Dragon boat racing is short and hard. A 200 m race is over in about a minute, a 500 m race in a few minutes, and a 2,000 m race in around ten. But a regatta day is long: several heats, hours of waiting between them, usually out in the sun. The race itself does not need much fuel. The day does. Your goal is to arrive at every start line topped up, hydrated and ready to go all out, from the first heat to the final.
Key Hammer Nutrition Fuels for Dragon Boat Paddlers
HEED
A sports drink with complex carbohydrates and a full range of electrolytes, without refined sugar or citric acid. Your main drink for the waits between heats and for training.
General Application: Mix 1 to 1.5 scoops in 12 to 20 oz (355 to 591 ml) of water. Sip steadily between heats and during training sessions.
Hammer Gel
Quick, easy energy from complex carbohydrates, with no simple sugars.
General Application: 1 serving about 10 minutes before a race, once you have been at the venue for an hour or more. In training, 1 serving before the session and every 45 minutes during it.
Energy Surge
Fast-acting tablets that dissolve under the tongue, made for short, high-intensity efforts.
General Application: Dissolve 1 to 4 tablets under your tongue 5 to 30 minutes before each race.
Fully Charged
A non-stimulant pre-race drink.
General Application: Mix 1 serving in 4 to 8 oz (120 to 240 ml) of water, or take 2 capsules, 15 to 30 minutes before your first race. On a long day, you can take another dose before the final.
Anti-Fatigue Caps
For keeping your power through heat after heat.
General Application: 2 to 4 capsules 30 minutes before your first race. On days longer than 2 hours at the venue, add 1 to 2 capsules each hour from the two-hour mark.
Endurolytes / Endurolytes Extreme
Electrolytes in capsule form, taken on top of HEED. On hot days out in the sun, Endurolytes Extreme is the better choice.
General Application: 1 Endurolytes capsule for every 60 lb (27 kg) of body weight about every hour you are at the venue. With Endurolytes Extreme, take 1 to 2 capsules in the same way.
Race PR Kit
Race Day Boost, Energy Surge and Anti-Fatigue Caps in one kit, for your championship regattas. For a one-day "A" race, take 4 Race Day Boost capsules with food and water 4 times a day for the 4 days before. Use it for your key races only, about 4 to 6 times a year.
Recoverite / Vegan Recoverite
Carbohydrates and protein to start your recovery after training and after your last race.
General Application: Mix 2 scoops in 8 to 16 oz (236 to 473 ml) of water and drink it within 30 minutes. Hammer Bar® is a convenient whole food recovery option when Recoverite isn’t available, or can be eaten alongside your recovery drink when you need additional food. Follow with a proper balanced meal.
Regatta Day Timing
- 3 hours before your first race: finish breakfast. Keep it simple. After that, water and HEED only.
- 30 minutes before your first race: Anti-Fatigue Caps and Fully Charged.
- 5 to 30 minutes before every race: Energy Surge.
- 10 minutes before a race: 1 serving of Hammer Gel, once you have been at the venue for an hour or more.
- Between heats: stay in the shade, sip HEED, and take Endurolytes about every hour.
- Long gap between heats (2 hours or more): a light snack such as a Hammer Bar®, finished at least an hour before your next race.
- After your last race: Recoverite within 30 minutes, then a proper meal.
Training Sessions
For sessions under an hour, water plus Endurolytes is usually enough. For sessions over an hour, sip HEED throughout or take a Hammer Gel every 45 minutes with water, and keep taking Endurolytes every hour. Have Recoverite within 30 minutes of every hard session.
Hammer Nutrition High Performance Tips
- Practice race-day fuel in training. Try Energy Surge, Fully Charged and your gel timing in a hard training session before regatta day.
- Drink to the conditions. A regatta day in the sun can dry you out even though you only race for minutes. Aim for 18 to 25 oz (530 to 740 ml) per hour at the venue, and up to 28 oz (830 ml) in the heat.
- Fuel on the lean side. A heavy stomach is the last thing you want in a sprint. Take the least you need to feel ready. Count the calories from all your fuels together, HEED and Hammer Gel included, and keep to about 120 to 180 per hour.
- Skip the junk. Sugary drinks and snacks between heats give you a quick high and then a drop, often right when you are called to the start.
- Refill the tank. Recoverite after training and after racing helps the whole crew come back ready for the next session.
The above recommendations are provided for information purposes only and are not intended to provide specific dietary or medical advice.
