Eating for Excellence - Aberdeen Dolphins

Eating For Excellence

What should I eat before, during, and after training and competition?

Answer: This question comes up over and over again wherever I go. There are several good books on this subject and I will not attempt to write a long article on nutrition when outstanding authors like Louise Burke, Nancy Clarke, and Karen Inge have well and truly covered this in their own writings. There are a few general guidelines that may be useful:

Before training, eat a light meal like fruit, bread or a light cereal. Particularly before morning training, when your body has not been recharged for 8 to10 hours, try to eat something light. If you don't feel like eating, try drinking juice or one of the sports drinks. Many people don't feel like eating early in the morning, but it is something you can get used to.
During training, rehydration is the number one priority, with water number one as a rehydrator. Sports drinks may also have a role during training (see below).
Recent research tells us that immediately after training, your body is very receptive to the replenishment of energy. Thus, the consumption of a carbohydrate fuel source that is readily broken down and rapidly absorbed is very important. Again, sports drinks may have a role to play in the rapid replenishment of muscle Glycogen. Similarly fruit, fruit-based snack packs, and fruit puree may also assist in the rapid replenishment of energy.

Another issue is what to eat between events or games or races at a competition. Athletes should make sure that their bag is full of good sources of fuel when going to competitions. Sandwiches, noodles, rice, pasta, fruit, sports drinks, low fat milk-based energy drinks all need to be on hand for the athletes to eat during those long days at the competition.

It is important that good food is available for athletes at meets at all times. Despite lots of education to athletes and coaches, the foods that sell best at most competitions are usually meat pies, sausage rolls, hot dogs, hot chips, chocolate bars, and ice cream: all great sources of fat and not the sort of fuel needed to produce fast times and winning performances.

Wayne Goldsmith

During a four-year period (1994-1997), Wayne was employed as the Sports Science Co-Ordinator for Australian Swimming Incorporated.

Slowing Down? Drink Up!

Something about water makes swimmers avoid drinking it. Apparently, your sense of thirst shuts down almost totally when you’re immersed in water. That’s bad, because if you wait until you’re thirsty to drink, you’ve already lost 2 percent of your liquid body weight — and that’s on dry land. By the time you’re thirsty in the pool, you’ve lost more, and your performance suffers as a result.

Drink at least two cups of water two hours before you work out, have a drink before you begin, and chug down another four to six ounces every 15 minutes while you exercise. If you like your drink cold, put your favorite liquid in an insulated container like the Polar Bottle, which comes in 20- and 24-oz sizes.

Parents!

You especially can’t rely on kids’ sense of thirst because it’s not fully developed. "It’s no accident that young athletes are more irritable toward the end of a hot or demanding workout. But you can avoid that by having plenty of cool water, or sports drinks, which they love, on hand," says Susan Kleiner, Ph.D., R.D.

So now you know. Getting drinking and hit the pool!