Category: Rowing

Coxing Novice Q&A Rowing Technique

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I rowed for three seasons and I have been asked to help cox a crew for a race thing in the beginning of September. A lot of the people haven’t rowed much/before and we are allowed 12 on-water sessions before the race. The coach has said that I need to coach more since I can sometimes see more from the coxswain seat than they can see from the coach’s boat, except I’m not experienced enough with coxing to know what to look for other than obvious timing issues etc. Do you have any tips?

First thing I’d do is go talk to your coach about what she specifically wants you to look for. Ask for two or three things and then talk with her about what you should be noticing about each of them and what it looks like when it’s right vs. wrong. Bring a notebook so you can write down what she says instead of trying to remember everything. (Trust me, you’re not going to remember, especially if you’ve never coxed before.)

Second thing is to talk to your coxswain or other coxswains at your club and ask them about some of the basic things they look for. If they say something different than what your coach said, ask them the same follow up questions you asked your coach about what you should notice, what it should look like, etc.

Related: So, what did you see?

My suggestions of things to look for are timing at the catch, like you said, catch angles, and how clean the finishes are.

Timing

This is the easiest thing to notice as it’s fairly obvious when someone is catching before or after the stroke. Instead of making an ambiguous call like “watch the timing” to the entire boat, be specific about what needs to happen and who needs to do it. “Bow pair, you’re a little early, let’s match the hands away to stern six and swing together…” or “4, you’re half a stroke late, get the body set a bit sooner on the next one…”. Make sure that if they get off with their timing to wait at the finish and come in on the next stroke instead of waiting at the catch or the middle of the slide, which some novices will do. (Why the finish instead of the catch? Because the boat is more stable when people are at the finish and less stable when they’re compressed at the catch, so it’s less likely to throw off the set of the boat if someone comes in at the finish.)

Catch angles

It can be hard to diagnose the bodies when you can’t see them, especially as a novice coxswain, but looking at the catch angles is a good alternative. You want everyone’s angles to be relatively the same and matching the angles of stern pair to ensure that they’re fully compressed and maximizing their leg drive. If a rower isn’t fully compressed the shaft of the oar will be more perpendicular to the boat whereas if they’re over compressed their oar will be more parallel to the boat in comparison to the stroke’s oar. You might have to turn your head to look at stern pair’s oars since it’s easy to look directly over them and only see bow 6’s. If you see someone either going too far or not far enough, you can point it out by reminding them to get to where their knees are over their ankles and no further.

Clean finishes

If the finishes aren’t clean and people are washing out you’ll see a lot of white water splashing forward, almost like a mini tidal wave. It’ll also be kinda noisy. If the blades are buried too deep on the drive they might get stuck at the finish, especially if the boat isn’t set, which could lead to a rower catching a crab. If you see someone washing out, tell them to accelerate the blade through the water (meaning the stroke should get stronger as you approach the finish), hold the blade in for the entire stroke instead of tapping the hands down before you’re all the way to the finish, and pull all the way into their body before tapping down (thumbs should just brush their stomach before the hands go away). Before you start rowing make sure you remind everyone to bury the blades too. If someone’s blade is only buried halfway instead of entirely when they go to take a stroke they’ll wash out.

Don’t try to look for everything the next time you go out with your boat. Pick one or two things to focus on during practice, then the next practice pick two more things, and then two more after that. Once you’ve got an idea of what everything should look like, start to focus on all of it in the practices leading up to your race. If you get overwhelmed, go back to just watching one or two things. Don’t just watch whatever you think is the easiest to spot though because that won’t help you or the rowers. Make an effort to look for all the little details that you might not otherwise notice. Take notes on what you see either when you’re not rowing or once you get off the water and review them the next day before you go out. Communicate with your coach too about what you’re seeing, if you have questions, etc.

The worst coxswain calls

Coxing Novice Rowing

The worst coxswain calls

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I tend to interrogate people about their coxswains a lot. What do they like, what don’t they like, what do they do well, what’s something they can improve on, what do you think is their most effective call, which call will you pay them to never make again … stuff like that.

