I just wanted to know what you eat before your swim practices or meets whether it be early in the morning or evening.
Thanks
Former Member
Just read this article from Tri Swim Coach -
Caffeine
Caffeine is the most commonly consumed drug in the world. Caffeine was previously on the IOC and WADA banned substance lists at higher urine concentrations, but has recently been removed.
In the first test, subjects that took 330 mg of caffeine 1 hour prior to exercise had a 19% longer time to exhaustion compared to the placebo group that took decaffeinated coffee.
Further studies have demonstrated that the ergogenic benefits of caffeine remain throughout the day.
Caffeine use before exercise has also been proven to decrease the use of muscle glycogen by up to 30% in competitive cyclists during 90 minutes of cycling.
Also, caffeinated beverages do not appear to cause dehydration during exercise when compared to water or sports drinks!
Regular coffee drinkers do not have to abstain before a big race to get the benefits of caffeine, since several studies have demonstrated that there is little or no decrease in ergogenic effects of caffeine in habitual caffeine drinkers.
I will do a meal replacement shake before morning practice.
Meet: a bagel and cream cheese and a banana. Plus, diet coke to wake up in the morning. I know this is bad but it can't be any worse than people who have to have their starbucks fix in the morning.
Obviously from everyone's responses we can see that people prefer to eat different things. From everything that I've read, you are supposed to consume 50-75 grams of carbohydrates along with 5-10 grams of protein per hour. I try to limit consumption of protein unless my workouts exceed 1 hour.
The main thing is to experiment with what works for you.
I eat a chunk of cheese or meat before practice. I will drink coffee in the AM. If I eat bread before practice, I will crash about halfway through.
I also have to drive 40 min to the pool.
I've never had much luck with consuming carbs beforehand or during a workout.
I did have some problems with low blood sugar during my first month of workouts though, when I got back into the water, and should probably have brought some.
I don't feel like I need it at the moment but I'm not doing more than 1.5 hr workouts.
I'd rather wait to eat until after my workout. I have a bit of extra body fat, like most swimmers. Might as well put it to use.
