I have mentioned that both the nutrition and conditioning of the athlete will determine how much work can be performed in a specific exercise before fatigue sets in. In order to ensure you are getting the right nutrition you first have to determine your daily calorie requirements.

Many people try to follow a calorie-controlled diet. To lose weight, the calories taken in from food and drink must be less than the calories expended. To gain weight, the calories taken in from food and drink must be more than the calories expended. Finally, to maintain weight, there has to be a balance between the calories consumed and the calories expended. Whether you are a lightweight competitor or overweight and trying to reduce, knowing your daily energy costs is an important part of your weight management programme.

Energy costs can be divided into three main groups, the basal metabolic rate, (BMR) which is solely the cost of running your life support system, heart, lungs, digestion etc. Daily expenditure, which is what you do when awake up and about and finally the energy costs of exercise.

BMR is related to age and gender (with women holding a proportionally higher level of fat and less muscle tissues than men. Muscle tissue is metabolically more active than fat tissue therefore requires more energy to maintain). To calculate your BMR by hand, you need the following formulas:

W = Bodyweight (kg)

To estimate your average daily expenditure you need to take your BMR and multiply it by a factor, which is determined by your activity level. If you are very active during the day then the factor is 2.0, so the BMR is doubled to give the estimated daily expenditure. A day of relaxation, mainly sedentary, mostly seated or just standing then you multiply the BMR by a factor of 1.4. Moderately active, regular brisk walking or manual work then the factor is 1.7.

To determine the cost of training we have to find the hourly BMR, which is done by simply dividing your BMR by 24.

For the different rowing intensities there is a Physical Activity Ratio (PAR) and to find the energy costs of training the formula is, hourly BMR x PAR x duration (hours).

For UT2 the PAR is 3.5 The PAR for the other training bands is UT1=7.0. AT=8.5 and TR=12.0.

Although in order to lose weight it is necessary to take in less calories than you expend, it should not fall below your BMR. If it does then your body goes into "Famine mode." In this condition it is not necessarily fat that is lost faster but lean body mass and water, and the metabolism slows down to balance the reduced calorie intake. The consequence is loss of strength, lack of energy, mood swings, tiredness, and sluggishness not to mention hunger. Your immune system will also be affected and you will become vulnerable to infection.

Nutrition is not just about total calories but knowing the calorie balance. Three food groups' carbohydrates, protein and fats will provide energy. The relative balance between these groups is 60% carbohydrates, 17% protein and 23% fats.

CARBOHYDRATE: 60% OF KILOCALORIES

The "normal diet" is based on the daily requirements of the average person not someone engaged in a heavy training programme. This means there is an average daily deficit of 5%-10% kilocalories as carbohydrate. 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 skim 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/ and nut group be provide by legumes - navy, kidney, pinto and garbanzo 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, jam and cereal for breakfast and a plate of spaghetti for dinner translates into a high carbohydrate diet. 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 - three servings of skim milk products daily. Also of great importance to remember is this: in order to keep the carbs high, and the protein level adequate to provide for body needs (see section which follows), the only expendable item in the diet which can be decreased is fat.

In summary, a rower would want to plan his/her diet around the following carbohydrate-rich foods:

BREAKFAST
Cereal, bread, muffins, bagels, pancakes (occasionally only)
Fruit and fruit juices
Eggs (soft-cooked or poached are prepared without added fat and are therefore preferred); limit to 3 - 5 per week
Lean ham or bacon - max twice per week (no bacon or sausage)
Yogurt made from low fat or skim milk
Skim or low-fat milk
LUNCH & DINNER
Soups made from fat-free broths or low-fat milk
Fresh vegetable salads (without cheese and bacon toppings)
Limited amounts of salads made with mayonnaise (ham, tuna, egg, pasta and cabbage)
Hot vegetables of all kinds (top with grated Parmesan cheese rather than cheese sauce or butter)
Lean meat, fish, poultry; skinless and broiled or roasted rather than deep-fried
Peanut butter (in limited amounts)
Bread/rolls/bagels/ buns
Fresh or canned fruit
Angel food cake, low-fat frozen yogurt, ice milk, sorbet
(other desserts limited to 2 - 3 times per week only)
Skim or low-fat milk
SNACKS
Bagels with jam and thin layer of peanut butter
Fresh or dried fruits and fruit juices
Fig bars, oatmeal biscuits, vanilla wafers, Jacobs crackers
Ice lollies, low-fat fruited yogurt, power bars

