Weight loss as a competitive rower?

[Wingit]

Gday all,

I started rowing competitively about two years ago as a vehicle for weight loss. I lost roughly 100lbs in the first year and have been hovering around 190lbs since, but I'm still far from happy with my physique. I've asked my coaches for help, but they insist that I focus on performance and bulk. I'm very unhappy with how I look, but I also need to double down on my performance as an athlete. How would I go about losing weight without affecting speed?

[Tony Cook]

Easy for me to say but at your age don’t worry about it. You have 3-5 years of growing to do, maybe not in height, but in ‘filling out’.
You are pulling decent times and obviously exercising/training well.
I would say your height and weight proportions are fine. BMI may say something else but BMI is a rubbish indicator for fit people - at my fittest/strongest and 12% body fat I was morbidly obese according to BMI.
Keep training and expect to improve your fitness and gain some muscle mass over the next couple of years. Long slow sessions will burn fat at the same time. Rowers are generally ‘lean’.

[hjs]

Gday all,

I started rowing competitively about two years ago as a vehicle for weight loss. I lost roughly 100lbs in the first year and have been hovering around 190lbs since, but I'm still far from happy with my physique. I've asked my coaches for help, but they insist that I focus on performance and bulk. I'm very unhappy with how I look, but I also need to double down on my performance as an athlete. How would I go about losing weight without affecting speed?

You are 16 years old so you are far from fully grown. Keep that in mind, you will at least keep changing the next 10 years.

First off, be pround you did get that weight off! Thats not an easy thing.

Don’t know what exactly you are unhappy with. You are a rower, so rowing can make you look like a rower, not something else.

In general, at your age, you could see pretty fast changes. Eat well, plenty of protein every meal, enough overall, but dump the crap. And do not drink sugary stuff. If you do that, you end up having a fit, lean rowing body.

To get more muscle, you can’t get around doing weights. But for rowing it won’t be very usefull I am afraid.

[Popcorn]

At your age and activity level, just eat good, whole, real foods and don't think about your weight. Minimize the soda and the sweets except for occasional treats and eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, grains, protein, anything that is real food and not packaged, overprocessed stuff. Our society is over-obsessed with weight and appearance and it can get into your head, but just keep up with healthy eating, listen to your coaches, and be kind to yourself.

[Tsnor]

Gday all,
I started rowing competitively about two years ago as a vehicle for weight loss. I lost roughly 100lbs in the first year and have been hovering around 190lbs since, but I'm still far from happy with my physique. I've asked my coaches for help, but they insist that I focus on performance and bulk. I'm very unhappy with how I look, but I also need to double down on my performance as an athlete. How would I go about losing weight without affecting speed?

On the water lower weight will give faster splits. On the erg more muscle mass is king.

"..I'm very unhappy with how I look.."

Funny thing is 90% of the guys in your school want to look exactly like you do. And be as strong.

If you get bored google something like "body image teenage media impact".

Nothing wrong with setting a body image goal and working towards it. If it involves diets trying to get to 10% or 15% body fat I'd guess its a poor medical choice, but it's your choice not coaches, etc. Do your own research and make your decisions. If you decide to lose more weight there are billions of articles that worked for someone. Find one that works for you. Your current strength/weight/height balance is pretty good.

[G-dub]

I have wanted to look differently for 58, soon to be 59 years now. It has been the main motivation for my athletic endeavors, if I’m honest. But the reality is you have what you have and there isn’t much you can do about it but be healthy and accepting. It’s amazing when you get older and you look back at old pictures - you don’t look nearly as bad as you may have thought at the time! Keep eating well, keep training to be a good rower, listen to your coach and enjoy what you have been given, which is perseverance, strength, and a frame that can enable you to row fast. AND most of all, appreciate the camaraderie and the chance to compete. Those are far more interesting and life changing than navel gazing about what you think you look like