style starts. Swimmers would jump up in the air in a ball and kick their legs and arms out before hitting the water.  They would also start with both feet at the front of the block instead of a track start like you would see today.
2000
   This is a video of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.  This is the men's 400 medley relay.  USA takes the gold with a new world record by over a second.  Ed Moses swims the breaststroke leg (video time: 4:03-5:05).  Moses is one of the greatest breaststrokers of all time, setting world records in both the 100 and 200 meter breaststroke during his career.  Notice in his stroke:

  • He is constantly moving forward.  This is something that up until this point was pretty rare to see.  If you compare Moses to the Australian swimmer (yellow cap), the Australian swimmer has a kind of stop-and-go motion.
  • More of a wave motion in Moses' stroke leads to the constant forward movement.
  • He has a pretty quick turnover and doesn't waste a ton of time gliding.
  • Watch his underwater pullout off of the turn.  In 2000, it was illegal to take a dolphin kick.  The legs were to remain motionless during the full pull.  Moses' legs almost look like they make a dolphin-like motion....
2012
This is a video from the 2011 Dual in the Pool in Atlanta.  It is a unique competition of the US against Europe in a dual meet format.  This shows Brendan Hansen of the US beating the favorite Daniel Gyurta of Hungary in the 200m breaststroke. Notice:

  • When Hansen comes up to breathe (the part of the stroke that creates the most drag during the stroke cycle) his legs are also coming up to start the kick.
  • He waits to kick until after his arms "shoot" out to the front.  This makes it so that when he kicks forward his body is already in a streamline position.  This is one of the newest breaststroke techniques.  
  • Listen to the interview after the race.  Brendan Hansen sets his personal best at age 30 swimming in Lane 8.  Most times people in outside lanes are hardly even looked at during a race.  But Hansen says, "When you have a lane, you have an opportunity." Great quote. All you need is a lane.


Breaststroke is all about timing.  To be a top breaststroker you have to have impeccable timing.  And I'm not just talking about getting to the meet in time.  When all of the little techniques are added together during this very complex stroke, it can look extremely elegant and efficient.  Here are some things to take away from this post:

  • When your head is in the water, keep it down between your arms. Head pointing forward leads to more drag. You don't want that!
  • Keep your hips up.  This creates that "wave motion" that leads to constant forward motion instead of up and down or stop-and-go. Why waste your energy going up and down in the water when you can go forward and closer to the finish?
  • Distance off the wall.  Further pullouts lead to less swimming and more efficient racing.  But don't waste time underwater.  Do your pullout fast and powerful!  A little grunt underwater never hurt anyone...
  • Wait to kick until a split second after your arms are extended on the "shoot" phase.  This will let you get the most distance out of your kick by being streamlined.


Head down. Hips up. Power pullouts. Timing.


Breaststroke workout:
Warmup: 100swim, 100kick, 100pull, 100IM
Drill set: 4x50 breaststroke w/ dolphin kick (works on keeping hips up)
Main set: 4x[75breast, 50 easy free, 25breast sprint] (works on breaststroke stamina - make sure to keep your hips up)
Drill set: 10x25 (on the odd ones try and make the whole length of the pool with as few underwater pullouts as possible, on the even ones do normal breaststroke w/ a long underwater pullout)
Main set: 4x50 breast w/ longer breaks (focus on 100% technique and making the stroke "look pretty")
Cooldown: 200 easy free
1850 yds total.