TOP TIPS FROM A FORMER COLLEGIATE SWIMMER

BY CHRIS ROSENBLOOM//PHD, RDN, CSSD

Last month I gave my annual nutrition lecture to the physical therapy students at Mercer University in Atlanta. A student, Jacob Reynolds, approached me and asked about my nutrition articles for USA Swimming because he was a former competitive swimmer and was interested in nutrition and athletic performance. Jake swam from the age of 5 through high school with the Montgomery, Alabama YMCA Barracudas. From there he then went on to compete on the NCAA Division I swim team at the University of Alabama. He competed in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke. Jake graduated in May 2013 from UA where he was captain of the men's swimming and diving team and a 3-time letterman.

So many swimmers (and their parents) ask about nutrition so I interviewed Jacob to get some insights from a competitive swimmer to share with you.

What do you think are the biggest challenges to healthful eating by young swimmers?
I think the biggest challenge I faced as a young swimmer was finding opportunities to eat throughout the day. During my high school years of swimming, much like most high school swimmers, I started practice at 5:00 a.m. and swam for two hours before heading to school. From school it was back to practice from 3:45-6:00 PM, and finally arriving back home around 7:00 PM with a 9:00 PM bedtime. This hurried schedule did not allow many opportunities for high-quality meals. I compensated by eating fast foods, high-fat foods, breakfast bars and Pop Tarts for many of my meals. I rarely sat down for breakfast or lunch and didn’t eat a lot of fruits or vegetables. I was more concerned about getting calories. Eating nutritiously seldom crossed my mind. I was, however, fortunate to have a home cooked, balanced meal for dinner on most nights.

Like a lot of teen athletes, I had a hard time keeping weight on as I was expending 4,000-7,000 calories a day. I was eating between 6,000-8,000 calories a day just to maintain my weight. To most people being able to eat so much sounds like a dream come true, but it's actually harder than one might imagine, especially with the time constraints many swimmers face. That is why it was easier to eat fast foods or highly processed foods.

What can parents do to support a young swimmer's nutritional needs?
It is very important that parents understand the role of nutrition to athletic performance and monitor the types of foods their children are consuming, especially age group swimmers. I remember as a kid we thought we would swim faster if we ate powdered Jell-O. To this day I don’t have any idea why we thought that, but we did. Today’s kids have many more options for quick energy. For example, I coached a kid this summer who drank two different caffeinated energy drinks during a meet with poor results. He threw up almost immediately after drinking the second energy drink.

If parents and swimmers are interested in pursuing higher levels of swimming, establishing good nutrition habits early in their swimming career will help them transition to the upper levels of sport. Planning to take healthy foods to practice and school can go a long way to helping swimmers achieve good nutrition. Looking back, I know that I put myself at a disadvantage in training, recovery and performance through my poor nutritional decisions. I urge parents to be cognizant of the foods their kids are eating and supply them with nutrient-rich and wholesome foods. Encourage healthy eating habits and educate yourself on nutrition and human physiology. The nutrition articles on USA Swimming contain a wealth of tips for healthy, quick meals and snacks that swimmers will enjoy.

What do you know now that you wish you had known when you were swimming in high school and college?
It is a myth that swimmers can eat whatever they want and get away with it. Competitive swimming puts tremendous stress on the body and depletion of energy stores need to be replenished with high-quality fuel. As a physical therapy student, the more I learn about the human body and physiology, the more horrified I am with the decisions I made while training and competing. It was not usual for me to go to a doughnut shop and eat a dozen doughnuts in the store and take another dozen home to eat a few hours later. I didn’t realize that if you put cheap fuel in your tank you won’t be able to achieve peak performance. The car analogy should resonate with young swimmers. You train your body to be a high-performance machine, so don’t fill it up with regular gas. Fill it instead with premium fuel. Today, I eat a wide variety of wholesome, natural foods: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, and I eat organic foods whenever I can.

