It’s difficult already for swimmers to get enough calories, but getting good calories? Well that’s not always a piece of cake either. Swimmers expend a ton of energy, especially if they are doing dryland and/or have multiple practices in a day. That’s why it is so crucial for them to eat enough, and enough of the right things, for energy and proper recovery.
Total Daily Energy Expenditure is comprised of a lot more than just swimming and dryland. It also includes Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT), and the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF). When your body is at rest, it’s expending energy. When you’re walking to class, it’s expending energy. When you’re digesting food? Yep, you’re expending energy. Add intense exercise in and out of the water on top of that, and you’ve accumulated one heck of a calorie goal for yourself.
When a swimmer expends more energy than they are taking in, they enter into what is called RED-S, or Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport. RED-S has a lot of implications, with the ability to alter metabolism, bone health, immunity, protein synthesis, cardiovascular and psychological health. What does this mean? If you aren’t getting enough calories, you can count on things like increased injury risk, decreased training response, impaired muscular strength and growth, and irritability/depression. Low carbohydrate intake alone can cause low energy/early fatigue, impaired cognitive function and decreased endurance.
Whoa. That’s a lot of reasons to make sure you’re eating enough. But how?! We will quickly go over some practical strategies you can implement, and we’ll get even further into these at a later time.
Strategy #1: Eat More Frequently
Logic and a little bit of science will tell you that if you eat more often, you have a better chance of meeting your calorie/macro requirements. We typically recommend anywhere from 5-8 meals per day. Keep in mind, these won’t all be full-course meals. Smaller snacks are included in this range.
Strategy #2: Include Starches, Fruit, and Protein at Every Meal
Think things like potatoes, bananas, pasta, and oats for starch. Tropical fruits, melons, berries, dried fruit, 100% fruit juices, (and more) for fruits. And think complete proteins, those with all 9 essential amino acids, like animal products, eggs, dairy products, tofu, and tempeh.
Strategy #3: Have a Daily Smoothie
Include fruit, veggies, protein, and a healthy fat (like avocado/nut butter) for added calories.
Strategy #4: Incorporate Calorically Dense Foods
Things like full fat dairy, granola, Perfect Bars, nut butter, fatty fish, and red meat. A note on foods high in fat – these are great throughout the day for adding calories, but should be eaten more sparingly the closer you get to exercise.
Strategy #5: Eat Something Before Every Morning Practice
If you aren’t used to doing this, start with a liquid first (like 100% fruit juice). Even eating a little bit of carbohydrates (banana, piece of toast) can go a long way in improving performance.
Strategy #6: Eat Something During Practice/Meets
This is especially important if you are exercising for longer than 2 hours. For older athletes, we typically recommend getting 30-45g of carbohydrates and 10-15g of protein for every additional hour of exercise (after the initial 2 hours). Stick to quick-digesting protein and simpler carbs, unless you have more time (like between prelims and finals).
If you aren’t doing any of these things right now, don’t freak out. That just means there’s more opportunity for improvement. Don’t try to make a bunch of changes at once. Take it a step at a time. As you determine which of these strategies you want to implement.
It is CRUCIAL to your performance to make sure you are consuming enough to meet such high energy demands. If you’re not sure how much you should be eating, start by paying attention to how you feel. Track your food for a few days (content + calories) and take note of how it’s affecting your energy levels and performance.