Female Masters Swimmers - Through Menopause and Beyond

I posted a couple days ago about the nutrition challenges often faced by female masters swimmers going through the journey of menopause. In this post, I want to share a summary of nutrition recommendations for this group.

Nutrition Recommendations for Female Masters Swimmers

Although typical equations such as the Harris-Benedict equation can be used to estimate energy expenditure for female masters swimmers, energy needs will vary based on training volume and intensity.

Carbohydrates

In general daily intake of carbohydrate should vary between 6-12g/kg/day. 6-8g/kg/day when training is higher in volume and lower intensity or low volume but high intensity and 10-12g/kg/day for harder sessions. Ideally, carbohydrates should come from a variety of whole grains, starchy vegetables, fruits and legumes to promote high fiber and prebiotic consumption to support a healthy gut, optimize blood sugars and promote a healthy heart. Refined sugars should be limited and any carbohydrate containing sports

drinks/gels should be used sparingly for long training bouts >60 minutes where fueling during exercise is recommended but taking in whole foods would be difficult.

Protein

Protein intake is higher in peri and postmenopausal athletes with a goal of 1.4-2.2g/kg/day,

higher (1.6-2.2g/kg/day) if restricting energy intake for body composition goals. To optimize muscle protein synthesis and recovery, athletes should aim to consume their protein in regular boluses with meals consisting of 30-40g of protein and snacks containing 15-20g. As soon as possible after exercise, athletes should aim to consume a meal/snack containing 30-40g (or 0.3g/kg) of protein paired with 1g/kg body weight of carbohydrate. Foods rich in EAA (particularly leucine) are encouraged for optimal MPS and recovery.

Foods containing higher leucine content include milk, lean meats, fish, cheese, eggs, legumes, tofu and pumpkin seeds (Burke et al., 2021).

Fat

Fat intake should consume 20-35% of total energy intake depending on the volume and intensity of training. Emphasis should be placed on PUFAs including liquid vegetable oils, nuts and seeds and fatty fish. Consuming 2-3 servings of fish weekly is recommended for intake of omega 3 fatty acids which boast heart healthy and antiinflammatory properties (Geraci et al., 2021). SFAs should be consumed in limited amounts.

Hydration

Optimal hydration can be more difficult during menopause transition. As such, athletes should aim to enter training and competition in a euhydrated state by consuming 5-7 ml/kg of cold fluids in the 4 hours leading up to exercise in addition to the typical 3-4ml/kg. After exercise, consumption of 150% of fluids lost during exercise is recommended for recovery. Monitoring of hydration can be done through urine colour, urine osmolality, and pre and post weight comparisons.

Nutrition Supplementation

Supplementing with different vitamins and minerals may be helpful to achieve micronutrient needs. In addition, some ergogenic aids have proven to be useful in this population.

Check out the table below for more information.

Swimming as a female masters swimmer means adapting to many changes in your body over time that can affect your training and competition goals.

Are you working through some changes in your training and competition? Connect with me or book an appointment. I would love to work with you!

Talk soon!