Energy output versus one’s necessary energy intake is typically gauged by how much someone sweats. But the balance can be difficult to gauge for athletes whose sport is underwater.

Triathlete Van Fletcher first fell in love with the pool at age 6.

At age 49, Fletcher said he has learned the way he needs to fuel his body now is entirely different.

“The sport has improved a lot in the mechanics of swimming and even training philosophy. Nutrition has improved a ton, that’s where I’ve really seen a big difference,” said Fletcher.

The athlete explained he now puts more of a focus on what he eats outside of the pool.

“When I was young, I might drink a Gatorade or I might just drink water, my nutrition was sort of an afterthought: not anymore,” he said.

Talking to WRAL News, Fletcher recalled a time during a race last year when his nutrition made the difference between a competitive score and not having the right fuel to finish.

“I did an ironman in July of last year,” recalled Fletcher. “I was having a great race up until I got to the run portion. My body just sort of stopped working. It wasn’t will or toughness, it was as if I couldn’t make my body run and I was really discouraged.”

He continued, “I had a coach who was helping me and he said later, do an autopsy and see what you think went wrong.”

Fletcher said he realized he didn’t have the energy needed to finish how he wanted because he hadn’t been eating and drinking properly.

After making tweaks to his nutrition plan, he decided to compete in an Ultraman competition.

“Day one is a 6.2 mile swim and 90 mile bike. Day two is a 175 mile bike and day three is a double marathon,” shared Fletcher.

The athlete went on to finish first and credits his support team for keeping him on track with his nutrition plan throughout the race.

“There were a lot of great takeaways to that, but nutrition was such a huge piece,” he said. “People can be in the best shape of their life but if they don’t have their electrolytes in balance and they’re not saying hydrated, you’ll fizzle and you’ll burn.”

Fletcher also shared he did what is called a ‘sweat test’ to determine how much fluid he was losing during the swimming portion of his training and events.

The test is used to help gauge fluid and sodium loss. It can be helpful for some athletes to better tailor their nutrition plan to reach peak performance.

The test is also used to help diagnose cystic fibrosis.

A lot of people think you lose just salt, sodium, but you’re actually losing other minerals so I’m really mindful that whatever I’m taking in needs to have potassium and magnesium as well,” explained Fletcher.

Registered dietitian Addie Claire Jones said sweat tests can be helpful for cross-sport athletes but can be unreliable solely for swimmers.

“Most of the times when we’re doing sweat testing, it’s a sticker somewhere and for swimmers that doesn’t work,” said Jones.

The Raleigh-based health professional works with athletes of all ages and skills with a large client base of swimmers.

“One swimmer’s nutrition is not going to be the same as the next,” said Jones.

She explained tailoring nutrition plans varies heavily on multiple factors for swimmers including age, weight, gender and the kind of event they compete.

“With kids who are still growing, the way we calculate their needs is extremely different. They’re getting actively different which at 49 or 29 even, we’re not getting actively taller,” she said.

Jones continued, “Swimming nutrition is a lot like running nutrition in the sense that you’re going to have some swimmers that are your power athletes. For track it would be like a shot-put athlete or a sprinter, and you’re also going to have your endurance athlete.”

Jones said to tailor a plan appropriately for each swimmer, she needs to know what their longest event is.

“Is it 15 seconds if things are going well, or is it 5 minutes? The way we’re going to fuel that is very different. The way we’d fuel their dry land and gym training is going to be very different too,” she explained.

In general, Jones said a dietitian working with a swimmer would start with macronutrients.

“Making sure they’re getting enough carbohydrates for fuel and protein and healthy fats for recovery,” she said. “Then we look at micronutrients as well. For female athletes at that age we’re making sure their hormone levels are at a healthy place to prevent amenorrhea.”

Jones agreed with Fletcher in highlighting the importance of hydration, especially for swimmers who cannot always gauge their fluid loss during exercise.

Jones recommends a baseline of half a swimmer’s bodyweight in ounces of water with an additional 20 ounces of water per hour of exercise.

For swim meets lasting several hours, Jones recommends eating more carbohydrates about three hours before a big race with smaller snacks between events.

“We’re looking for quick carbohydrates to fuel explosive performance,” explained Jones.

She said some examples include an applesauce pouch, a sports drink that has real sugar in it, or a plain bagel.

For athletes newer to their fitness journey who are looking to increase performance, Jones recommends the 30-30-30-30 rule.

“It’s 30 grams of carbs 30 minutes before you exercise, 30 grams of carbs 30 minutes after you exercise,” said Jones. “Is that perfect for everyone? No, but it’s a great place to start.”

She continued, “Our muscles and our brain run exclusively on glucose so we need those carbs. Some athletes who are doing more endurance exercise also need fat for fuel. For my marathon runners or a triathlete we would start, especially after that first hour of exercise, adding a little bit of fat. It’s a delicate balance.”

Jones said it’s always a good idea to talk to a registered dietitian who specializes in your area of need.

“At least meet with a dietitian one time and find out what your basal metabolic rate is,” said Jones. “Once you have that knowledge, you can apply it across the training cycle.”

She added, “Ask questions to someone who specializes in this field because even within dietitians there are some that focus on kidney health, some that focus on cardiovascular health and some that focus on sports. Just like how sometimes you go to your primary care provider but sometimes you need a specialist, same goes for registered dietitians.”

Fletcher agreed, warning other athletes not to try and change too much on their own too fast.

Source: wral.com