Staying on top of the latest sports-nutrition news can be a full-time job. Between conferences, webinars, and journal articles, I learn a lot of information that I like to translate into practical tips to share with athletes like you. Enjoy this news you can use.

• If you try to stay away from peanut butter, deeming it to be fattening, think again. Peanut butter—and peanuts in any form—contribute to no more weight gain than the same number of calories from carbohydrate-rich snacks. In a 10-week weight-gain study that included lifting weights three times a week, 28 athletic women and men (average age 25) consumed:

— an extra 500 calories of peanuts and peanut butter-based snacks, or

—an extra 500 calories of peanut-free carb-based snack foods (such as pretzels, fruit chews, bagels).

The carb-snackers gained about six pounds; the peanut eaters gained only about 3.5 pounds. How could this be?

One explanation is that the fiber and fat in peanut butter are satiating. That means it keeps you feeling fed for longer than fat-free foods such as pretzels. Peanut butter can curb your appetite, so you end up eating fewer calories overall for the day.

This study confirms why I vote peanut butter one of the best sports foods around (assuming you’re not allergic to it). Peanut butter requires no refrigeration, is anti-inflammatory, nutrient-rich, inexpensive, and most important, yummy. How about enjoying more peanut butter on bananas for your morning and afternoon snacks?

• When athletes go on a low-carb/low-calorie diet, their bones go on a diet also. In a study of 327 runners (ages 18 to 35) who trained eight or more hours a week, those who restricted carbs and/or trained without having eaten first, experienced 1.5 times more bone injuries More research is needed to learn how carbs and calories can influence bone health. In the meantime, enjoy carb-based grains, fruits and veggies at every meal.

• With global warming, athletes who exercise in the heat should take steps to prevent problems related to elevated body temperature. One tip is to pre-cool your body before exercise. Try drinking ice water or slushies or sucking on ice chips. Doing so might give you greater endurance.

• A study of female professional soccer players revealed that they burned about 2,900 calories per day. Of that, about 1,400 calories supported their resting metabolic rate (calories needed to be alive) and about 1,200 calories were burned during exercise; the rest supported general daily activities. This equates to about three 700- to 800-calorie meals per day, plus two 200- to 300-calorie snacks. That’s a lot of food. For athletes who may wonder, “Why do I feel hungry all the time?”, the answer might be because your body is hungry!

• When female athletes under-eat, they commonly stop having regular menstrual periods. When male athletes under-eat, they experience hormonal changes that can lead to loss of sex drive. In a study involving 10 healthy active males (circa age 25) who dieted strictly for five days—they ate less food and exercised more—the calorie deficit caused significant physiological changes. The men lost about six pounds (more muscle than fat, as happens with quick weight loss). Their thyroid hormones dropped, as did their testosterone levels.

Restrictive dieting reduces the intake not only of calories but also protein, calcium, iron, zinc, and many other valuable nutrients needed to maintain optimal health and performance. Don’t restrict your eating because you think you should. Listen to your body. Stop eating because you feel satiated, not just because the food is gone.

•  Athletes in endurance sports (such as rowers, runners, and triathletes) and jumping sports (such as basketball and volleyball players) prefer to be light to enhance their performance. The problem is that long-term restrictive eating can contribute to health issues. In a study comparing weight-conscious male athletes (age 24) to a group of fitness exercisers, the athletes were leaner but also had lower levels of thyroid hormone (a sign they were conserving energy). They also had weaker bones. If you skimp on food to be lean, your best bet is to seek guidance from a registered dietitian who specializes in sports dietetics. This professional can help you achieve your weight goals healthfully. Use the referral network at eatright.org to find your local sports dietitian.

