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dragonboat talk for dragonboaters.

There are two phases in the weight loss diet and today I will be introducing you to the first phase. I will go through and explain how it works and give you some examples of foods that will help you complete this first phase. Don’t worry, it’s only a 3 day detox diet to help you get started!

First Phase: A Carb Detox

This phase is protein only, which means no fibrous carbs such as salad and vegetables. The reasons behind this are very important as it:

1. Carb Depletion: This is the major role of the first phase and it opens the door for fat burning. By eating 3 days of protein your body is forced to start to use stored body fat for fuel. This is important for weight loss and sets up the second phase of weight loss, which I’ll be discussing tomorrow.

2. Say goodbye to cravings: Since you will only be eating protein for 3 days sugar spikes and blood sugar levels come under control, which stops cravings. There are no longer the highs and lows to experience when eating sugary foods. These cravings will be gone after 3 days of protein eating only because your hormones and blood sugar levels will be regulated back to normal.

3. Consistent mood: Because there no sugar highs to experience the lows, you will feel an improved and more consistent mood state.

4. Greater levels of energy: Most people will experience a sensation of more energy because the body has now drawn on body fat for fuel and is no longer reliant on sugar hits.

5. Fast weight loss: You will notice a quick drop in body weight and this is normal as the body is undergoing detox. Basically it is flushing the system and it is a good sign that your body is learning to adapt to your new eating program. Take note: You will notice a greater need to urinate because of the drop in carbohydrates and constant fluid loss. Make you sure you are drinking plenty of water (at least 2 litres of water a day).

By understanding the above points, it allows you to take the next step and start following this detailed plan for the first phase. Simply eat protein meals for 3 days and you will be on your way to losing weight.

A sample 3 day protein diet plan:

Serving sizes:
Females: Main meals should be 100g or less and snacks 50-100g
Males: Main meals should be 150g or less and snacks 50-100g

Whilst you are taking this 3 day detox diet, I would recommend taking a daily multivitamin with Omega 3 along with a fibre supplement. For example Centrium is a good one to take.

Extra Tips to make your Carb detox successful:

* Always remember the 3 hour rule.

* Wait at least 1 hour between snacks. (It’s okay to have more than one protein snack if under three hours)

* Drink at least 2-3 litres of water per day.

* Condiments and sauces can be used with your meals.

* Avoid the following foods during this phase: pasta, rice, noodles, pastries, dairy, ice-cream, chocolate, lollies and sweets, non-diet soft drinks, fruit juice, nuts and all vegetables and salads.

One last thing, if you have a kidney disease/problem, please consult your doctor first before taking on this Carb detox, as taking protein in this detox may be over your daily requirement.

Good luck!

I have spoken to numerous people in the past about why they joined dragonboating and there seems to be 3 common reasons:

1. To lose weight
2. To get fit and then to maintain that level of fitness
3. To be competitive in the sport

So, over the next few days I will be talking about how food plays a role in each of these areas and how it is invariably different for each.

For today, I will be discussing about losing weight in Dragonboating. Now most people may think that if they don’t eat much and just train hard, they’ll burn those calories and then the fat will automatically come off. There is truth to that part, but that is only a small role it plays – around 10-20% of losing weight. The majority of the work comings from eating the right foods, and I have discussed about the different types of food in my post Nutrition for Dragonboating, which gives you a detailed explanation of the different food substances that we need to fuel our body. If you haven’t read it I suggest reading it now to get a better understanding before reading further.

The role of food in weight loss
Good news is that with weight loss you don’t have to worry about counting the calories, but focus on changing what you eat. You can still eat just as much to feel satisfied and still end up losing fat without obsessively counting calories.

3 Fundamental Steps in weight loss
There are three simple steps to achieving weight loss and it is only when these three steps are adhered to that you can achieve permanent weight loss.

Step 1: Energy in Vs Energy Out
The ‘Law of Energy Balance’ states that in order to lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume each day. This is generally not a problem for most people attempting to lose weight, but is only part of the equation (which is why most people fail at losing weight). If your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is greater than your food intake and you follow fundamental steps 2 and 3 you will burn fat for fuel, which is always the goal to weight loss.

