Coaches get asked rehab questions all the time and they often ask for advice. Most of the time they ignore the suggestions because the advice does not contain the answer they want. They say, "it only hurts when I swim"; the coach says things like, "then don't swim".

A coach once said "people don't call for advice, they call for agreement or consensus. If you don't tell them what they want to hear, they simply call someone else".

If you have an injury and are wondering whether or not a certain exercise is appropriate, ask yourself a simple question. "Does it hurt"? The key here is that the question "does it hurt?" can only be answered yes or no. If you answer yes, then you are not ready for that exercise, no matter how much you want to do it.

Simple, right?

Not really. Any equivocation is a yes. Things like "after I warm-up it goes away" etc. are all yes answers. It is amazing to me how many times I have asked athletes this simple question only to have them dance around it.

The reason they dance around the question is that they don't like the answer. They want to know things like "what about the magic cure that no one has told me about?" "What about a secret exercise?". There is another appropriate saying, "the secret is there is no secret". Another wise man, Benjamin Franklin I think, said, "Common sense is not so common".

If you are injured and want to get better, use your common sense. Exercise should not cause pain. This seems simple but exercisers ignore pain all the time and rationalize it.

Discomfort is common at the end of a set in a strength exercise or at the end of an intense cardiovascular workout. Additional discomfort, delayed onset muscle soreness, often occurs the two days following an intense session. This is normal. This discomfort should only last a couple of days and should be limited to the muscles not the joints or tendons. Pain at the onset of an exercise is neither normal nor healthy and is indicative of a problem. Progression in any exercise should be based on a full, pain-free range of motion that produces muscle soreness without joint soreness.

We spend time with our swimmers teaching the correct technique so as their workouts become more intense they have the correct mechanics to avoid injury. If a swimmer starts to feel any pain, the first place we look is their stroke. The bottom line is that if an athlete keeps repeating a stroke pattern that is causing pain, the injury will not go away.

If your swimmer is complaining of joint or tendon soreness, please let me know. If we catch an issue early enough we can avoid long recovery times, or even a visit to the Physical Therapist.

On January 4, 2010, FINA, the international governing body for the sport, issued its final list of suits approved for use in competition in 2010.

However, USA Swimming expects to receive further guidance from FINA later this month regarding the list. Until such time as we receive that guidance, USA Swimming will continue to allow all swimsuits which are either listed on the final FINA list or meet the criteria below:

• Swimsuits for men may not extend above the navel or below the knee and for women may not cover the neck or extend past the shoulders or below the knee;
  
• No zippers or other fastening devices are allowed except for a waist tie on a brief or jammer; and
  
• Suits must be of textile material and must not be made of any rubberized type of material such as polyurethane or neoprene.

Read more about the suit debate>>

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The Big Deal About Swim Suits!
by John Leonard,
Executive Director, American Swimming Coaches Association.

Over the past 18 months, the swimming world has been a frenzy of controversy over the emergence of technology in swimsuits. At the recent World Championships in Rome, the constant and overwhelming refrain about suits, echoed the volume and intensity of the last time we were in Rome for a World Championships, when the topic was doping....drugs distorting our sport...in 1994. Fifteen years later, the emotional topic was the new high tech suits that have swept through the sport from the World Championship level down to the local park district championships in the summer league. The parallels were impossible to miss.

FINA (the international governing body of swimming), in an unprecedented move at its Congress in Rome, banned the use of all “non-textile” materials from suits beginning in 2010, and limited the coverage of the body to “knees to navel for men” and “knees to shoulder straps” for women. 168 nations voted in favor of the restrictions, against a mere 6 in opposition (who apparently did not understand the word “textile”.) This in the face of strong opposition to the move by the sitting President and Executive Director of the FINA organization. Amazing and never seen before. The USA delegation initiated the restrictions and led the opposition. Why such a strong reaction in opposition to the existing plastic and rubber suits?

A parent new to the sport, from a middle class background, might well say “hey, why not? Technology marches on! Equipment gets better. Why not let my son/daughter wear one of the fancy new suits and swim faster?”

Its a valid question that requires a thoughtful answer. Here it is.

The answer revolves around two words, with of course, a considerable amount of “side data” that adds to the intensity of the discussion and the strength of the resolution to end the problem worldwide.

Those two words are “Maximizing” and “Enhancing”.

Quality lane lines “maximize” the opportunity of the athlete to swim fast, with minimum turbulence in the lane. (you should have seen the waves in the pool back in the 60’s and 70’s.)

Good goggles allow the athlete to see the turns, see their competitors, and comfortably compete -- to say nothing of allowing them to train hard for hours which was impossible in the chlorine pool without goggles and in the old days, yardage and performance was a fraction of what it is today. Goggles Maximize the opportunity of the athlete to work hard.

Evolution in coaching techniques in training and biomechanics allow the athletes to Maximize their ability to benefit from their time in the sport.

Swimsuits, up until approximately the year 2000, and certainly until early 2008, were designed to maximize the opportunity of the athletes to go fast. The manufacturers designed suits to “get out of the way of the water”. Less suit, less friction with the water, less drag, tighter fit, and better materials MAXIMIZED the ability of the athlete to perform to their highest earned level.

Beginning in 2008, manufacturers took advantage (and must be applauded for doing so, within the existing rules, which were close to non-existent) of the idea of designing suits to ENHANCE the ability of the athlete to swim faster. A line had been crossed. Designed suits incorporated plastics, rubberized material and new design criteria, to enhance the ability of the athlete to be buoyant in the suits (riding higher makes you faster), wrapped more tightly (compressing the “jiggly parts” makes you MUCH faster) and shed water from the plastics and rubber materials much more effectively, thereby reducing the drag of the suits remarkably.

