Monthly Archives: June 2015

Strength and Conditioning WOD 6/12/15: Re-Test: “Lil’ Nancy in a Boat” – 3RFT – 500m Row, 15 OHS – Post Time

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Strength and Conditioning WOD:

Jimmy from the Loyola Men's Crew Team working his Shoulder Flexibility in the Overhead Squat last Winter.

Re-Test: “Lil’ Nancy in a Boat”

3 Rounds For Time

500m Row

15 Overhead Squats (75/55 lbs.)

Today’s Rowing WOD is a great opportunity for any athlete, experienced or not, to get a sense of form and rhythm and then apply it in competition.  Get in a solid warm up and hone your rowing skills with a 10min WarmUp on the Erg and then attack this Strength and Conditioning WOD with your new found efficiency and focus on form.

Rhythm and Endurance are two necessities for successful competition in longer WODs.  A great example would be the KB Swings and Pull Ups found in “Helen” or the necessity to be fresh enough for the thrusters and pull ups in Jackie.  Those who find a consistent rhythm can flow through the movements naturally and rely on their aerobic endurance without dipping into their anaerobic energy supply.

In today’s Rowing WOD the focus is developing rhythm and endurance.  Another word for rhythm in rowing is Ratio.  By varying the ratio of the drive to the recovery rowers can maintain the same pace or split, but work more efficiently and make the stroke feel lighter or heavier.

When going from a 20 stroke rating to a 24 you should focus on more pressure with the legs and quickly redirecting the hands through the finish.  This will help increase the stroke rating while leaving you the same amount of time to sit up, breathe, and relax as you slide forward on the recovery.

When you attack “Lil’ Nancy in a Boat” pick a challenging split and stroke rating to hold, but make sure you’re able to remain efficient and fresh enough to perform the overhead squats unbroken.  If you know your 2k split, pick a goal split somewhere between 2k and 2k+3.  Try to focus on your rhythm and ratio to allow for breathing and recovery every single stroke.

Get after it and have a solid day of training!  Be sure to look back at your results from last week and try to beat your score this week!

Video Review: How can the Renegade Rowing Workshop at Mt. Strength CF help you?

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Hey Renegades!

I hope everyone is enjoying this weather and planning a beach day sometime soon!  I just wanted to shout out to all of those athletes that participated in the Renegade Rowing Workshop at Mt. Strength CF earlier this year.  Well done learning the stroke and mastering those skills and drills.  I had a blast working with you guys!  I will be helping out the employees at Tufts Health Plan in a couple of weeks and I can’t wait to get them rowing.  If you or your company is interested in a rowing seminar, let me know and I can help you guys get started in an amazing sport that you will enjoy for the rest of your life.

IMG_3541Earlier this year I had the privilege to coach 13 athletes at Mt. Strength CF in Winchester as part of my Renegade Rowing Workshop.  The video review seen below was taken there and we all had a blast.  I love seeing people learn and improve.  If there is any way I can help you get better at something please let me know.

I’m constantly trying to learn more and improve myself as well as Renegade Rowing.  I would like to offer the best program and training I can and to do that I need your help.  If you have any feedback or would like to see something added to Renegade Rowing please let me know in the comments or via email.  I will soon be adding body weight movements to the regular programming for those without access to a gym/equipment.
Any feedback helps!  Thank you for being awesome!

Rowing WOD 6/10/15: 4x8min w/ 4min Rest – Post Focus and Avg Splits

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Rowing WOD:J Row

4 x 8min w/ 4min Rest

@26-28 s/m (2k+4 to 2k+6)

Deliberate practice is key to success and mastery of any sport.  It’s been said you need to spend at least 10,000 hours to master a discipline whether it’s athletic or otherwise.  While this may be the case the more quality and purpose you bring to your practice the more you’ll get out of it.

Today’s Rowing WOD is an opportunity to bring deliberate practice to your erging.  Row each 8 minute piece at a pace of 2k + 5 seconds.  Meaning if your 2k split is 2:00 /500m (8:00 2k) then you would row each piece today at 2:05 /500m.  Pick 4 things you want to improve about your technique and fix one per piece.  Things you can focus on are keeping level hands, initiating with the legs, smooth tension on the chain, keeping the feet attached to the footboards, or keeping the chest up at the catch.

Post your technique focus and average splits to comments.

Rowing WOD 6/9/15: 10×1:00 On, :45 Off – Post Splits and Distances

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Rowing WOD:

10 x 1:00 On, :45 Off

CRASH-B's here we come! Attention! Row!

  • Goal Pace!!!

Today is the day to attack it and dial in your 2k Race Plan.  Those with experience know the benefit of pacing, gaming, and executing a plan to produce a personal best performance.  In the end a game plan facilitates mental toughness and focus to deal with pain when things get tough.

Today’s focus is executing your goal 2k race plan at high intensity.  Set the monitor for intervals distance with 1 minute of Work and 45 seconds of Rest.  Row the first two pieces as if they were the start of the 2k.  Row the next three pieces as if they were part of the second 500m, Row the next three pieces as if they were part of the third 500m, and finish the last two pieces with a sprint like the end of a race.

This should not be an all out Max Effort, but rather a calculated effort at a split close to your goal split.  The goal should be to pull the lowest split possible, consistently through all 10 intervals.  If you have a good start and settle in the first two pieces and a solid sprint for the last two pieces then you’re average split for all 10 pieces should be that goal split you’d like to hit on the 2k.

Post your Splits and Distances for each piece to comments.

RR Training Plan and Rowing WOD 6/8/15: 3x15min w/ 2min Rest – Post Distances

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I hope everyone had a beautiful weekend and you’re ready to get after it this week!  Here is the training plan: RR Training Plan 6-8-15

Rowing WOD:Coach Pat and the Break

3 x 15min w/ 2min Rest

Varying Stroke Rate as follows

  • 5min @ 22 s/m; 75% Pressure,
  • 5min @ 26 s/m; 80% Pressure,
  • 5min @ 24 s/m; 85% Pressure

Today’s Rowing WOD will give athletes a chance to focus on a couple of technique fixes as well as gaining confidence to keep their head in the game every stroke for 15 minutes.  Pick a goal split you want to hold for each stroke rating and see how consistent you can be each time you’re at that rating.  Try to be a little more consistent and push a little bit farther each piece.  A good goal is to bring your split down by 3-5 seconds every time the rating shifts up.  When the rating shifts back down your goal should be to hold the same split you were holding on the last stroke rating.  Focus on smooth rhythm, vary the pressure of your drive and the length of your recovery to shift ratings, and breathe.

Report in with your distance rowed each piece.