By the time we get to the “what’s the worst call” question, everyone starts rapidly chiming in and it almost becomes a contest to see who’s coxswain made the most-agreed-upon worst call ever. It’s funny to see how these conversations differ when you have them with men vs. women too. Guys tend to be pretty straightforward with what they don’t like but also a little sympathetic at the same time, usually because their coxswain is their bro and dude you don’t just throw your bro under the bus like that or their coxswain is a girl and hell hath no fury like a female-coxswain-of-a-men’s-crew scorned. Women tend to be (sorry girls) straightforward behind other people’s backs. For whatever reason, saying “I didn’t like this” to another girl’s face almost always results in some Miranda Priestly-esque pursing of the lips and eye rolls. I mean, I get it, I hate being told that something I thought was great wasn’t as well received by everyone else, but at the same time … suck it up, take it, and adapt, not only for your own benefit but for the good of the crew as well.

Inevitably everyone has seen the lists of “things your coxswain should never say” but satire or not, they are so not helpful. I’ve actually seen coaches cite this when teaching – “teaching” – novice coxswains what to do and it pains me to know that some coaches think that list is genuine. The problem I have is that rowers and coaches complain about the calls a coxswain makes but they make little to no effort to talk to them about why it’s a bad call, why they didn’t like it, why it wasn’t effective, etc. Rowing is a sport that is pretty deeply rooted in communication – if there’s no communication, the boat won’t function like it should. Goofy lists like those ones aren’t going to cut it.

The question of “what’s the worst thing you coxswain could say” was posed on a Reddit thread the other day and that, combined with what I’ve heard recently, gave me the idea to come up with a new, slightly better, more informative list. Some/most of these I’ve probably mentioned before (and can be found strewn about in the “calls” tag) but for the sake of having everything in one place, here’s a short list of “things you should never say”.

“Row faster and/or harder!” Classic rookie mistake. Never say this if you’d like your vocal cords to remain on the inside of your body.

Anything about you working harder than them.

“I know it hurts!” No, you don’t. Even if you’ve rowed before, no.

Anything involved the word “oops” followed by nervous laughter or “oh shit”.

Any call that the crew has repeatedly said does. not. work. for. them.

Calls that separate you from them. Nothing should be “you guys”, it should be “we”, “us”, “let’s”, etc.

“X” number of strokes left when there is blatantly not that many strokes left, meaning you say “last 10” and it’s actually the last 23. (This is actually something you should practice but never attempt until you’ve got it down cold.)

“You’re losing!” How motivating of you.

“Almost there!” If this is said anytime before the last five strokes of the race, you’re wrong.

“You’ve worked harder than this before, come on!” In theory, I get why people say this. I’ve said this. But, there are things to consider in relation to the “before” you’re comparing them to. What were the conditions? What was the wind/temperature/current like? What did the rest of the workout up to that point consist of?

“You can pull harder than that!” Technically there’s nothing wrong with this call but if you just say this with no follow-up, that’s where rowers get pissed. Most likely they’re already pulling as hard as they can. If you’re not feeling the power though, figure out why and tell them what needs to change. Are they missing water, washing out, not connecting with the legs…? If you’re not feelin’ it, you should be calling them out but don’t just automatically assume that it’s because they’re not giving 100%.

Anything that isn’t true. Just don’t. Rowers know when you’re lying to them.

“Don’t die on me!” Well, yes, that’d be nice, but you’re most likely saying this at a point in the race when they wish they were dead. Saying this is just going to make them wish for it more.

“Power  10/20!” …over and over and over again. Bursts are strategy moves and 95% of them shouldn’t be straight for power.

Dead silence, either for an entire practice or during a race.

Anything that might make the rowers laugh and/or lose focus. Keeping the mood light is fine but in the middle of a race, it’s just not appropriate. So many rowers I’ve talked to have said that they appreciate what the coxswain is trying to do but it takes them out of the zone, which once you’re out of is hard to get back into.

What are your “nope” coxswain calls? Why was it bad and what about it made it not work for you? What would you have preferred your coxswain to say instead?

Image via // @rorycruickshank

Masters Rowing Technique

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I have been rowing starboard and mostly 7 seat recently in a women’s masters 8+ and for the last two practices they’ve had me stroking, which I really disliked. Granted we’re all pretty new to rowing, and there are some definite strength/power issues with teammates, but every time I’m in stroke seat I feel like I just can’t get my oar out of the water fast enough. I’m literally hitting my legs over and over, and sometimes I feel like there’s nowhere for my oar to go when I try to take a decent stroke. I rarely, if ever, seem to have this problem rowing starboard, or in my usual 7 seat. Last practice was fantastic, and then I’m stroking and its a mess. Is it a boat set issue, or is it just me? Even on simple pick drills I’m having a difficult time getting the oar out of the water cleanly in stroke seat. One of our coaches just told me to tap down more and the other said it was a boat set issue..How can I fix this? I’m confused. Help!

