Diet question about people who compete?

[archiz]

ok I am not really in good shape but I have a competition on the 20th and 21th
so I wanted to know how do you prepare your diet before that.
like do you eat more pasta and carbs in general
and in the last day eat fast sugar
or what

Updates

+1 y

I have swimming sry *

[redeyemindtricks]

What you would IDEALLY want to do, here, would be some sort of "carb loading" protocol.

Long story made short:
Yr muscles store a certain amount of carbohydrate (in a form called "glycogen"), to produce instant energy for high-intensity stuff (sprints, races, etc).
Ordinarily, yr muscles can only store a certain amount of glycogen. But... If you (1) deplete that glycogen -- through practice/training -- AND THEN (2) replenish it by eating LOTS of carbohydrate soon before the competition, then yr muscles can actually temporarily store MORE than the usual amount.
That's the principle behind "carb loading".

For swimming in particular, though, you can't carb-load on a schedule that's TOO tight. If you try that -- like, just 1 day prior -- then you might go into the competition with cramps, bloating, etc.
Instead, the typical carb-loading schedule for swimmers is 3 days out.

This site gives some sample plans:
h2openmagazine.com/.../carb-loading-for-swimmers

This site talks about transitioning from the carb-load into the actual day of the competition:
www.active.com/.../an-open-water-swimmer-s-formula-for-race-day-fuel-876703

__

There is also a school of thought that says you should avoid carb-loading altogether -- especially if you aren't very experienced with it -- and instead just eat a more "balanced" diet that's high in carbs in general.

You can read about that here:
www.swimming.org/.../

Basically, if you were an élite swimmer with extensive carb-loading experience, then carb-loading would DEFINITELY be the way to go. But, if you haven't tried it before... you may want to stick with the more conservative option.

GL.

[archiz]

alright thanks a lot ;D

[redeyemindtricks]

Yw <3

[Everyonelovesjello]

Stack up on whey protein, don't go more than 2/3 days without exercising, you could even do light excercising as it would make a difference, set goals for example if you were to run 1 1/2 miles in 15mins, try to do it in 10 mins, porridge or bran flakes for breakfast, banana for lunch, protein and carbs for dinner, meat pasta bake cut down on the cheese, try to include fish etc. Keep it consistent too!

[Anonymous]

It depends on the nature of the activity. A good coach can tell you.

If you're doing long distance running, for example, you can do what is called carb-loading.

For swimming, again it depends on things like distance. If it is a long distance endurance event, some form of carb loading would be good, but only the last dinner before the event. Don't do it for days, that's counter productive. And avoid sugar.

[archiz]

no sweets :(
like chocolate and stuff
I always take those before or after training

[Opinion Owner]

After training is fine. You need a quick burst of energy and carbs to replace the blood sugar or glycogen you've burned off during training.

[archiz]

okidokie
thank you :)

[Other_Tommy_Wiseau]

Compete in what?

Your diet is semi important, but your grind is way more important. You can eat healthy all you want, but if you don't put in the training, the the diet doesn't mean shit. When I did track and football, just like now, my diet was terrible. But didn't really hurt me from being a really good athlete

[archiz]

swimming
but that s the issue I am not having much time to train
inly 2 times a week and I do 2 to 3 times gym too

[archiz]

I am gonna try to do at least 3 though until the race

[Other_Tommy_Wiseau]

If you have a swimming race and you haven't practiced that much, your diet isn't going to help you. The only thing is eat a lot of carbs the night before and stay away from dairy and orange juice the day of, unless you like puking. Is this a 1x thing or like a tough mudder type thing or charity? Or are you actually swimming competitively, like on a team?

[archiz]

what do you mean?
lol no I am on the team on the univ
I have 100m back or 50m back or bothstill didn t decide
100m butterfly
and relay

[Other_Tommy_Wiseau]

Lol! What do you mean, "what do you mean?" 😂

Just make sure you get your workouts and lifts in. That's the most important thing 👍. Get dat lactic acid work in 😬

[archiz]

I didn t get this " 1x thing or like a tough mudder type thing or charity" XD
plus what s a mudder XD
and okii thanks :)

[Other_Tommy_Wiseau]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5LGNR_Hmhmk

[archiz]

oh lol I love that!! :o

[Other_Tommy_Wiseau]

Good, cause you're gonna do it with me, right? 😬

I already had to miss out on spartan race a couple years back. 😔

[archiz]

lol I wish XD
I didn t know you re that much of an athlete ^^ way to go
I wish we had more events like that in lebanon

[wankiam]

eating sugar gives you a very short term boost but best results are achieved by cutting refined sugars completely from your diet so your body can process fats more efficiently giving you more energy, less body mass and more alertness. its hard work cutting sugar but the benefits are so worth it.