Step 2: Meal Timing
This is one of the key problems why most people are not able to lose weight. People rarely eat frequently enough! As hunter gatherers our bodies are always looking for triggers to store fat. This is known as our starvation or survival response and it has kept us alive for tens of thousands of years throughout times of famine. It is our starvation response that is always attempting to add to our fat batteries to ensure our survival. When we don’t eat at least every 3 waking hours our bodies go into fat storing mode, not fat burning mode, as our body fears famine is coming.

Step 3: Meal Type
A calorie is not just a calorie. It is important that meals are made up of the correct macronutrients (As discussed in the previous post here) for permanent weight management. If a meal type is not correct then it creates a series of biochemicals signals that make it impossible to burn fat due to the role of hormones.

Therefore a simple formula is:

Thermic Effect of Food
Did you know that you burn energy when you digest food? Well, good news is that if you understand this simple principle you will be on your way to losing weight. This is called the thermic effect of food or dietary thermogenesis. Let me give you an example how this works:

Lean proteins are highly thermic, around 30% compared to most carbs and fats which is around 3-4% thermic. So if you ate say 100 calories of chicken breast (protein) your body will use 30 calories simply in the breakdown and digestion. This forces your digestive system to start working and in turn elevates your resting metabolism.

By eating 6 protein meals a day your body’s resting metabolism will increase and in turn burn fats for fuel automatically during the day. You can say then that protein is a metabolic stimulant.

Metabolism
Metabolic rate is without question the most crucial factor in weight loss and must be the number one priority to focus on. By eating every 2-3 waking hours is the most powerful thing you can do to help your body lose weight and increasing your metabolism. Therefore this equates to 6 serves a day and ensures that your body will never go into starvation mode. A very simple concept to follow below will help you eat 6 meals a day:

1. 7am: (Meal) Breakfast

2. 10am: Protein Snack

3. 1pm: (Meal) Lunch

4. 3pm: Protein Snack

5. 6pm: (Meal) Dinner

6. 9pm: Protein Snack

Remember that our bodies are designed to store fat for survival. At any given moment the body is looking for a reason to store fat just incase for a famine. Your job is to not give it a reason to. Furthermore having big meals also cause storage as the body assumes you are stocking up for lean times ahead. Therefore portion control is important so that your body doesn’t think you are going into starvation. Keeping to small meals every 2-3 hours is essential.

I will continue more about weight loss tomorrow with some additional information to help create a simple step by step diet and exercise program.

It’s important for you to eat healthy and eat at the right times because 70% of what you do within dragonboating is about your diet. Today I’m going to explain in detail about the different types of nutrients within foods that you need to be aware of. These are the build blocks to eating right and having a fit body for dragonboating.

Macronutrients
Macronutrients are the food substances that fuel and repair our body. They are made up of carbohydrates, protein and fat. It is only when these macronutrients are in the correct ratios that a person can have a lean, heathy body, irrespective of their total calorie intake. The macronutrient profile, when combined with food timing, is an excellent way to burn both fat and strengthen your muscles for dragonboating.

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates (carbs) can be broken into two broad categories, simple and complex. Simple carbs include fructose (fruit sugar), lactose (diary sugar), sucrose (white sugar), maltose (malt sugar) and glucose (blood sugar).

Some experts argue that because fructose (fruit sugar) is ‘healthier’ than sucrose (white sugar) large amounts of fruit should be eaten regularly. Although fruit is definitely a healthy food loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, phytochemicals and fibre, eating a large percentage of your carbohydrates from fructose is not sufficient to help you build lean muscle and strength.

Lactose (diary sugar) is a naturally occurring simple sugar you can eat in moderation if you tolerate it well; however a lot of people do NOT. Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest diary products. There are a lot of people who don’t have the enzyme to digest lactose and therefore get gas, bloating, water retention, abdominal cramps and diarrhea when they eat diary products. Diary products should not be used as your primary source of protein or carbohydrates.

Diary products contain simple carbohydrates and all simple carbohydrates should be minimised in your diet. Whereas complex carbohydrates include both starchy and fibrous carbs. It is the fibrous carbs (vegetables) you should include in your diet more frequently. Also starchy carbs are often slow release (low GI) and they contain too many grams of carbohydrates and these you should also minimise.

Protein
All animal proteins (fish, meat, poultry and eggs) are ‘complete’, which means they contain all the necessary amino acids. If you are a vegetarian, your diet would combine different plan products (rice and beans) to include all the essential amino acids.