Athletes often wonder about the wisdom of including sweets as a part of their high carbohydrate training diet. From a standpoint of glycogen replacement, research tells us that during 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 sweets (cakes, sweets, biscuits, sweet desserts) eaten only limited amounts, since they are also frequently high in fat and don't' come packaged with as many other valuable vitamins and minerals (folacin and iron, for example) as do carbohydrates from grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes.

What is the coach's role in helping the athlete to choose a high-carbohydrate diet? Making sound information available to the athlete is certainly an important first step, but probably even more important than your words (or the words of a sport nutritionist or registered dietitian), are your actions. Whenever a team meal is planned, arrange for it to be high in nutritious carbohydrate foods, so a model of appropriate choices is apparent to the rower. If the oarsmen/women know the rationale for high carbohydrate training diets, and then are taught through example what foods are good choices to include in their training meals, they can benefit from a perfect follow-up of educational theory put into practice.

PROTEIN: 15 - 20 % OF KILOCALORIES

Proteins is the nutrient which 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 grams of protein required per kilogram of body weight. A standard Recommended Daily Allowance or RDA chart found in any nutrition textbook will list a recommended protein intake for various age groups, based on an average weight. However, an individual athlete's protein need can be figured out more precisely by multiplying the body weight in Kilos by 1.4 to obtain grams of protein recommended each day.

An athlete who is receiving 1.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day will have adequate protein to meet present body needs and also have enough additional protein to provide for any increase in lean muscle mass which may be realized through a weight training program. It is not difficult to obtain this amount of protein through a balanced diet. Protein is available from many different foods in varying amounts:

*High quality complete protein

To determine the adequacy of protein intake to meet a rower's individual needs, the athlete may wish to keep a record of all foods eaten during one day, and the amount of each, and use the protein equivalent value to calculate total protein available from these foods. Most athletes who consume a balanced diet which includes foods from all four food groups and which is adequate in kilocalories to maintain weight, will have no difficulty in meeting protein needs. The exceptions may be those rowers who follow a strict vegetarian (vegen) diet or lightweight rowers who practice severe calorie intake restriction. For strict vegetarians, consuming only plant foods and including no meat, fish, poultry, eggs, or dairy products, means that these rowers should be concerned about obtaining adequate high quality protein from their daily meals. It would be well for these athletes to monitor their protein intake carefully, and if it is below the recommended amount for their body size, they may wish to consult a registered dietician for help with menu planning to incorporate more protein into their normal plan of eating. For lightweight rowers a 5 - 6% body fat for men or 10 - 11% for women represent dangerously low levels of body fat and should prompt immediate consultation with a dietician to adjust dietary intake.

More women than men tend to be vegetarians. Or are at least limiting their intake of protein foods, both from the meat and dairy groups. It is important to caution these women that while carbohydrate is very important, so also is protein, and in order to meet the demands of the exercising body, protein intake must be adequate. It may be difficult to impossible for the heavyweight vegetarian rower to meet caloric and protein needs on a totally plant-based diet; the sheer bulk of such a diet may mean one is filled up before adequate kilocalories and protein are consumed. Care must be taken to insure adequacy.

Occasionally athletes wonder about taking protein or amino acid supplements to boost their protein intake. As mentioned above, this is really not necessary if one eats a balanced diet adequate in kilocalories; 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, which are all 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 - a particular risk for exercising athlete who requires that body fluids be present at an optimum level to cool the working muscles. Further, 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.

