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The Top Ten Questions Asked by Athletes and Parents
by Wayne Goldsmith
During a four-year period (1994-1997). I was employed as the Sports
Science Co-Ordinator for Australian Swimming Incorporated. My job involved
working with swimmers and coaches in the areas of sports science, testing,
talent identification, and athlete education. Often, when travelling
around Australia, I would visit swim clubs and work directly with swimmers,
coaches and families. The aim of these visits would be to talk to
athletes, coaches, administrators and especially parents about important issues
in sport. Topics discussed range from strength training to nutrition,
sports drinks to drugs in sport, and many, many other pertinent and topical
sport issues. I was fortunate to visit about 250 sporting clubs around
Australia and have spoken with many coaches, hundreds of athletes and thousands
of parents. In recent years I have been honoured to be asked to speak with
swimming families in other countries.
Whether I am talking with clubs in Perth or Melbourne, Zimbabwe or Zaire,
Saipan or Sydney, talking with city or country clubs, elite athletes or young
athletes, there are several questions that keep popping up during question time.
This article tries to briefly answer the ten questions I am most asked.
- How
many training sessions should my son or daughter do each week?
- When
should my son or daughter start strength training? What type of
strength training is best for young athletes?
- What
should I eat before, during and after training and competition
- What
can I do to help my son or daughter achieve their best in sport?
- Are
there any characteristics common among champion athletes
- What
about sport drinks? What's in them? Do they work? What is
the best brand?
- If
my son or daughter is sick or injured, how do I know if the medications they
take are safe (i.e. do not contain banned substances)?
- My
son/daughter loves take-out fast food. Are there any that are better
than others?
- When
should my son or daughter specialize in a particular sport? When
should they specialize in a swimming stroke or swimming event?
- Are
vitamin and mineral supplements necessary? If so, what should my
son/daughter take?
The short answer is.... as many as the coach recommends. However, there
is no one right answer to this question. The basic training principle of
individualisation tells us that every athlete is unique. Eight sessions
per week for on athlete may be ideal, for another it may not be enough, for yet
another it may be excessive. In addition each sport has unique
demands. There are, however, a few guidelines:
- Most sports are built around skills and techniques. No matter how
many sessions are done, how many kilometres are covered, how much wight is
lifted, the most important aspect of many sports is good technique.
- The body will respond to the stresses and loads placed upon it, providing
it is given enough time and the right conditions to recover and adapt.
In other words, the more training, the more emphasis on rest and recovery.
- MORE TRAINING SESSIONS ARE THE LAST OPTION
This last guideline is perhaps the most important. Too many coaches,
when faced with the situation of athletes not improving, add training sessions
to solve the problem, believing that more work means better athletes.
Before adding extra training sessions to the athlete's program, coaches
should ask themselves these questions.
Is their sport technique as good as it could be? Are their competition
skills as good as they could be? Is their flexibility as good as it could
be? Is their diet as good as it could be?
Is their attitude to training as good as it could be? Are they
completing the work they are doing now as good as they could be?
Do they get to training on time?
Do they perform all drills and skills 100% correctly?
If the answers to all these questions is YES, then consider adding another
session to the program. If the answer to any of these
questions is NO, correct the problem before adding more work.
The coach is the best judge of appropriate training strategies. As with
all training, strength training should start with the basics: good technique,
control and safety. When people think about strength training they usually think
about big hulks of muscle like Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, strength
training is not just throwing huge stacks of weights around. Strength training
can be exercises like sit ups, push ups, chin ups, dips, jumps, hops, skips,
climbing ropes, using swim rubbers/bands and throwing medicine balls.
There are several myths about strength training:
- Strength training turns you into a huge body-builder-sized muscle monster
- Strength training is unsuitable for females
- Strength training should not be started until late teens
- Strength training decreases flexibility
- Strength training slows you down
Clearly these myths are not founded in any scientific truth or logic.
Strength training is a great supplement to specific sports training and used in
addition to a sound, well-structured training program can help athletes achieve
their best.
There are several good books on this subject and I will not attempt to write
a long article on nutrition when outstanding authors like Louise Burke, Nancy
Clarke and Karen Inge have well and truly covered this in their own
writings. There are a few general guidelines that may be useful:
- Before training, eat a light meal like fruit, read or a light cereal.
Particularly before morning training, when your body has not been recharged
for 8 to 10 hours, try to eat something light. If you do not feel like
eating, try drinking juice or one of the sports drinks. Many people do not
feel like eating early in the morning, but it is something you can get used
to
- During training, rehydration is the number one priority, with water number
one as a rehydrator. Sports drinks may also have a role during training (see
below).