What is your favorite food no? And what was it in high school? College?
In high school my favorite food was pizza. I could eat upwards of 20 slices in one sitting. In college, I ate whatever the dining halls were serving. Sometimes it was a salad, most often it was chicken parmesan with pasta or steak. While the university athletic department provided athletes with nutritious options, I often ended up negating the good choices by eating 6 cookies and 2 bowls of ice cream. Also, I am sad to admit that nearly every single night my freshman year I ate an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Now, however, my favorite foods are organic spinach, blueberries, kale, bananas, walnuts, broccoli, and Greek yogurt. I have also become a big fan of quinoa. I guess it is never too late to start eating healthy.

Chris Rosenbloom, PhD, RDN, CSSD is a nutrition professor emerita at Georgia State University. She is the editor-in-chief of Sports Nutrition: A Practice Manual for Professionals, 5th ed (2012) and provides nutrition consultation to athletes of all ages. She welcomes from swimmers, parents, and coaches at chrisrosenbloom@gmail.com.

Reposted from usaswimming.org

How to Be Healthy While Traveling

By Megan Fischer-Colbrie from www.bridgeathletic.com

I recently returned from two weeks of travel, and despite spending those weeks relaxed on vacation, I found my body didn’t feel quite as healthy as I am accustomed to. Whether you’re traveling for business, pleasure, or competition, keeping your diet consistent can be challenging. I’d like to give you a few tips on how to keep your body healthy while enjoying your travel.

When we move away from our daily routines and toward the unpredictable pace of travel, we are faced with different cultural norms, including places to eat, modes of transportation, things we feel we “must try while we are here”, and even different circadian rhythms (ex. the dinner hour in Europe is closer to 9pm and people tend to go to sleep later than in America). With all of this in mind, I present:

1. Tip #1: Stay Hydrated on your flight and during your trip. I always fill a large bottle of water up at the airport for my flight because if I don’t I know a stewardess will offer me exactly 2 tiny cups of water for a 6 hour flight. Not enough. On your travel day and after you reach your destination, be extra focused on drinking water. During your flight, the cabin pressure reaches about 6,900 ft when the aircraft is cruising at 39,000 ft. This means for however long you’re flying, your body is at an altitude equivalent to Colorado, losing water as vapor through each breath you exhale.
2. Tip #2: Fruit Snacks… not the packaged kind. Eating at restaurants for days on end can mean you aren’t getting as many fruits and vegetables as usual in your diet. Go to a local grocery store and purchase fruit that you can keep in the hotel and eat for a healthy snack. It’s an easy way to fuel up, and when you head out for the day you can throw a couple apples in your bag for later on.
3. Tip #3: Walk, Don’t Drive. Unless you are saving your legs for a competition, walk as much as possible. Stretch out and restore blood flow to your legs by walking around the cabin. This will break up sitting in the compact airline seat for extended periods of time. When you reach your destination, you’ll end up discovering more about a place than by car, and you will save money that you would have spent on taxis and subway tickets. While in New York City, I stayed fit by walking (despite having dessert every night).
4. Tip #4: Bring Earplugs. Chances are you usually sleep in a room by yourself, and on trips a roommate or family member who snores can make or break your mood the following morning. A pack of earplugs will run you $6 and allow you to sleep more soundly. Getting consistent rest on a trip can keep your immune system strong and help you avoid getting sick as you come into contact with new people and places.
5. Tip #5: Mind your Meals. Don’t forget to eat breakfast. This is surprisingly easy to do on vacation, but fill up with a yogurt and banana from the store or oatmeal and hard-boiled eggs if you’re grabbing a hotel breakfast. Avoid the temptation of getting a pastry for breakfast, as you’ll feel hungry again in a shorter amount of time and you may not be used to eating pastries at home for a meal. Restaurant meals serve larger portions that can be very high in salt. At dinner, order a salad before your entrée to help you get fiber and vegetables. If the meal is big, you can split an entrée with someone for a regular sized meal while saving money. When choosing restaurants, go to a local place and avoid big chain establishments. Their familiarity may be comforting but they tend to be less healthy; instead take advantage of being in a new environment by trying new foods! Prior to a competition, skip dessert. During a vacation, that decision is entirely up to you!

Next time you travel, keep in mind how accustomed your body is to certain needs: proper hydration, consumption of fruit and vegetables, and adequate sleep. Striking that balance between maintaining healthy habits and trying new things will not only allow you to fully enjoy wherever you travel, but also help you feel healthy coming home.

Useful Items to Carry-On

• An Empty Water Bottle
• A Sweatshirt and Socks – It can get cold on planes.
• Hand Sanitizer
• Cereal or Protein Bars
• Breakfast Cereal
• Competition Necessities – Suit, goggles, shoes, whatever you will absolutely need for your athletic event
• Nut Butter of your choice, jam, honey
• Isotonic Drink Powder
• Protein Powder

Top Tips For Building Muscle And Improving Body Composition

11/26/2013

BY CHRIS ROSENBLOOM, PHD, RDN, CSSD

Many young swimmers ask me what to eat to build muscle and lose fat. When I get that question, I ask the swimmer to take a step back and try to spell out his or her goals, because the truth is, it is hard to build muscle (a process that requires additional calories and protein) and lose fat at the same time (a process that requires reducing calorie intake and increasing calorie-burning exercise).

Another reason I ask about goals is that it is never a good idea to work on improving body composition in-season. It is hard to alter your diet or try to cut calories when hard training and competitive meets are happening at regular intervals.

And, lastly, many swimmers, especially female swimmers, have unrealistic goals for their bodies. Women naturally have more body fat than men, and poor body image plagues many young (and older) women.

Recently I talked to a young athlete who showed me the cover of her favorite fitness magazine and she said wanted “that body.” I reminded her that magazine models are not only taller and thinner than most women, but they also have their photos airbrushed and photoshopped to make them look even more “perfect.”

With those reminders, it is possible to improve body composition (notice I did not say lose fat or lose weight) through a combination of strength training, aerobic exercise, food choices and food patterns.

1. Eat regular meals throughout the day to fuel your body. Swimmers need regular meals to provide energy for sport and fuel for recovery. Aim for 3 meals and 3 small snacks each day. Check the nutrition archives of USA Swimming for articles on how best to achieve this.

2. Include protein at every meal and snack. Protein provides the building blocks for protein muscle synthesis. No need to overload on protein (protein powders and shakes are not necessary to get high quality protein), but include a protein-rich food at each eating occasion. Milk, yogurt, cheese, milk-or yogurt smoothies, eggs, turkey, chicken, lean beef and pork, nuts, seeds and beans and peas are all good sources of protein. An egg sandwich for breakfast, a carton of yogurt for a snack, a turkey and cheese sandwich for lunch, a handful of nuts in the afternoon, spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, and a bowl of cereal and milk in the evening all provide high quality protein for swimmers.

3. Feed your muscles after a strength workout. A small protein-carbohydrate snack after weight training can provide needed amino acids to build muscle and strengthen muscle fibers. Low-fat chocolate milk has been extensively studied as a recovery beverage, and while not as glamorous as expensive commercial protein shakes, it does the job very well. A combination of protein and carbohydrate eaten shortly after strength training is recommended to speed the nutrients to muscles.

4. Be realistic. Not everyone will have a six-pack of abs. (There’s no evidence that a “six pack” improves swimming performance!) What is important is your health, how well you perform in training and competition, and how you feel about yourself.

Chris Rosenbloom is the sports nutrition consultant for Georgia State University Athletics and is the editor of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Sports Nutrition Manual, 5th edition, 2012. She welcomes questions from swimmers, parents and coaches. Email her at chrisrosenbloom@gmail.com.

Reposted from usaswimming.org