Nutrition - Hydration

One of the best things that you can do for yourself and is one of the easiest is to drink more water. Most people don’t realize how important drinking water is. There are three reasons to drink water: to stay hydrated, provide the body with fuel and make your self feel better. Because thirst is not an accurate indicator of when you should start to drink, if you are thirsty you are already dehydrated. Drinking early and often is a proactive way to stay hydrated.

Water makes up about 70% of our body. Thus, it’s clear that water has an important role in our body. Ask yourself, do I drink enough water? During an hour workout anyone weighing less than 90 lbs. should drink 5 12 oz. glasses of water. If you weigh between 90 lbs. and 125 lbs. then you should drink 6 12 oz. glasses of water and if you weigh over 125 lbs then 7 12 oz. glasses of water.

By training in water swimmers forget that they are sweating and losing water because you can’t feel or see it. Regardless of age or length of workout, all swimmers need fluids during practice. The easiest way to accomplish this is with a couple of sips from your water bottle every time you get to the wall. To do this you have to bring your water bottle to practice every day and leave the lid off for easy access.

As swimmers progress, workouts get longer and tougher it’s well established that exercises beyond 90 minutes benefit from a supplemental fuel source, such as Gatorade or PowerAde.
The Nutrition Information Center at the New York Hospital, Cornell Medical Center offers the following tips for maintaining proper hydration:

1. Follow conventional wisdom-drink at least eight, eight-ounce servings of water each day. The more time you spend outside, the more water you need to replenish lost fluids.
2. Don't wait until you're thirsty to drink water. By the time you feel thirsty; you probably have already lost two or more cups of your total body water.
3. Drink plenty of water throughout the day. Convenience is a must, so carry a bottle of water with you as you work, run errands or enjoy the day at the beach.
4. Once you start exercising, don't stop drinking. Keep a bottle of water with you and take frequent water breaks.
5. Don't underestimate the amount of fluids lost from perspiration. You need to drink two cups of water for each pound lost following a workout.
6. Start and end your day with a serving of water. Your body loses water while you sleep. So drink a serving before bed and again when you wake up.
7. Don't forget that the common cold and flu can frequently lead to dehydration. Keep a large bottle of water next to your bed so you can sip it throughout the day without having to get up.
8. Remember that when it's warm outside, cold water-not carbonated soft drinks or sport drinks-is the best fluid for keeping hydrated. Cool water is absorbed much more quickly than warm fluids and may have a positive effect on cooling off your overheated body.

Nutrition - Packing For Meets:

Have you taken a look at your Food Pyramid lately? Despite talk of revising the pyramid to improve its effectiveness, there remains a very simple but important reason why foods are divided into groups. Variety. Yes, Variety. The food groups are divided into the categories you see because the foods within a group bring something to the table that the foods in the other groups cannot. The foods in the vegetable group tend to be very high in Vitamin A, C and E. The foods in the Milk group may contain some Vitamin A, C or E but they are an excellent source of calcium which vegetables do not have a lot of. When a food group is eliminated, the vitamins and minerals that group provide are eliminated from your diet. The point is that in order for swimmers to obtain a complete set of vitamins and minerals, they need to eat a variety of foods from ALL of the food groups. There are no magic foods or food groups. The magic is Variety!

When it comes to the hectic pace of meet day, swimmers should have a variety of food items to select from. Send your swimmers to the pool with a cooler of goods. Use the following suggestions to help get you started:

Foods:
Dry cereals, Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwich halves, Granola bars, Power bars, 100% Juice boxes, Whole fruits and vegetables (oranges, nectarines, bananas, strawberries, carrots, celery, broccoli), yogurt, trail mix (nuts, raisins, dried cranberries, chocolate chips or M&Ms), Water, and Electrolyte drinks like Gatorade.

Tips:
Pack things in small servings
Think finger food
Include enough variety
Avoid items that require cutting (cut at home!)

Nutrition: Fluids - Water vs. Sports Drinks:

There are two reasons to drink fluid: (1) to stay hydrated, and (2) to provide the body with fuel.

During Workouts
Regardless of age or length of workout, all swimmers need fluids during practice to stay hydrated. Hydration is easily accomplished with a couple of sips from the water bottle every 15-20 minutes. As swimmers progress, workouts get longer and tougher. It's well established that exercise beyond 90 minutes benefits from a supplemental fuel source. Sports drinks such as Gatorade, PowerAde, and All Sport can provide this but we still have hydration to think about. Drinks that are too strong, or "concentrated," can provide the fuel but also inhibit fluid absorption and often lead to cramping.
Research tells us that drinks that are 6-8% carbohydrate by weight provide the perfect balance which is enough carbohydrate to provide a fuel source during long exercise, but not so much that will inhibit fluid absorption. Today, only Gatorade and PowerAde meet the 6-8% criteria. Most other drinks are too strong to be effective during workout.

After Workout
Water is an excellent choice to replenish fluids after practice. It's always wise to drink at least one cup. But after a tough workout, replenishing fuel stores is equally important. Competitive swimmers need a little over 1 gram of carbohydrate for every 2 pounds they weigh each hour after workout and especially within the first hour.
During the Day
Staying hydrated during the day is just as critical as hydrating during and after workouts. Most swimmers can do this by incorporating a variety of fluids into their daily diet. Water, fruit juice, milk, soups, etc are great sources of fluids. Water is always an excellent choice, but other drinks, including sports drinks (defined as 6-8% carbohydrate by weight) are okay too. Just remember that variety is the key to a healthy diet. If you use a sports drink during and after practice, it may be better to drink water and juice during the day to stay hydrated. Juices are often healthier that sports drinks in that their sugars are neutral.
Remember…
1. Carbohydrate is the primary fuel source during tough workouts. Protein is used as a fuel source during exercise only when carbohydrate and fat are not present in sufficient quantities. This can happen during long/tough workouts when the body uses much of its stored carbohydrate, and it must find an additional source. If an additional carbohydrate source (Gatorade, PowerAde) is not supplied, then body taps into stored protein, which are your muscles. This is why we drink carbohydrate-electrolyte solutions during workout… to spare muscle protein and this is also why it is important to replace carbohydrate stores lost during a workout…so you start the next workout with a full tank of gas!

For more nutritional information go to www.usa-swimming.org/programs and click on the coaches information section for nutrition.

              White, Red Group, & Pre-comp Coach 

                             OCST phone: (503) 655-4169