Describe and explain energy intake and expenditure in sports performance P3, M1

Authors Avatar

Describe and explain energy intake and expenditure in sports performance P3, M1

Energy intake and expenditure in swimming

Swimmers get there energy from food they eat. Food can be measured in calories, joules, kilocalories and kilojoules. Calories measure energy, especially heat energy. One calorie is the energy required to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius and a kilocalorie is equal to 1,000 calories. A joule is most commonly used to measure energy, one joule moves a mass of 1g at 1 metre per second and a kilojoule is equal to 1,000 joules.

Swimmers get most of the energy for their workout and performance from carbohydrates. There are two types of carbohydrates, simple and complex. A complex carbohydrate consists of large molecules of simple carbohydrates, so they must be broken down into simple carbohydrates. Swimmers will tend to consume 55-70% of carbs in their diet. Fat is the secondary energy source but it takes 20-30 minutes before the swimmer uses the energy. Fats are the slowest source of energy but the most energy efficient. Each gram of fat supplies the body with about 9 calories; this is more than proteins and carbohydrates swimmers tend have 25-30% of fat in their diet. Swimmers don’t tend to use protein as an energy source, they tend to use it to build body cells and only during starvation the body will use protein as an energy source. A swimmer will need to consume 12-15% of protein in their diet. The longest swimming takes less than 15 minutes to complete so you’re body will be mostly using carbohydrates.

A swimmers body composition should be in-between mesomorph and endomorph. Body composition is used to classify an individual’s body shape and size. There are three body types, even though an individual will not fit in the body type perfectly it is still a excellent method. The three body composition is ectomorph, endomorph and mesomorph. The reason swimmers fall in-between mesomorph and endomorph is because the swimmer doesn't need to have an excess of muscle, or else it will counter the stroke pattern and will mess up. Also the swimmer doesn't need to have an excess of body fat, which reduces your hydrodynamic form. But there doesn't need to be a large absence of either muscle of fat either, or else you won't be strong enough to swim quickly, or have enough energy. The body composition should be in between these two extremes.

Join now!

If a swimmer is concerned about their weight, generally for performance and health reasons. It is possible to alter your body composition by exercise and a correct diet. There are three methods of assessing your body fat and lean body mass skinfold callipers, bioelectrical impedance and hydrodensitometry. Skinfold calliper uses callipers to measure skinfold thickness at several areas of your body. The measurements are used to calculate percentage of body fat. Bioelectrical impedance is another good way to measure fat percentages they work by measuring the resistance of body tissue to the flow of a small electrical signal. The ...

This is a preview of the whole essay