Nutrition: Hydration

By Marjorie Hagerman

It is essential to take onboard enough fluid to maintain an adequate level of body hydration. During training, heat is generated as a by-product of energy production to fuel the muscles, and this heat must be dissipated in order to stop the body's core temperature from rising to a dangerously high level. The body can rid itself of heat by:

• Dilating the blood vessels of the skin, which in turn increases the flow of blood to the skin and releases the heat to the environment by radiation and convection.
• Secretion of sweat onto the surface of the skin requiring heat calories to evaporate the moisture, causing a cooling reaction.

In hot weather especially, it is the cooling by evaporation process that allows exercise to continue, but only if these sweat losses are replaced. When training in hot weather, sweat losses from the body can be in excess of two litres per hour, and these need to be replaced during and following training. Some practical guidelines to help maintain optimal fluid balance during training:

• Cool fluids (5 to 10°C) are more quickly absorbed from the stomach and small intestine.
  If a sweet drink is preferred, the carbohydrate content should be present in no greater than an 8% solution, so as not to delay fluid emptying from the stomach or absorption of fluid from the intestinal tract into the blood.
• Drink 400 to 600ml 2 to 3 hours before exercise.
• During exercise, rehydrate by drinking 200 to 300 ml of cold fluid every ten to 20 minutes of activity. It's important not to wait until you feel thirsty to replace fluids. Thirst usually doesn't develop until 1 to 2% of body weight is lost through dehydration, and performance can be adversely affected at a 2% loss. The neurophysiologic stimulus for thirst is inadequate during and following exercise.
• Following exercise, it is recommended that 800ml of fluid should be consumed for every pound of weight lost through sweating. Rehydrate within two hours of exercise.
• In general, use of mineral supplements such as salt tablets to replace electrolytes lost in sweat is not necessary for rowers engaging in usual training regimes. Adding a little extra salt to daily meals and including high-potassium foods, such as citrus fruits and bananas, should easily replace the small amount of electrolytes lost.
• Loss of valuable electrolytes in sweat depends on such factors as gender, body size, heat adaptation, fitness, and environmental conditions. Losses of sodium, calcium, potassium, chloride, and other important ions will vary among individuals. Commercial drinks will provide adequate replacement of electrolytes and, at the same time, replenish carbohydrate stores. More importantly, however, drinking an isotonic sports drink and water will restore depleted body fluids for both the muscle and its transport systems and also ensure successful thermoregulatory function.

Nutrition: Fat

By Marjorie Hagerman

Fat is not quite the villain we sometimes make it out to be! The body needs fat to perform a variety of functions - everything from production of healthy skin and sex hormones to protecting the internal organs and carrying certain vitamins throughout the body. Fat is also a valuable energy source, particularly during low-intensity exercise. When the intensity of the exercise increases, however, the body relies primarily on glycogen stores to fuel the working muscles.

Since the body normally has virtually unlimited stores of fat it is not necessary to eat a high fat diet to have adequate fat available for any low intensity workouts. A well balanced diet will provide all the fat required to resupply adipose tissue deposits in the body, which in the average person store in excess of 11,000 grams of fat, or over 100,000 calories! With all this fat stored in the body, we require only about 2 to 10% of our total daily calories as fat to supply adequate amounts of fatty acid called linoleic acid, which the body cannot make and must obtain from food. Unfortunately, the average person consumes much more than 10% of calories as fat - the figure is currently about 37%.

Not only is it unnecessary to eat a high fat diet to provide fuel for low intensity training, it is undesirable. Total fat, and especially saturated fat from meat, poultry, whole milk dairy products, and several tropical plant oils - coconut, palm and palm kernel - have all been implicated as contributing factors in heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Also, a diet high in fat can lead to excess weight gain since, gramme for gramme, fat will provide more than twice the calories of carbohydrate and protein, and fat from food is very efficiently converted to fat stores in the body.

Is this recommended amount of fat a change from a usual balanced diet? Definitely. And to achieve this level of fat intake, which is appropriate for rowing training as well as for overall good health. Suggestions to reduce fat from the present 37% of total calories to the recommended 20 to 25% include:

• Limit cheese consumption. (This is one of most commonly eaten high fat foods in a rower's diet.) Switch to the lower fat types of cheese, low or half fat cheese such as mozzarella or cheddar and low fat cottage cheese
• Switch from the regular or premium type ice creams to low fat frozen yoghurt or sorbet.
  Choose margarines made from liquid vegetable (non-tropical) oils rather than butter.
  Limit amount of salad dressings used to no more than two to three tablespoons per salad and stick to low fat or vinegarette varieties.
• Limit the amount of mayonnaise-containing salads such as tuna, ham, egg, pasta and chicken; when preparing these yourself, use the lower fat types of mayonnaise and try substituting low fat yoghurt or fromage frais.
• Avoid fried foods, especially those that are deep-fried. Food which is baked, boiled or steamed absorbs far less fat than those which are fried.
• Limit the amount of rich sauces made with cream and/or butter. Instead, eat pasta with tomato sauce and vegetables with a dash of grated cheese.
• Choose leaner cuts of red meats, eat fish that is poached or baked rather than fried, and remove the skin from poultry.
• Limit intake of concentrated sweets like cakes, biscuits and sweets, all of which are frequently high in fat.