Since February 2008, 158 world records have been set by elite athletes. Their ability to perform has moved from being “maximized” by their swimsuits, to being “enhanced” by their swimsuits. This rate of improvement is absolutely farcical in the historical context of over 100 years of our sport. At the world championships, new world records were receiving polite applause akin to the “golf clap” for a good shot, rather than the historical roars of appreciation that a swimming crowd used to provide when a human barrier went down, as it infrequently did, by great athletes at the peak of their power.

How does this translate down to the local pool?

Pretty simple. The manufacturers don’t make any money by selling suits to the elite athlete. They give the suits away to them. They count on age group swimmers watching the “big guys” and wanting the same suits and equipment.

And lo and behold, the same miraculous benefits accrue to 12 year old Sam and Samantha when they put on the “magic suits” in their local championships. The time drops are miraculous, the smiles are, literally, “priceless” and child, mom and dad are all happy.

“Wait a second. That suit just ripped. Wow. How did that happen? How much did it cost? Wow! You paid $500 for a suit that Sam just put his foot through, rendering it a $500 broken garbage bag? Uh-oh., well, honey, get him another one. We can’t have Joe Jones’s son Pete beat him in the 200 free tomorrow.” Teeth Grit. “This is a kids sport? We now have $1000 in suits so far”.

And of course, all those magic benefits only last 7-15 swims, so good for maybe 2-3 meets, unless it’s a championship and your child swims 6 events and makes finals in all events, in which case its $500 a meet.

“Let’s see, $500 a meet, we go to 2 meets a month, 10 months of the year....Honey, it’s gonna cost us $10,000 Just for Samantha’s suits this year!”

Well, the solution is simple....just wear the suits for the championship meet and wear your regular suit the rest of the time. OK. Good.

But, Samantha’s 58.5 100 free with the magic suit on, just became a 1:02 100 free with the old suit on. Smiles gone. Gone. From Samantha, from Mom. From Dad. Oh well.

And of course, there are some other objections as well.

First, the magic suit deal is like paying for your child to have instant improvement. Is that what you want your child to learn from the sport? Or do you want them to learn to persevere, EARN improvement with hard work, attention to detail, paying attention to the coach and, shall we say it again...'Working Hard?' Or do you want them to learn that you can always “pay your way” with cash to what you want?

“Earn it, or buy it.” Which do you want to teach? Answer carefully, parents.

Second, the suit does not affect everyone the same. The thin, fit swimmer will benefit marginally by it. The overweight swimmer will swim like a young seal in it. Spending the same $500 on two children will yield radically different results. Not a fair competition at all. Is that what anyone wants?

Third, and it seems unnecessary to say this, but if you just buy 3 suits a year, that’s $1500 or MORE. (Today, purchasing one of the great European suits online from the US will cost you $900...with no guarantee of fit, durability or return-ability, and about 30% of them RIP on the first attempt to put them on...no refund, folks.) Do we really want age group and high school swimmers to have to spend that kind of money to BUY success rather than work for it? It doesn’t make our sport a middle class sport, it makes it a sport for wealthy families.

Are you pooh-poohing that? Wait till your son or daughter gets beat the first time by someone whose mommie or daddie could afford a more expensive piece of plastic and rubber than you can. The bitter taste in your mouth is not fun. Not much in the way of “sport” there.

So, in answer to the local official who asked, “Why are “they” [FINA officials] wasting time with worrying about THAT? Don’t they have better things to do?”

The answer is “NO.” The suit debacle is the most important thing that any of us can attend to. It preserves the heart and soul of our sport....which is reverence and appreciation for the hard work, attention to detail, courage and teamwork required to be a fine competitive swimmer and to learn to succeed with those life-skills instead of with your Daddy’s wallet.

The Congress (not the Ruling Bureau) of FINA took the rules into their own hands after the Bureau had time and again failed to establish the rules necessary to keep our sport vital, credible and important. Bravo for them.

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Water v Sports Drinks:
Drink Early and Often

There are 2 reasons to drink fluids: (1) to stay hydrated, and (2) to provide the body with fuel.

During Workout - Regardless of age or length of workout, all swimmers need fluids during practice to stay hydrated. Easily accomplished with a couple of sips from the water bottle every 15-20 minutes. As swimmers progress, workouts get longer and tougher. It’s well established that exercise beyond 90 minutes benefits from a supplemental fuel source. The sports drink can provide it. But we still have hydration to think about. Drinks that are too strong, or “concentrated,” can provide the fuel but also inhibit fluid absorption and often lead to cramping.

Years of research tells us that drinks that are 6-8% carbohydrate by weight provide the perfect balance. Enough carbohydrate to provide a fuel source during long exercise, but not so much that will inhibit fluid absorption. A couple of sips every 15-20 minutes keeps the body fueled, helps prevent unnecessary tissue breakdown, and maintains hydration.

Today, only Gatorade and Powerade meet the 6-8% criteria. Most other drinks are too strong to be effective during workout. Though you could try and do some research and create your own concoction such as this recipe:
50% water
50% Trader Joes organic white grape juice
a splash of Santa Cruz organic lemon juice
A pinch of salt

Or how about this formula from the Tour de France:
1/2 cup maltodextrin
6 1/2 tsp fructose
1/4 - 1/2 tsp table salt
Combine in one liter of water, shake, and serve!

Another alternative is Clif Shot Electrolyte Drink - more energy than a barrelful of monkeys; and a lot easier to eat. The first electrolyte replacement drink that tastes great, is backed by science, and features organic ingredients

After Workout – Water is an excellent choice to replenish fluids after practice. It’s always wise to drink at least one cup. But after a tough workout, replenishing fuel stores is equally important. Competitive swimmers need a little over 1 gram of carbohydrate for every kilogram they weigh (lbs/2.2) each hour after workout. And they need it within the first hour.