• Personal trainers commonly believe they should have a “perfect” physique to achieve success in their careers. This can put them at high risk of developing eating disorders. Among personal trainers who responded to recruitment messages on Twitter and Instagram, 15 percent reported high levels of disordered-eating behavior (binge-eating, restrictive dieting, over-exercising). Trainers like this should not be role models. We need authentic fitness leaders who represent a variety of sizes and shapes that the average exerciser can attain and maintain. Don’t be fooled; a “perfect body” generally comes at a high cost.

• Some women gain belly fat during menopause. This might be related to midlife lifestyle changes and aging as well as  hormonal shifts. Peri-menopausal women who had big dinners and snacked frequently at the end of the day tended to have more belly fat than those who front-loaded their calories. One suggested weight-management solution (for both women and men) is to eat less at night. A satiating high-protein breakfast can help reduce the urge to overeat at the end of the day. Peanut butter on a bagel with a side of Greek yogurt, anyone?    

The post The Virtues of Peanut Butter (And Other Nutritious Nuggets) appeared first on Rowing News.

British Rowing’s Project Minerva, named for the ancient Roman goddess of wisdom and strategic war, was created a year ago to optimize the health and performance of elite female rowers in the UK. By bringing together sports scientists, university researchers, and elite athletes, this program, the first of its kind in the world, tracks a variety of typical training markers, such as heart rate, in relation to hormones and menstrual cycles to create personalized training plans, with the aim of World and Olympics gold medals.

Read more about Project Minerva from the BBC.

Watch this video for highlights of the program and interviews with participants.

The post Project Minerva: British Rowing’s Pioneering Initiative Tailors Training for Elite Female Rowers Eyeing World and Olympic Gold appeared first on Rowing News.

Parents have an essential role in their child’s recruiting process but find it tricky identifying where exactly they fit in. A successful recruiting effort is a joint endeavor: the student leads and the parents support and advise, mostly behind the scenes.

Providing mature, adult perspective is valuable parental support. Keep the big picture in mind and demonstrate a healthy commitment to the process—not just the result. This begins early by focusing on the values of competitive rowing itself, not thinking about getting something like an athletic scholarship or Ivy admit.

Parents can also help by encouraging and facilitating their child’s participation in multiple sports. Even if they want to, do not let young athletes only row. Similarly, parents should not push their child to specialize. Doing any single sport four seasons a year as a developing teenager is rarely a good idea.

At a concrete level, parents can accompany their child on unofficial visits to colleges. Besides the anticipated benefit of seeing colleges, these trips can be incredibly rewarding experiences when parents begin seeing their child as a young adult and together confront the reality of their soon leaving home.

Scholarship or not, college is expensive. Parents should educate their child regarding what is financially realistic. The money talk should occur early; before an athlete gets fixated on one college or one type of college. In the same vein, parents can also help their child see the broader picture of college life beyond rowing and life after college. They are likely the only ones thinking about the return on investment of a particular school and course of study.

Parents must let the athlete communicate with the college coaches. When a parent contacts a coach because “my son is too busy,” coaches the coach will immediately think he won’t be able to handle rowing and studying at that institution.  Parents should become involved if the discussion turns to scholarships, financial aid, or admissions support, but otherwise leave it in the student’s hands.

Frequently parents say, “It’s their choice. We want to leave it up to him or her.” This is as dangerous as dictating to a child where to enroll. For most recruited rowers, selecting a college is the first significant, consequential decision of their lives. Parents should voice their opinions and offer advice. They know their child better than anyone and are best positioned to offer counsel.

Finally, parents have the life experience and maturity to better manage expectations than most teenagers. If mom and dad remember that the application is accepted or denied, not their child, then everyone is more likely to feel satisfied rather than disappointed when all is said and done.

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When choosing lineups, the sum of the parts is not always guaranteed to make the fastest boat. Often teams succeed when comprised of people with diverse talents. In rowing, the eight is the ultimate team boat and it can benefit when crewed by athletes with a variety of talents too.

Raw boat moving ability will always take precedence, but it’s also good to think about other qualities when selecting a crew.

