Getting faster while losing weight?
Getting faster while losing weight?
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Last edited by Heavy150 on Sat Jan 02, 2016 5:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Steven M-M
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Re: Getting faster while losing weight?
Heavy150 -- I do not have the expertise to address your question, but you may face a difficult trade-off between your athletic goals and your health. At 18 you may have a major growth spurt still to come and need to be careful not to rob your growing body of nutrition. It sounds like you are already lean so where are you going to drop 10 more pounds? Perhaps you should you do a scientific assessment of your body fat. I encourage you to talk to a sports MD and nutritionist, someone more invested in your health than performance.
Steven M-M
Re: Getting faster while losing weight?
Joe Sullivan from NZ is 6 ft, under 180, Oly champion in the 2x.Steven M-M wrote:Heavy150 -- I do not have the expertise to address your question, but you may face a difficult trade-off between your athletic goals and your health. At 18 you may have a major growth spurt still to come and need to be careful not to rob your growing body of nutrition. It sounds like you are already lean so where are you going to drop 10 more pounds? Perhaps you should you do a scientific assessment of your body fat. I encourage you to talk to a sports MD and nutritionist, someone more invested in your health than performance.
build strength, build good aerobic base, learn to row - ie apply that to moving a boat. Focus on being a great rower and row at the weight you are at, whatever that is.
Re: Getting faster while losing weight?
6:15 at 160 is a pretty dam good score. Losing 12 lbs is a work in progress.
Tons and tons of Steady State
You have to eat healthy, very healthy. Good foods, less alcohol.
You should not be afraid to suck a pound or two before a race. You also have to take into account international racing weights , averaging and making weight for that and even seat racing. College and club racing is one thing international racing is a whole new weight making skill.
I will say it again, US Rowing really messed up in eliminating averaging, etc. How can our rowers of tomorrow learn how to make weight if they are unable to practice it at club nationals etc, at least use international standards for elite nationals as we know club nationals is now Youth Nationals 2.0 squared for entry fees.
Tons and tons of Steady State
You have to eat healthy, very healthy. Good foods, less alcohol.
You should not be afraid to suck a pound or two before a race. You also have to take into account international racing weights , averaging and making weight for that and even seat racing. College and club racing is one thing international racing is a whole new weight making skill.
I will say it again, US Rowing really messed up in eliminating averaging, etc. How can our rowers of tomorrow learn how to make weight if they are unable to practice it at club nationals etc, at least use international standards for elite nationals as we know club nationals is now Youth Nationals 2.0 squared for entry fees.
Re: Getting faster while losing weight?
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Last edited by Heavy150 on Sat Jan 02, 2016 5:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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KiwiCanuck
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Re: Getting faster while losing weight?
The km you are reporting is roughly in line with daily km of international training groups. As Sully noted, Joe Sullivan is about 5'11" (I've driven him from Karapiro to Auckland to catch a flight a few years back - he's a very personable young man.) However, Joe is an outlier - as is his partner, Nathan Cohen - both are considerably shorter than most international heavyweight men.
I'd be careful - if you're 18, you're still growing. I understand that bone mineralization doesn't finish until you're about 20 or 21 - i.e., your skeleton keeps getting denser until about then - but it doesn't do that properly if you're deprived of energy - the calcium that would normally go to your bones might go to other things like making your nerves and muscles fire. In my coaching, these days, I don't recommend anyone do serious lightweight things until they're at least 20. After that, make sure you're consulting with a sports dietician that has been university trained and has worked with high-performance athletes.
People I've seen who HAVE "gone lightweight" were knocking on the door of international heavyweight - e.g., one woman was regularly pulling 7:09-ish scores as a heavyweight. She was a bit shorter than the norm for heavies, and one of her club coaches suggested she consult with a nutritionist and see if she could lose the weight properly, and make the grade through retaining her strength. The first year was a bit rough, but she got used to it, trained at "nearly weight" and kept her erg scores in the 7:09 - 7:10 range, won several international medals in international sculling, too. Train HARD and get STRONG and FIT and make sure your technique is spot-on (long, quick, efficient catch is vital), and worry about making weight after you're at least 20 y-o...
IMO
A study done by Australian Inst. of Sport researchers, on lightweight males, back before the 04 Olympics, found that if athletes lost about 1.5 to 2 kg from the night before weigh-in, they could rehydrate after weigh in during the 2h prior to racing (if they weigh-in right at the start of their weigh-in window). Some of the caveats - the 1.5-2 kg had to be lost through "active" perspiration and normal urination. "Passive" sweating, such as a sauna, didn't lose water from the right tissues (I'm just the reporter, I don't know enough about the deets)... The rehydration - if they drank water after weigh-in, the water diluted their system and stimulated the kidneys to get rid of the fluids; rehydration was incomplete, and performance suffered. If they rehydrated with an isotonic solution (probably a sports drink or even something like a pediatric rehydration solution) they retained the fluids in their bodies and performance did not suffer...