Oh come on, that’s just lazy coaching. I think it’s the rigging. Have you checked the spacers to see where they’re positioned? If you haven’t got enough on the bottom then that might be why you’re having a hard time getting the blade out of the water. You’d be pulling into your lap which would be why you can’t tap down anymore. How is your coach not seeing that? If there are too many on the bottom then you’d have a hard time getting it in at the catch. I’d look to see where they’re at and then based on the issue you’re having adjust from there. Ask your coaches about that too … like, actually say “what if I tried adjusting the spacers” and then see what they say.

It partially is a boat set issue because, if I’m right, you’re being forced to pull in too low. That’s gonna throw it over to your side which will exacerbate the issue of you not being able to get your blade out. Plus you’ve got seven other inexperienced rowers who all have their own weird technique quirks going on that are contributing to the boat being off set. Set issues are never caused by one thing but sometimes you’ve gotta look past the obvious stuff to figure out what the problem is. Check your spacers the next time you go out and see if adjusting them helps. If not, bug the hell out of your coach(es) until they give you something better than “tap down more” or “set the boat”.

Oh, and if you really don’t like stroking, tell them that. Just say that it’s difficult to focus on rowing well and establishing a rhythm that everyone can follow and that you’re more comfortable rowing in 7-seat, especially since starboard is your natural side. There’s no sense in repeatedly rowing on a side where things are constantly going poorly because that’s how bad technique and bad habits develop. You start changing how you row to compensate for whatever’s going on. Talk to your coaches, explain why it’s frustrating, and again, see what they say.

Coxing Drills Q&A Rowing Technique

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I’m a HS coxie, and I’ve been a long time fan of your blog. I’ve been training during the summer and recently my boat has transformed from a coxed 4+ to a coxed 4x+. One of our members has summer school so we’re out on the water fairly early, ~30 minutes before most of the coach boats come out. What are some useful drills for some guys who are transitioning from sweeping to sculling? These guys have done both but it’s obviously a bit of a change. Right now, we’ve been doing fairly basic stuff, SS with a few pause drills, square blade, etc. Any ones that you think could really help shape up the crew? I’d appreciate any advice that you could give. Thanks a lot and keep at what you’re doing!

Your coaches are OK with you going out 30 minutes early without them?

Pause drills are definitely a great thing to do. Try to vary where you do them since each one hits a different technical point depending on where the pause is (hands away, bodies over, 1/4 slide, 1/2 slide, and 3/4 slide). Have the guys focus on their posture at each position and think “am I really at 1/4 slide, did I go too far or not far enough”, etc. Go through each pair (stern, middle, bow) before working your way up to all four. Here’s how I’d do it:

3-5 regular strokes to get the boat moving

10 strokes pausing at hands away

5 regular strokes

Repeat 10 pause, 5 regular until you’re all the way through the drill then pick it up from the beginning with middle pair.

When you’re through with the pairs go to all four and pause at the major points – arms away, bodies over, and half slide. Do 5 pauses and 10 regular strokes (reverse of earlier).

Make sure you really emphasize during the in-between regular strokes what you just worked on – getting the hands away smoothly and at the same speed as the boat, early body prep, starting the slide together, making sure you’ve still got room to come up when at 1/2 slide, etc. This should be done at a comfortable stroke rate too. Not too fast obviously, but not too slow either. 18-20 is good. I would imagine that you could easily use up the entire 30ish minutes doing this drill but if you have some extra time row by all four continuously and work on putting together everything you were working on. Talk to the guys and find out what they’re having trouble with, if anything, and make a note to focus on that the next time you go out. Remind them to not just go through the motions with this drill – consciously think about every single stroke.

A stationary drill you can do is catch placement drills, which will help them work on putting all their blades in the water together in addition to helping them move the wheels of the slide together. Start at the finish, you say “go”, they come up to the catch and drop their blades in without taking a stroke. Pause for a second then have them relax and come back to the finish. I’d start off with pairs again, do this until you’ve had at least 10 good catches and then move on to the next pair, followed by all four. Remember, there’s a difference between 10 good catches and 10 total catches. 10 good catches teaches you not to settle for anything less than your best. It might get frustrating at times but that’s OK. When they’re coming into the catch, I like to tell my crews to really exaggerate the “plop” sound so that they can all hear their blades going in. I find that helps them hold each other and themselves more accountable. Remind them also that they’re not lifting the blade into the water, they’re just unweighting the hands.

