Weight Watchers

Gaining or losing weight for sailing? RYA Physiologist Pete Cunningham tells us how

Weight. Ask a competitive sailor how tall he is and he'll probably hazard a guess within an inch or two. Ask a sailor how much he weighs and he'll tell you immediately within a couple of milligrams.
Gaining and losing weight are common prerequisites for competitive sailing. How many sailors do you know of who either starve themselves to death and sit in a sauna the day before weigh in - or the luckier ones who eat like kings and drink like rugby players?

Either way it's not particularly healthy, but we have come to accept it as a normal ingredient of our sport. The majority of classes have very narrow bands of competitive weight ranges. Those that have weight equalisations or weight restrictions mean that sailors often dip to make it in to the most competitive weight band.

There are very few classes who operate a non dipping rule (such as the Star) whereby the sailors are weighed every day at the end of racing. Most classes even with a fixed weight rule will only weigh the day before the regatta - perfect timing for those of us who say we're 65 kilos when we're really bordering on 70, to drink no water, eat nothing and go to the loo as many times as possible. Only to be fully larded up on the rail by the end of day one.

According to Pete Cunningham, RYA physiologist gaining weight is the hard bit - and it's harder for girls than for boys. The awkward issue with needing to gain weight is to ensure that the weight is muscle and not fat.

"Ideally when you gain weight you don't want to gain it as fat. There are a lot of people who have done that, in particular Laser sailors who have moved up to the Finn putting on 15 - 18 kilos of fat as opposed to muscle. But building the muscle takes time and is not something that you can do quickly." said Cunningham.

Weights, coupled with a diet high in protein are apparently the only way to increase body weight in muscle rather than fat. "You need to do decent heavy weights at really low reps, 6- 8- reps. That's half the programme, the other half is running a decent nutrition programme with a high protein intake - particularly after training." said Cunningham, adding: "The good thing about the scientific literature on muscle mass gain is that most of them say that protein intake is crucial. If you talk to any professional body builder they will tell you that protein intake is crucial, and that it's really important that you get it into your body as quickly as possible after training."

There are a hundred and one different protein products on the market available in gyms, local"health food" stores, on the internet and in general nutrition stores across the country. 'Met-Rx' is one form of protein supplement used by many of the British Olympic Sailing squad, which claims to have a unique protein called metamyosyn to help build lean body mass.

"Losing weight is relatively easy," added Cunningham, "anyone can lose weight if you put your mind to it." A healthy diet, exercise and drinking enough water are all imperative to loosing weight, but where sailing is concerned people will always be tempted to suit their weight to a certain event or for particular conditions.

For large events such as the Olympics sailors are able to assess the average conditions for the time of year and adjust their weight accordingly. These tactics will be extremely prevalent at the 2008 Olympics in Qingdao, China, where from May to September Qingdao is cursed with very light winds and strong tides.

While for many dipping is the norm, Cunningham explains that re hydration is the key to overcoming a temporary dip in weight. "Dipping isn't really recommended but there aren't any real problems as long as you leave yourself enough time to fully rehydrate before going out on the water. The trouble starts when you have to dip to make a weight and continue to dehydrate throughout the regatta."

There are many other products on the market which are supposed to enhance your level of perfomance and increase fitness level. Next we look at Creatine. A product widely used in sport and popular among top performing athletes and sailors. How does it effect the body and what are the side effects.