Nutritional Principles of Adolescent Swimmers

Abstract

Adolescence is a period between age 10 and 19. Intensive changes associated with the development of the organism influence the nutritional needs during this period. Young swimmers' training is characterized by large volume, so their diet can play an important role in their results and future career. The energy intake of a developing athlete should be determined individually based on gender, anthropometric measurement, character, and number of workouts per day. The frequent presence of drowsiness and fatigue during training may indicate insufficient dietary energy supply. Dehydration exceeding 2% of body weight should be prevented. Isotonic drinks should only be consumed during training longer than 75 minutes. Young swimmers should consume adequate amounts of carbohydrates to restore glycogen reserves before another training unit. Carbohydrates with a high glycemic index of 1-1.2 g/kg b.w./h should be delivered during the post-training period. Immediately following training, a meal containing a complete protein should be consumed to accelerate post-exercise recovery. The total protein supply should be at least 1.2 g/kg b.w./h. The minimum intake of fat in the diet of a young swimmer should be 2 g/kg lean b.w. It is recommended to limit products containing large amounts of saturated fatty acids.

Energy and Macronutrient Intake of Men Volleyball Players in Ethiopian Premier League

“…Carbohydrate is a main and immediate source of fuel for short, intensive exercise [19,7]. Volleyball game dominantly utilize of an aerobic energy, are 90% phosphocreatine system and 10% glycolysis system [24] In adequate carbohydrate meal diminishes blood glucose level, liver and muscle glycogen stores as a result of low body energy production [27,28], accordingly, both hypoglycemia and muscle glycogen depletion significantly affect exercise performance [15].…”

Plasma Amino Acids and Acylcarnitines Are Associated with the Female but Not Male Adolescent Swimmer’s Performance: An Integration between Mass Spectrometry and Complex Network Approaches

“…In an exercise-nutrition context, the science surrounding nutritional recommendations for the adolescent swimmer is present. While carbohydrates of high glycemic index of 1–1.2 g per kilogram of body mass per hour should be consumed after training, the protein supply during the same period must reach 1.2 g per kilogram of body mass per hour; regarding the daily fat intake, 2 g per kilogram of lean body mass are recommended [ 5 ]. However, competitive teenage swimmers can be exposed to massive physical training volumes [ 6 ], requiring adjustments in their diet to achieve better performance and growth development [ 7 ].…”