Protein Intake in High School

Protein Intake in High School Swimmers

Nutrition is a key element to top athletic performance, be it at a professional, collegiate, or even high school level. Regardless of what sport an athlete is pursuing, without proper nutrition, all of the workouts and talent in the world will not let them perform at their best without the proper nutrition. At the top levels of sport, food is no longer just food, but instead is seen as fuel that always serves a specific purpose. Gone are the days when athletes strove to meet the levels recommended on the daily intake triangle, and instead today each athlete has a specific number of carbohydrates, protein, and fat calories that they are striving for each day. Protein is a building block for muscles that provides many benefits for an athlete including sustained energy and muscle fiber repair. Without the proper amount of protein intake, an athlete can atrophy and actually lose muscle from working out.

In high school athletes, protein intake is especially important as their bodies are still growing from a normal standpoint, let alone from an athletic standpoint. Without the proper protein intake, their muscles will not have the proper materials to rebuild after hard workouts and performance will suffer. Swimmers are especially vulnerable to atrophy due to lack of protein intake because of the unique design of their sport. Swimming is both an endurance sport and a sport that requires muscular strength in order to propel the body through the water. Proper nutrition allows swimmers not only to fuel themselves for the next hard workout, but will also aid in putting on lean muscle while keeping the body streamlined and without bulkiness. A review of the literature surrounding this subject reveals that there is some controversy regarding proper intake and the ethics of protein supplements, however a large percentage of athletes already are taking supplements so the point is almost moot in regards to actual adoption of the practice.

Recommended Levels

Distance sports such as swimming and running demand a daily protein intake of approximately 1.2-1.6 grams of protein per 1 kilogram of bodyweight a day (Schilling 2008). This amount of protein intake will maintain lean muscle mass and aid in recover following workouts, yet will not build bulky muscles that of strength athletes whom typically take in 1.9 grams of protein per 1 kilogram of bodyweight a day. However, in the world of adolescent and high school swimming, a level of just 0.85 grams per 1 kilogram of protein intake is recommended (Schilling 2008). Protein intake in this amount is not normally a problem for high school athletes, however female athletes tend to have a harder time making decisions for proper protein nutrition due to the perception that the additional calories will affect their body image (Elliott et al. 2008).