If this newsletter is not displaying properly, you can read it on our website at http://www.concept2.co.uk/email/newsletter.htm.

If you prefer not to receive HTML email, click on Update Profile at the bottom of this page and change your preferences to Text.

The Indoor Rowing News has very little time for bodybuilding competitions, and not just because we look like we're made out of pipe cleaners. However, we do have a lot of time for the Concept Ranking, which is sort of like bodybuilding, but for CV fitness. Strange. Anyway; that was arguably the worst introduction we've ever done, so we'll just give you the facts and you can write the next paragraph. Concept Ranking: deadline for entries April 31st; individual categories: 500m, 2,000m, 5,000m, 10,000m, half marathon (21,097m) full marathon (42,195m); team categories: one hour, half marathon, marathon, 100,000m.

There are a number of different ways you can enter the Ranking. Firstly, if you're on the On-Line World Ranking and Logbook (http://www.concept2.com/sranking03/) and your nationality is down as British or Irish, your best times from there will be automatically entered. Secondly, you can use an official Ranking Entry Form, available from either http://www.concept2.co.uk/ranking/ or by contacting Concept 2 on 0115 945 5522 or info@concept2.co.uk. Alternatively, all competition times will also be automatically entered into the Ranking, so if you did your 2,000m best at, say, last November's British IRC, there's no need to resubmit that time.

"On Sunday the 18th of April I completed a sponsored 100km (62.15 mile) row in aid of Cancer Research U.K and I'm aiming to raise $1000 through online donations.

"I completed the row in 6:48:22.3, at 22 strokes per minute with an average of time/500m split 2:02.5, against a target time of sub-seven hours. I would appreciate it if you could put this information in your next newsletter; people can still donate online by going to www.justgiving.com/100k"

In Indoor Rowing News #94, I explained how to use the body mass index (BMI) and your basal metabolic rate (BMR) to a) Determine whether you are overweight and b) To determine your calorie needs. You can find a copy of this article, along with a BMR calculator, at http://www.concept2.co.uk/training/bmr.php

There are two groups for whom this information is important: someone who is overweight and using exercise as part of a reduction plan and an athlete training to take part in a weight category competition.

For someone using exercise as part of a weight reduction plan, the aim is simply to increase the number of calories expended to a level above those consumed. As a result of exercise and weight loss, the fitness level will increase and a healthier lifestyle will follow. An athlete training for an event in a weight category already has a healthy lifestyle and is using exercise as a means of maximising his physical condition for a performance.

What are the obstacles both will encounter in trying to achieve their goal? If the weight watchers over-estimate the number of calories they consume during the day they will not lose the weight expected. If lightweight athletes underestimate the number of calories needed in a day they will under-perform.

This is why when you reduce your calorie intake you should not go below the calories required to meet the demands of the BMR. The way lightweight athletes prepare is that at the beginning of a training programme, the emphasis is placed on building endurance. This is achieved with long low intensity sessions where fat provides a high percentage of the energy needs. Glycogen is also used but because initially there are huge stores, if they are not fully replenished between sessions it can go undetected. It is like a small leak in the petrol tank of your car, the fuel gauge will hardly register it. As the competition period approaches the type of training becomes more intensive and glycogen becomes the major sources of energy. The small leak becomes a haemorrhage and so eventually you will run out.

The body has a self-defence mechanism that will not allow the complete depletion of the glycogen stores. How this works is that once the stores fall to a critical level, the body will limit the rate of energy consumption and thereby the level of performance of the athlete. There are no obvious outward signs that you would see as in a physical injury but if you get to race day, there is just not the energy to meet demand and the result is disappointment.

A similar situation faces the weight watcher should they, instead of overestimating the calories needed during the day, underestimate them. As in the case of the athlete, the lack of fuel slows down the metabolism, which stops weight loss or may even lead to a weight gain.

If the lightweight athlete overestimates the daily calorie requirement then quite simply they will not meet their target weight and so will not be able to take part in the event.

