Drinking, Eating and Swimming

Fact: At a recent training session, less than half the swimmers present had a drink bottle at the end of the lane.

Fact: The greatest risk to how you perform during training is fluid loss.  And yes, swimmers are as much at risk of dehydration as other athletes.

Exercise heats up your muscles and hard training creates lots of wastes within the muscle cells which need removing.  For these reasons it is essential to maintain fluid levels during training.  Without drinking fluids, swimmers may experience dehydration 20 to 30 minutes into a training session and it only takes a loss of 1 ? 2% of your body water to affect performance.  So what happens if you don?t drink enough?  In a nutshell, the waste products from your muscles build up and are not effectively flushed out of your system, this leads to muscles feeling tired more quickly, you may even get cramp, feel sick or get a headache after training.  The better the athlete you are, the more fluid you will need to take on board as your body will become better at burning up energy and creating wastes.  So when should you drink? Is it just important during training?  Drinking moderate amounts frequently is the best way of keeping fluid levels up.  The average person [not in training] should aim to drink at least 2 litres a day.  Swimmers should drink at least this amount and more taking the last drink 15 to 30 minutes before the start of a competition, regular drinks during training and finally ensuring that plenty of fluid is taken after the event.  Don?t wait until you get thirsty, its too late then, that?s your bodies way to telling you its already too low on fluid. 

The best way is to drink moderate amounts regularly throughout the day.  See kit sales for Atlantis water bottles.

Advice on whats best to eat when will follow shortly.