Sports Medicine Hot Topics for Rowers

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) is a professional organization for sport-science researchers, exercise physiologists, dietitians, doctors, and athlete-care providers. Each year, at ACSM’s annual meeting, more than 3,000 sports-medicine professionals and scientists from around the globe gather to present their latest research.

At this year’s meeting in Denver, a lively session hosted by Professionals in Nutrition for Exercise and Science, a worldwide organization for sport nutritionists, addressed several topics that are currently hot, including some that may interest rowers:

Continuous Glucose Monitors

Continuous glucose monitors (CGM) can help athletes determine the best fueling tactics to maintain blood glucose levels within an energizing range and reduce needless bonking. This can be very helpful during endurance exercise such as long rows. Unfortunately, CGMs have yet to be perfected for athletes. The monitors can get dislodged from the body easily, and some studies show a failure rate of greater than 15 percent. The sport of cycling has banned CGMs during races, but many cyclists use them during training to learn how to “read” their body signals.

Pre-sleep protein

While extra evening protein is unlikely to offer a winning edge, it also will not cause harm or convert into body fat. Research to date shows that pre-sleep protein provides another opportunity to meet daily protein goals. More research is needed to determine if consuming pre-sleep protein will help enhance muscle recovery, tissue repair, sleep, or performance.

Free amino acids and bioactive peptides

When compared to the protein in whole foods, free amino acids are slightly less effective for muscle-protein synthesis. Consuming protein within its natural food matrix is best. Plus, free amino acids taste terrible (although they have improved over the years). Bioactive peptides (two to three amino acids linked together) are available for purchase but lack research to validate potential benefits. So why bother?

Bicarbonate supplementation

With high-intensity sports, sodium bicarbonate might offer a one-percent to two-percent improvement in performance. The standard dose is a third to a half gram per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of body weight; the higher the dose, the greater the increase in performance—so long as the athlete can tolerate it. Capsules that bypass the gut help resolve gastrointestinal issues, and sodium bicarbonate encapsulated in a gel may provide further protection from side effects. Another option that bypasses the gut is sodium bicarbonate in lotion form. The athlete applies it 20 minutes before high-intensity exercise. The lotion feels nice, but how much gets absorbed specifically is unknown.

The lightest athlete is the best athlete.

While lighter and leaner enhances performance to a certain extent, being too light and lean can take a toll. The less food a rower consumes, the less protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins, and minerals the rower consumes. This can hurt performance and recovery while enhancing the risk of getting injured.

A study with elite race walkers reported no performance advantage, or disadvantage, among dieting athletes in a training camp who lost two kilograms (about four and a half pounds) during the two weeks before a 10K race. The dieters and the non-dieting control group carb-loaded during the 24 hours before the race, and both performed similarly, with no significant benefit gained by having lost about four to five pounds pre-race. The ideal:  Rowers should fuel well to support optimal performance instead of dieting to become lighter.

Carbohydrates 

Despite popular belief, hungry rowers who consume a sports diet rich in quality carbohydrates do not get fat or become diabetic. The advice to limit carbs might be appropriate for unfit people, but fit rowers metabolize carbs preferentially and convert them into a winning source of muscle fuel.

Iron supplements

Iron supplements are absorbed better at 6 a.m. than 11a.m.; ergo, taking iron on an empty stomach is best. That said, iron can upset the stomach, and some rowers cannot tolerate iron if taken without food. For them, the best time to take iron is either before or 30 minutes after exercise, before the post-exercise elevation in hepcidin (a hormone that hinders iron absorption) diminishes its effectiveness. If a rower takes an iron supplement two hours after a hard exercise session, elevated hepcidin levels can reduce iron absorption by about 36 percent.

Sustainable sports diets

To perform well, rowers need access to good food and clean water, both of which depend on a healthy biosphere. We all need to honor the global dietary guidelines that integrate the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Living a sustainable lifestyle means eating adequate—but not excessive—protein; consuming at least one-third of protein from plants; minimizing food waste (for example, after team buffets, take home leftovers for the next day’s lunch); eating locally grown food (to reduce transportation emissions); and choosing food with minimal and biodegradable packaging (no Styrofoam!). A rower who advocates for a sustainable environment need not be vegan but should be mindful about dietary choices.

Vegetarians

Do vegetarians have a reduced risk of chronic disease because they eat less red meat and eat more plants? Plants are rich in phytochemicals (which reduce inflammation), dietary nitrates (which improve blood flow), and many other performance-enhancing nutrients. A vegetarian diet imparts no obvious advantage, or disadvantage, for athletic performance. Meat eaters looking for a path toward vegetarianism can honor Meatless Mondays and enjoy a plant-based diet with smaller meat portions the rest of the week. Small steps can indeed have an environmental impact.

Alcohol

BORG drinking (Black-Out Rage Gallon drinking, in case you’re unfamiliar with the fad), is a mixture of water, alcohol, sweet flavorings, and electrolytes, which supposedly offer hangover protection, in a one-gallon plastic jug. The concoction is popular on some college campuses because it’s easy to drink and over-consume. An ounce of alcohol takes about an hour to break down, and too many ounces can hinder training and performance as well as sleep. When it comes to conferring a competitive edge, BORG drinking is good only if the other team is doing the indulging. 

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