Oftentimes, a sports drink that is easily digested and quickly absorbed, such as Gatorade or Powerade can provide a convenient way to get some of this fuel within the first 20 minutes. Accelerade, a newer drink on the market may also do the trick. Endurox, perhaps, but beware of the high protein drinks, as they often forgo the carbohydrate, and carbohydrate is what you are trying to replenish within that first hour after workout. A little protein won’t hurt, in fact a little bit of protein may actually help by supporting tissue repair and re-building processes. But too much protein, especially when it comes in place of carbohydrate, may actually be detrimental to the post-workout recovery process.

Remember

1. Carbohydrate is the primary fuel source during tough workouts. Protein is used as a fuel source during exercise only when carbohydrate and fat are not present in sufficient quantities. This can happen during long/tough workouts when the body uses much of its stored carbohydrate, and it must find an additional source. If an additional carbohydrate source (ex. Gatorade, Powerade) is not supplied, the body taps into stored protein, aka your muscles. This is why we drink carbohydrate-electrolyte solutions during workout to spare muscle protein. And this is also why it is important to replace carbohydrate stores lost during a workout so you start the next workout with a full tank of gas!

2. Following exercise, the body is very sensitive to the hormone insulin. Insulin is that hormone that rises every time blood sugar rises. In other words, every time a swimmer eats carbohydrate, which causes blood sugar to rise, insulin goes up. Well, it’s insulin’s job to remove sugar from the bloodstream, and it does so by facilitating its storage as glycogen. Glycogen, the storage form for carbohydrate, is what the body taps into for fuel when exercise is very intense. This can happen quite a bit during a tough workout, which is why it’s important to see that glycogen is replenished before the next practice.

During the Day – Staying hydrated during the day is just as critical as hydrating during and after workouts. Most swimmers can do this by incorporating a variety of fluids into their daily diet. Water, fruit juice, milk, soups, etc, etc. Water is always an excellent choice, but other drinks, including sports drinks (defined as 6-8% carbohydrate by weight) are okay too. Just remember that variety is the key to a healthy diet. If you use a sports drink during and after practice, it may be better to drink water and juice during the day to stay hydrated. Juices are often healthier than sports drinks in that their sugars are natural. Always keep in mind that juices and sports drinks contribute to total caloric intake.

For the purpose of this article, a sports drink is defined as a 6-8% carbohydrate-electrolyte solution. Do NOT include “energy drinks,” such as Red Bull, 180o, Sobe, etc. These dietary supplements fall into the Yellow Light category of the Dietary Supplements Health & Contamination Risk Chart.

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Know the Scoop on Cereals

For swimmers, cereal is great just about any time of the day. Competitive athletes are encouraged to choose nutrient dense cereals, which contain more of the right kinds of nutrients (carbohydrate, protein, vitamins, minerals) per serving than their “candy cereal” counterparts. More bang for the buck, so to speak.

Generally speaking, the best cereals are high-carbohydrate (>25 grams/serving), moderate-protein (5-10 grams/serving), low-fat (<5 grams/serving), and moderate-fiber (2-4 grams/serving). Most cereals on the market today, including “candy cereal, ” are fortified with vitamins and minerals, such that one serving usually provides 20-100% of a given vitamin or mineral. However, these values are based on a 2, 000 calorie diet, which is well below the energy requirements for most competitive swimmers in their teens and twenties.

Consider cereals in three categories: High Nutrient Density, Moderate Nutrient Density, and Low Density (aka “candy cereal”). Athletes looking for a good cereal but not a whole lot of calories, a Moderate Nutrient Density product is best. For those looking for density (i.e. lots more nutrients/calories in a smaller serving), then a High Nutrient Density cereal is the way to go. Swimmers looking for “candy cereal” should be encouraged to save this type of product for weekends and/or limited occasions. The following table offers a non-exhaustive list of cereals in each of the categories mentioned above:

And of course, hot oatmeal and granola are always excellent choices. And all dry cereals make a great snack to take on the road. Just toss 1 cup into a plastic storage bag or air-tight container, and off you go. The point is to find a cereal that tastes good and also meets your nutritional needs. With all the products on the market, no swimmer should have any problem doing just that.

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Timing is Everything
Eat Early and Often to Recover Well

Knowing how much carbohydrate, protein and fat to get in a day is good. But knowing when you should be getting those nutrients is even better. When it comes to optimal nutrition, timing really is everything.

In general, following these guidelines for incorporating carbohydrate, protein and fat into your day:

• Spread carbohydrate intake out over the course of the day (i.e. smaller meals and frequent snacks). This keeps blood sugar levels adequate and stable.
• Eat some carbohydrate before morning practice. Note: This can be in the form of juice.
• Eat carbohydrate in the form of a carb-electrolyte drink, such as Gatorade or Powerade, during workout IF workout is 90 minutes or longer. Gels are also acceptable.
• Eat carbohydrate and protein within the first 30 minutes after practice. This enables the body to replenish glycogen stores and repair muscle tissue. This is perhaps the most important time to eat!
• Eat again (something substantial, like a real meal) before two hours post-practice has elapsed. This is critical to maximizing recovery!
• Incorporate fat into the day at times that are not close to workout. Fat is necessary, but contributes little to the workout or immediate post-workout recovery period.

Part of the reason good nutrition is critical during recovery has to do with the fact that the body is extremely good at making the most of what it is given. Following exercise, the body is very sensitive to the hormone insulin. Insulin is that hormone that rises every time blood sugar rises. In other words, every time a swimmer eats carbohydrate, which causes blood sugar to rise, insulin goes up. Well, it’s insulin’s job to remove sugar from the bloodstream, and it does so by facilitating its storage as glycogen. Glycogen, the storage form for carbohydrate, is what the body taps into for fuel when exercise is very intense. This can happen quite a bit during a tough workout, which is why it’s important to see that glycogen is replenished before the next practice.

