While sports provides physical and spiritual satisfaction to the individual, it is also important in making the right use of free time and protecting health. As in many sports, individuals engage in swimming either amateurishly or professionally. There are some factors that affect the performance of professional swimming athletes. Among these factors; age, genetic structure, physical condition and nutritional status. It is not possible for an athlete to change his genetic structure. However, it is possible to increase performance if the coach plans the training program well, the athlete is informed about nutrition and ensures the nutrition required by the sport he/she plays.
Nutrition is a whole. It is one of the leading environmental factors affecting human health. "Adequate and Balanced Nutrition" is defined as taking in sufficient amounts of each of the energy and nutrients our body needs to sustain life and protect health and using them appropriately in the body. The important thing here is that the individual, whether an athlete, an adult or a child, gets the nutrients and energy he needs through his food and drinks. While the organic and inorganic chemical substances that make up food are defined as nutrients, nutrients are; They are divided into 6 main groups: carbohydrate (CHO), protein, fat, vitamin, mineral and water. Each nutrient has a different function in the human body, and as a rule of "Adequate and Balanced Nutrition", these 6 nutrients should be taken as much as the daily requirement. There are no magic foods and/or drinks that will maximize an athlete's performance. The important thing is to ensure that the athlete receives adequate and balanced nutrition within the rules of sports nutrition.
The main factors affecting the performance of athletes are genetic structure, appropriate training and nutrition. Nutrition is one of the most important environmental factors affecting their performance that athletes can keep under control if they are knowledgeable. Proper nutrition programs applied together with the training program help the athlete improve his endurance and athletic performance. The purpose of sports nutrition is; Provide adequate and balanced nutrition programs to meet all the needs of the athlete is to stifle. In addition, it is of great importance for children and young athletes to acquire correct nutrition information, to have information about general nutrition rules as well as nutrition programs specific to the sports branches, and to reflect this information on the athlete's nutrition behavior.
Normal. A person's energy requirement is approximately 2000-2500 kcal. In athletes, this rate increases depending on their gender, weight and branch. The energy requirements of athletes doing the same sport also vary depending on their training programs.
Determining which energy sources are used during exercise is as important as the time required to refill energy stores during the post-exercise recovery period. The energy expenditure of athletes is 2-3 times higher than that of a normal person, depending on the sport they do. Today, the success of an athlete depends on the speed, agility, flexibility, balance, muscular and cardiorespiratory endurance in the match. These situations are closely related to nutritional science. The basic principle in the athlete's diet is to meet the increased energy and other nutritional needs as a result of competitions and training with an adequate and balanced diet.
Nutritional Requirements of Swimmers
Race swimmers, Although they are compared to sprint races, they require the most aerobic training. This usually happens early in the swimming season, when a swimmer is establishing the foundation for his or her unique competition and swimming style. Since the majority of competitive seasons will be long and demanding, both the aerobic and anaerobic components required for swimming should be maximized. Race swimmers have high energy expenditures because they must swim at high intensity for 4 hours a day, do weight training several times a week to build and maintain muscle, and maintain activities of daily living. Swimmers need a good nutrition program specifically designed for them because they have high energy requirements and need every nutritional element. A good nutrition program should provide the 6 basic nutrients a swimmer needs in an adequate and balanced manner. is. Therefore, an adequate and balanced diet is a step that swimmers should not skip in order to achieve their best.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates, such as interval training and short distance running. They are nutrients that provide the muscle with the necessary energy for activities. The status of muscle glycogen stores is very important, especially for athletes during intense training periods. Not all exercises that swimmers do are intense or long-lasting. Therefore, high carbohydrate intake is not required for exercise. What needs to be done is to adjust carbohydrate intake to keep muscle glycogen stores at the highest level at the beginning of an intense exercise program.
Carbohydrate recommendation should be such that it provides 55-65% of the total daily energy intake. However, this may not be suitable for swimmers. Since swimmers have high energy needs, it is recommended to calculate carbohydrate requirements per kilogram of body weight rather than the percentage of carbohydrates from total energy. For this reason, swimmers need to maximize their glycogen stores by consuming regular meals and snack foods containing sufficient carbohydrates.
