
Every swimmer is in the pool. Everyone is training hard and knows to give it their all in the pool!
It is outside the pool that can make a big impact!
Here are some things to focus on to improve your results in the pool!
Nutrition:
Focus on performance nutrition, and nutrition that is specific to you and your goals! '
JVIA Nutrition can help work out your specific requirements through our athlete analysis consultation. From there workout our a structured nutrition plan that will see you reach new potentials.

Offering meal and snack ideas to help assist with pre/post nutrition and recovery.
Your nutrition requirements and individual so it is important to make sure you are consuming enough calories to support the exercise demands. Otherwise fatigue, injury and potential RED-s risk increases and performance will suffer!
It is important to not try anything new on race day /competitions. The best time to trial new options is during training.
Focus on hydration for the week leading up to competition as we know mild dehydration (only 2%) can impact performance by up to 30% !!

Sleep:
Often over looked and very under-rated! SLEEP can impact our performance by a dramtic amount.
Athletes often require between 8-12 hours of sleep every single night.
Set in place a good night time routine
no screen time before bed
turn off or use dim lighting
meditate / yoga / read / wind down
Aim to have consistent sleep and wake times. This helps to regulate your circadian rhythm and therefore hormones recovery and alertness!
Dry land Program:
Making sure your gym program covers all 3 of the following areas.
Strength: To strengthen around your joints, core and to build a strong body
Power and Speed: These translate to being explosive off the blocks for your dives and on the turns !
Progressive overload - Monitor your sessions to make sure you are seeing results and not just turning up and going through the motions. Progression can either be exercise selection, weight, reps, sets, rest etc.
Mobility:
Training mobility specific exercises daily, for injury prevention and to maximise your bodies ability to perform by not restricting its full range of motion!
Proprioception:
Proprioception is being aware of where your body is and what it is doing without looking at it. This involves developing body awareness, which often starts in the gym.
An simplified example of this is touching your nose, with your eyes closed!
More specifically for swimmers, knowing where your hand is and how it is positioned as it enters the water (without looking at it) and feeling the position of your body and how it is moving through the water.
Quite often, what you think you are doing, looks different on video.
There are simple exercises to improve your proprioception, which can help create balance, stability, streamlining and propulsion.
I specialise in performance nutrition and dry land programs. So if you are wanting to take your swimming performance to the next level, please book in for a free 15 minute consultation and we can discuss which approach is most suited to you!!
Julia Higgs.
Accredited Sports Nutritionist (Adv Dip) and Owner of North Head Fitness Gym.