Related: What are stationary drills? How can there be drills if the rowers aren’t rowing? What are some examples?

Feet out is another great thing to do. It’s not a sculling specific drill but it’ll help you focus on keeping the connection all the way through the finish and release, supporting the stroke with your core, keeping pressure out against both pins, etc. I would do your usual warmup with feet out and then go straight into all four continuous for 5-10 minutes with a couple added 10s or 20s at 18-20spm. My eight does our warmup with feet out every day and I’ve seen a lot of positive changes come out of it.

The last drill that comes to mind is the first inch (also known as top-quarter) drill. There are a couple of different variations and ways you can do this but the one I like to do is a progression drill starting with the first inch, going to the top quarter, top half, and then finally taking full strokes. You start at the catch, blades buried, and then take really short, choppy (but clean) strokes, making sure you’ve got a really solid connection with the stretchers. Do 5-10 of those before lengthening out and repeating the same thing on the top quarter of the slide, followed by the top half, and then finally with full slide strokes.

This is good because it works on the connection, quick catches, clean releases, timing, and a ton of other things. When I do this I tend to not count out the number of strokes either. I leave it up to the rowers because it forces them to pay attention and not zone out. It drives me nuts when they do drills on autopilot. I’ve never done this drill with scullers before but I think it’d be useful to do to help them get acquainted with having two oars now instead of just one, amongst the other obvious stuff. This is another drill I’d start off doing by pairs before transitioning to all four.

Communicate with them and talk about what you’re all doing well and what needs work. What do they think needs work (and why) and what do you think needs work. Present that to your coach and say “this is what we’ve been doing, we’ve all noticed this getting better but something we noticed is that we sometimes have trouble with ____” and then ask what drills they’d suggest to work on that.

If you’ve only got 30 minutes, make sure you use that time effectively. Don’t try to cram in a ton of drills or anything like that. Do one drill each day and then use whatever extra time you have to do steady state with feet out until your coaches get there. Focus on using your time wisely instead of trying to do everything. Do the drill and reinforce what it taught during the steady state. If you do pause drills for 20 minutes and are able to do 10 minutes of steady state, use 2 minutes each to focus on keeping the hands quick around the turn, getting the body prepped before the slides move, staying controlled on the recovery, having quick, solid, together catches, and then finish it off by dropping the rate a couple beats (14-16spm maybe) and rowing at 100%. The strokes should feel long, relaxed, and connected.

Something you can do too to help with boat “cohesiveness” is to get everyone breathing together. Have you ever seen a crew rowing together at those powerful, low rates and they’re all exhaling together at the catch and it sounds like a train’s coming through? There’s a relaxing intensity to it that lends itself well to maintaining the focus and rhythm.

Q&A Rowing

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Are those competition suits (sorry idk what they’re called) slimming or do all rowers have nice bodies? It’s looks like I’m rowing next year and I don’t have a perfect body so I was just wondering. Sorry if I sound creepy!

Unisuits. I think a lot of rowers would say they border on fairly unflattering, regardless of what you think of your body. You get over the initial discomfort with how it/you look once you realize everyone at some point or another hated how they looked in their unisuit until they realized there are more important things to think about than how you look in spandex.

I think we can all agree that a decent number of rowers do have nice bodies but that’s mostly because they’ve put a lot of time and effort into staying in shape. Rowing takes a pretty hefty physical toll so it’s difficult to not see a positive change in your body the more you row and the more in shape you become. But seriously though, it’s not something worth being self-conscious over. It really isn’t. Embrace what you’ve got and embrace the unisuits.

Books on Rowing, pt. 2

Rowing

Books on Rowing, pt. 2

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Previously: Books on Rowing, pt. 1

There’s sort of a theme with these ones in that three of the books are written by the same author and two of the other books are written by rowers who competed together.

Seat With a View

A book with that title could only be written by a coxswain, right? This one was written by Steven Segaloff, the coxswain of the men’s 8+ between 1993 and 1996. The emotions in this book range from ecstatic with a win at the World Championships to the lowest of lows following a loss at the Atlanta games, both things I know we can all relate to. One of the things I’m really looking forward to reading in this book – and one of my favorite things about “real” stories – is the inside scoop. This would be a great book for coxswains because a) there aren’t many books out there written by coxswains and b) it’d be a great opportunity to get inside the head of someone who shared the same ambitions that most of us have.