Obviously, boats need as much horsepower and skill as possible. Trouble is, these qualities, while not mutually exclusive, rarely exist in equal measure in athletes. Coaches need to ensure their lineups have an appropriate mix of both. Relying too much on physical fitness alone—boating the top eight ergs, for example—rarely produces the best boat speed and can often be catastrophic. Similarly, the eight best single scullers or four top pairs, while technically sound, frequently lack the power needed in the bigger boats. It’s fine and often preferable to choose a lineup using one of these ways in the fall or early season to incentivize the athletes to get fitter or spend more time in small boats. It’s also a transparent way of making lineups. However, if the team has more than eight good athletes it won’t guarantee the best boat speed the team is capable of.

Even when considering horsepower alone, it’s helpful to recognize the various attributes athletes possess. Physiology comes in different packages and there is frequently a world of difference in one person’s erg and another’s, even if the final erg time is exactly the same. The best crews often contain a mix of those with good endurance capable of producing a desirable cruising speed and those who have the power to really drop the hammer and move the boat off the line with a big push, and in the last 250. Too much of one and not enough of the other and the crew will be lacking compared to more multifaceted boats.

Personality matters, too. We all praise leaders, but eight vocal “leaders” is less likely to work than eight followers. Neither, of course, is ideal. A cacophony of opinions has been the downfall of many a crew. Verbally, the coxswain and possibly stroke seat are best positioned to lead and most other seats are best positioned to follow. Those closer to the bow can still lead by example by letting their actions complement others, including the coaches’ words.

Race experience and maturity are desirable. Nothing helps so much in tight, stressful situations than having been in them before and persevered. But youthful enthusiasm helps immensely, too. The excitement of doing something for the first time is infectious and can lift a whole crew. 

Obviously, those that make the boat fastest should fill the seats when competitive success is the goal. A broader, more diverse definition of talent may serve the bigger boats best.

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Verbal instruction, the coach telling the athlete what to do and hopefully how to do it, is the most common form of coaching. This can be incredibly effective or miss the mark depending on the quality of instruction and the receptiveness of the athlete. The athlete needs to both be open to receiving instruction and also capable of digesting it and turning it into action. Many athletes are initially reluctant to change because change is scary. Coaches must first help them overcome this fear before there can be change and with change hopefully improvement.

Even with fearless athletes, however, not all can adequately process verbal instruction and turn it into changed behavior in the boat.

Some athletes respond better to visual instruction. This can be as simple as the coach or another athlete demonstrating the desired behavior or showing video of good rowing. A picture, accompanied by spoken instruction on what to look for, helps many athletes. Coaches most frequently use video to highlight their rowers’ flaws. Doing this alone typically is not as useful as showing positive examples. “Don’t do that” doesn’t help nearly as much as “do this.” Visual learners can often take what they see and put it into practice.

Other athletes respond well when they can feel a change. Coaches can succeed by creating a scenario whereby the athlete can feel the difference between rowing well and not rowing well. This could involve making the load heavier so athletes can more easily feel what they’re doing. It can also be accomplished by the coach using his or her hands or some other item to indicate exactly where an athlete should experience the connection or hang.

Much of our sport is based in academic institutions. Our athletes are well-practiced in reading for understanding. Taking advantage of this, coaches can provide or post a written description of the rowing stroke as they want to see it performed. Athletes can then read, review, and digest this at their own pace out of the shell. Sometimes just the relative safety of being on land and not needing to row or contribute to the boat while thinking about the stroke is enough to improve understanding.

Ultimately most athletes learn using some combination of various learning styles. They may acquire most of their learning in one particular fashion but gains can still be made exposing them to other methods. Even with athletes who get it using your preferred method, it is worthwhile exposing them to other stimuli. You may be surprised by the unexpected improvement.

Regardless of the athlete’s dominant learning style everyone learns more in the long term when they’re happy and enjoying themselves. We all sustain our commitment for longer when we’re having fun.

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