Hi everyone. As people are getting in shape, I need to really harp on nutrition. What I am seeing happen is athletes giving me all they have in the first few weeks but still eating the same foods that they ate while they were lounging in the summer; not using nearly as many calories as they are using now. YOU NEED TO REPLENISH, or risk easy injury, sickness or worse.
Think of your body as a bank; you can only spend that you have in your account. Your body is much the same way with energy. If you do not keep putting money into your account, you eventually go into negative (...don't I know it). If you do not put back into your body what you have used, you have nothing to build and repaire muscle tissue and other valuable tissue you are training to improve. I thoroughly believe that I was malnurished as an athlete, which resulted in my early exit from the sport. PLEASE don't let this happen to you. Take your nutirtion seriously! You're working harder and more now than you were in the summer. It makes sense to be eating more.
And not just more... healthy. A big Mac will give you calories, but won't help repaire broken down muscle tissue (as well as other foods). Please be smart about this!
Another contraversy is when I mentioned that Chocolate Milk was a good replenishment drink: apparently a lot of parents don't believe this, but science says it is true. I, myself, do not drink milk for my own medical reasons, but studies have shown that this acts very well to replace everything you want to replace. Parents, your kids will love you for this! Pack them some for the day or bring it to them for when workout is done. REPLENISHMENT MUST BE MADE WITHIN 30MIN OF THE END OF A TRAINING SESSION. It is very easy to purchase a large pack of small cartons and bring them to the pool when you pick up your athlete. I'm sure most athletes think that there is no better way to say that you love them than with some chocolate milk.
I am sure that there are still skeptics. Check out the links and video below. There is science behind it (although in the interest of full disclosure, the study was funded by a dairy commission).
http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20060224/chocolate-milk-new-sports-drink
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/24/health/webmd/main1342839.shtml
http://peakperformance-ca.blogspot.com/2010/08/chocolate-milk-for-optimal-recovery.html
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/152240.php
Please make sure that your athlete doesn't just have a full stomach, but has a stomach full of building blocks... something that will help them recover and to be better! Good recovery nutrition adds years to an athlete's career.
Mike Thompson
Head Coach
HHBF