Four Men in a Boat

As several other firsthand-accounts do, this book talks about the tension leading up to a big race (the 2000 Sydney games), the relationships between a rower, his teammates, and coaches, his struggle to make the team, and in this case, all the drama surrounding one night at a boat club party involving booze, broken glass, and a severed tendon that nearly cost this rower his spot in the boat. Something he’s quoted as saying is that it didn’t feel like everyone was in the same boat until they had a pre-race talk the night before their Olympic final. That’s pretty powerful. If you saw the Gold Fever documentary that BBC did, this is that same crew.

Related: Gold Fever

Assault on Lake Casitas

This is probably one of the most well known books about rowing. Written by former rower Brad Alan Lewis, this book chronicles what it was like trying to earn a spot on the 1984 national team. The 1980 team didn’t travel to Moscow and he knew competing in 1988 would be tough due to his age (he would have been 34), so 1984 was it. Twice he failed to make it before finally earning a spot on the team in the 2x with his partner, Paul Enquist. If you’ve trained hard for a spot in a boat and had it slip away by slim margins (like 0.9 seconds), you’ll most likely be able to relate to this book. Hard work and commitment do pay off and BAL’s story is proof of that.

Wanted: Rowing Coach

This book is another by Brad Alan Lewis and is a dated, journaled account of the year he decided to coach at UC Santa Barbara with their men’s club team. I think the best description that I read of his experience was “Stuff happens. Some good stuff, some not so good, pretty much all of it interesting.” That alone makes me want to read this book because I think every coaching experience I’ve had so far can be summed up by that same sentence. If you’ve ever wondered what’s going through the minds of your coach(es) at any given point in time, this is definitely a book you should check out.

A Lifetime in a Race

Matthew Pinsent is one of the legends of rowing in the UK. Four Olympics, four Olympic golds, 10 World Championship golds, two Boat Race wins … he’s done, seen, and experienced a lot. If you watched Gold Fever you kind of got a sense of how obsessive these guys were with their training and how downright brutal it all was, which is why I think this would be a good read for high school-aged rowers. There’s a big difference between what you perceive as being “obsessed” when you’re 16 and how you perceive it when you’re 30. He also talks about rowing with Steve Redgrave (the ultimate British rowing legend), the buildup to Athens, and what it takes to be a champion. Coming from someone as successful as him, his words are worth their weight in gold.

Lido for Time: 14:39

The last book on the list is another written by BAL and another that I can’t wait to read. The book consists solely of excerpts from his training diary between October 1983 and the Olympic games in August 1984. As he says, it includes “plenty of elaborations, insights, explanations are included, plus an exceptional waffle recipe.” One of the best quotes I’ve seen from this book (and trust me, there are so many) is this one: “If you want to be your best, spend a lot of time exploring what is more than enough. Push yourself until the bar is lying immobile across your chest. Push yourself right off the edge of your capacity.” A rumor I’ve also heard is that if you buy the book and then email Brad (his address is at the end) he’ll send you DVDs of his training footage and the heat, semi-final, and final of his Olympic race. (Edit: Confirmed. Bought the book, got the DVDs.)

Image via // @petereed

How To Q&A Rowing

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A problem we always ran into with our boat that we stored down low – when we get the boat out, everybody is on the same side at waist and obviously can’t all bring it up to shoulders. Is there an easier way to do it than having the girls run around to the other side before shoulders or is that just how it is?

That’s kinda just how it is. The easiest way to do it is to have everyone lift it up off the racks at waist, side step to the middle of the boat bay, and then have all the ports or all the starboards go under the boat one by one until everyone is on the correct side. Going under vs. going around just saves time because you don’t have to bob and weave around riggers or other people. From there you can take it up to shoulders and walk it out.

For some reason every so often this confuses the hell out of people and no one knows who should be going under so make sure you specify, “Ports go under, starting from the stern … Annie, go. Maddie, go. Rachel, go. Alex, go.” You want this to be a quick process, obviously, because the boat gets heavier when someone lets go and it’s uncomfortable to hold the boat for too long when everyone is on the same side.

College Q&A Rowing

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What is Radcliffe? Is that another rowing team? I’ve heard they also row under Harvard’s team?

