Eating Real

Swimmers can burn approximately 40 percent of their daily energy during practice. Now imagine if your swimmer isn't getting enough nutrients to support all that energy they are expending. Proper nutrition is essential to recovery.

Did You Know...

• You have a thirty to sixty minute window for rapid recovery from prolonged exercise. Drinking chocolate milk is a great way to replenish muscle glycogen stores and initiate muscle tissue repair after practice or competition. Doing so has been shown to create a large concentration of glycogen which is crucial for recovery.

• The tired, weak feeling you might get after a morning session or after a long weekend of competition is likely caused by nutrition. Eating properly can help prevent fatigue, provide hydration, raise energy levels, improve concentration, and better your mood, as well as increasing strength and endurance.

• It is important to remember that a swimmer’s caloric needs are different from non-swimmers. The food they eat is vital to both practice and competitive performance and- more importantly- recovery. USA Swimming likes to call this functional fueling. THE FOOD SWIMMERS EAT SERVES A PURPOSE.