Swimming Tips

Posts Tagged ‘Athletic’

Ideas for athletic gear will help you shop without breaking a sweat
Got a weekend warrior or a hard-core athlete on your holiday shopping list? We shopped local sports and fitness stores for gear and gadgets that will make workouts more fun — and maybe even more productive.

Read more on Fort Worth Star-Telegram

This is the most different constituent of our most exciting trip to France during 16-20 June 2010. We came(SPS, VV, Rawat, Kiran) to Nice via flight. Then boarded bus , it took 2-3 hours to reach here one of the most renowned place across World that also hosts one of the greatest events in Art and Cinema World, Cannes Film Festival, but we just missed by one month. .. All camera work done at Cannes beach had been done by our great energy efficient guy VV. .. and also thanks to Kiran for his valuable swimming tips and tricks ..

Our report card: Grades for University of Iowa athletic programs
Our sport-by-sport breakdown of all University of Iowa sports and how they are faring.

Read more on The Iowa City Press-Citizen

Knox hires assistant athletic director
Harold Watson, a northern suburb native who has worked recent as a marketing whiz at Hartford, has been hired as Knox College’s assistant athletic director for marketing and external relations. A native of Evanston, Watson previously worked at Hartford as the college’s assistant director of marketing, promotions and events. Prior to that, he spent one year as Hartford’s manager of athletic …

Read more on The Galesburg Register-Mail

S.C. Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony today
The inductees include Bob McNair, Bill Currier, Horace Grant, Joe Bostic, Paul Scarpa, Wayne Tolleson, Courtney Shealy Hart and Stan Smith.

Read more on The Rock Hill Herald

Swimming for women;: Preliminary and advanced instruction in competitive swimming, fancy diving and lifesaving, questions and answers on swimming technique, … series of athletic handbooks, no. 107R)

When it comes to dietary supplements, their use is extremely popular among athletes.  Both Olympic and professional athletes seem to share an esurient desire to find a competitive edge in their respective sports.  For some, they make the unfortunate and dangerous decisions to cheat by using illegal, performance-enhancing, drugs which can have deadly consequences.  Yet others, opt for safer alternatives with common choices including energy drinks/bars, protein powders, and creatine monohydrate.

What effect does creatine monohydrate have on competitive swimmers (anaerobic enhancement?)

To answer the question about what effect creatine monohydrate has on anaerobic performance, there’s a recent article published in the journal, Acta Physiologica Hungaria (Juhasz et al, 2009) that address this question.

I would imagine that the difference between placing fourth or first at the Olympic games could translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars in terms of endorsements.  Not everyone is born with Michael Phelps’ genetic makeup which is why athletes look to get an edge whether it be the latest swim gear or dietary supplements.

For this particular study, it was relatively small and it involved 16 male swimmers.  For five days, the test subjects ingested creatine monohydrate in four separate doses of 5 grams each (total of 20 grams of creatine).  From what I understand, each 5 gram dose is about one table spoon of creatine.

What’s interesting is that they tested for three different measures:

Average power output determined by a Bosco test
Maximal 100m fin swim times.
Measured lactate concentration after (Lactate levels rise with anaerobic exercise as a by-product of metabolism)

Results of the study:

Average power of continuous 1 minute rebound jumps improved in Creatine group by 20.2%
Swim times were reduced in creatine group but remained unchanged in control group
Lactate levels were significantly less after 5-minute restitution on the second measurement in both groups.
[ first (pre: 50.69+/-1.41 s; post: 48.86+/-1.34 s) and second (pre: 50.39+/-1.38 s; post: 48.53+/-1.35 s) sessions.]

From the results, the study authors concluded:

The results of this study indicate that five-day Cr supplementation enhances the dynamic strength and may increase anaerobic metabolism in the lower extremity muscles, and improves performance in consecutive maximal swims in highly trained adolescent fin swimmers.

In terms of this particular study, the study itself is relatively small.  As well, this study looked specifically at the impact of creatine supplementation on anaerobic power in the lower extremities of trained fin swimmers, which means that the results might not be applicable to other populations/muscle groups.

However, creatine monohydrate is one of the better studied dietary supplements for performance-enhancement in athletes.  There’s a number of other placebo-controlled studies supporting the various benefits of creatine.

For those who’ve tried creatine, what have been your experiences with this supplement?

article by:  Jarret Morrow, M.D.

Reference:

Juhász I, Györe I, Csende Z, Rácz L, Tihanyi J.  Creatine supplementation improves the anaerobic performance of elite junior fin swimmers.  Acta Physiol Hung. 2009 Sep;96(3):325-36.

For other health information and tips, follow me on twitter:  Jarret Morrow or visit my blog.

The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Swimming Guide 1972