Swimmers Nutritional Program

 Swimmers need a lot of carbohydrates because that is the source of suger and provides a lot of energy. They are capable of eating a lot of carbohydrates, that is why they eat a lot of carbohydrates after a workout. It is suggested that swimmers consume carbohydrates during and after exercising. The reason why they need a lot of carbohydrates is because carbohydrates give a lot of sugar and glucogen. Glucogen which occurs in the cytoplasm which produces lactate + ATP for muscles contraction.  A few hours after working out a well balanced diet of 30g protein, 40g carbs and 30g of fat. For swimmers that is a balanced diet and they need to make sure to get sufficiant amount of good fats. For the rest of the day, they would just eat protein, fruits and vegetables and good fats.

Breakfast

For breakfast eat foods with proteins, veggies and fruits.

Lunch & Dinner

They can eat the same thing for lunch and dinner. The difference is that for lunch they eat twice as much. They need a lot of protein! A simple meat sandwich won’t do good for them. They need to eat a lot to gain lots of energy for swimming.

A well-rounded diet should include: 

-Whole grain: bread, pasta, wild rice, oats, quinoa, etc. 

-High fiber legumes (beans and lentils) 

-Lean protein: chicken, fish, grass-fed beef, turkey, tofu 

-Tons of veggies 

-Good fats: avocado, olive oil, coconut oil 

-Healthy dessert: fruit, smoothie

Snack

Swimmers would mostly eat snacks for recovery after a workout, that is why the snacks they eat are high in sugar and most are processed carbohydrates. An example of a snack is a shake that consist of fruits, veggies, protein powder and healthy fats. Another example is Greek yogurt or cottage cheeze with frozen fruit, mixed nuts, and protein powder.

Benefits:

• These foods supply lots of energy which makes a swimmers able to train and stay in the pool for a long periode of time.
• It is healthy for the body and the foods are not very fattening because they eat god fats and not the bad fats like the ones in junk foods.

Limitations:

• They can not eat any foods that contain a lot of bad fats such as junk foods which means they have a limited choices of foods.
• They have to be cautious of what they consume because they have to eat healthy foods, mostly they would have to cook their own food so that they know what they are consuming.

"Science of Performance: Swimming Nutritional Program." Swimming World Magazine RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2013. <http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/ASCAEducation/32745.asp>.

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    By: Annisha