The American College of Sports Medicine, American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada Joint Position Statement on Nutrition and Athletic Performance states that:

“After exercise, the dietary goal is to provide adequate energy and carbohydrates to replace muscle glycogen and to ensure rapid recovery. If an athlete is glycogen-depleted after exercise, a carbohydrate intake of 1.5 g/kg body weight during the first 30 min and again every 2h for 4 to 6h will be adequate to replace glycogen stores. Protein consumed after exercise will provide amino acids for the building and repair of muscle tissue. Therefore, athletes should consume a mixed meal providing carbohydrates, protein, and fat soon after a strenuous competition or training session.” (ACSM, ADA, Dietitians of Canada, 2000, p 2131)

In addition, research (van Loon et al, 2000) has implicated immediate post-exercise carbohydrate ingestion (1.2 g/kg/hr for 5 hrs) in the enhancement of glycogen re-synthesis.

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How Much is Enough?


We talk a lot about the body using carbohydrate, protein and fat as it Energy-Yielding Nutrients, but the requirement from swimmer to swimmer varies. A swimmer’s energy requirements depend on several variables, including their age, gender, body weight (and possible composition) and level of training.

According to the American College of Sports Medicine, American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada Joint Position Statement on Nutrition and Athletic Performance,

“Protein requirements are slightly increased in highly active people. Protein recommendations for endurance athletes are 1.2-1.4 g/kg body weight per day, whereas those for resistance and strength-trained athletes may be as high as 1.6-1.7 g/kg body weight per day. These recommended protein intakes can generally be met through diet alone, without the use of protein or amino acid supplements, if energy intake is adequate to maintain body weight.” (ACSM, ADA, Dietitians of Canada, 2000, p 2131)

The generally recommended daily intake of protein for swimmers in training is 1.4-1.8 g/kg of body weight. Typically this should account for 12-15% of total calories. For a 160 lb athlete, that equates to 102-131 g/day, which is 12-15% of a diet of 2,720-4,367 kcal/day.

Meeting this requirement typically ensures adequate dietary intake of all of the necessary amino acids. It is important, however, that high-quality protein products be selected. Sources include meats, dairy, beans, dried peas, milk, eggs, and grains. These sources provide a more complete mixture of the necessary amino acids and therefore have a higher “biological value” or protein efficiency score. If these protein needs can be met by selecting good dietary sources of protein on a daily basis, the amounts of amino acids required to achieve the effects observed in the studies mentioned above can easily be met as well. There is no evidence that ingesting protein in amounts far in excess of the recommended intake is beneficial to either protein balance or exercise performance. The primary role of protein, and therefore amino acids, is to synthesize structural proteins and TCA-cycle intermediates. Excess protein can be stored to some degree, but that which is not used for the aforementioned purpose is typically metabolized and excreted. Protein is generally not used for energy during exercise.

The American College of Sports Medicine, American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada Joint Position Statement on Nutrition and Athletic Performance also states that:

“Carbohydrates are important to maintain blood-glucose levels during exercise and to replace muscle glycogen. Recommendations for athletes range from 6 to 10 g/kg body weight per day. The amount required depends upon the athlete’s total daily energy expenditure, type of sport performed, sex of the athlete, and environmental conditions.” (ACSM, ADA, Dietitians of Canada, 2000, p 2131)

The general recommendation is that carbohydrate intake should account for at least 60% of total caloric intake. In addition, long-supported research by Costill (1988) indicates that athletes training more than 2 hrs/day require a carbohydrate intake of 9-10 g/kg of body weight on a daily basis to prevent chronic depletion of carbohydrate stores.

Lastly, The American College of Sports Medicine, American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada Joint Position Statement on Nutrition and Athletic Performance also states that:

“Fat intake should not be restricted, because there is no performance benefit in consuming a diet with less than 15% of energy from fat, compared with 20% to 25% of energy from fat. Fat is important in the diets of athletes as it provides energy, fat-soluble vitamins, and essential fatty acids. Additionally, there is no scientific basis on which to recommend high-fat diets to athletes.” (ACSM, ADA, Dietitians of Canada, 2000, p 2131)

The general recommendation is that swimmers get 20-25% of their calories from fat. For the swimmer whose daily caloric requirement is 2,000 kcal, this translates to 400-500 kcal from fat, or 44-56 grams of fat per day. Use the following table to determine that amount of fat you should be consuming on a daily basis:

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Buying and Burning Gas

Something every swimmer should know before learning about good nutrition is this: Food does NOT make you swim fast. That’s right. Food does not make you swim fast. What DOES make you swim fast? Training. Training makes you swim fast. Better yet, QUALITY training makes you swim fast. And part of quality training is good nutrition!

Believe it or not, you don’t get fast during practice. Practice is where you might see your times improving, but your adaptation to training (i.e. getting faster) actually occurs while your body is at rest. Workout is the stimulus that causes this to happen.

Workouts are hard. Yes they are. They’re supposed to be. They’re designed to tell the body, “This is hard work for me you better do something to enable me to do it again later.” And the body actually responds by becoming more efficient – aerobically and anaerobically. During its time off, the body WILL adapt. But only if you give it the proper fuels.

Six 200’s descending on five minutes. Twenty-five 50’s on :58. Whatever your “favorite,” every set during every workout and dryland session requires energy.

Nutrients are the “chemicals” that supply the body with energy. Carbohydrate, protein and fat supply energy in the form of calories. These are your “Energy-Yielding Nutrients.” Vitamins, Minerals and Water don’t supply energy in the form of calories, but their presence is required in order for the body to access the energy provided by carbohydrate, protein and fat.

