Swimmer's Morning Routine: A Guide

Tips for swimmers to optimise their morning routine.

1. Don't drink coffee until 1hr after you wake up

Your body is still producing and processing cortisol first thing in the morning. Drink coffee during this time can interfere with your natural chemical process and make caffeine less effecive.

If you train in the morning, wait until after you're done to drink coffee.

2. Don't take non-essential supplements until you've eaten

Many people find that taking non-essential supplements (we are not talking about medication prescribed by a doctor) in the morning and on an empty stomach can lead to nausea and under performance when training. Take your omega 3 with breakfast or lunch and you'll be sure to avoid this.

3. A dedicated pre-packed swim bag

You're not a swimmer until you've forgetten your swim suit / cap / goggles / nose clip / underwater headphones etc. The only way to avoid this ever happening is to have one (small) bag dedicated to swimming which is pre-packed and fits into a backpack / work bag / duffell. This removes the need to 'pack' the bag for every session; you do it once, it's done, you move on.

4. Find your perfect pre/post-workout food

Many people need to train on an empty stomach, or at least when they're not digesting anything. It's helpful to start with this as a 'blank slate' to understand how your body works without pre-workout fuelling. If you try this for a few sessions and they all feel laboured and slow, you probably need something in your system to unlock your best performance.

This is where you should use a 'process of elimination' to find the best food types for you. Start with the foods that work the best for most people (there's a higher chance that a banana will work for you than asparagus). Once you find the food that works for you, you can use the same process to find out how much energy you need to perform, starting from the minimum (e..g one banana) and increasing from there if you need it.

5. Have a clear, personalised plan with feedback on your performance

The last thing you want is to wake up in the morning thinking 'what should my workout be today'. This should be part of a plan, tailored to you and your goals, and ready to go when you arrive at the pool.

Make sure you have this in place and you'll have one less thing to think about in the early hours when you're waking up and getting your training in.