Ben Ainslie has long been described as one of the rising stars of British sailing. Despite still being only 25, it's pretty clear that his star has long been fixed firmly in place. If his silver medal in the Laser class at the 1996 Olympics wasn't proof enough, then his gold in Sydney certainly was. Fitness training is an important aspect of every Olympic sport and sailing is no exception. Ben has long been an enthusiastic user of the Indoor Rower and we thought we'd bring you some insight into the training routine of one of the nation's top sportsmen.Olympic sailing requires many different aspects of fitness such as strength, aerobic fitness, muscular endurance, agility and correct body weight management. The latter point is particularly important as each Olympic sailing class has an optimum sailor weight. When Ben decided to return to Olympic sailing in January after his 'year out' of professional sailing, he only had one thing on his mind – Gold in Athens in 2004. His return on the Olympic sailing scene wasn't a total shock but his announcement that his new campaign was going to be in the Finn rather than the Laser was. Typically Laser sailors weigh 80kg (12 stone 8 lbs) and indeed a very slim-line Ben weighed just under this when he won his gold medal in Sydney 2000. Due to the extra power generated by the Finn rig the Finn sailors tend to be the 'heavyweights' on the Olympic sailing scene with a body weight of approx 98kg (15 stone 6 lbs) considered essential in order to keep the boat upright in winds of above 10 knots. Ben's Finn campaign started in the gym where he's been working hard on his weight gain. Simply 'eating yourself heavy' isn't a viable option as strength as well as weight is an important requirement for Finn sailing. During the first three months of this year Ben hardly got his feet wet and instead spent most of his time in the gym with a typical day looking something like this:Early morning: 90 minutes of heavy weight training in the David Lloyd gym in Southampton. Such training is exceptionally gruelling and is often accompanied with light-headedness and severe muscular pain. Eating after the workout is crucial for muscle recovery and growth. As well as a diet of around 4,500 calories a day (twice that of the average person) Ben will down two or three protein powder milkshakes each day with one of these being immediately after the weight training session. Eating is an important part of the weight gain process but only to provide the necessary nutrients and energy to promote muscle growth.Midday: Appointment with physiotherapist or masseur to help alleviate those aches and pains and reduce the risk of injury.Early evening: 60-90 minutes of aerobic training on an Indoor Rower. Sailing downwind in a Finn is very demanding aerobically where pumping the sail requires both strength and aerobic fitness. The rowing machine is perfect for sailors to train on as it not only promotes good aerobic fitness but the pulling action is quite similar to the actual pumping action required in the boat so the correct muscles are getting trained. Concept 2 gave Ben his own Indoor Rower so as to allow him to train from home. Concept 2 has gone on to loan the Royal Yachting Association a further 15 rowing machines as part of their sponsorship of RYA Team GBR through until Athens.This typical training day for Ben Ainslie is repeated five days a week. This is now coupled with extensive time on the water where Ben is getting to grips with his new class of dinghy. Things are starting to look bright for Ben's 2004 dream of another Olympic gold medal in Athens: the body weight and strength are rapidly increasing and aerobic fitness is improving all the time. As well as winning the European championships in the Finn class, just last week he won the Finn Gold Cup, the first time it's been won by a Brit since 1976.