[archiz]

refined sugar?

[wankiam]

food with added sugar. main sugars to avoid are sucrose, dextrose and frutose. its a real joke that energy drinks are full of these sugars. if you can find it, watch a doc called 'that sugar film' and it will explain how it works better than i can. all i know is that i have been sugar free for three weeks now and i have never felt so alive. i feel fitter and like my mind is so switched on

[wankiam]

plus im losing my middle age spread

[nandinikhaneja]

eating pasta will not gain your weight, especially when you are having lot of vegetables in it, so before the competition you just need to eat extra vegetables and drinking lot of water, just don't eat meat which will increase your calorie or fat, and just taking 1-2 spoon of sugar will not increase your weight..

[PoorCollegeStudent]

Read what Michael Phelps eats for competition. He carb loads the night before like his life depends on it. Pasta pasta pasta.

[PoorCollegeStudent]

Oh you're wanting to do it for swimming well then definitely look at Michael Phelps haha

[archiz]

hahaha :P

[TripleAce]

It depends what you need to win. Do you need muscle. Do you need to have endurance, is it a sprint? Or marathon endurance?

[archiz]

sprints
I have 50 or/and 100m back
100m butterfly
and relay crawl/back depends

[TripleAce]

Sprints huh. Ok. What you wanna do is increase atp in your body. It's a natural occuring susbtance called creatine. You can find it in red meats but you'd have to eat quite a bit. If you want buy a small box of creatine at your local natural store or sports supplement. That will help you immensly to have the required energy to push through, and yes its natural

Id probably take the next couple of weeks to work hard on cardio and lap sprinting. You can do it on a intermittent fasting technique to increase your growth hormones to produce more muscle and lower fat. You don't really have much time though

You're best best would creatine and everyday lap sprinting and cardio if there is endurance involved

Im not really sure the type of diet you should be on

[TripleAce]

But surely you'll need lots of carbs for the day of to push hard

[archiz]

what do you mean by intermittent fasting

[Xfitchick]

What kind of competition? That will determine your energy needs.

[archiz]

swimming

[Xfitchick]

Eat indeed enough carbs that week to load your muscles. The same day, eat some spaghtetti or other fast digestive stuff. Take enough proteins in small portions to keep your muscle mass uo to level and don't overtrain that week.

[archiz]

I shouldn t do lapses or so?

[Xfitchick]

Everything is OK as long as it is maintenance training. You don't want to break-up muscle tissue that week because it will not have time to recover for the competition.

[archiz]

okii got it
thanks :)

[Chico_brah]

Keep your GMO down and anything that makes you retain water. You want nutritionally rich foods. Everything has to be whole. No processed anything.

[Yumix]

"ok I am not really in good shape..."

stopped reading after that

[archiz]

not to compete lol

[Welladjustedeyes]

Body building competition? If so hell no. No carbs for you

[archiz]

no swimming lol

[Phoenix98]

We never really did any special dieting for when I competed of course my competitions are more about skill then endurance and speed like swimming is.

[akadatank44]

Id just carb load right before the competition. Like the night before

[Decentguy]

you dont need carbs that much, just eat clean and healthy food, but its more about skills than food

[Roadcruiser1]

Diets actually require more protein. You consume meat, because it fills you sweetie.

[Anonymous]

Exercise, no sugar or starches.
Eat healthy.

[Opinion Owner]

thanks and good luck to u.

[archiz]

thanks :)

[SlightlyCrazy]

What kind of competition

[archiz]

swimming

[SlightlyCrazy]

If it's a short completion lots of complex carbs and protein. Right before is your preference but many like a little caffeine

[archiz]

okii thanks

[Anonymous]

post pic of muscles :)

[archiz]

lol answer the question boyo

[Opinion Owner]

lol ok just go to this link

drugs (dot) com/cg/pre-competition-meals-for-athletes. html

[Blueeyes2016]

I can't send you pm

[archiz]

yea cause I dont follow you lol
what do you wanna say

[Blueeyes2016]

You should follow😛