Nutrition

All you need to know about your nutrition before and during the Eleven Cities Rowing Marathon.

Endurance

In endurance sports like a rowing marathon, the body is heavily loaded for some time. An endurance athlete needs a carbohydrate-rich diet for optimal energy supply.

Carbohydrates

With long-term loading expires energy mainly through the burning of carbohydrates and fats. As the intensity of the performance increases, there will be switched to burning of sugars, especially glycogen (carbohydrate that resembles a starch). Glycogen is a fast usable energy reserve of the body which is stored in the liver and in the muscles. Glycogen keeps the body last longer. However, the storage of glycogen is limited. The more intense muscular strain, the more use of glycogen. Therefore, it is important to have the greatest possible glycogen stock.

Increasing glycogen stock

It’s possible to increase the glycogen stock by combining targeted training with carbohydrate diet. Thus, the duration of the performance is extended. For this, your nutrition should contain many carbohydrate-rich foods such as bread and other grain products as rice, macaroni, spaghetti and legumes. Also, it’s desirable as far as possible to use low-fat and light products. As a result, the energy percentage of the fat is kept as low as possible in relation to the amount of carbohydrates in the diet. Because carbohydrate-rich diet has a large volume, it’s desirable to distribute the power as much as possible over the day, for example, by inserting in-between meals beside the main meals.

Before and during exercise

About two hours before exercise you should not be eaten anymore. As a support you can take a carbohydrate drink the last five minutes of your exercise. During exercise it is important to keep drinking. The depletion of the glycogen stock is delayed by carbohydrate-rich snacks like fruit (a banana is easy and contains many carbohydrates), biscuits and sweets, prepared carbohydrate beverages and semi-liquid food and gingerbread. A lump of sugar or glucose also helps, but only for a short time.

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