As US swimming sensation Michael Phelps sets his sights on more gold medal wins at the Beijing Olympics this weekend, the BBC's Michael Hirst examines the part an extraordinary diet has played in the sportsman's remarkable success.
If it is true that you are what you eat, then here is the suggested intake if you want to become history's most successful Olympian:
MICHAEL PHELPS' DIET
Breakfast: Three fried egg sandwiches; cheese; tomatoes; lettuce; fried onions; mayonnaise; three chocolate-chip pancakes; five-egg omelette; three sugar-coated slices of French toast; bowl of grits; two cups of coffee
For lunch: half a kilogram (one pound) of enriched pasta; two large ham and cheese sandwiches on white bread smothered with mayonnaise, washed down by energy drinks.
For dinner: Another half-kilogram of pasta, perhaps with a carbonara sauce, followed by a large pizza and more energy drinks.
That combination may not sound very healthy, and at a staggering 10,000 calories, would feed five average men for a day.
But the menu is reportedly all in a training day's eating for champion swimmer Michael Phelps, who won six gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics and is aiming for eight this time round.
"Eat, sleep and swim, that's all I can do,"
said the US swimmer, after winning his 11th Olympic gold.
Judging by the amount he eats and swims, that is not altogether surprising.
Barbara Lewin, a nutritionist who has advised international athletes on their dietary health for almost two decades, thinks "Health-wise, if he were eating like this long-term, he'd probably be having to see a cardiologist regularly. She recommended cutting out the egg yolks, replacing the white bread with whole-wheat, throwing some fruit and vegetables into the mix, and spreading the food out over the day with regular snacking.
But while the quality of the calories consumed by the six-foot four-inch (1.93m) swimmer may not seem healthy, Ms Lewin suggested there are good reasons behind Mr Phelps' diet.
"I've worked with more than 1,000 endurance athletes - swimmers and runners - and one of the most common problems they have is glycogen depletion - the result of not getting enough carbohydrates," she said.
"Nine out of 10 times the reason an athlete doesn't reach their personal best is because they're not getting enough carbohydrates and that's what your muscles need for food."
The Phelps diet is not recommended for everyone. Due to his muscle-intensive physique, the swimmer's metabolism - the process of converting food into energy - far exceeds that of a more average man, said Jeff Kotterman, director of the US National Association of Sports Nutrition.
"It's a combination of peak performance coupled with the fact that he has an enormous metabolism - he burns more calories sitting at a desk than a lot of people burn walking," Mr Kotterman told the BBC.
"It's a combination of peak performance coupled with the fact that he has an enormous metabolism - he burns more calories sitting at a desk than a lot of people burn walking," Mr Kotterman told the BBC.
He suggested Phelps, with an estimated 8% body fat, probably burns 1,000 calories per hour during his swimming training, compared to the equivalent exercise for an average person - vigorous walking - that would burn between 170 and 240 calories.
But then again, Michael Phelps - who has now won the 400m medley, 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly, 4x100m free relay, 4x200m free relay and the 200m medley in world record times - is clearly no ordinary man.
1 comment:
... OH man. it's time to hit the pasta huh...
I mean what do you expect.. he's just a boy who swims all day, he doesn't have time to care about animals and high fructose corn syrup. he's more consumed with eating enough to burn all day
either way, i'm having his babies.
ahahahah
Post a Comment