Category: Training & Nutrition

Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By

Hi! So I contacted you back in November and I just wanted to say thank you for replying, it helped quite a lot. Spring season started today (March 7th) but I’ve been out for 3 weeks with sinusitis, which I still have. I came back to practice last week but I’m only slowly improving day by day. I’ve tried the workouts but I cannot breathe at all if I’m sprinting or putting a lot of work into the piece. My coach is super okay with me feeling 100% better but it might take another full week. I’m coughing and cannot run either. I missed all of the 2k work but I know that I might not get out on the water until I do a 2k…but that might be a little while. I’m a junior as well so I know worrying about getting back into this won’t help but I just really wanna get better. Maybe I’m just asking you to let me know that I’m on the recovery and improving each day? Or maybe I’m asking you for help? I’m not really sure but it feels good to type this up. It seems as if I am allergic to winter.

Do you have allergies? I did pretty bad when I was in high school and they were always worse in the winter because the air was drier and I was spending more time inside with the allergens that affected me the most, which were dust and pet dander. My allergies in general haven’t been nearly as bad since I moved to Boston but they’re always noticeably worse in the winter regardless. Dust, dander, and the low humidity are relatively easy to manage though – humidifiers are great and as long as you wash your bedding regularly you can keep dander (pet and human) to a minimum. I make it a point to avoid noticeably dusty areas (more so at the boathouse than at home) and that helps a lot too. I think sinusitis (or what we initially thought was sinusitis) and my incessant coughing was what prompted my doctor to recommend seeing an allergy specialist to my parents when I was in middle school so you might consider seeing one if you haven’t/don’t already. They might be able to prescribe you a different/better medication (aka the good kind of steroids) that helps you manage whatever’s going on and gets you back to being able to workout.

You’re definitely in a more fortunate position than most people in that your coach is cool with you waiting until you’re 100% before you resume practicing – that alone should be a huge weight off your shoulders. I get wanting to get back as soon as possible but if you’ve already got the all-clear to take your time and get better, take advantage and do just that. I’d talk with your coach though to determine what’s required for you to be able to get on the water once you are healthy and then come up with some sort of modified training plan that you can follow if one of those requirements is a 2k. In the mean time, try to do something like pilates, yoga, core, etc., that way you’re still getting a workout in but you’re not taxing your body to the point where you experience trouble breathing. If you’re comfortable swimming you could try doing that as well and seeing if it’s easier to get a harder workout in in an environment where the air’s not as dry as outside, at the boathouse, etc.

Being sick sucks and sometimes there is little you can do about it but as long as you’re getting enough sleep, taking care of yourself, and staying in tune with how your body feels day to day, eventually you’ll get back to where you were. Don’t rush it though – patience is a #majorkey to getting back to 100% and not setting yourself up to get injured or sick(er) in the future.

College Coxing High School Racing Rowing Training & Nutrition

Coxswains + Weight Management

By

Given that it’s National Eating Disorder Awareness Week I thought this was an appropriate video to share. It’s from a talk on weight management that was given during the Sparks coxswain camp this past December. It’s only about nine minutes long so I encourage you to set aside some time to watch it (in addition to sharing it with the other coxswains on your team). There’s some great info, advice, and anecdotes in here but beyond that, at the very least I hope this serves as a wake-up call for those of you who are or are considering employing unsafe methods of losing weight.

Q&A Rowing Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By

OK, so I will preface this saying that I know this was not my best winter, but I have not been working out nearly as much as I should. I’ve had various injuries to work through but I’m fully cleared now and probably could have been working out more through it. Anyway, I’m pretty nervous with the season coming up that I’m not going to be up to par so do you have any workout (or other) suggestions to be in better shape for the season? Thanks so much!

Just get on the erg and do some steady state. If you can’t erg for whatever reason, run, swim, or bike. Usually when our guys can’t erg we have them go on seven mile runs or they jog over and do a full tour of Harvard Stadium (which is 37 sections + 3 miles there + 3 miles back). If the weather’s bad or the conditions are unsafe (i.e. snow or ice) then they’ll do Green Buildings (self-explanatory once you see the picture) with weight vests on. They’ll also hop on the bikes and go at whatever pace the guys on the ergs are going (meaning they’ll bike lightly during the rest periods but amp it up during the actual pieces). The coxswains have started taking their heart rates to make sure they’re in the right zones so I’d recommend doing that regardless of what you do, that way you can be sure you’re training the right way (and actually working hard vs. just feeling tired because you’re not in rowing-shape yet).

I’d also make sure you’re communicating with your coach(es) too about your injuries and progress (if they don’t already know). They’ll care a lot less about whatever shape you’re in if you let them know what’s going on and keep them updated vs. not saying anything at all and showing up wildly out of shape on the first day.

Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By

Hey! I’m a freshman first year varsity female rower at a high school club team. All fall we’ve really only have done 2 land workouts that we do on a weekly basis. Workout #1 is a longer workout that involves running and erging for about an hour and I almost always throw up on this workout no matter how I try to change what I eat/how much fluids I consume. Our practice starts at 3:30 so its not like I’m working out right after a meal. Workout #2 is a shorter interval/SS workout on the erg and I usually don’t throw up or feel that bad on these workouts. I haven’t actually done that many land workouts since I was part of a boat training for HOCR but since, I always feel really nauseous during/after the workout. Recently, I started feeling sick on the shorter workout #2 and we just did a new 1min sprint interval workout and I felt so bad after. My stomach/throat just felt really acidic and I ended up doing really bad. I never really thought my vomiting was something too serious since it was usually just some water/air and I never threw up last year when we did harder workouts. But now I think it might be something more since it occurs so often. I know that stomach acid is really bad for the throat and I was wondering what foods I should avoid eating, when I should eat/what snacks to eat before practice, and how I should bring it up to my coaches. I’ve already told my parents and I think I’m going to see my doctor during break. Thank you so much! I love your blog it helped me sooo much my novice year.