Fat
Fats play a vital role in many processes including primary energy reserves, membrane constituents, hormones, fat-soluble vitamins, thermal insulators and biological regulators. For these reasons, fats are absolutely essential in your diet. Most vegetable fats are ‘good fats’, while most animal fats are ‘bad fats’. Trans fats are the main problem and must be avoided.

Many food companies use trans fats to make their food more appealing. Some examples of these foods include cakes, pastries and biscuits which give it a more solid consistency, and to prolong shelf life. Trans fats are also found in vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, and snack foods. Like saturated fat, trans fats are bad for the heart.

Try to avoid products that have partially hydrogenated oil listed on the ingredients list and also avoid foods that have high trans fat content e.g. deep fried fast foods and takeaways, cakes, pies and packaged biscuits.

Alcohol
Just like protein, carbs and fat, alcohol is a macronutrient. Whilst training for dragonboating try to minimise the amount of alcohol intake and keep in mind that there are 7 calories in a gram of alcohol. As it is a toxin it is the first fuel to be used during your recovery process and that way you are not getting the proper nutrients into your blood stream if you have alcohol too often.

As you may have realised by now, nutrition plays a huge role in dragonboating. Though, the above nutrition can be applied to any other sport. What is crucial is understanding how it works and then tracking what you are feeding your body. Next week I will be continuing on how to choose the right foods to plan for a good diet.

As important as it is to warm-up before your dragonboat training session or race, cooling down is also a very crucial part in recovery and minimising future injury.

Why cool down?
The practice of cooling down after exercise means slowing down your level of activity gradually and these are the reasons for cooling down:

* helps your heart rate and breathing to return towards normal gradually;
* helps avoid fainting or dizziness, which can result from blood pooling in the large muscles of the legs when vigorous activity is stopped suddenly;
* helps prepare your muscles for the next exercise session, whether it’s the next day or in a few days’ time; and
* helps to remove waste products from your muscles, such as lactic acid, which can build up during vigorous activity.

You may see conflicting advice as to whether cooling down prevents post-exercise muscle soreness, also known as delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). However, even if cooling down doesn’t prevent DOMS, the other benefits of cooling down outweigh that.

Ensuring an effective cool-down

* perform low intensity movements for a minimum of 5 to 10 minutes; and
* follow this with a stretching routine.

Cool-down options
1. Gradually slowing down the pace and exertion of your dragonboat session over several minutes can seem a natural progression. Usually your team will paddle a lap around at a very low intensity just before you get off the boat and this will help you slow down your heart rate.

2. Slow jogging or brisk walking. Another option is to jog or walk briskly for a few minutes with your team, making sure that this activity is lower in intensity than the paddling you have just performed in the boat.

Stretching after your cool-down
The best time to stretch is after your cool-down, as at this time your muscles are still warm and most likely to respond favourably and there is a low risk of injury. Stretching helps to relax your muscles and restore them to their resting length, and improve flexibility (the range of movement about your joints).

As a guide, allow 10 minutes of stretching for every one hour of paddling. Include the warm-up stretches mentioned in the previous post and make these stretches more thorough. Stretch each muscle group for 20 to 30 seconds, 2 to 3 times. Additionally I would recommend putting on something warm straight after you have dried yourself and finished stretched e.g. a sports jacket and long pants.

I can not emphasize more on how important the cool down period is as it will help you recover faster and also minimise injury. Therefore allowing you to enjoy your dragonboat training sessions and races pain free!

The biggest challenge of dragon boat racing is managing synchrony. Since there is no gym exercise for building synchrony, teams that spend more time practicing on water tend to have an advantage.

Paddling
Some teams that emphasize stroke rate might put their strongest members in the front to set the stroke rate for the team. Some others that emphasize the mechanical science of propulsion put their strongest members in the back to deal with water resistance. There are also those who theorise on the centre of gravity of the boat and the best lineup to lower the centre of gravity. Whatever the lineup, there is a rationale for it. Yet, basic execution, including flawless strokes and synchrony, is the most important part of competitive dragon boating. No amount of alignment experimentation will help the team if its members fail on the basics.