Radcliffe doesn’t row under Harvard’s team, they are one of Harvard’s teams. They’re the women’s program that rows out of Weld Boathouse, which is on the Cambridge side of the river beside the Anderson bridge.

They’re called “Radcliffe” instead of “Harvard” because in the 1880s (I think) Radcliffe College was established, which was the female counterpart to the men’s Harvard College. Sometime in the mid-70s Harvard’s athletic department took over the Radcliffe athletics program and all the women’s teams took a vote as to whether or not they should become “Harvard” or remain “Radcliffe”. Only women’s rowing decided to not change their name which is why they aren’t known as “Harvard” and still have black and white colors instead of crimson.

Training: Carbohydrate loading and rowing

Rowing Training & Nutrition

Training: Carbohydrate loading and rowing

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In college I majored in sport science and human performance, which meant the bulk of my course load centered on exercise science, sports nutrition, kinesiology, exercise physiology, etc. and nearly all the research I did involved athletes. One of the topics we spent a lot of time covering in my sports nutrition class was the various diets that athletes maintain while in-season, during the off-season, and in the immediate days leading up to competition. Today’s post is going to talk about one of those strategies – carbohydrate loading – and it’s effect on your performance during a race. (Spoiler: there’s not much benefit.)

The role of carbohydrates in the body and during exercise

During high intensity exercise, carbohydrates are the main energy source. CHOs also function as the only fuel for red blood cells, your brain, and nerves. If you deplete your CHO stores, for example during strenuous exercise, your blood glucose will be maintained by breaking down lipids and eventually some protein – lipids are fine but you never want to be breaking down proteins because that means that all other sources of energy have been maxed out so your body now has to rely on its skeletal muscle tissue (which is made up of protein) as a last-ditch energy source. This reverts back to everything I talked about in February regarding eating disorders.

Related: National eating disorder awareness week

During exercise, CHOs are the preferential fuel because they rapidly supply ATP via oxidative processes that allow them to be delivered twice as fast as fat and protein. During anaerobic activity (such as the start and sprint), they are the sole suppliers of ATP. Having a low CHO intake for three consecutive days has been shown to lead to a decrease in anaerobic exercise capacity, which means that if you’re not getting enough carbs in your diet during the week your body will be physically unable to go as hard at the beginning and end of a race, which is why it’s important to make sure you’re eating well-balanced meals all the time (regardless of what weight-class you’re competing in).

CHO-loading as an ergogenic aid

Ergogenic aids are defined as “any method or practice that serves to enhance energy utilization, including energy production, control, and efficiency.” There are several different types of ergogenic aids, some legal (CHO loading), some illegal (blood doping), some mechanical (in the context of rowing, rigging would be an example of this), and some psychological (hypnosis), amongst others.

Related: Intro to rigging

We spent a lot of time talking about the history of ergogenic aids because most people assume that they were developed or thought of recently – in fact, they’ve been in use since the original Olympic games. The ancient Greeks actually believed the “you are what you eat” mantra and to become better competitors, they’d eat the raw meat of lions and tigers because lions and tigers were/are powerful, swift, aggressive, fast, and deadly when on top of their game, which is what we as athletes all strive to be when we compete.

The mechanisms of CHO-loading involve super-compensating the stores of glycogen in the muscles and liver. The pros of doing this include:

Increased time to exhaustion (TTE) in activities lasting longer than 90 minutes and performed at a moderate to high level of intensity (marathons being the main example)

Increased TTE in intermittent high intensity sports (tennis, for example)

Improved endurance by about 20%

Improved performance by about 2-3%

The only major con is that there may be a disturbance in the body’s overall energy balance, meaning that the diet may lack other necessary macronutrients (the other two macronutrients being protein and fat). It’s also been shown that there is little or no effect on high intensity bouts of exercise lasting less than five minutes in length.

Below is a slide I did for a presentation on supplements for a class on issues and controversies in nutrition. We’d just gone over this stuff on ergogenic aids a couple days before this project was assigned so I was able to use all the info from my physiology class for my nutrition class. The yellow, orange, and red table at the top gives you a brief overview of what your CHO intake should look like in the week leading up to a race, which in this case was on a Sunday.

If your diet is made up of about 70% carbohydrates, as you progress through the week (Monday through Thursday) you would gradually decrease the amount of CHOs in your diet. Monday would be 60%, Tuesday 50%, Wednesday 40%, and Thursday 20%. During this time you are still training, although you tend to scale back a little as the week progresses (also known as tapering). On Friday and Saturday you ramp back up the amount of CHOs in your diet (where the term “supercompensate” comes from), from 20% to 75 and 80%.