During exercise, the body gets its energy primarily from carbohydrate and fat. It likes to save protein for other things (building and repairing muscle tissue, hormones and red blood cells, and supporting the immune system). The only time the body uses protein as an energy source during exercise is when carbohydrate and fat are not present in sufficient quantities. This happens when the total caloric intake is too low over a period of months, and or the bout of exercise is so long that the body’s accessible sources of carbohydrate and protein become exhausted. Neither of these scenarios is desirable for swimmers.

Think about money. When you have lots of it, you don’t mind paying full price for things. But when money is scarce, or there is just too much you have to buy, you look for bargains. You’re not being cheap, just thrifty. Simplified to some extent, your body knows how to shop.

Now instead of dollars, think of your currency as oxygen. When swimming is “easy,” say during warm-up or your easiest sets, there is plenty of oxygen available to support the exercise. The body perceives itself as “rich” and doesn’t mind splurging on fat (1 gram of fat costs 9 oxygens). In fact, it automatically does so because it knows it might need carbohydrate at a later time.

When exercise is hard (we’re talking tough sets, definitely your hardest sets), oxygen is not plentiful. In fact, the body needs every bit it can get to support the exercise, but even that is often not enough, and the body is forced to derive energy in ways that do not require oxygen (i.e. anaerobic metabolism). In this situation, the body perceives itself as very “poor” and becomes very thrifty with its “purchase” of fuel. Since carbohydrate costs less than fat (1 gram of carbohydrate costs 4 oxygens), the body chooses to rely primarily on carbohydrate for its energy.

Keep in mind that this entire fuel burning process is never a case of “all or none.” In other words, the body is always using some combination of carbohydrate and fat, but the intensity of the exercise dictates which fuel source will be the dominant one. When swimmering is easiest, fat is the primary fuel source. When swimming is toughest, carbohydrate is the primary fuel source. When swimming is about 50% of maximum effort, carbohydrate and fat contribute about equally.

Let’s face it – the majority of workouts are hard. Above 50% for certain. If you consider the typical swim workout, it’s pretty safe to say that the primary fuel source for swimmers IS carbohydrate.

What are the first three foods that come to mind when we say “carbohydrate?”

1. Pasta
2. Rice
3. Bread

Each if these is excellent. But what do they have in common? They’re all white!

One of the most overlooked sources of carbohydrate is fruit. Yes, FRUIT. Fresh, canned, frozen, dried or juiced. No matter how you look at it, fruit is an excellent source of carbohydrate. Not only does fruit provide carbohydrate in the form of natural sugars (versus refined sugar), the bright colors of fruits indicate that they are also excellent sources of vitamins and minerals, including a sub-group called anti-oxidants.

You might recall that exercise is the stimulus that leads to training adaptations. And that adaptations to training occur ONLY is you give the body the right kinds of fuels during periods of rest.

Well, one of the side effects of exercise is the generation of “free radicals.” Free radicals are molecules that can actually cause damage to muscle tissue above and beyond the damage caused by exercise. The damage caused by exercise is normal. It serves as part of the stimulus for training adaptation to take place. But damage caused by free radicals is NOT a desired part of the training process. Damage caused by free radicals (aka “scavengers”) circulating in the bloodstream after workout can continue well into the recovery period. This is when the body is supposed to be adapting!

Anti-oxidants “absorb” free radicals, neutralizing their effect in the body before their damage to muscle tissue can amount to much. A diet consistently rich in fruits (and other colorful foods, such as VEGETABLES) is apt to keep the body consistently supplied with anti-oxidants, which will assist the body in keeping free radical formation to a minimum. This a good reason to eat lots of colorful foods during the recovery time between workouts.

Colorful foods include, but are not limited to"
Apples, Strawberries, Blueberries, Bananas, Oranges, Kiwi, Watermelon, Raspberries, Grapes, Mango, Papaya, Apricots, Red peppers, Broccoli, Corn, Squash, Carrots, Peas, Green beans, Tomatoes

Colorful foods DO NOT include: Skittles, Jelly Beans, M&Ms, Mike&Ikes, Fruit Loops, etc.

© USA Swimming

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Routines & Rituals:
Performing Under Pressure

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle    

    
Pre-competitive routines have been studied by sport psychologists for a long time, and there is good evidence that routines increase consistency of an athlete’s thinking, feelings, and pre-sport behavior. Because of these effects, routines also produce more consistent performances. This in turn produces better results. Routines therefore, can make a better swimmer. There are a number of reasons why routines work, but many athletes still resist them:

“It slows me down”
“I don’t want to get locked into anything”
“I like being flexible in case things change”
“I used to do it, and it was helpful, but I just stopped. I’m not sure why.”

Many athletes don’t develop effective routines simply because nobody ever taught them how important and helpful they are. Take Tiger Woods, for example:

"My preshot routine, taught to me years ago by my father, didn't come naturally or easily. Like most kids I was of the grip-it-and-rip-it mentality. I had to learn patience and how to find my natural rhythm. Pop finally convinced me a preshot routine was necessary for consistency, and I've used the same one ever since." - Tiger Woods

If even Tiger Woods resisted routines at the beginning, why would we expect our swimmers to suddenly embrace them? We need to develop a sales pitch that gets past initial resistance and makes a compelling argument for change. One tactic is simply to list all the things that routines do for you, by both ensuring good things happen and preventing bad things from happening.

Routines- Helping an athlete do the right things

1) A routine increases the sense of familiar in a new environment. Routines are portable, transferable, and adaptable. A routine can make even the strangest pool environment seem normal, familiar, and most importantly, comfortable. This is a powerful effect when the environment of the competition is full of distractions.