- Recent research tells us that immediately after training, your body is
very receptive to the replenishment of energy. Thus, the consumption of a
carbohydrate fuel source that is readily broken down and rapidly absorbed is
very important. Again, sports drinks may have a role to play in the rapid
replenishment of muscle Glycogen. Similarly fruit, fruit based snack packs
and fruit puree may also assist in the rapid replenishment of energy.
Another issue is what to eat between events or games or races at a
competition. Athletes should make sure that their bag is full of good sources of
fuel when going to competitions. Sandwiches, noodles, rice, pasta, fruit, sports
drinks, low fat milk based energy drinks all need to be on hand for the athletes
to eat during those long days at the competition.
It is important that good food is available for athletes at meets at all
times. Despite lots of education to athletes and coaches, the foods that sell
best at most competitions are usually meat pies, sausage rolls, hot dogs, hot
chips, chocolate bars and ice cream: all great sources of fat and not the sort
of fuel needed to produce fast times and winning performances.
In three words, be Supportive, Encouraging and Positive. As a guide:
- Be patient with progress
- Be tolerant of mistakes and poor performances
- Be calm and dignified at sporting events
- Learn to accept wins or losses graciously
- Allow (the athletes) plenty of breathing space
- Offer praise with success
- Encourage involvement in other pursuits
- Encourage independence and self-sufficiency
- Above all, keep sport in perspective
- Be supportive rather than intrusive
There have been many books written on this topic and every coach has an idea
of what makes a champion. To some it is an attitude; to some, a physical
capacity like height, VO2 Max, or muscular strength; to others is is an
indefinable quality that encompasses determination, character, drive and guts.
We have had champion athletes who were tall, others short, some were lean and
wory, others strong and muscular, some very young and others mature. Swimming
has produced champions of all shapes and sizes. Waht the coach needs to know is
how to recognize the gifted athlete and how best to nurture the talented athlete
towards his or her potential. This can come in many forms.
Some years ago I was lucky enough to spend an hour with John Carew, coach of
dual Olympic gold medallist Kieren Perkins, at a swimming camp. I told him that
I often travel around and speak to athletes and coaches about sport and as the
coach of Kieren Perkins was there something he wanted me to say to these groups
around Australia? He said "Tell them this: No athlete will ever reach their
full potential without good technique and good skills."
The coach cannot influence the genetic makeup of the athlete. The coach has
limited control over many of the athlete's lifestyle choices. However, the coach
has a major influence over the technique development of the athlete and in this
area has the opportunity to develop the potential champion into the gold medal
winner.
Sports drinks have hit the market with a bang over the past year. Their
sweet sugary taste plus the association between the drinks and sporting
champions like Michael Jordan have seen them compete directly with some of the
soft drink manufacturers for a share of the drinks market. Recent research tells
us a few things about sports drinks:
- Regardless of the brand name they all contain approximately the same
ingredients, contain about the same concentration of sugar (approx 8%-12%)
and no one brand appears to have an advantage over the others. In other
words, THEY ARE ALL BASICALLY THE SAME!
- The concentration of sugar at around 8%-12% means that they are a little
too concentrated to be effectively utilized as a fuel replacement during
intense exercise. The best idea is to buy the powdered or concentrated form
of the product and make it up to a lower concentration than the ready-made
stuff (i.e. to about 1/2 strength or even lower).
- The sugar content makes them likely candidates for promoting dental decay.
Water is still the best for rehydration and no amount of sports drink will
turn your athletes into Jenny Thompson or Ian Thorpe. The important think with
rehydration is to ensure that the athletes all have plastic drink bottles at
training at every session, that they drink the fluid in the bottles and that
they do not waste it all by squirting it on other training partners.
A good general guide for effective rehydration is that athletes should weigh
roughly the same at night as they did in the morning. Athletes should weigh
themselves first thing in the morning (after they go to the toilet but before
eating) and again just before bedtime. Weight losses over the day will be mainly
attributable to fluid losses. Athletes should make sure that before they go to
bed that they have drunk enough fluid to replace these losses.
Sports drinks may have a role in providing a means for the rapid
replenishment of energy stores immediately following training and racing
(remember to keep the concentration low).
A final note on sports drinks: If you intend to use them at a competition,
try them first during training. Experiment with the concentration and quantity
of the drink that you feel is of benefit to you and try them over the weeks
dealing up to the competition.
There is no evidence to suggest that steroid abuse is rampant in junior
swimming. The "doping" issue that athletes are likely to come across
is that of "inadvertent doping" i.e. unknowingly taking products that
contain banned substances. Several popular brand name products for colds and flu
contain substances that are banned and problems arise when athletes take these
products to provide relief from symptoms such as runny nose and sore throat.