(Source: FISA Coaching Conference, Gifu, Japan, 2004, before the 2005 world champs... Somewhere I have more details in a box of readings, but... where...)
I'd be careful - if you're 18, you're still growing. I understand that bone mineralization doesn't finish until you're about 20 or 21 - i.e., your skeleton keeps getting denser until about then - but it doesn't do that properly if you're deprived of energy - the calcium that would normally go to your bones might go to other things like making your nerves and muscles fire. In my coaching, these days, I don't recommend anyone do serious lightweight things until they're at least 20. After that, make sure you're consulting with a sports dietician that has been university trained and has worked with high-performance athletes.
People I've seen who HAVE "gone lightweight" were knocking on the door of international heavyweight - e.g., one woman was regularly pulling 7:09-ish scores as a heavyweight. She was a bit shorter than the norm for heavies, and one of her club coaches suggested she consult with a nutritionist and see if she could lose the weight properly, and make the grade through retaining her strength. The first year was a bit rough, but she got used to it, trained at "nearly weight" and kept her erg scores in the 7:09 - 7:10 range, won several international medals in international sculling, too. Train HARD and get STRONG and FIT and make sure your technique is spot-on (long, quick, efficient catch is vital), and worry about making weight after you're at least 20 y-o...
IMO
A study done by Australian Inst. of Sport researchers, on lightweight males, back before the 04 Olympics, found that if athletes lost about 1.5 to 2 kg from the night before weigh-in, they could rehydrate after weigh in during the 2h prior to racing (if they weigh-in right at the start of their weigh-in window). Some of the caveats - the 1.5-2 kg had to be lost through "active" perspiration and normal urination. "Passive" sweating, such as a sauna, didn't lose water from the right tissues (I'm just the reporter, I don't know enough about the deets)... The rehydration - if they drank water after weigh-in, the water diluted their system and stimulated the kidneys to get rid of the fluids; rehydration was incomplete, and performance suffered. If they rehydrated with an isotonic solution (probably a sports drink or even something like a pediatric rehydration solution) they retained the fluids in their bodies and performance did not suffer...
(Source: FISA Coaching Conference, Gifu, Japan, 2004, before the 2005 world champs... Somewhere I have more details in a box of readings, but... where...)
Re: Getting faster while losing weight?
You have to to eat, it will keep the engine going. Not eating will will send that erg score the wrong way. And with the international racing and weighing in timing so different than the college or US rowing system you will be useless and spent after the heats.
Go to dietician and talk to some of the elite lightweights when you go to a camp in the summer, they will have good feedback and tips for you. Hearing directly from them may get you on the right path.
Go to dietician and talk to some of the elite lightweights when you go to a camp in the summer, they will have good feedback and tips for you. Hearing directly from them may get you on the right path.
Re: Getting faster while losing weight?
If you're only 18 and going 6:18 at 172, have you considered going the other way? I'd be willing to bet that you'll have a better shot of staying healthy and meeting the time standards at age 22 at a lean 195 than a starved 160.
Re: Getting faster while losing weight?
Please talk with your current coach, your parents, a nutritionist, college coaches and as many other people as possible. Your volume seems extremely high for your age. You are still developing in so many ways. You should be lifting, you should be running, you should be doing Plyo, you should be an athlete. Scores get you noticed. Your ability to be athletic and move boats gets you into the top boats and into winning crews. Walk before you run. Having a goal of Nat Team is good, but keep it in perspective. You are risking long term health and welfare and you may not be able to get there, and at what cost?
There are many many fast crews through history that have "tweeners" making huge contributions. You really don't have to look very far at all to see them. The college varsity programs have loads of 6'0" to 6'2" guys under 200 pounds. How do you know you won't grow 2 more inches and be able to pull a 6:00 at 195 lbs? Cut yourself some slack and talk to as many as possible to gain perspective.
There are many many fast crews through history that have "tweeners" making huge contributions. You really don't have to look very far at all to see them. The college varsity programs have loads of 6'0" to 6'2" guys under 200 pounds. How do you know you won't grow 2 more inches and be able to pull a 6:00 at 195 lbs? Cut yourself some slack and talk to as many as possible to gain perspective.