Getting Fit For Swim team

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DEE0KALI
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Getting Fit For Swim team

Post by DEE0KALI »

Hey guys, Kali here. I'm new to the forum so sorry if this is in the wrong area. Pretty much what I was wondering was what you guys suggest for getting in shape for Next years swim team season. We don't have an indoor pool anywhere so it's kind of complicated to prepare. I'm pretty out of shape because I missed this last season due to issues with work.
I'm a 17 yr old about 6'2" and 250lbs. main issue is with cardio, I can lift quite a bit. I'm assuming it's a cardio issue because after a hard practice, or a race where I was pushing myself a little too far, I have to tendency to vomit... Doesn't matter what I eat or drink if I eat anything.
Thanks in advance everyone, let me know If there's any info I left out.
-KALI
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Boss Man
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Re: Getting Fit For Swim team

Post by Boss Man »

Hey Kali, good to talk to you.

I'd say keep working on the strength aspects of it and maybe try adding 2-3 exercise bike sessions in to improve stamina.

As for the diet there's nothing major to avoid apart from the obvious things, but one thing to definitely avoid is caffeinated drinks, for several reasons.

Caffeine blocks your iron intake which could affect erythrocyte, (red blood cell), production and erythrocytes transport oxygen around the body, so it could affect the amount of oxygen your brain and muscles could get.

Also iron help produce myoglobin a substance that helps store oxygen in your muscles.

Also ATP, a substance that helps muscles contract, carries oxygen molecules, so that could be negatively affected.

You could also increase how quickly the body can produce lactic acid, as the body would be trying to break down your stored muscle glucose, (glycogen), into end products and when oxygen depletion occurs the body can't do this very well and this causes lactic acid, (the burn).

Caffeine also constricts the blood vessels, so that would slow down how quickly the brain and muscles get oxygen.

Lowered oxygen could affect VO2 max, the amount of oxygen the body can use in a minute per kg of mass.

So if you take any sort of caffeinated drinks on board or use caffeine pills, then stop that as it will have the potential to negatively affect your performance.
Alinshop
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Re: Getting Fit For Swim team

Post by Alinshop »

Good luck with your goals. Swimming is great exercise. Fly used to be fav stroke. Ever swim the 100 IM?
DEE0KALI
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Re: Getting Fit For Swim team

Post by DEE0KALI »

Boss Man,
That is alot of new info!

Funny that you mention caffiene. family actually owns an espresso stand which I work at year round, meaning lots of coffee. Never knew that it had that big of an effect on performance. During swim season I usual get up by like 4:30-5:00 so i have time to get to the pool by like 6:00am, (I ride bike quite a ways, and do lap swim for an hour before practice.), i practicaly live off of redbull, lol. NO MORE!
So would cutting caffiene help with losing weight as well? I know not having the sugars and stuff in those drinks is obviosly better for weight loss, but does caffeine by itself have any affect on it?

I had another question as well. I'm planning on drasticaly changing diet, mostly to see how much more conditioned and "streamlined" I can get before the swim season. Is there anything specific that i should be looking for? Like, I heard that things like fish and chicken are best for muscle building. Should i really be trying to build muscle, or should I be more worried about losing weight/fat?

Thanks tons for the abundance of information,
-KALI
DEE0KALI
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Re: Getting Fit For Swim team

Post by DEE0KALI »

AlinShop,
Thats crazy, the fly is like the baine of existence!!
I actualy like the backstroke MUCH more, I can barely get out of the water on the fly, lol. Most of strength is in shoulders and upper arms so backstroke is much easier for me. I actualy hold the fastest time for backstroke on team currently. Maybe thats why i like it so much, it's the only one i can do with any speed. :D
Roby2015
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Re: Getting Fit For Swim team

Post by Roby2015 »

Alinshop-Fly was stroke too! ...It was also the stroke that I dislocated a shoulder in (yah, that's right, I hurt myself swimming LOL) sigh, that's what happens when you don't warm up properly and try to show off :oops:

Kali - In area they have a masters swim program (adult swim team) - if there is one in your area they might have suggestions for cross training
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Boss Man
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Re: Getting Fit For Swim team

Post by Boss Man »

In relation to your comment Kali, I am not aware of any direct influence on fat loss from caffeine, but hot beverages could help as they would increase for a temporary time your thermogenic environment, so things like hot orange as an example might be things to consider as would soups, but if you have soups, avoid the ones that are called "cream of"

You can also increase fat burning potential with cayenne pepper as that effects on thermogenesis so I believe.

Muscle building would be beneficial for fat loss, as 1lb of added muscle helps to burn an extra 45-50 calories per day, so you could focus on that whilst tweaking the diet.

There are plenty of sources for protein, most notably, beef, pork, chicken, eggs, fish, and chicken, but you get small amounts in things like legumes, including peanuts, wheat, nuts, broccoli, rice and dairy, so there's plenty of options.

Calcium particularly from dairy but possibly from other sources has been shown to help excrete more fat in danish studies conducted around 10 or so years back, so more is better, but not too much, so therefore dairy would be a useful addition if you can tolerate it, but calcium is in many things including shellfish, nuts, peanuts, grapefruit and pink grapefruit
Alinshop
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Re: Getting Fit For Swim team

Post by Alinshop »

DEE0KALI wrote:AlinShop,
Thats crazy, the fly is like the baine of existence!!
I actualy like the backstroke MUCH more, I can barely get out of the water on the fly, lol. Most of strength is in shoulders and upper arms so backstroke is much easier for me. I actualy hold the fastest time for backstroke on team currently. Maybe thats why i like it so much, it's the only one i can do with any speed. :D
Very impressive! Breast stroke used to be absolute worst stroke, so much in fact that it would slow 100 IM down. It made me learn how to swim faster during fly, back and freestyle though! :)
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