In addition to reducing the total amount of fat you eat, the type of fat you select is also important. Olive, peanut, sunflower and sesame seed oils are all relatively high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, and low in saturated fatty acids, and are therefore considered more heart-healthy. Avoid foods containing lard, the tropical oils (e.g. palm oil), beef suet, and butter - these are all high in saturated fat. You can tell the kind of fat in a product by reading the ingredients listed on the label, which are required to be in descending order of weight.

Nutrition: Protein

By Marjorie Hagerman

Protein is used by the body to build and maintain cell tissues of all kinds - from blood to bone and especially muscle. Since an athlete usually has a higher proportion of lean body mass to fat and bone than the non-athlete, protein needs are slightly greater than those of the average person. Protein need is based on one's size and stage of growth and is expressed as grammes of protein required per kilogramme of body weight. A standard recommended daily allowance (RDA) chart found in any nutrition textbook will list a recommended protein intake for various age groups, based on an average weight. An individual athlete's protein need can be worked out more precisely by multiplying their weight in kilogrammes by 1.4 to obtain the recommended number of grammes of protein they need per day.

Example: An oarsman weighing 95 kilogrammes would need 133 grammes of protein each day. i.e. 95 kilogrammes x 1.4 grammes protein per kilogramme of body weight = 133 grammes protein per day

An athlete who is receiving the correct amount of protein each day will have enough to meet present body needs and also have enough additional protein to provide for any increase in lean muscle mass which may be realised through a weight training programme. It is not difficult to obtain this amount of protein through a balanced diet. Protein is available from many different foods in varying amounts:

Grammes Protein:
42g - 6 ounces of steak
40g - 6 ounce can of tuna
30g - half chicken breast
29g - pork tenderloin
28g - 4 ounces of most fish filets or steaks
28g - hamburger patty
14g - 2 servings of peanut butter
9g - 1 cup serving of dried beans or peas, cooked
8g- 1/2 pint of milk (any fat level)
8-12g - yogurt
6g - 1 egg
6g - 1 cup serving of cereal, potatoes, or pasta
3g - 1 slice of bread, 1/2 bread roll or bagel
2g - 1/2 cup serving of vegetables

In order to check whether they are getting enough protein in their diets, athletes may want to keep a record of everything eaten during one day, along with the amount of each, and use the protein equivalent value to calculate total protein available from these foods. Most athletes who follow a balanced diet that includes foods from all four food groups and has enough calories to maintain weight, will have no difficulty in meeting protein needs. The exceptions may be those who follow a strict vegetarian or vegan diet, or lightweight rowers who practice severe calorie intake restriction. Vegans who include no meat, fish, poultry, eggs, or dairy products in their diet should be concerned about getting enough high quality protein from their daily meals. These athletes should monitor their protein intake carefully and, if it is below the recommended amount for their body size, they may wish to consult a dietician to help incorporate more protein into their diet. For lightweight rowers, a 5 to 6% body fat for men or 10 to 11% for women represent dangerously low levels of body fat and should prompt immediate consultation with a dietician to adjust dietary intake.

In recent research conducted with candidates for US national teams, all of the men, both heavyweights and lightweights, obtained adequate protein from their diets to meet the recommended level of 1.4 grammes protein per kilogramme of body weight. In contrast, only 60% of the women, again including both light- and heavyweights, met their protein needs. More of the women tended to be vegetarians, or were at least limiting their intake of protein foods from both the meat and dairy groups. It is important to remember that, while carbohydrate is very important, so is protein, and protein intake must be adequate to meet the demands of the exercising body. It may be difficult for the heavyweight vegetarian rower to meet calorific and protein needs on a totally plant-based diet; the sheer bulk of such a diet may mean one is filled up before adequate calories and protein are consumed.

Occasionally athletes wonder about taking protein or amino acid supplements to boost their protein intake. This is unnecessary if one eats a balanced diet; in such a case protein intake from food will usually more than meet needs, and food is certainly the preferred source, since it comes packaged with other nutrients like the B complex vitamins, iron and zinc, all of which are important to an athlete's health. Keep in mind there are inherent dangers in consuming excessively high amounts of protein, whether from food or a combination of food plus protein supplements. Protein foods often carry saturated fat with them, so excess fat intake - something we are all urged to avoid for good health, particularly of our hearts - can accompany excess protein from foods. Since water is required to break down protein to its component amino acids before the body can use it, dehydration can also accompany a high protein intake. This is a particular risk for exercising athletes who require that body fluids be present at an optimum level to cool the working muscles. Also, any excess protein not required for either tissue maintenance or energy production is broken down by the body and stored as fat - again, an undesirable outcome for the competitive athlete.