I would definitely check in with your doctor because they’ll obviously be able to give you much better advice than I can. One of my friends in college had a similar problem and eventually found out it was the result of a peptic ulcer so the doctors he was seeing put him on a pretty rigid diet of super bland foods and medication to control the acid reflux. Luckily the foods he ate were still rowing friendly – oatmeal, toast, chicken, salad, fish, fruit, etc. – but it did get pretty boring after awhile and it took awhile for him to figure out how to get the necessary number of calories each day.

He had everything under control for awhile but then our senior year he finally had surgery for it because the ulcer wasn’t healing properly and the doctors were worried about it perforating. He was told to stop rowing numerous times and just kinda ignored them because the pain and discomfort wasn’t any more than what he was already experiencing when he was training and things seemed to be under control with his diet and the meds. Once it got to the point where they recommended surgery he realized he probably should have taken more time off to recuperate though so … just keep that in mind if your doctor gives you a similar recommendation.

As far as telling your coaches goes, just be straightforward with them. Obviously this is something out of your control so it’s not like they can be pissed at you for needing to modify the workouts or take time off. It sucks but your health is more important.

I’d stick to basic foods like oatmeal (those little single cup things are great), a bagel, toast … one of my friends eats an avocado every day before practice so you could try that too, along with maybe some nuts, fruit, etc. I’d stay away from spicy stuff, alcohol (…duh?), and anything that’s heavy on the citric acid, like grapefruits, tomatoes, oranges, etc. Avoiding dairy might be worth trying too. This was how another of my friends found out her previously unknown dairy allergy was causing her to throw up regularly at practice – she started eating a cup of yogurt before practice each day and didn’t make the connection until her doctor suggested cutting it out for a week. Assuming you do have an ulcer of some kind though, dairy can also exacerbate the problem by increasing the amount of stomach acid you’re producing (despite the fact that it initially makes you feel better by coating the stomach lining).

It might be worth keeping a food diary for a week or two so you can track what you’re eating, how you feel before/after practice, what workout(s) you did that day, etc. Most doctors/nutritionists will suggest doing this anyways as a way to narrow down what might be causing the problem so consider doing that before you see your doctor, that way you can hopefully expedite the process of figuring out what’s wrong.

Coxing Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By

Hi! I have been told by a collegiate rower that I’m good friends with, that if I want to cox in college I will probably have to lose about 10 to 12 pounds. And I was told I probably won’t be able to row in college unless I grow because I am only 5 foot three. As of now I weigh between 125 and 130 depending on the day and I know it’s not really a problem for me to lose weight. I know I can do it healthily without becoming too thin or anything. Do you have any suggestions on workouts I can do and ways to start eating healthier?

Workouts = Run, bike, or swim for at least 45 minutes 3-4x a week at pace that’s hard enough to get your HR up but still allows you to hold a conversation. If you don’t consistently workout already maybe start with three days a week for 30 minutes and work your way up from there.

Eating healthier = Just make smart(er) decisions about what you put into your body. Eat breakfast every day, even if it’s something small (Chobani + 1/3 cup of granola is my go-to) and make sure you’re drinking a decent amount of water each day too. I have a 32oz Nalgene that I try to empty by the end of the day so you could do something similar if you aren’t normally a big water drinker (like me). Don’t overload your plate, eat appropriate servings of veggies, fruits, etc. and be mindful of your sweet tooth, if you have one. You don’t have to cut anything out but you do have to keep your goals in mind and exert some self-control (which admittedly will be hard over the next month).

Q&A Rowing Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By

Hi, I wanted to know if you if you have any advice on goals that you could set yourself. I’m 14 years old and I’m female, I’m 5’9 pushing 5’10 and participate in a lot of sports so I have a tall lean but muscular build. My high school doesn’t have a rowing team so I have joined a club. I really like rowing and I’ve been rowing for about 6 months. My coach is great and I row in a quad, double, and single (all scull). I row 4 times a week and I’m starting to become successful but I want to set myself some goals so I can keep improving. We are going to start gym sessions soon so I was wondering if you have any tips on times or achievements I should aim for?

This would be a great question to ask your coach because he/she would be able to give you a more specific answer than I can since they know your current times and all that stuff. Without knowing any of that it’s hard to give any concrete advice but I will say that whatever times you do end up aiming for, have that be the end goal but also have targets to hit at various intervals leading up to that as well. If you’re currently at an 8:00 2k and you want to be at 7:40 by spring break, determine how often you want to test yourself in between now and then and what times you’re shooting for with each test (i.e. 7:55, 7:50, 7:45, 7:40…).   It’s a lot more effective to be able to check off a small goal each month than to just aimlessly work towards a bigger goal that is three, six, nine months down the road.

When you’re in the gym, if you’re doing a bodyweight or plank circuit, try to add reps or time every couple of days. For example, if you’re doing 30 second planks, after two or three sessions add 10 seconds. If you can comfortably hold it, do 40 second planks for a couple sessions before bumping it up again. If you can’t complete whatever additional amount of time/reps you add, go back to the previous amount. The goal is to slowly build upon whatever you’re already doing. When you’re on the ergs, consider getting a heart rate monitor so you can track your workouts and make sure you’re training in the right HR zones when you’re doing steady state. This can help a lot with tracking your progress towards your goals (because if you’re training the way you should be you should in theory be able to hit your targets with little to no issue).