West Forsyth Swimming
Nutrition 101
Use practices to figure out what you need to eat the night before races as well as race day.
Keep track of what you eat the night before a good practice as well as the morning of so that you can then use that to decide what is best for each individual before races.
· Do not drink Gatorade or PowerAde, etc. before practice or races!
o Gatorade and these other “sports drinks” are “replacement” drinks meant to be consumed during or after exercise.
§ Drinking these without exercise is no different than drinking something like a coke
o Drink water, juice, unsweetened tea or coffee
§ Juice is best mixed with plain water as juice at full strength tends to be heavy on the sugar and without all the benefits of whole fruit.
§ Plain Water is best.
· Try to eat something before races or practice.
o Not “right before” but they shouldn’t be on the starting blocks for a race or practice hungry.
o Find out how long before practice or an event you need to eat to perform your best.
§ Often an hour or two (but almost always at least 20 minutes minimum).
§ You should be neither full nor hungry prior to practice or a race.
· Everyone is different and it will also depend on what time the race is
o how long the meet/race is after you typically get up.
· Need to eat within 45 minutes to an hour after practice or a race
o Chocolate Milk is excellent for post recovery or workout and / or race drink
§ Studies have shown that milk, and specifically chocolate milk, helps the body to rebuild faster after a workout that other post exercise drinks
§ Fills the needs of liquid, protein and carbohydrates
Remember; start keeping track of what you eat prior to practice
o The night before and morning of
o When you find something that works well for you then plan on having that pre-race
It may help to realize that the body is very similar to a car (think racecar) – it needs fuel, high-performance fuel to operate properly. These swimmers need to feed – fuel- their bodies for peak performance.
On that note here are a few other basics:
· Eat a good breakfast.
· Some examples of healthy snacks might be:
o Toast, English Muffin or Bagel
§ toast and peanut butter
o Banana (or even ½ a banana)
§ Banana and peanut butter
§ banana and peanut butter sandwich
o Apple
§ Apple with peanut butter
o Almonds, Walnuts or pecans
o Fruit
§ Cantaloupe, Watermelon, Orange, peach, apple, kiwi, blueberries, strawberries
o Oatmeal
§ Oatmeal with fruit and or peanut butter
· Eat at least three meals a day but 4 to six smaller meals, or healthy snacks, are better
o They are, or should be, training their bodies to be efficient and food is the body’s fuel.
o Young athletes, especially females, who are often very concerned about weight gain (many times without reason) are better off with multiple meals vs. skipping meals as skipping meals is thought to cause the body to store fat vs. learn to burn it efficiently for energy.
· Try to eat as many different foods as possible
o 4 to 6 smaller portions of different foods is much better than 2 or 3 types of food but with larger portions
o The color of the food helps identify different types and trying to eat “colorful” or multicolored meals is an easy way to improve eating habits.
o Athletes need meat, or protein
§ However, meat portions don’t need to be the bulk of the meal
§ Beans and eggs are also excellent sources of protein
o Try eating many different fruits and vegetables
§ Fruits are a great way to help keep athletes hydrated too!
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