Nutrition: Carbohydrates

by Marjorie T Hagerman

Practically speaking, how does one get the recommended 60% of total calorie intake as carbohydrate? Since a normal diet provides about 50-55% of calories as carbohydrate at best, food selection for a rower has to change to facilitate a good training diet. Foods supplying a high level of nutritious carbohydrate need to be increased; these include breads, cereals, pastas, fruits and vegetables, dried beans and peas and dairy products made from skimmed milk. Instead of the recommended four daily servings each from the high carbohydrate containing fruit/vegetable and bread/cereal groups, an athlete should have eight servings from each of these groups to continually replenish glycogen stores which are consumed during training efforts. Also, it's wise to have some of the fourteen weekly servings from the protein rich meat/fish/poultry/nut group provided by legumes - kidney beans, butter beans and soya beans, peas and dried peas, and lentils; these inexpensive foods not only provide a source of almost fat free protein, they are also high in carbohydrate.

Many rowers believe that eating toast and cereal for breakfast and a plate of spaghetti for dinner translates into a high carbohydrate diet but this is not necessarily so. Although grain products certainly are an important part of a high carbohydrate diet, one must also include generous amounts of fruits, fruit juices and vegetables, and at least two to three servings of low fat milk products daily. Remember, in order to keep the carbohydrate intake high, and the protein level adequate, the only expendable item in the diet is fat. In summary, a rower would want to plan his/her diet around the following foods:

Breakfast

• Cereal, toast, bagels
• Fruit and fruit juices, fruit smoothies
• Eggs (poached are prepared without added fat and are therefore preferred); limit to 3 to 5 per week
• Low fat yogurt or soft cheese
• Skim or low fat milk

Lunch and Dinner

• Low fat soup
• Salads with low fat or vingerette dressings
• Vegetables of all kinds (particularly beans)
• Lean meat, fish, poultry; skinless and steamed or roasted rather than deep-fried
• Bread,rolls,bagels
• Fresh or tinned fruit in unsweetened juice
• Low fat frozen yogurt, sorbet (other desserts limited to 2 to 3 times per week only)
• Skim or low fat milk
• Granola bars, power bars
• PB&J sandwiches
• Fresh or dried fruits and fruit juices
• Fig bars, oatmeal cookies

Athletes often wonder about the wisdom of including sweets as a part of their high carbohydrate training diet. From a standpoint of glycogen replacement, in the first 24 hours following an event, carbohydrate from simple sugars has a slight edge over starch carbohydrate in replenishing muscle glycogen. However, during the following 48 hours, starch carbohydrate is preferable for optimal glycogen stores. The practical suggestion is to include a mixture of carbohydrates, with concentrated sweet foodstuffs (biscuits, sweets, cakes, sweet desserts) eaten only in limited amounts, since they are also frequently high in fat and don't come packaged with as many other valuable vitamins and minerals (folic acid and iron, for example) as do carbohydrates from grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes.

Courtesy of Concept2

Nutrition: Introduction

Nutrition

by Marjorie T Hagerman

A 2,000m race requires all-out effort for approximately six to eight minutes. If a rower goes into the race having followed a proper diet during the preparatory training period, there should be enough glycogen stored in the muscles and liver to support the demands of the anaerobic/aerobic effort required. It is not necessary for a rower to superload the muscles with glycogen as a marathon runner or Tour de France cyclist might do. A rower's goal on race day, with regard to diet, is to have enough glycogen stored in the working muscles to fuel less than ten minutes of intense exercise. During such an intense effort, a rower will expend approximately 25 to 35 calories per minute, depending on individual body size and rate of metabolism. When the diet is optimal in carbohydrate, the body's working muscles can store up to 300 to 400 grams of glycogen (1,200 to 1,600 calories) to have available as fuel during exercise. The liver will contain stores of an additional 100 grams of glycogen (400 calories) that can be converted to glucose to fuel the exercising muscles. Fat can be stored by the body in larger amounts, and can also be used to fuel energy demands, however, carrying excess body fat is usually detrimental to performance. Fat is also less efficient than carbohydrate at producing calories from the limited amount of oxygen available during flat-out exercise.

The real issue, then, when looking at a rower's diet, is not what he or she eats on the day of the race, but whether they are able to maintain glycogen in the muscle at an optimum level to support their training regime for the days leading up to the competition. To support the high energy requirements of one or two vigorous training sessions on a daily basis requires a diet which is high in carbohydrate; adequate in protein, vitamins, minerals and fluids, and minimal in fat. Without attention to diet composition the rower runs the risk of gradually depleting glycogen stores during each training session and never allowing the muscle to fully regain its potential supply. This situation not only makes it difficult to obtain the greatest benefits from a training programme, it also means the athlete could enter the competition with glycogen stores that are unable to sustain an all-out competitive effort. At a recent team selection process, for example, an oarswoman participated in nutritional counselling, mainly because she was suffering from low energy and was unable to train at the level she wanted to. She thought that her low energy level might be due to a diet lacking in iron. Analysis, however, showed that, while her iron intake was fine, only 36% of her daily calories came from carbohydrate - well below the recommended 60% level. In reality, she was not eating enough carbohydrate foods to provide the necessary glycogen levels to support her training. Her goal was to change her diet to maximise her training and competitive efforts.

Courtesy of Concept2