There are four (4) basic phases of paddling:

1. “Catch” as you lean forward, turn your body slightly toward you partner and submerge your paddle in the water. Make sure that the full blade catches water.
2. “Pull” as you lean back to pull water. Propulsion of the boat is based on countering that water resistance you feel. Therefore the boat experiences maximum propulsion as the full blades of all 20 paddlers catch and pull at the same time.
3. “Finish” as you pull the blade out of the water. This phase signals the completion of your first stroke and preparation for the next stroke.
4. “Reach” as you lean forward again to prepare for the “Catch” phase of your next stroke.

The “finish” and “reach” phases are sometimes known as “ready-and-reach”. Together, they are also addressed as the “recovery” phase.

In the “catch” phase, how far should you lean and how much body turning should you have? If you are a beginner, imagine doing that again and again until you finish a race course of 500 metres or longer. Don’t freak out as “practice makes perfect”. Perfect execution requires physical conditioning outside of dragon boating. In the ”catch” phase, your abdominals and shoulders matter most. Regular crunches and shoulder lifts using dumbbells will condition these body parts.

Practicing Reach
It is a good idea to sit in front of someone taller than you as you train on water. The reason being your taller teammate behind you naturally has a longer reach than you do, thus forcing you to lean forward more. Be careful-do this only if you have sufficiently conditioned your abdominals and back muscles. Otherwise, you will likely suffer endless swearing from behind.

Resistance Training
Sitting in the back of the boat will give you more effective resistance training overall. The reason is that you are “eating” the wakes created by everyone in front of you. If you are sitting in the front, a good way to practice resistance is asking your teammates behind you to create a drag by putting their paddles in water but not paddling. This will require coordination by your coach.

Training on One Side-versus-Switching Sides
Some dragon boat teams finish a practice round without allowing paddlers to switch sides or some dragon boaters prefer to train only on their stronger side. Prolonged training on only one side of your body is not healthy for your spine, posture and overall balance. A healthier way of training is switching sides midway through the round, one row at a time. The drawback, of course, is slowing down during switching. Another method is keeping track of which side you paddle each week and making sure you switch every week. Finally, if you really prefer to paddle on one side in order to say, become a “left side expert” for racing, compensate by doing more conditioning exercises for muscles on the other side.

Verticality
Keeping your paddle vertical against the side of the dragon boat (i.e. the gunwale), enhances speed of the “recovery” phase and hence the stroke rate. Verticality also makes full submission of the blades easier and thus enhances the propulsion of the boat. However, the biggest drawback of keeping the paddle vertical is its impact on your shoulders as your stroke, particularly if you stroke fast. If you use this technique, it is crucial to perform shoulder conditioning exercises to build up your shoulder muscles and protect your shoulder joints. Leaning out of the gunwale will make it easier for you to accomplish verticality, however that will require strong oblique abdominals as well as switching sides to protect your spine.

Tilting
If you team’s paddling style is tilting the paddles, you might protect your shoulders and spine more but the drawback is a slower “recovery” phase. To enhance the “recovery” phase, you will need to reduce the air drag (air resistance) by turning the paddle so that the blade is horizontal to the water and “slicing” the air as you reach forward. This requires frequent wrist turning, particularly if you stroke fast. If you use this technique, you need to build up your wrist strength to prevent injuries. When you do the conditioning exercises, include wrist curls and using light weight dumbbells. You will find it convenient to incorporate wrist curls in between sets as you do bicep curls.

Conditioning Exercises to Get Ready for Races
How much endurance and strength you and your teammates have is a key factor determining whether your team can sustain multiple heats and beat a close rival at the right moment ..the final race. This is where physical conditioning plays a role in addition to on-water practice.

The best conditioning exercises are tailored to your team’s stroke strategy. Carefully designed, conditioning exercises not only build your strength and cardiovascular capacity but also stimulate the muscle movements, breathing pattern and heart rates during a race.

Today I will talk about warming up for Dragonboating and what exercises I have used in our team. These are very common stretches and simple exercises that anyone can do and I highly recommend them before and after any training session and race. But firstly why warm-up and why don’t we get straight into a training session or race?

Why warm up?

• warms your muscles by increasing the movement of blood through your tissues, making the muscles more supple;
• increases delivery of oxygen and nutrients to your muscles by increasing the blood flow to them;
• prepares your muscles for stretching;
• prepares your heart for an increase in activity;
• prepares you mentally for the upcoming exercise; and
• primes your nerve-to-muscle pathways to be ready for exercise.