FAT: 20 - 25% OF KILOCALORIES

Fat is not quite the villain we sometimes make it out to be! The body requires some fat in the diet to have enough available 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 regular mixed diet will provide all the fat required to re-supply adipose tissue deposits in the body, which in the average, weight person store in excess of 11,000 grams of fat, or over 100,000 kilocalories! With all this fat stored in the body, we require only about 2 - 10 percent of our total daily kilocalories as fat, to supply adequate amounts of fatty acid called linoleic acid, which the body cannot make, and therefore must obtain from food.

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 diary products, and several tropical plant oils - coconut, palm and palm kernel - have all been implicated as contributing factors in both heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Also, a diet high in fat can lead to excess fat weight, since gram for gram, fat will provide more than twice the kilocalories of carbohydrate and protein, and because fat from food is very efficiently converted to fat stores in the body. Finally, recall that kilocalories for energy production come from three sources: carbohydrate, protein and fat. For an athlete to keep carbohydrate intake at the recommended 60% of total kilocalories, while also providing adequate protein for his/her body size, the only "adjustable" energy-providing nutrient is fat. Whatever is left of caloric intake after planning for carbohydrate and protein needs can be assigned to fat, and usually for an athlete, this is between 20 - 25 percent of total kilocalories.

The following steps should be taken to limit fat intake.

1. 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 such as mozzarella made from part-skim milk and 1 or 2% fat cottage cheese.
2. Switch from the regular or premium type ice creams to low fat frozen yogurt, ice milk or sorbet.
3. Choose margerines made from liquid vegetable (non-tropical) oils rather than butter as a table spread or topping.
4. Limit amount of salad dressings used to no more than two - three tablespoons per salad, and avoid those containing cheese or bacon.
5. Limit amount of salads containing mayonnaise such as tuna, ham, egg, pasta and chicken, and when preparing these yourself, use the lower fat types of mayonnaise and try substituting low fat yogurt for part of the mayo.
6. Avoid fried foods, especially those which are deep fried. Food, which is baked, broiled or steamed absorbs far less fat.
7. Limit amount of rich sauces made with cream and/or butter. Instead, eat pasta with tomato sauce and top vegetables with a dash of grated parmesan cheese.
8. Choose leaner cuts of red meats, eat fish which is poached or baked rather than fried, and remove the skin from poultry.
9. Limit intake of concentrated sweets like cake, biscuits and chocolates, 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, safflower and canola 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 predominance by weight.

VITAMINS & MINERALS

If a rower is obtaining adequate daily kilocalories from a wide variety of foods, it is not necessary to take a vitamin-mineral supplement to supply recommended amounts of these regulatory nutrients. The one exception to this might be the iron and calcium, which females may need to supplement. In a mixed diet of 1000 kilocalories, one can expect to receive about 6 mg. of iron. Since the pre-menopause female requires about 15 mg. of iron per day, she would have to ingest about 2500 kilocalories daily, to provide an adequate iron intake. Most oarswomen will eat at this level and probably even higher, but in the event a lightweight female rower may be consistently below this level of caloric intake, she may need to discuss an iron or calcium supplement with her physician.

Rowers may wish to consume vitamin C at a level somewhat higher than the RDA for this vitamin. Some research suggests that athletes consume 3mg. vitamin C per kg/bodyweight, rather than the RDA of 60 mg. A diet, which includes 4 - 5 servings of the following fruits and vegetables, which are rich in vitamin C, should easily meet the need:

• Citrus fruit and juice
• Cantaloupe and watermelon
• Strawberries
• Broccoli, spinach and Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage
• Tomatoes

Example: A rower weigh 82 kilograms. His/her vitamin C requirement would be 82 x 3 or 246 mg. vitamin C / day. This could easily be obtained through:

Including enough fruits and vegetables to meet this higher vitamin C level would have the added advantage of also including the minerals potassium and magnesium. As noted previously, fruits and vegetables also provide a rich supply of carbohydrates.

