Work Capacity

The goal of the Renegade Rowing Training Plan is to increase work capacity across broad time, rowing, and functional movement domains.  Workouts will be constantly varied in length.  Rowing will be done on the water in both sculling and sweep shells whenever possible, but confidence and competence on the ergometer will be consistently developed as well.  At least three times a week Renegade Rowers will develop strength through weightlifting.  Novices will learn to deadlift, squat, and press while progressing to the more advanced Olympic Lifts, the “clean and jerk” and the “snatch”.  In order to keep things exciting the training plan will mix in functional movements in as many creative ways as possible through daily competitions and challenges.

Renegade Rowing methods will focus on developing a broad, general, and inclusive fitness that enables rowing specific skill.  By using constantly varied, functional movements, performed at high intensity we can manage practice time effectively to develop both strength and endurance.  On the water we will focus on skills, race preparation, and competition to build rowing specific technical and tactical prowess.  The Renegade Rowing Training Plan aims to successfully combine strength and endurance training so that our athletes are ready for any sport or activity in life.  By increasing work capacity and rowing skill we will out work and out row our competitors.

Blocks

A typical week’s training will consist of nine to twelve blocks.  A block is a workout.  Each block can be classified by type and length.  Rowing blocks will be short, medium, or long.  Fitness blocks will be short, medium, or long.  Strength blocks differ slightly from the others in that they will not have a designated length, but rather a designated focus of total, lower, or upper body.  Depending on the focus of the week, we will be able to choose certain blocks to fulfill our needs.

 Preparation and Competition

In general, each week of the Renegade Plan can be classified as either a preparation week or a competition week.  During a preparation week one fitness block and one rowing block will be introduced.  In the following competition microcycle those two blocks will be repeated and individuals will be expected to compete and try to better their performances from the preparation week.

 Rowing Blocks

Our goal is to become better rowers and athletes.  Therefore we will need to focus on some aspect of our rowing and athletic ability everyday.  Every time we do a fitness or strength workout we will be focused on how it will help our rowing and what skills will transfer to the water.  Similarly, every rowing workout will give us a focus on how rowing will improve our other functional movements and activities.  In order to see those skills transfer we will row every practice, either on the erg or on the water.  Our goal should always be to learn something new about our stroke and how the exercises and movements we’re learning in the boat and gym are helping us to move faster and do more work.  Whenever there is time left over after a workout we will work on our rowing and transfer our skills with a rowing cool down.

When rowing is the main block used in practice we will be focusing on race preparation and our ability to compete at race pace.  This doesn’t mean we’ll be doing all out 2k’s everyday, but we will get comfortable at racing.  Depending on the needs of the team we may do more work just below race pace or just above race pace.  We will also use short interval work, progressive sets, and specific power pieces both in our rowing blocks and our fitness blocks.

Fitness Blocks

In order to develop the skills needed to row, we will use fitness in the form of functional movement and competition.  Fitness is defined as work capacity across broad time and modal domains.  People play sports for the fun and opportunity of competition.  Every fitness block will contain an opportunity to compete and improve individually and against our teammates.   By varying the length of time we do work and the types of exercises and movements involved, we will develop a broad, general, and inclusive fitness that will give us an edge in both rowing, sport, and life.  We’ll use rowing, running, jumping, throwing, gymnastics, Olympic weightlifting, and more.  Even if there is no fitness block scheduled for the day we will always have some sort of competition to keep things exciting and push each other.

Strength Blocks

Strength is the ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply force.  Strength will be our foundation for fitness, rowing, and injury prevention.  Strength will lead to more power in all of our movements and ultimately allow us to move boats faster.  The focus of our strength work will be developing competency in weightlifting.   “Weightlifting” refers to the Olympic sport, which includes the “clean and jerk” and the “snatch.”   Olympic weightlifting will help us develop the strength, speed, power, and flexibility needed to excel in competition whether on or off the water.

The Olympic lifts are based on the deadlift, clean, squat, and jerk.  They are functional and multi-joint movements used in everyday life.  Our strength blocks will start with the deadlift, clean, squat, shoulder press, and jerk and then introduce the “clean and jerk” and snatch.  In the very beginning we will just work the movement of the clean and jerk with lightweight due to their complexity and dynamic nature.   We will build strong fundamentals while continually introducing the clean, jerk, and snatch with dowels and light training bars to keep an eye on where we are going.