CHO loading and rowing

Something you might have noticed from that slide and in what I mentioned earlier is that it says “endurance sports” and only talks about the increased TTE in events lasting longer than 90 minutes. So, this would lead one to believe that CHO loading before a sprint race wouldn’t do much to enhance your performance, which for the most part would be correct. CHO loading is better suited for something like a head race where you’re going at 100% for 20-30 minutes, although even then any performance benefits would be small.

Pre-competition meals

To ensure your energy supplies are topped off before an event, your best bet is to eat a pre-competition meal about three hours ahead of time, although it’s important to remember that this meal alone cannot and will not make up for having a poor chronic diet. Ideally you’d be eating something with 150-300g of carbs (3-5g/kg of body weight) while being sure to avoid anything containing high fat or protein contents. The advantages of  a meal like this are that they replenish your glycogen stores, it requires less energy to break down, nutrients are absorbed faster, digestion is quick, and it serves as the main source of energy for short term anaerobic/high intensity aerobic exercise, which is basically exactly what a sprint race is.

On the flip side, if you eat something immediately before you go out and race, you end up with a spike in your blood glucose levels which results in a hyper-insulinemic response. Because of the surge in insulin being released, your blood glucose then plummets which in turn leads to your performance being not so great. This is why you should avoid eating anything within thirty minutes of your race.

So, what should you actually eat?

There are so many options. Seriously. Pasta is not the only food with carbohydrates – bagels, peanut butter, honey, raisins, whole-wheat bread, apples, brown rice, yogurt, sweet potatoes, etc. are all examples of good staples in a rower’s diet.

If you’re going to commit to CHO loading, you should spend the time to work out exactly how many grams of carbs you should be eating/how much you need and then determine the number of carbs/calories in the foods you’re ingesting. If you’re in college and are taking a nutrition class or know someone who is, ask to borrow whatever book they’re using. Most basic nutrition classes require textbooks that tend to have long, long, long lists of foods in the back from every food group that list amount of macronutrients they contain. If you can’t do that, you can search whatever food you’re trying to look up and the awesomeness of Google will tell you right on the search page the number of carbs that food contains. If you don’t trust Google, I suggest using the USDA’s website. All you have to do is open up the “carbohydrates” report – you can open it with the foods listed either alphabetically or by nutrient content, which has the foods with the highest amount of carbs listed first.

Vegetarians, vegans, and CHO loading

There’s a lot of controversy on athletes who are vegetarians or vegans since the majority of them don’t eat any animal by-products, which cuts out a lot of the foods that their carnivorous counterparts rely on to maintain adequate energy stores. When attempting to CHO load, the options are pretty much the same for the most part, the only difference being they would need to look into gluten-free options and replace the meat and dairy with more vegetables, lentils, beans, tofu, chickpeas, etc. If there are any vegetarian/vegan rowers out there who wouldn’t mind sharing the foods they eat when prepping for a race, that’d be great.

Moral of the story…

Carbo-loading for sprint races is pretty much pointless. It’s a little more understandable for head races but in essence this is a tactic best reserved for straight endurance athletes, which rowers are not. You’re better off eating a diet rich in protein (see the slide below this) than trying to ingest large amounts of carbs that you most likely won’t fully burn off.

That isn’t to say that you shouldn’t be eating a solid amount of carbs too, because obviously you should be, but when comparing the benefits of CHO loading (remember, that’s super-compensating the amount of carbs you’re taking in) vs. ingesting protein, the more applicable benefits to rowing come from diets with adequate amounts of protein in them.

Image via // @row_360

Rowing Teammates & Coaches Video of the Week

Video of the Week: Symphony of Motion

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The quality of this video is everything you’d expect, considering it was made in the ’70s, but the quality of the content is top notch. The title is “Symphony of Motion”, which is borrowed from a quote spoken by George Pocock.

“It’s a great art, is rowing. It’s the finest art there is. It’s a symphony of motion and when you’re rowing well, why it’s nearing perfection. You’re touching the divine. It touches the you of you’s, which is your soul.”

While there’s much to appreciate in this video, coxswains, let’s take a second to stop and really appreciate the fact that we don’t have to wear that ridiculous megaphone contraption thing, seen at 8:07.