Top Tips for Fighting Fatigue
Top Tips for Fighting Fatigue
By Chris Rosenbloom//PHD, RDN, CSSD
A teen swimmer recently asked about fatigue, and if her diet could be contributing to poor recovery. She swims about nine practices a week. She eats 20 grams of protein after each practice, but is having a hard time recovering for the next swim practice.
Protein is important after workouts, but carbohydrate is equally, if not more, important. I hear too many swimmers say they are shunning carbs after reading a story in a magazine or on the Internet that carbs are bad. I think this misinformation flows from a poor understanding of how active muscles use fuel and how they recover after a hard workout. (Plus, the articles on carbs are usually targeted to overweight, inactive people who want to lose weight.)
Muscles use carbohydrate for fuel. The carbohydrate can come from food or drink (“exogenous”) or stored in the muscle as glycogen (“endogenous”). Body stores of carbs are limited so developing an eating plan to have enough carbohydrate in the body to meet the demands of the workout is important. Researchers call that “carbohydrate availability.” To make sure you have enough carbs to promote optimal training and recovery, try these strategies:
Learn more:
Protein is important after workouts, but carbohydrate is equally, if not more, important. I hear too many swimmers say they are shunning carbs after reading a story in a magazine or on the Internet that carbs are bad. I think this misinformation flows from a poor understanding of how active muscles use fuel and how they recover after a hard workout. (Plus, the articles on carbs are usually targeted to overweight, inactive people who want to lose weight.)
Muscles use carbohydrate for fuel. The carbohydrate can come from food or drink (“exogenous”) or stored in the muscle as glycogen (“endogenous”). Body stores of carbs are limited so developing an eating plan to have enough carbohydrate in the body to meet the demands of the workout is important. Researchers call that “carbohydrate availability.” To make sure you have enough carbs to promote optimal training and recovery, try these strategies:
Learn more:
