Concept2 Forum

any input would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks and happy rowing...or rather, erging.

dande1114 wrote:first off, hello to everyone! i am new here but have been reading many of the posts regardless...

alrite. to the point. I am a sophomore in highschool, im 16 years old, 5'6", weighing, in prime crew season, 145 pounds. I am proud of my erg score and am striving towards lowering it...however the time is coming to thinking of college recruiting and what not. While many colleges dont differentiate between lightweight and heavyweight for women...a good amount do. I would like to get to the lightweight level of rowing, as my height is definately not tall enough to make me competitive as a heavyweight. I have practice 6 days a week for about 1.25 hours. I also have an immense variety of foods to choose from, as i attend boarding school. Counting calories is out of the question as i cannot do it under these circumstances. I don;t know what to do. should i cut out carbs? eat more salads? to be honest, i have no idea.


any input would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks and happy rowing...or rather, erging.

Hi dande1114.

A couple of things. I've been planning my own attack on a weight-loss target, so have been considering my own approach. Maybe some of the things I've been thinking about will help you...

1. Are you sure you have fat (as opposed to "weight") to lose? (BTW, for me, this is not a question ) If you're not sure, you may want to ask someone to measure your body fat. You don't want it to go too low--it could compromise both your health and your bone health. Assuming you conclude that you have fat to lose...

2. Why do you think you can't count calories? Everything else you might do will be a proxy for counting calories one way or the other.

3. Given the wide food options available to you, is there a dietician/nutritionist on staff at your school? If not, there has to be someone who plans the menus and can consult with you on what the calories/nutrients are in the various choices they offer you. That information will be important no matter what plan you decide to use. If you have access to a dietician/nutritionist consider taking advantage of them and consulting them on your plan. Since you're an athlete, you want to try to avoid losing muscle mass while you lose weight.

4. Do you have a PDA or a phone that has PDA functions which you already carry? If so, you might consider adding a program like the one I'm considering using: Keyoe's Diet & Exercise Assistant (There is also an accompanying desktop version to allow you to do more analysis of how you're doing.) It allows you to manage what you're eating against your goals and the approach you want to take. Very handy for those of us who don't want to have to look up calories, etc. If you're concerned about something, you can see what the effect would be on your daily goals before you eat it. If you have access to information on the food choices offered at your school, you'll be able to program the available choices, to make it easy to use. It also allows you to program your basal metabolic rate and your varying activities into the program and adjusts the calories for the day to reflect those, then allows you to track measurements, weight & blood pressure--and make estimates of body fat (which would be useful if you have a "real" bodyfat measurement before you start).

5. I don't know what kind of diet you should choose (don't know what I should choose). Low carb, low fat, zone or what. Presumably others will have ideas about what would be a good idea.

I'm still fussing around with the "deciding what/how to do it" phase myself, so you could well be started before I am!

Alissa

thanks for your feedback Alissa! good luck to you too

Dande1114:

While Alissa has hit the nail on the head (hi Alissa! - it's Glenn) from the weight/diet perspective, there are a few other things to think about as well when it comes to recruiting:

You are a sophomore in High School - are you still growing? My daughter is 5'8"/180 and will be rowing heavyweight next year in college. It's a matter of finding the right team for your size. She knew she didn't have the physical stature for Cal or UCLA, but she received interest from six other schools and determined that UC Davis would be a great fit for her physically. Do some research and start looking at schools. Go to university women's crew websites and look at the rosters. Most list team member height. Find the right program for *you*. Remember - any school with a Division I football program will have a Women's Crew program with scholarships. Not all of them require you to be 5' 10" and weigh 190 lbs.....

Second - you probably should consult a nutritionist. At 5'6" and 145, you don't have a weight problem - so it's a matter of either losing 10 lbs at weigh in time to be a lightweight, or putting on some extra weight. But - you need to be careful that you are not losing muscle in the process, and a nutritionist can really help you with that. There needs to be the proper mix of carbs, protein and fat in your diet to allow you to work out and build muscle.

Third - coaches are looking for strength. Your 2K erg times should be below 8 minutes, and they will expect you to pull a 6K in 26 minutes or less. Those are kind of the minimum performance levels to get on the water at a lot of Universities. If you are at a 7:15 or less for a 2K, size won't matter. They will be grovelling at your feet to get you.

Lastly, you should start talking to your coach and/or others in the rowing world to learn about the opportunities that you may have. Get your coach(es) to introduce you to some college coaches. Target a couple of schools and attend their summer rowing camps. Anything you can do to make yourself known to college coaches will help. They are *dying* to recruit girls that *want* to row. Many of them have a lot of scholarship money to give, but are hesitant with freshmen because they are not sure if a recruit is really dedicated enough to stick out a 4 year college program. Show your entusiasm and dedication. You will be a shoo in! You will find outside of the top 10 programs, your size will not be a factor. And just so you know, two girls that were recruited by UCLA out of the program my daughter rows for were less than 5' 8" tall. Both were recruited immediately after the summer rowing camp last year....

Good luck!

dande1114 wrote:I am a sophomore in highschool, im 16 years old, 5'6", weighing, in prime crew season, 145 pounds.

What weight do you need to be, 135? That shouldn't be any problem at all, and would be better for health reasons even if you weren't rowing at all.

I also have an immense variety of foods to choose from, as i attend boarding school. Counting calories is out of the question as i cannot do it under these circumstances. I don;t know what to do. should i cut out carbs? eat more salads? to be honest, i have no idea.

I'd take a look at the choices you have, determine the caloric density of the foods and, based on this, determine certain foods you are going to eat and others that you aren't.

Fresh green salads are great. Fresh green veggie juices are excellent. You definitely need carbs for exercise and good health. Determine the type and amount of carbs that is best for you, to maintain your goal weight but no more.

To lose weight it is important to determine the (1) type of food you are going to eat, (2) the amount, i.e. portion control, and (3) the time of day when you eat it. Also be sure to drink plenty of water, from first thing in the morning through the day, before, during, and after each meal.

John and Glenn- thanks for your feedback, a lot of input to think about. I think im going to talk to the athletic trainers at my school, as i am pretty close with them. It may not be their area of expertise but they should have a lot of input, especially as they are familiar with the workouts as well as the foods available to me.

One more, thanks!

Dande1114:

I reccomend the free website www.fitday.com as a great way to track your food (easy to use drop down items), you can track your activities (rowing included), your weight and any specific nutritional goals.

I succeeded in losing the weight I wanted by reducing the fat and saturated fat to less than 30% and 10% respectively, I added whey protein with fat-free milk and crushed ice. I eliminated fast food burgers and fries and shakes, replacing them with salads and chicken breasts.

Keep a positive attitude and Good Luck

RGF