Michael Phelps eats 7-8000 calories per day?

His swimming is probably equivalant to 150mpw for us runners. He doesn't look like he's fat, he broke, what, 5 world records in one meet where he had rounds as well, he trains like a beast...I would believe him. I think that he, his coach and trainer know about how much he consumes. I would believe it. Personally, I've consumed over 6000 calories in a day before while running 130+mpw

I would be about 200 lbs and running around 20 min for the 5k.

Swimmers train 6-8 hours most days, around 12 miles in the water, plus other drills and exercises., imagine if we could run that much. But the impact factor with running is much worse.

Lance Armstrong reportedly eats about 6,000 calories a day in the months leading up to the Tour De France.

Damn, I am switching sports. I wanna eat like a pig.

That's why we all need to start training on underwater treadmills like Galen Rupp and the Nike OP guys.

During my higher mileage training I regularly eat between 5,000 and 6,000 calories a day. Doesn't seem like a lot when you are doing it. Also, its easy to find some very high calorie foods so you aren't eating a lot but still getting a lot of calories.

I remember reading that Lasse Viren was eating well over 7,000 cals/day during his build-up to the 1972 Olympics. His coach said that was the factor that was limiting his training - his ability to take in enough calories - not the miles.

So how much of those calories turn to shit?

I can believe it. I eat around 4,000 calories a day and only run 50-60 mpw and my weight is static around 128.

Not surprising. During stage races top riders eat 9,000. They actually get sick of eating and have to stop.

They eat a huge breakfast before the stage, then there are two feed zones in a long stage. Then they eat something immed. after for repair/recovery. Then they eat dinner, a lot of dinner.

I am actually surprised when I hear someone active saying they are counting calories or "I eat 2500 a day" or something. If you are running (60-100 or more) and lifting and are male you should be over 4000 a day easy. Year-round.

Shalanda wrote:

So how much of those calories turn to shit?

I think it depends a bit on how much fiber you eat. I had a interesting experience with this just last weekend loading up for a long trail race. The night before the race, I had 3 huge 10" plates of rice and beef stew, piled on pretty high. I'm sure it was 5 lbs of food easy, with no fillers like lettuce. I expected to have to take a huge shit in the morning before the race, but my gut felt really light and empty in the morning. I went into a porta-potty a few minutes before the race just to be sure, but nothing came out. Pretty amazing absorption! That meal contained a lot less fiber - veggies and fruit - than I normally eat, so that was probably the difference.

An old coach I know once summed it up as follows:

"OVER TRAINING IS UNDER EATING".

Sounds normal for a swimmer at that level. When I was in heavy swim training I had to eat evenything that wasn't stapled to the floor to keep from losing too much weight. I'd still go into the season about in the low 180's and come out in the high 160's.

We had meets on Tuesday and Saturdays, Tuesdays were in the evening so we had a very light dinner or late lunch. After the meet we'd hit the local Country Kitchen which had an all you can eat pancake special. We'd each routinely put down 10-12 pancakes, sausages, and in my case a couple chocolate malts.

When I was training for Western States I ate 8-10K calories a day. It was a drag. Every time I wasn't full I ate. If I didn't, I bonked.

Phelps is what...6'5", 6'6"?

7k calories is probably a low figure for someone like him.

For one, he is 18, and most 18 year olds can eat a whole lot. Secondly, he trains a whole lot. 5 hours in the pool or something. I'm guessing he weight trains too.

On TV it said he eats 4000 calories per meal which is probably BS, because I bet he eats more than 3 times a day and that would be too much.

At any rate, runners should learn from him....you need to eat a ton to maximize your gains...even distance runnners should eat 6k calories or so. Sadly it has to be good calories, not junk food.

Having worked with a volleyball player on the 2000 Olympic team who was 6'10" and ~220 pounds, we figured he needed about 8000 kcals/day to MAINTAIN his weight. He practiced 2x/day and also had conditioning several times a week.

For a large person I can see it.

There have been several papers published in peer reviewed literature on energy intake of cyclists during a Grand Tour. 6000 to 10000 kcals is the range reported. About half of the intake is liquid (sport drinks, juices, etc).

TheCollegeRunner wrote:

At any rate, runners should learn from him....you need to eat a ton to maximize your gains...even distance runnners should eat 6k calories or so. Sadly it has to be good calories, not junk food.

I don't think so. 6000 calories a day for the majority of distance runners will lead to weight gain, unless you're running 160 miles a week.

jkornell wrote:

When I was training for Western States I ate 8-10K calories a day. It was a drag. Every time I wasn't full I ate. If I didn't, I bonked.

How many miles a day were you running?

Swimmers tend to have a higher % body fat also, don't they? For better buoyancy?