The goal of this project was to determine which energy bar (high carbohydrate and high protein), will help me swim fastest in a one-hundred meter freestyle event. My hypothesis was that the bar with a higher concentration of carbohydrates (Clifbar) would be a better energy bar.

After completing five rounds of testing for each type of energy bar (Atkins and Clifbar) in a steady pool temperature, I have concluded that the results of testing support my hypothesis that the higher concentration of carbohydrates would help me to swim faster. The average time for the carbohydrate bar was 74.06 seconds, while the protein bar average was 75.14 seconds, a difference of 1.08 seconds.

 

I think that the times I have uncovered were faster because carbohydrates are sugars that your stomach digests into glucose. Glucose is stored in your muscles until needed as a source of energy. On the other hand, protein builds and repairs muscles making them stronger, so I think that it might be more effective to eat protein rich foods after a workout. Protein will help you to achieve a more powerful stroke, but that could take months.

A source of error could have been that the event length (one-hundred meters) was not long enough to truly determine the difference in times. If I were to redo this project, I would broaden the study group to include faster and slower swimmers, and also males and females. In addition I would have the study group swim a longer event, such as a five-hundred meter swim.