2) A routine helps an athlete stay active and focused on useful behaviors. One of the worst things an athlete can do in a high pressure environment is to stop and think about it. At a meet, when I see an swimmer starting to freeze up, glaze over, and think too much (usually about the dreaded “what ifs”), I will try to get them talking, moving, and laughing. Much better than this emergency interaction, however, is a routine that keeps an athlete moving, on a schedule, and focused on the things that help.

3) A routine enhances feelings of control and confidence. Going through the same routine in practice and competition is a useful reminder that you have done this a thousand times. The old expression of “practice like it is a competition, compete like it is a practice” describes an athlete with an effective, consistent routine.Simple routines enhance a sense of control and confidence. A routine helps an athlete feel in control, no matter what the stakes.

4) Routines help make useful behavior automatic. Some psychologists believe that over 90% of our behaviors are automatic habits or unconscious, learned behavior patterns. This is why parents and first coaches in a sport play such a critical role in introducing positive behaviors. If you learn how to do something the right way at the beginning, you don’t have to fix mistakes later, because you always do it the correct way, without any conscious thought. These routines will become automatic and help a swimmer avoid all kinds of challenges that many athletes struggle with.

5) Routines increase the opportunity for the brain to focus on the proper things. Routines that take care of all the little things an athlete has to do to get ready, free up brain space to focus on the things that really matter. If you want to have an excellent warm-up, you must be fully focused on the warm-up, and not wondering about something left undone.

Routines- Helping an athlete avoid doing the wrong things

6) Routines help reduce thinking and decision making. When an athlete is stressed, anxious, and concerned about outcomes (a typical state for many athletes at competitions), thinking often transforms to worry. In addition, decisions about simple things become overemphasized, and athletes will often freeze up, wasting valuable time as they agonize over which pair of goggles to put in their swimbag. Athletes weighted down with worry or unable to make a decision are wasting energy. At meets, energy is a precious commodity. An effective routine eliminates decisions (because, if you always do it the same way, you don’t have to decide), and keeps an swimmer too busy to think too much.

7) Routines help prevent silly mistakes. Under pressure, swimmers begin to leak energy, and become more vulnerable to a variety of distractions and challenges. When an athlete is preparing for a key performance, the last thing they should be doing is making critical decisions. An effective routine keeps an swimmer busy, productive, and reduces the probability that they will make a mistake that they cannot recover from.

The Coaches Role In Building Routines

"We first make our habits, and then our habits make us." - John Dryden

All coaches can benefit from understanding the value of creating good regimens. By starting with the most basic aspects of a sport, and ensuring that athletes develop great routines, a coach begins to develop the foundation of great performances.

While it can take a tremendous investment of effort by a coach to develop new routines, the cost of not making this investment can be high. An argument can be made that a coach will end up using a great deal more energy if they don’t help athletes develop great routines. As the John Dryden quote suggests, an initial investment of energy in developing good habits will create a great return down the road. If a coach develops great routines, and the athletes develop great habits, then the habits make them great swimmers.

Adapted from and article by Sean McCann, PhD, Performance Services Sport Psychologist.

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Yes You Can!
The Importance of "Self Confidence" in Achieving Your Swimming Goals.



"Belief is the knowledge that we can do something. It’s the inner feeling that what we undertake, we can accomplish. For the most part, all of us have the ability to look at something and know whether or not we can do it. So, in belief there is power: our eyes are opened; our opportunities become plain; our visions become realities."

Have you said (or thought) any of the following in the past few months??? "I can’t do it," "They are much faster than me. I’ll come last," "I’m hopeless," "I’ve never been able to do that, so I know I can’t do it now," "It’s just too hard. It’s impossible."

You are not alone. Many swimmers have these thoughts and say these words from time to time. Most swimmers (and people generally) have times when they get a little negative and lack faith in their abilities.

When swimmers say "I can’t" or "it’s too hard," what are they really saying?

Swimmer says: "I can’t do it." Swimmer means: "I am not prepared to try because if people might think less of me."

Swimmer says: "They are faster than me. I’ll come last." Swimmer means: "If I can’t win there’s no point trying."

Swimmer says: "I’m hopeless." Swimmer means: "I have no faith in myself or my ability to succeed. I have no confidence."

Swimmer says: "I’ve never been able to do that, so I know I can’t do it now ." Swimmer means: "I’ve never really prepared for this or learned how to do it correctly so the chances of me doing it now are not very good" or "I tried once and failed, so I am not going to try again."

Swimmer says: "It’s just too hard. It’s impossible." Swimmer means: "I’m not prepared to try ."

Confidence is believing in yourself to do what has to be done. To do what needs to be done, with faith in your ability to achieve it. To meet new challenges with an expectation that anything is possible. To accept failure as an opportunity to learn from the experience and try again. And try again. And try again if necessary .

Confidence is trying to achieve and if you fail knowing that it was the nature of the task or the circumstances or just plain bad luck, not your lack of character that is to blame. Confidence is learning from that failure and trying again with more energy, more commitment and greater determination than before.

What do some of swimming’s most successful people say about CONFIDENCE??

"Confidence comes from accepting a challenge and achieving it using the best of your ability. Confidence builds through training to meet your challenge".

"Confidence is about believing in yourself and your ability to do something -- not necessarily believing in your ability to do it perfectly or better than other people, but believing that you have as good a chance as anyone to achieve something. Confidence is having the courage to get up and try and face whatever the outcome is -- good, bad or something in between."

"In my experience, confidence is best achieved through controlled independence. If a young athlete is constantly challenged to be independent (within reasonable bounds), they will learn to rely on themselves and know how to thrive without the assistance of others in moments of greatest need. The ability to follow good decision making processes is a crucial part of this. For young athletes, teach them to take personal responsibility ( control the controllable and develop a chameleon-like ability to deal with the rest). Confidence is the ability to believe you can do something and the courage to do it - if others have made the hard decisions for you and you have never had to live with the results of your own actions, you can never be expected to know full confidence and the power of the self".