Make 100% certain that any medications you take have been cleared by a
qualified medical practitioner as safe for athletes to take. Get in the habit of
asking your doctor if any of the medications being prescribed contain substances
that are banned for athletes. Keep up to date with drugs-in-sport regulations
and guidelines as determined by FINA, your national and regional swimming
association and your club. If you are taking any medications, inform your
coach and team manager immediately - particularly if you are taking medications
and competing. Never take any medications, even seemingly harmless ones or
herbal medications, unless they were prescribed specifically for you and you
know exactly what is in them!
Whilst I cannot say for certain, I would think that most great athletes have
the occasional indulgence with junk food. Pizzas, hamburgers, fried chicken,
soft drinks, chocolate and other tasties are marketed through the papers, on TV
and radio and have had a big impact on the eating habits of the nation over the
past 10 years. Leading nutitionists will advise that if kids want to have junk
occasionally it is probably not going to hurt them too much. For example,
if they have eaten well all week, rehydrated at every opportunity, eaten lots of
fresh fruit, grains, cereals, vegetables, lean protein etc, than a few slices of
pizza on Friday night may be OK.
Where we have to be careful is when kids are eating some rubbish every day
believing it doesn't affect them because they train so hard. This is a real
worry.
My Mum used to say "What you eat today, walks and talks tomorrow".
That is, everything you eat is used in some way by your body. If you want your
body to be strong and grow and keep healthy, then eat the right foods. It is
even more important with athletes where the demands of energy production and
muscle development are very high. I have heard legendary swimming coach Bill
Sweetenham say on more than one occasion: "Do not put low performance fuel
in a high performance engine".
As for what junk food is the best. I cannot say for sure. However, we should
teach the kids to try and take the low-fat option every time. If they must have
a hamburger, get one at a milk bar (instead of one of the big chains), ask for
no butter on the bun and extra salad. If they must have take-out chicken, get
charcoal grilled and remove the skin. If they must have a pizza, get vegetarian
with extra vegetables and ask for half the cheese. If they must have chips, buy
wedges instead of french fries as the reduced surface area means less fat (or
better still, make homemade oven baked wedges at home).
Try to get away from the idea of food as a reward. Sports parents keep the
chocolate bar people in business by offering the as rewards for PBs. This
develops a mentality that reinforces junk food as a good option and associates
junk food with the positive experience of sport.
It is easy to place kids in a category based on success in a particular
sport. Often parents will assume that a none year old who wins junior
breaststroke events will be an international breaststroke star in senior
swimming. Senior, experienced coaches often comment that this is rarely the
case. Differences in limb lengths, muscle size and shape, range of motion around
joints, training background, and genetics all have a role in this issue.
General guidelines:
- Changes in the size and shape of an athlete during adolescence and growth
mean that today's football star may be tomorrow's swimmer and vice versa.
This season's freestyler may be next season's butterfly star. Try not to
label athletes as one thing or the other until fully matured.
- Train all athletes in the basics of flexibility, body awareness, core body
strength and self-monitoring.
- Stress technique development and skill refinement at all times
- Work on improving flexibility in all muscle groups ad around all joints
- Swimmers (pre-puberty) should be encouraged to train as middle distance
freestylers and medley swimmers. This approach gives them the endurance base
that will be important for all swimming distances and the medley swimming
gives them the swimming skills in all strokes.
In an ideal world, where kids eat three balanced meals per day with lots of
fresh fruit and vegetables and grains and get lots of rest, there is probably no
need to worry about vitamin and mineral supplementation. However, as this is the
exception rather than the rule, the need for some form of supplementation may
arise from time to time. During periods of high training stress, for example,
vitamin and mineral supplements may be of some use to boost the immune system.
In cases of dietary deficiency, they may also be of some use. However, in many
cases, taking mega doses of vitamins means that you are just making very
expensive urine!
Before spending a lot of money on supplements, consider the following:
- Consult an expert in the area, such as a qualified sports dietitian or
nutritionist, to determine what supplements may be necessary and in what
dosages.
- Doubling the dosage does not mean doubling the benefits
- Have a good look at your current diet and see how you can improve it
As a visiting Russian biochemist told me earlier this year:
"With vitamins and minerals there are two major considerations: Firstly,
we do not know if 1 + 1 =. In other words, whilst we may be confident that
Vitamin C may play a role in boosting the immune system, we do not know what
Vitamin C taken with zinc, magnesium and B Complex does. We can not be certain
of the effects of vitamins taken in combination. They may cancel out each other,
increase the effects of each other, or even decrease the effects of each
individual vitamin.
Further, people are under the impression that vitamins and mineral
supplementation increases their abilities or capacities. That is, by taking the
supplements they get increased power or strength. This is clearly not the case.
Supplements should be used to maintain normal body function during times of
physiological, emotional and psychological stress and not as a kind of super
booster to turn normal people into super humans or normal athletes into
champions".
The bottom line is, consult a qualified and experienced sports nutrition
expert before experimenting with vitamin and mineral supplementation.
These are a few short answers to some long questions.
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