Category Archives: Mental Toughness

Rest Day 8/16: What do you do during a thunderstorm if you can’t row on the water?

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Rest Day 8/16:

What do you do during a thunderstorm if you can’t row on the water?

Yesterday morning there was a large thunderstorm at Community Rowing in Boston.  Most of the morning practices had already finished up, but there were a few programs that got kicked off the water due to lightning.  This a frequent occurrence that rowers have to deal with.

If you’re not a rower yet, but just an athlete using the erg, I’m sure you have your own thunderstorms to deal with in terms of training.  Maybe a knee or shoulder has decided to flare up or your quads are burned up from a few intense WODs.  That doesn’t mean everything has to be thrown out the window and you call it a day.

At the boathouse I had some fun with the Renegade Athletes and introduced bear crawls into the workout.  While most rowers that got kicked off the water had to resort to the drudgery of a steady state erg, we had some fun crawling around them.  In the past I’ve used those days as opportunities to play dodgeball and do squats or push ups if you get hit.  If your regular mode of training isn’t available then have some fun, do something different, and challenge yourself.

On the other side of things, if you’re an athlete who needs work on the erg and your body is banged up, take some time to do a few drills and dial in that technique with slow motion rowing.  Try rowing with no pressure and then slowly building up the speed keeping the proper sequence and form.  Or just take the day to work on a couple of goats while you wait for your issues/thunderstorms to pass by.

Share your favorite thunderstorm activities!

Rowing WOD 7/14: 4RFT – 500m Row, 10 Deadlifts 225/155 – Post Time

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Rowing WOD 7/14:

4 Rounds For Time

500m Row

10 Deadlifts 225/155

How do you game your WODs?  When attacking a 2k row a good way to game it is to think of 4 different races in your head.  Each one is a fresh start to hold your ideal split, stick to a stroke rating, refocus and fight.  Today’s Rowing WOD is all about that mentality.  Before going into it be sure to warmup your deadlift and do a few bursts on the erg at the split you aim to hold for each piece.  Think of each set of deadlifts as a power 10 to walk through your opponents.  Drive those heels down, make that boat feel light, and crush them!

Post your time to comments.

Rowing WOD 7/6: 6 x 2min w/ 1:30 Rest – Post your Splits

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Boston 4th of July Sunset over the Basin

Rowing WOD 7/6:

6 x 2min w/ 1:30 Rest

Hopefully everyone had a great 4th of July  and rest day yesterday.  I had a blast at the Boston Fireworks, which never cease to amaze, even with a lightning storm delay.

No matter what you’ve been up to it’s always good to come back from a rest day with renewed focus and motivation to hit your training hard.   Use today’s Rowing WOD to dial in your pace and strategy.  Use this opportunity to firm up your 2k race plan and test out your race pace.  This should be max pressure every piece.  Use the first 2 pieces to practice the start, the second 2 pieces to practice the body, and the last two pieces to practice the finish.

Post your splits to comments!

Continual Learning – DC 5/24

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Learning

Learning is a life long endeavor and is the essence of life itself.  With proper learning comes a sense of well-being and happiness.  Learning feeds into our preparation and improves our performance.  Plato believed that knowledge is already within us and learning is the process of uncovering it through recollection.  Recollection occurs through searching and questioning.  Why did that performance stink, or why was it so great?  What worked in our preparation and what didn’t?  We must be brave enough to challenge our long-held beliefs and keep open minds so that we can improve our preparation and performance.

Plato

Plato stated, “For true opinions, as long as they remain, are a fine thing and all they do is good, but they are not willing to remain long, and they escape from a man’s mind, so that they are not worth much until one ties them down by (giving) an account of the reason why.”  Our learning will focus on tying down our personal experiences and figuring out what works for us as a team and individuals.  The tools we’ll use include journaling and self-evaluation.

Daily Challenge 5/24:

Learn from a performance!  

It can be at home, work, in the gym, or on the water.  Figure out what worked and why.  Use the following tool to help you out!  Share your thoughts on Learning!

What are you talking about? – Performance and Self Talk – DC 5/22

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Performance

Performance is the beautiful moment in sport when an athlete gets to put it all together.  Performance is the combination of mind and body, of physical and mental preparation.  Performance is when an athlete gets to challenge the skills they’ve learned in order to feel total immersion in the activity.  Those who perform best experience a narrow focus of attention on the present and no fear of failure.  Exceptional performance feels like complete control, the slowing of time, and the feeling of everything being automatic and effortless.  To perform well athletes must have control over emotion, thoughts, and arousal.  They must exist in a state of high self-confidence, be physically and mentally relaxed, and highly energized.  Some of the tools we’ll use to improve performance include concentration and self-talk.

Self Talk

Self-talk is that “voice inside your head” otherwise known as your thoughts.  The mind controls the body and being aware of what that voice is saying can improve performance.

Daily Challenge 5/22:

Check Yourself!  During your work today, whether it be in the gym, a meeting, or at home, make sure you’re using positive self talk and not adding undue stress to your performance.

Post your thoughts to comments.  How does self talk affect your performance?