Sports nutrition rules: Hydration & Fluid Replacement Hydration

Staying hydrated is essential for everyone, but athletes have an even greater need to maintain proper hydration. Water is the most important nutrient for life and has many important functions including regulating temperature, lubricating joints and transporting nutrients and waste throughout the body.
Hydration during Exercise
Staying hydrated is particularly important during exercise. Adequate fluid intake is essential to comfort, performance and safety. The longer and more intensely you exercise, the more important it is to drink the right kind of fluids.

During Competition & Drinking Before

When preparing to compete at a swimming competition you need to pay careful attention to what you eat. Read on to find out what to eat the day before the event and during the day.

The Day Before

When competition time comes round, you’ll have plenty on your mind already. So the day before the event, keep exercise to a minimum – if anything at all – and eat meals and snacks high in complex carbohydrates. You need to keep those glycogen stores topped up.

• Try to stick to familiar foods. Curries, spicy foods, baked beans and pulses (unless you are used to eating them) can cause gas and bloating, so avoid eating anything that may cause stomach discomfort the next day. It’s best to stick to foods that you are familiar and compatible with!
• Eat little and often – every two to four hours to keep your blood sugar levels steady and fuel your muscles in preparation for your event.
• Drink fluids little and often to stay properly hydrated..
• Avoid big meals or over-eating in the evening – this will almost certainly make you feel uncomfortable and lethargic the next day.

The Morning of the Event

• If you’re really struggling, try liquid meals such as milkshakes, yoghurt drinks or a smoothie.
• Don’t swim on empty. Even if you feel nervous, make breakfast happen. Stick to easily digested foods – cereal with milk, porridge, banana with yoghurt, some fruit or toast with jam.
• It’s a good idea to rehearse your competition meal routine in training so you know exactly what agrees with you.

Snacks Between Heats

• High fat and simple sugar foods will do you no favours in competition – instead search out the complex carbohydrates again.
• Try to eat as soon as possible after your swim to give yourself as long as possible to recover if you have to swim again..
• If you can’t stomach anything solid try sports drinks, flavoured milk or diluted juice that will help replenish your energy supplies and assist the recovery of aching muscles.

The list below offers great food options to be snacking on in and around training for a competition. Remember to keep eating healthy foods from your regular diet though, such as fresh vegetables, nuts and fruits

Drinking after Competition

Within two hours after the event you should aim to consume 100-200 grams of carbohydrate. Muscles are depleted of carbohydrate stores, which need to be replenished as quickly as possible. Sometimes it can be impractical or unpalatable to eat a large meal immediately afterwards. High carbohydrate drinks offer a convenient alternative.
The sports drinks mentioned in the table above are good but this is one of the few occasions when taking a high carbohydrate drink is preferable.
Make your own sports drink
Sports drinks are really easy to make - not to mention a lot cheaper than buying expensive bottles in shops
All you need are a few ingredients and a little bit of imagination.
There are three main types of sports drinks; isotonic, hypertonic and hypotonic.
Each drink serves a different purpose depending on what type of training you are doing