Video Review and Motivation for Warm Weather and Water!

BC Men working on their Deadlifts and Cleans in Jacksonville, FL during Spring Training.

BC Men working on their Deadlifts and Cleans in Jacksonville, FL during Spring Training.

Are you sick of Winter?  I think I am, especially after visiting Jacksonville, FL with the Boston College Men’s Rowing Team over the last three days.  It was so nice to coach in flip-flops, shorts, and a t-shirt. To inspire you and motivate you to join Renegade Rowing on the Water as soon as the ice melts on the Charles River, I’m sharing a video of some 4+’s and 2-‘s that I coached this week.  This is their first time on the water since last fall.  What are they doing well?  What do they need to work on?  Are you focused on rowing on the erg as if you were going to row on the water?  Please share your thoughts in the comments section and consider joining Renegade Rowing for sculling this Spring.

Congrats to all CRASH-B Competitors! Get ready for new classes and the RRTP!

Coach Pat and Renegade RowingIt’s been a long weekend, but it’s what we live for.  This past weekend I got a chance to interact and brainstorm with some of the best rowing coaches and athletes in the country at the What Works Summit at Community Rowing.  I got to hang out with the 4 alumni classes of the Institute for Rowing Leadership.  Then we all crushed it at CRASH-B 2015.

The morning crew at CRASH-B 2015.  Great racing everyone!

The morning crew at CRASH-B 2015. Great racing everyone!

I was asked many times yesterday if I was racing.  While I would love to get on that Concept2 Erg and test my limits, I had a lot more fun coaching all 11 of the Renegade Rowers who competed yesterday.  Many of them PR’ed and all of them rowed like champs.  I’m proud to say that all of them were rowers yesterday as well as athletes.  They came prepared, went through their warmup, and executed a solid race plan.  All of them left it on the floor and I couldn’t be prouder.

So now what?

Lauryn and Terese getting in their warm up at CRASH-B 2015

Lauryn and Terese getting in their warm up at CRASH-B 2015

In the past we’ve taken a couple of weeks off.  This year we’re kicking it up notch and getting right back in the gym.  I’m on the way down to Florida, currently stuck in Charlotte, NC because of weather, but I’ll be there later this morning to coach the Boston College Men’s Rowing Team.  All of you Renegades at home should get right back in the gym and keep training hard.  The snow and ice in Boston will melt at some point and we’ll all be on the water.  Be sure to checkout the Renegade Rowing Training Plan for this week:

RRTP 3-2-15

Also, I’ve updated the Renegade Rowing Website.  Please take a browse through all of our new offerings and let me know what you think.  If you know any friends in the Boston area who could use Renegade Rowing, please have them sign up for a consultation!

New Classes start next week! Get Excited!

Leaders vs. Managers @ The What Works Summit 2015

WhatWorks_2015_AYesterday I had the privilege of taking part in the What Works Summit 2015 at the Institute for Rowing Leadership.  Our afternoon was filled with break out sessions and boat meetings relating to the first 500m of the race.  We covered topics like practicing, priming, and executing on race day.  One of the best parts of the day was the panel discussion after dinner.  I was lucky enough to be placed in a small break out group with Charlie Butt, the Harvard Head Men’s Coach, as our leader.  Charlie is one of the best story tellers and coaches I’ve met.

Our task was to discuss Leaders and Managers.  Are they the same or different?  Charlie told us of his days working with Harry Parker as well as his current daily routine at Newell Boathouse. It quickly became apparent to me that a good leader and good manager aren’t necessarily the same thing, but a good leader is most often a good manager.

Charlie has mastered the ability of dividing up tasks, assigning responsibilities to athletes and assistant coaches, and encouraging everyone to get the job done through positive suggestion rather than strict demands.  To him there is no task to small or beneath a coach and a leader, whether it’s keeping the furnace at the boathouse going or recruiting new athletes.  By giving his athletes and coaches the jobs they are good at, he instills his trust and confidence in their ability to get the job done.  He’s also very good at knowing when someone needs support to keep moving in the right direction.

What are your thoughts on Leadership?  How does management play into being a leader to you?

Rest well today and get excited for CRASH-B’s tomorrow!

Video Review: How can JP help you?