There is one area that is overlooked when we talk about diet and that is appetite. Apart from the total calories, and a balance between the different foods that we eat, there is also the question of volume.

Often I see diets where it says, "you can eat as much as you like of this particular food". Is this really true? One of the reasons that people become overweight in the first place is the increase in the size of portions. This creates an insatiable appetite and is a big contributory factor in why so many people fail to stick to a sensible eating plan. "Fruit is good for you, you can eat as much as you like of that"; yes fruit is good for you but if you eat as much as you like, what about reducing your appetite so the next time you feel peckish and there is no fruit, you don't dive into the biscuits.

Jodie Marsh, Isabella Hervey, Pat Sharpe, Charles Ingram

The Indoor Rowing News puts the potato, preferably fried up real good and served with two types of dip, into couch potato. That being so, we nearly dropped our tub of Share-Size Ben and Jerry's when we caught The Games on Channel 4 recently. With ten celebrities, including the fourth most famous one from Boyzone, a gardener and Pat Sharpe, competing over a number of different athletic challenges, not only was the commentary for the show provided by British IRC commentator David Goldstrom but the series kicked off with a race on the Indoor Rower. In order to handicap it, twelve weeks before the start of the series, everybody rowed a two-minute test. On the show, they each then had to cover the distance they rowed in that test in as fast a time as possible. The end result was that Jodie Marsh and Pat Sharpe, the two competitors who recorded the lowest scores beforehand, were able to just about snatch victory on the day, having relatively improved the most.

More information on the challenge can be found at http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/G/games/news/article2.html

So; National Indoor Rowing Marathon Day took place last Sunday and we know a lot of you took part. What we want, is to hear your stories about your row. Send us in all your tips, advice, anecdotes and training plans, and we'll gather them all together and run them both in the Newsletter and on the Marathon section of the website (http://www.concept2.co.uk/marathon) for future generations to learn from.

If you have done a marathon, make sure you get your entry to us on a Ranking form before April 31st; we'll be creating a special Marathon Day ranking as soon after then as possible.

The last couple of weeks have seen both the Sheffield IRC and the South London IRC; the results for both of these can now be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/racing/regional.php.

The last race of the season is the Scottish IRC in Stranraer on Saturday, April 24th. Details, alongside a competitor list and race timetable, can be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/racing/calendar_uk.php?id=58

Incidentally; it's not too late to enter the Scottish IRC, as the organisers are taking entries on the day, although competitors need to register at least an hour before the event they want to enter.

This issue's Top Tip is another one from former World 60-69 Hwt record holder Noel Frost.

"It has been said that the lowering of the pH of the blood or increase in blood acid level causes the body to slow down. While this is correct, it is not the main reason. The main reason is the hydraulic resistance to flow of the blood - which includes lactate of course - through the various pipes within the body. While blood is compressible, the gas within it is in solution and blood can be considered to not be compressible under the normal pressures that the human heart produces. This then leaves resistance to flow as the main reason for a body to slow down.

"Biorhythms. It has been shown that at least three of the body's biorhythm cycles have an effect on a person's performance. These three are: physical, emotional and intellectual. When I started training in January 1995, I found I felt good sometimes, average most of the time and bad others. As I kept a daily diary, I wondered why and looked for the reason. One of my friends in the gym suggested I got a book on human biorhythms, which I did. I then compared about twelve months diary entries with the information given and found that it followed a pattern. We know that we can get statistics to prove just about anything, so I looked at best case and it seemed to be around 90% and worst case which seemed to be around 50% accurate.

"As we are limited in the amount we can progress by recovery time, we have to avoid injury to progress the fastest. Reportedly these cycles have a high and a low, so I worked out that I would best avoid injury by using a wave training program based on the 23-day physical cycle. I used the high of 31-day intellectual cycle, to make my decisions and ignored the 28-day emotional cycle. What surprised me was that it actually worked and from then on - except for accidents - I became injury free. It is my view that this was a major factor that helped me get to the top."