High energy requirements and repeated daily training will quickly deplete the athlete's muscle and liver glycogen stores. Muscle glycogen stores need to be replenished every 24 hours. Muscle glycogen stores must be filled after 30-90 minutes of sports such as football, basketball and tennis. Muscle glycogen stores can also be depleted after 10-20 minutes of sports such as swimming, running, cycling. Swimmers generally enter an intense exercise program for 2-4 days of their weekly exercise period. After these intense exercise days, they should consume 8-10 g/kg/day carbohydrates to replenish muscle glycogen stores. After an intense exercise or competition, they should consume 1-1.2 g/kg of carbohydrates per hour so that muscle glycogen can be rapidly replaced within the first 4 hours. Since the body can synthesize some of the glycogen in a 24-hour period, there is no need to consume more carbohydrates than this. At the same time, adequate energy intake must be ensured for muscle glycogen replenishment. Restriction of energy, muscle glycogen It causes not enough carbohydrates to be consumed for thesis. The fullness of muscle glycogen stores should be maintained with a diet containing the appropriate amount and type of carbohydrates and with a well-planned consumption time. Therefore, for moderated exercises, a swimmer's carbohydrate intake of 5-7 g/kg/day will be sufficient. Swimmers who cannot meet their daily energy and carbohydrate needs practically have poor performance due to lower glycogen stores and insufficient energy. This situation occurs especially during intense training.
Proteins
Changes made by swimmers in the amount of carbohydrate intake according to training and race periods will also cause changes in the ratio of energy coming from protein and fat. For example; On the day before light exercise, if the swimmer reduces carbohydrate intake, he or she will have to increase protein and fat intake accordingly. When swimmers consume a high amount of protein (1.2-1.7 g/kg/day), especially at the end of the first weeks of their training, they will best provide the amino acids necessary for the growth, maintenance and repair of all tissues. Research has shown that many swimmers, both male and female, easily meet their protein needs, while some athletes consume 2 g/kg/day. It has been reported that excess dietary protein intake has no effect on performance. However, swimmers and female swimmers who control their weight and choose a vegetarian diet should be careful about their protein intake, as these groups may have insufficient protein intake.
Fats
Although there are limited carbohydrate stores in the human body, fat stores are quite abundant. is high. However, the contribution of these fat stores to sports performance is not always as favorable as carbohydrate stores. The American Heart Association recommends that 25-30% of total energy intake come from fat to prevent various chronic diseases. Swimmers should also consume 30% of fat from energy to maintain their ideal weight. Studies have shown that providing more energy from fat than recommended negatively affects swimmer performance and causes a decrease in muscle strength and endurance. It shows that n. Almeras, Lemieux, Bouchard and Tremblay showed that 30% dietary fat intake from energy did not affect swimmers' body fat values as long as they trained, but when swimmers stopped training for 2 months, it caused an increase of 4-5 kg in body fat rates. The types of fatty acids consumed, as well as the total amount of fat consumed by the athlete, are especially important for the health of the athlete. However, the results of studies are not yet clear on the effects of fatty acid types consumed in the diet and/or taken as supplements on sports performance.
Vitamins and Minerals
By consuming foods in 4 basic food groups during the day. Adequate consumption of vitamins and minerals will be ensured when an adequate and balanced diet is provided, with 55-60% of the energy coming from carbohydrates, 12-15% from protein and 25-30% from fat. However, if an athlete cannot eat well, cannot provide nutritional diversity and has personal taste preferences, he/she is at risk of inadequate intake of some vitamins and minerals. In such a case, the athlete should get help from a nutritionist or physician who specializes in sports. The only vitamin or mineral that has received much attention in the literature regarding the nutritional habits of competitive swimmers is iron. Perhaps this is because swimmers tend to consume large amounts of food, typically exceeding the RDA for most nutrients. However, there is evidence of iron deficiency, especially among female swimmers.
Berning found in a study that the iron and calcium intakes of a group of elite swimmers were well above the recommended intake, but more than half of the female swimmers in this group consumed these minerals below the recommended intake.
Another study reported that a group of university swimmers consumed dietary calcium and phosphorus below recommended levels.
Some studies have determined that insufficiency of B group vitamins has a negative effect on physical performance. . The risk of iron deficiency is more common, especially among female swimmers. Women who get insufficient calcium from the diet, especially those with ammonea, should be careful about their calcium intake.
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