How’s it going Renegades? Today we’re taking a look at JP at the end of the race. This is a video review that I put together to help him and you develop your stroke and find new areas to improve upon. I’ll be posting regular video reviews about once a week, usually on Thursdays. If you’d like feedback on your stroke or would like to see me talk about a certain area of the stroke, please let me know in the comments. If you’d like to be featured in the weekly Video Review please send me a 5 stroke video via email to pat@renegaderowing.com.

Also, if you’d like to join in the fun in person, the Renegade Rowing Club practices every Monday morning at 6am and Wednesday evening at 6pm.  There will be new days and times starting in March, so keep an eye out. Everyone is welcome, just let me know via email – pat@renegaderowing.com, and I can get you the details on how to get started and join the group. Share your thoughts to comments and get fired up for CRASH-B 2015!

What Renegade Rowing Class is right for you? Check it out and share!

Renegade Rowing Class ScheduleYesterday the new Renegade Rowing Class Schedule and Renegade Rowing Pricing was released.  It will kick in this March.  Today I wanted to share some more info on the classes themselves.  Below you will find a brief description of each class.  While they may help paint you a picture of what to expect, the only way to know what a class involves is to experience.  Keep an eye on the landing page for the sign up form and get excited for March!

RR Classic
This is the original Renegade Rowing Class.   It’s where it all began. The goal is to improve your Rowing, Fitness, and Strength. We clean up your Rowing Technique in the warmup. We work on improving mobility and increasing flexibility. Then we throwdown in a strength wod (workout of the day) and a conditioning wod that brings together the best of Rowing and Strength Training.
Renegade Blast
This class is meant to kick your ass in 45 minutes.   Expect to be moving and sweating from start to finish. We’ll put you through various levels of High Intensity Interval Training using Rowing, Bodyweight Movements, and Functional Movements. Anyone can jump in and get a solid workout as long as they’re ready to move, sweat, and have some fun doing it. Get fired up for 45 minutes of awesome that will keep you coming back for more!
RR Running and Endurance
We don’t want you to just be a rower, we want you to be an athlete and to succeed at life! The Renegade Running and Endurance Class will help you do both.   We’ll work running skills and drills into a team style warmup and then either hit the beautiful banks of the Charles River for a group run or the Harvard Track for sprints and interval training. Don’t be surprised if you end up meeting a new training partner or end up dragging your friends along to give it a shot once a week. Our running class gets addicting and it’s a great way to network.   Just imagine if you met one new athletic friend in Boston every Friday morning, Boom! Great start to the weekend.
RR Sculling/ Indoor Rowing
This class is all about taking it to the water and reaching your goals through teamwork. When the Charles River is full of ice, we’ll use the Concept2 Ergometer as a tool to not only improve our fitness, but learn the intricacies and discipline it takes to row on the water. Indoors we’ll row together as if in a boat and take turns leading and following. Everyone will get a chance to make calls and test their knowledge of the sport while also getting in a kick ass workout. When the ice finally does melt and it’s warm enough to get on the water, we’ll be sculling in quads and singles at the Community Rowing Inc. (CRI) – Harry Parker Boathouse in Brighton, MA. Stop wondering what it would be like to fly across the mirrored surface of the Charles River and come do it. Seriously, it’s an experience like none other!
RR Stadium/Social WOD
The best part of training with Renegade Rowing is that you get to do it with a great community of healthy, athletic, like-minded people who want nothing but the best for each other. Every Monday on the blog we’ll announce some version of a Stadium Run or a Social Workout where everyone can come throwdown together and push each other. The best part about these workouts is they are free if you bring a friend who’s never been! Spread the word and let’s Get Awesome together!

Also, afterwards we’ll all go grab a bite to eat or meet up and do some other fun activity around Boston!

Rowing WOD:

Does your race plan involve you're Warm Up?

10 x 250m w/ 1:30 Rest

  • Execute Race Plan
  • Post Splits to Comments

CRASH-B’s are on Sunday and now is the time to commit to your game plan for the 2k.  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 Tactical Rowing.  Focus on executing a 2k race plan at high intensity.  Set the monitor for intervals distance with 250m of Work and 1:30 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 250m Max Effort, but rather a calculated effort at a split close to what you think your current 2k split would be.  The goal should be to pull the lowest split possible, consistently through all 10 intervals.  For example: alternating between splits of 1:50 and 2:00 is inefficient.  Instead consistently pull 1:55 every interval.

Post your Splits and Thoughts to comments.