"Attitudes such as belief, optimism, high aspirations, and anticipation of the best possible result—all these positive states of mind add up to confidence, the keystone for success. But of course it pays for all of these to be built on the firm rock of a sound preparation".

Confidence it seems, is a skill -- a skill that can be learned. You learned to swim. You learned to flip turn. You learned how to do butterfly. You can learn to be confident.

Leading Sports Psychologist, Dr Mark Andersen agrees: "Many people believe that confidence is something that comes from the inside, but we probably develop confidence from the models we have around us, that confidence really comes from the outside. If we have coaches, parents, teachers and instructors that model confidence in our abilities and let us know that they think we can do good things, slowly their confidence in us becomes internalised".

A few tips to develop confidence:
Accept who you are and learn to like and respect yourself.

Nothing helps build confidence like learning the 3 P’s:

• Practice to the best of your ability.
• Develop a Positive Attitude to trying new tasks.
• Persevere, Persevere, Persevere.

Ladder of Achievement:

This is called the Ladder of Achievement. It shows how your attitude towards a goal or task can impact your ability to achieve it.

The ladder of achievment suggests that an attitude of "I can’t" has almost no chance of success whilst "I won’t" is no chance at all.

Change "I can’t" and "I won’t" to
I CAN - I WILL - I DID !

Understand what motivates you to do well then you can harness your energy in the right directions.

Failure is a race or a meet or a task -it is not a person. Failure is not the person: it’s not you- it’s the performance. Learn to separate who you are from what you do.

Learn to talk to yourself positively. When the negative thoughts come, learn to replace them with positive ones. I can’t = I can, I won’t = I will, I will try = I did. Remember the old saying, "If you think you can or think you can’t, you’re probably right".

"The greatest achievement is not in never failing but in getting up every time you fall". Keep trying and it will happen.

What you believe, you can, with effort and persistence, achieve. Dream a dream, believe in that dream, work towards achieving it and live the dream.

Anything worth having is worth working to achieve. Talent is important, but there are many talented swimmers who don’t make it to the top. TOUGH, TENACIOUS TRAINING makes up for most talent limitations.

Successful people are not afraid to fail. They have the ability to accept their failures and continue on, knowing that failure is a natural consequence of trying. The law of failure is one of the most powerful of all the success laws because you only really fail when you quit trying.

Copyright © 1998-2008 American Swimming Coaches Association.

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Mental Preparation:
Using Mental Imagary for Success

"I try to visualize my race before I swim. Like I’ll lie down and I’ll relax - totally relax - and just think how I’m going to swim my race, how I’m going to, you know, get into the turns and out of the turns, how my stroke is going to be. I go through my entire race..."

"In warm-up, I swim in the lane that I’m going to be racing in and that kind of helps me. You know, I look up in the stands and picture what it is going to be like with people in it. I get a good feel for my surroundings and imagine what it is going to be like during the race. And think about the people that are going to be in that heat with me and what lanes they’re going to be in... "

Mental imagery is a skill athletes can tap into to help reach their goals. Look at the quotes listed at the side - they illustrate how mental imagery can be used to achieve goals through mental preparation for success.

Imagery can also be used to help adjust pre-competitive and competitive mood and energy levels (for example, if you are too nervous, you can help yourself relax by mentally taking yourself to a quiet, calm environment).

Finally, imagery can be effective when learning a skill through mental practice – an athlete can work on turns without getting in the water! Read on to learn more about what a powerful tool imagery can be.

Mental Imagery
Most athletes already use mental imagery naturally, though often not in a systematic or purposeful manner. Similar to physical skills, mental skills such as imagery need to be practiced and used in a variety of settings so that one can call on them when the pressure is on.

How Can Imagery Improve Performance?
In addition to the ways athletes in the quotes described their uses for imagery, there are a number of other uses for this versatile skill.

• To see success: Athletes can see and feel themselves achieving goals. This helps build confidence that these goals can be achieved. This supports the adage “Seeing is Believing”.
• To motivate: Sometimes in the middle of a long period of training, it can become difficult to maintain the proper intensity level needed to get the most out of practice. Base training in the pool can be mentally challenging, to say the least. Thoughts and images of past and future competitions can be helpful in maintaining persistence and intensity level while training.
• To manage energy level: Imagery can be used to change energy level, using calming images to relax, or energizing images to “psych” up.
• To learn/perfect skills: Imagery can be used as an additional form of practice to help master a particular skill. Or, imagery can be used to correct errors in swim technique--either by reducing complex movements to simple skills or slowing the movements down to better analyze them for technique errors.
• To refocus: During practice and competition, many distractions can arise that prevent an athlete from maintaining an optimal focus. Imagining what to focus on can often help get an athlete back on track, by helping remind her about what is important.
• To prepare for competition: Just as a swimmer needs to prepare physically for competition by stretching and warming up, he needs to get mentally ready. He can imagine himself in the physical competition environment and mentally rehearse key elements of his performance. He can also prepare for the unexpected by imagining himself in difficult situations and then see himself successfully dealing with them. Finally, he can also see himself succeeding, touching the wall with a best time.
• To evaluate performance: After a swim, imagery can be used to evaluate performance. An athlete can replay her swim in her head, to reinforce what she did well and evaluate those aspects that need to be improved.
• Mental Imagery: To help recover form an injury. Injuries are no fun. However, there are mental skills athletes can use to help in the recovery process- imagery being one such skill. A swimmer can use imagery to visualize herself healing from her specific injury; and to visualize performing specific skills in their sport to stay “fresh”.

