Bradley Phillips
As I have become a more experienced swimmer, I have come to realize how important my actions out of the water are in addition to those in it. You can be the hardest worker on the team during practice, but if you are not taking the proper steps out of the pool to be successful, reaching your goals will be very tough. For that reason, I’ve paid a lot more attention to my nutritional habits, in order to maximize my abilities in the water this year.
At U-Va., we’re blessed to have one of the best sports nutrition departments in the country, led by Randy Bird. He works with all of the student-athletes (student comes first!) at U-Va. to optimize their diet for peak performance and training. Not many NCAA athletic programs have a full-time nutritionist, so this is a huge benefit for us. Virginia student-athletes are also fortunate to have a athletic dining hall open every school night for dinner that has a menu specifically selected for us to get the proper nutrition.
I met with Randy at the beginning of the year because I was interested in improving my eating habits, and also just to take advantage of the resources I have at my disposal. We discussed the foods I was eating everyday and what was good and bad about those. I learned that I have very simple tastes. I pretty much eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch everyday!
He suggested some tweaks in my diet to help me feel better and give me more energy for practice. Some of the suggestions were simple to follow common sense, like eliminating sugary cereals for breakfast, and replacing them with whole grains or oatmeal.
Others were more complex and had to do with the timing of when my body should receive the proper nutrients during the day.
For example, I’ve been trying to eat a complex carb 30 minutes before practice in order to give me sustained energy throughout the whole workout. This helps a lot with the last part of practice, when I would usually lose focus and tire, but now I’m keeping my intensity up and not fading as much. After practice, I’ve been working on getting some protein and carbs in my body to help my muscles recover immediately after our workout ends. This goes for weightlifting sessions too, because they can break your body down very fast if you’re not careful.
From when I wake up in the morning to when my head hits the pillow at night, I have a fairly specific and precise idea of what fuel I’m going to put into my body in order to best help me reach my goals.
Click here to read Bradley’s previous blog post…
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Tags: Amanda Kendall, Behind the Blocks, Bradley Phillips, Michael Flach
stats corner
I hope everyone is reading these blogs. Their is no better way for high school swimmers that aspire to swim at this level to get a glimpse into the life of a collegiate athlete. Maybe some of the parents would be better off spending their time reading this series then getting into a pissing contest over who does and doesnt get mentioned.
I have the utmost respect for all these athletes , their hard work and dedication,and wish them the best of luck at their conference meets and hopefully NCAA’s.
Question, what kind of yardage does each of them do at their respective practices?