Rowing Ramblings

I had just known that there are universities rowers reading my blog =) huhu, mende merapu2 tak elok tuk budak university, nanti otak tercemar...

Anyway, talking about rowing. One of the next biggest challenge for the rowers is the weight categories. Going into international level, everyone will be struggling to lose some weight. This is because there are weight categories involved, & asians will not go far in the open category. Hence, everyone tries to lose some weights here & there. As rowing might not be as popular as other sports; i guess rowing is usually left with the heavier range of athletes, yg kurus2/lean goes to other more popular sports, though not to deny there are skinny/lean rowers too. But there are many cases where we have rowers turned into lean & muscular from initially being fat. Rowing needs lots of muscle, thats the reason there is weight category.

When i started joining rowing, I had already done tri/runs etc. My tri timing were averagely slower than most of the aunties in category 35 above, I usually come 2nd or 3rd from behind. However, i think my timing improved as i trained more hardcorely in rowing. N to train for rowing would mean having to lose more weights, as i get chubby/fat easier than i get lean.

At the beginning of session, i had no confidence to lose weight. I succumbed to weight loss products as failing to lose weight would mean no races for me. However, soon I learnt well that food & training will slowly but surely burn away all those unwanted. My training session would include 1hr slow jog in morning & another 1hr slow jog in evening + 1 hr of slow ergo on top of 2 mandatory sessions of on water training with coach (mostly done over weekend). Weekdays was scheduled to Coach's advise. Dont lose hope as it will pay off, slowly.

Also, food was another important factor. I did have brown bread/fruits/vege/oat replacing every rice meal. During competition, we relied alot on Powerbar & Powergels as its energy value to its weight. We need to be weighed 2 hrs before race; unlike taekwondo which weighs 1-2 days prior to competition. Ya, try asking d rowers (deq/niza/k.mus/tonga/wan/majai/adam/cae) etc (each & everyone has their story) Guys would eventually find it harder to lose the final weights as they were already packed with muscle. One I knew even fed on powerbar during normal days just to lose those weight (abit unhealthy eating here, but we were trying our best to meet the requirement)

Merepek2 lg, this post is just just meant to reassure those out there trying to lose weight.. Nothing is impossible =) put in more effort in training & less effort in eating (mkn mane yg perlu jer..)

p/s: actually ni for org yg tak confident nak buat weight loss.. I was once & rase nyer still am =)

Rowing Seagame, next to me is Singapore Rower


Rasenyer paling kurus time ni kot.. (cam syok sendri jer)