Tips to Best Learn and Use Imagery:

• Be calm and relaxed: Imagery is most often effective when the mind is calm and the body is relaxed. If your body feels tense, take a few minutes to relax and get yourself focused.
• Use all the senses: Often, athletes only use their visual sense when imaging- seeing themselves perform. But equally important is feel, sound, thoughts, body position, and even smell and taste, as these are all part of the athletic experience.
• Control the Mental Images: In addition to vividness, being able to control images - making sure you see and feel yourself perform as you want to perform - is another vital piece of successful imagery.
• At first, keep imagery practice simple: It is generally best to first learn and practice imagery in a quiet environment with few distractions. Start by imaging basic objects or places such as your bedroom or a lemon. Try to manipulate the image - move the furniture in your room or peel the lemon. The key is to first learn how to create and recreate mental images. Later, this skill can be applied to swimming.
• Use movement: Make images more vivid by including some movement with the imagery - this can help create a body experience to match what is being imagined - which can strengthen the image itself. Given the physical nature of swimming including movements can be very helpful in increasing imagery effectiveness and self-awareness.
• Mental Imagery: Practice, practice, practice! Remember that, just like physical skills, mental imagery can only be improved through practice. Spend time every week working on imagery skills.

Download the Mental Imagary Handout for L1-2
Download the Mental Imagary Handout for L5-5

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Dryland Training:
What is it and why we do it

Swimming is a rigorous exercise that incorporates complex biomechanical movements. In order to swim efficiently a swimmer must possess technical skill, coordination & flexibility, muscular balance, and athletic ability. Swimming is unlike any other exercise because you have to use all of your large muscle groups simultaneously to propel you through the water. It takes years to learn how to do it well and a lifetime to master.

In case your athlete forgot to remind you, they work HARD in the water, chalking up some 15000 yards a week for our Gold swimmers. By the time they stand on the blocks for their last race of the Short Course Season, the top level swimmers will have swum over 300,000 yards in preparation.

As coaches, we always look to ways to increase performance and still maximise the time in the water - so for swimmers aged 10 and over, we have a dryland core strength training program. Despite the technical name, this is simply additional conditioning that a swimmer does out of the pool as a form of cross training. 

The goal of our dryland program is to stretch and strengthen muscles that are used in swimming. It works in tandem with the activities in the pool, enhancing performance, creating fluidity, momentum and functional strength while maintaining cardiovascular fitness and flexibility.

As with all our training, the dryland program is broken down into key components. Typically, we start with a general conditioning exercises that emphasis cardio fitness, then move on to flexibility/strength, and finally a power phase where the focus is on generating explosiveness.

But how do these components translate to improvement in the water?

Conditioning: Builds an endurance base and increases cardiovascular fitness so that swimmers are 'fit' to swim. In the pool we are currently working on a distance cycle, so overall fitness is crucial to a swimmers ability to swim far and fast.

Flexibility: Good flexibility is crucial for our swimmers, and a focal point for our dryland program. Where there is joint stiffness, muscles have to work harder and the body uses up valuable energy, which could otherwise be used to swim faster. A lack of flexibility restricts the extent to which a swimmer can extend in the water for efficient stroke technique and so not only do speed and endurance suffer, but there is also the potential for injury. 

By working on increasing the range of movement in the shoulder, spine and ankle joints, a swimmers technique should improve and they will be able to swim more efficiently for longer distances. These stretching exercises also prevent injuries like torn muscles and aching shoulder joints, which can be common amongst swimmers with poor flexibility.

Strength: Circuit training is a very effective to increase muscle endurance and strength. We practice strength-building exercises that incorporate the entire body because swimming is a whole body exercise. 

As movement in swimming is continuous, our strength training focuses on dynamic, continuous movements using the swimmers body weight instead of weight-lifting' in the traditional sense. 

Power: Swimming requires almost as much explosive power as it does endurance. The goal of the power phase is to develop that explosiveness so swimmers can focus it on every start and turn, and to be able to turn on the gas when it counts.

For our younger athletes, we do basic core conditioning exersises. This is an important part of swim training as it introduces our stroke school swimmers to the concept of core fitness, and helps themhave a greater awareness of how they use their body to propel themselves through the water.

Drills practiced during dryland translate into technical skills in the pool, enabling the swimmers to maintain their balance and body position in the water, and swim and turn more efficiently.

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Increasing Stamina
Learning to Swim Middle Distance Events

All the Seals swimmers train hard but middle distance swimming is particularly tricky - not quite a sprint, but not long distance either. It is the next step in an overall season plan that will encompass all areas of swimming, from General Conditioning, through the IM Tough Cycle, and later this year, a Sprint Cycle and a Long Course/Open Water Cycle. The intention behind the season plan is to give the Seals a taste of all the different opportunities available to them out there, as well as giving them a balanced swim education across all strokes.

"Not all swimmers are sprinters" says Coach Lisa MacLeod, "We want to give our athletes the chance to experience distance events, as well as shorter races. Otherwise, how will they know what their strengths are?"

These upper level swimmers are averaging 4000+ yards per practice, as they work on technique and stamina, as well as strategy for the longer events. As the work through a cycle swimmers are challenged with specific 'test' sets, so that coaches can evaluate their progress. The T-15 is a continuous 15 minute swim where the distance is recorded and compared to earlier attempts at the challenge. "We also do the X-test - where the swimmers have to swim 100 Free repeats on the lowest possible rest." commented MacLeod, "It gives the coaches a real-time assessment of how the swimmers are adapting to the training cycle, and allows us to make changes as necessary."

For the coaches, the challenge with a distance cycle is keeping up the swimmers motivation as the workouts get harder. "They have to stare at the bottom of the pool for a long time - counting tile, racking up the yards. Our job is to write workouts that effectively push the swimmers in the right direction, but also allow them to have fun. We usually plan for Fridays to be the 'Goof-Off' day - and the swimmers get to choose the games." Fun - yes, though they are still working hard without realizing it.

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