Category Archives: Our Mission

Rest Day 8/28/14: Go Eat Some Watermelon!

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Rest Day:

Go Eat Some Watermelon!

Below is a blog post from Alex Black of Wicked Good Nutrition.  Read all about a recent study on watermelon and then tell us what you think.  Will you be sucking down some Watermelon after our 5k on Saturday?

Super Power for Watermelon

We all know watermelon is a delicious summer fruit. But some new research has indicate that it might also be a recovery aid – results of a study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry showed that a compound found in watermelon juice may help athletes recovery after exercise.  … Click here for the whole post! …

Rest Day 8/24/14: Which distances do you prefer? Short or Long?

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Rest Day:

Which distances do you prefer? Short or Long?

The video below is from last years Renegade Rowing Team practicing their first 20 stroke piece in preparation for the sprint race at the Rumble on the River.  After we finished one of the rowers commented that they would rather do the shorter stuff all the time.  While short fast sprints can be adrenaline filled fun, there’s also something fun about chasing down a boat in a time trial style head race.

Share your thoughts and preferences to comments!

Rest Day 8/21/14: What’s your favorite mobility move for Rowing? – Get Loose!

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Rest Day:

The Renegade Rowing Team drilling by Moonlight!

What’s your favorite mobility move for Rowing?

Get Loose and Enjoy 15 minutes of Hamstring and Hip Mobility.

Over the past week we’ve hit it pretty hard with intensity and higher volume.  Our ability to sit up and maintain a solid core through the stroke has a lot to do with our hamstring flexibility and the work we do on off days to promote recovery and rebuilding of the muscle fibers we tear.  Use today as an opportunity to stretch out and rebuild those hamstrings, increase your flexibility, and eat some good quality food.

Share your favorite mobility move, where you’re feeling it today, and how you mobilized!

Rest Day 8/17/14: Thoughts on Protein Powder?

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Rest Day:protein

Do you use Protein Powder?

Below is a great post from Alex Black of Wicked Good Nutrition.  Check it out and post your thoughts and what you use for protein to comments.

Pros and Cons of Protein Powders

Protein powders were once the stuff of pro athletes and ultra meatheads, but have gone mainstream over the past 10 or so years. I first tried it when I was 15. When I told a personal trainer I’d been seeing with my mom that my goal was to get a 6-pack, he recommended I take 2 scoops of muscle milk powder 1-2 times per day. So mom and I dutifully trekked down to GNC and bought the vanilla flavor. And it was AWFUL. I don’t think I took the recommended dose even once, and I certainly never got said 6 pack. I couldn’t get it to dissolve in anything – not water, not milk, not a smoothie. Only now, looking back with educated eyes, do I see how completely ridiculous it was for this bro to tell a 15-year-old athlete to take a mostly unregulated supplement! The industry has gotten much better since then in terms of taste and palatability, but it is still mostly unregulated and athletes should pay attention to ingredients and types of protein.

Click here for the full blog post!

Rest Day 8/14/14: How does sport specificity play into your training? – Share Thoughts

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Rest Day:

The Renegade Rowing Team after a sunset row on the Charles River!

How does sport specificity play into your training?

When training with constantly varied, functional movements, performed at high intensity the focus is to build general physical preparedness.  The pyramid model of training has a base made of nutrition that supports metabolic conditioning, gymnastics, weightlifting, and a peak of sport.  So if the ultimate goal of our training is to compete in a sport and do so with super health and elite fitness, how do you work sport specific training into your daily/weekly routine?

In the sport of rowing it definitely helps to have as much water time as possible to become efficient at moving the boat.  One downfall of spending every hour in a boat can be a decrease in strength, power, and overall fitness.  How do we get enough time in the boat and still maintain our power and fitness?

I’ve combined the two – 1. Rowing on the Water with 2. Metabolic Conditioning and Strength Work – in the gym.  I’ve tested this program with the Boston College Men’s Team last fall.  For a two-hour practice we row for 15 minutes, run a mile to the gym, do a 45 minute session at CrossFit Boston, run a mile back to the boat, and then row back to the dock for another 15-20 minutes.

Having experienced this, I’m very excited to bring this Renegade Rowing programming to more rowers.  It allows for a sport specific warmup and cool down while mixing in an endurance aspect with the running and overall amount of work done in a two-hour practice.  The workout in the gym allows us to focus on building strength and power.  The best part is that with the right focus this work can be used for skill transfer to rowing.  While it’s not sport specific work, there are aspects that can reinforce the sport specific skills needed when we get back in the boat at the end of practice.

The absolute best part though is the Fun!  A two-hour practice of competition and fun, both on the water and in the gym.

Please share your thoughts and methods for combining sport specific training with general physical preparedness.

If you’d like to join in and train Renegade Rowing style this fall please get in touch with me … pat@renegaderowing.com