Whenever possible, vitamins and minerals are best obtained from food rather than from pills. In foods, they come packaged with other nutrients important to good health - not just one or two isolated vitamins or minerals. Further, when these nutrients come in food there is little if any danger of ingesting such high levels as to be toxic to the body. The same cannot always be said for supplements, which are often taken in amounts great enough to be dangerous to normal body function.

If a rower for one reason or another however, is unable to eat an optimally balanced diet, he or she may wish to consider a vitamin/mineral supplement. The best advice is to choose an all-purpose one/day supplement which provides between 50 and 100 percent of the RDA for the given vitamin(s)/mineral(s). In combination with nutrients received from the diet, this should provide a safe level of supplementation. It is wise to check with a doctor before supplementing iron to the diet, however.

FLUID CONSUMPTION

For optimal performance, it is essential to drink fluids to maintain adequate 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 prevent the body's core temperature from rising to a dangerously high level. The body can rid itself of heat by: 1.) Dilating the blood vessels of the skin, which in turn increases the flow of blood to the skin and release of the heat to the environment by radiation and convection and 2.) Secretion of sweat onto the surface of the skin requiring heat kilocalories to evaporate the moisture, causing a cooling reaction. In hot weather, especially, it is the cooling by evaporation process which allows exercise to continue, but only if these sweat losses are replaced through adequate fluid intake. When training in hot weather, sweat losses from the body can be in excess of 2 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 (40 - 50°F) 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.
• Before exercise drink 12 - 20 oz. (400 - 600 ml) 2 - 3 hours before.
• During exercise, re-hydrate by drinking 7 - 10 ounces (200 - 300 ml) of cold fluid every 10 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 - 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 1 litre of fluid should be consumed for every kilo of weight lost through sweating. Re-hydrate within 2 hours post-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 regimens. 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 and maintain adequate balance.
• 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.

THE PRE-RACE MEAL

There is no single combination of foods which constitute the ideal pre-event meal; choices will vary with the individual rower - what he or she has learned through experience is comfortable and effective. The following general guidelines may be of help as each athlete learns what foods are tolerated best during pre-race anxiety.

• Eat a small meal of no more than 500 - 800 kilocalories about 2 - 3 hours before the race, so the stomach has time to start emptying before competition begins.
• Emphasize starch or "complex" carbohydrate foods which are digested relatively quickly and can boost glycogen supplies in the working muscles. Avoid excessive intake of foods high in sugar, which may cause stomach upset and may trigger reactive low blood sugar levels.
• A small amount of protein should be eaten, but avoid fatty foods or those prepared in fat. Fat takes longer than any type of food to leave the stomach.
• Avoid those foods which tend to produce gas, such as beans, onions, peppers, cabbage, cauliflower and apples. Gas-forming foods will vary with the individual.
• Avoid spicy foods and those foods which are new and untried. Just before a competition is not a good time to experiment with new cuisine; stay with the tried and true.
• Be wary of foods that are high in indigestible fibre. Though high fibre foods help promote good intestinal function, they can also lead to diarrhoea and increase the risk of de-hydration. General abdominal discomfort from flatulence can also be a problem with high fibre intake.

Examples of two pre-event meals follow. Liquid nourishment such as Nutrament, Carnation Instant Breakfast or Ensure and a long list of power bar choices can also provide an appropriate pre-event meal. This is especially important for athletes who suffer from nervous stomachs before competition and will better tolerate more readily digestible liquids and smaller amounts of certain solids than large amounts of solids.

BREAKFAST: Total Kilocalories: 419
4 fluid ounces orange juice
1 poached egg
2 slices toast
2 tablespoons jam
8 fluid ounces skim milk
LUNCH: Total Kilocalories: 550
4 fluid ounces tomato juice
2 ounces baked fish
1 cup rice
1 orange
2 biscuits
8 fluid ounces skim milk

Don't neglect nutrition after the race is over. This is the time to replace glycogen used during the event. Research suggests that 1.5 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight should be consumed immediately and at 2-hour intervals during the first four hours after exercise. And don't forget to replace fluids after the event, as discussed earlier.