Why don’t we get straight into a training session or race?
Warming up before a training session or race is simply to help prevent injury. While scientific studies are ongoing to define the best warm-up techniques to gain this injury-prevention advantage, the warm-up is an important aspect before any dragonboat session that a paddler undertakes.

Ensuring an effective warm up
To make your warm up effective, you need to do movements that increase your heart rate and breathing, and slightly increase the temperature of your muscle tissue. A good indication is warming up to the point where you have raised a light sweat. We would generally allow 5 to 10 minutes for your pre-exercise warm-up (or slightly longer in cold weather).

Warm-up options
Follow these options in the order listed.

1. General warm-up. To begin your warm-up do 5 minutes of light (low intensity) physical activity such as walking, jogging on the spot. Pump your arms or make large but controlled circular movements with your arms to help warm the muscles of your upper body.

2. Stretching. Any stretching is best performed after your muscles are warm, so only stretch after your general warm-up. Stretching muscles when they are cold may lead to a tear. Static stretching (stretching a muscle and holding it in this position without discomfort for 10-30 seconds) is considered the safest method of stretching. I will list some stretches that we recommend for Dragonboat specifically below, so keep reading.

3. Dragonboat paddling warm-up. One of the best ways to warm up is to perform dragonboating strokes whilst out of the water. This will allow you to simulate at low intensity the movements you are about to perform at higher intensity during your session. For example, you may stand or sit on flat ground and pretend to hold your paddle out in front of you and start practising your stroke in mid air. Start with slow paddling as though you were in the boat to warm up your muscles and gradually increase it to a medium pace, until you feel that your muscles are loose and warmed up. Furthermore I would suggest also taking note to rotate your hip and back muscles so you will warm them up as well during your mid air warm up.

Dragonboat Stretches
These stretches below should be held at the point where you can feel the stretch but do not experience any discomfort. If you feel discomfort, ease back on the stretch. Remember not to bounce when holding the stretch. Don’t spend so long doing your stretches that your muscles cool down and your heart rate returns to normal.

	Shoulder Strangle 1. Cross one arm horizontally over your chest, grasping it with either your hand or forearm, just above the elbow joint. 2. Exhale, slowly pulling your upper arm in toward your chest. 3. Aim to keep the hips and shoulders facing forward throughout the stretch.
	Chest/Bicep-Wall Stretch 1. Place the palm, inner elbow, and shoulder of one arm against the wall. 2. Keeping the arm in contact with the wall, exhale and slowly turn your body around, to feel the stretch in your biceps and chest. 3. Adjust the hand position either higher or lower and repeat to stretch the multiple biceps and chest muscles.
	Tricep Stretch 1. Extend one hand down the center of your back, fingers pointing downward. 2. Use the other hand to grasp the elbow. 3. Exhale slowly, pulling gently downward on your elbow, aiming to take your fingers along your spine.
	Moderate Leg Over 1. Lie on your back, extending your left arm out to the side, while taking your left leg over your right, bringing the knee inline with the hips. 2. Keeping your right leg straight, use your right arm to push down on the knee of the left leg, exhaling slowly as you stretch.
	Hamstring Stretch 1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, one foot extended half a step forward. 2. Keeping the front leg straight, bend your rear leg, resting both hands on the bent thigh. 3. Slowly exhale, aiming to tilt both buttocks upward, keeping the front leg straight, and both feet flat on the floor, pointing forward. 4. Inhale slowly, and relax from this stretching exercise. Repeat the stretch again, this time beginning with the toes of the front foot raised toward the ceiling, but keeping the heel on the floor.
	Quadriceps Standing 1. Stand holding onto a secure object, or have one hand raised out to the side for balance. 2. Raise one heel up toward your buttocks, and grasp hold of your foot, with one hand. 3. Inhale, slowly pulling your heel to your buttock while gradually pushing your pelvis forward. 4. Aim to keep both knees together, having a slight bend in the supporting leg.
	Side Lunge 1. Stand upright, with both feet facing forward, double shoulder-width apart. 2. Place your hands on your hips, in order to keep your back straight, slowly exhale, taking your bodyweight across to one side. 3. Avoid leaning forward, or taking the knee of the bent leg over your toes. As you increase the stretch, the foot of the bent leg should point slightly outward. 4. To increase the stretch, relax upward, slowly sliding your feet out a few inches to the sides.