Category Archives: Our Mission

Rest Day 9/5/13: 15min of Mobility – Share Your Focus

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Rest Day 9/5/13:

BC Men's Crew pushing it out during Cindy

BC Men’s Crew pushing it out during Cindy

15min of Mobility

In rowing the longer your stroke the further you can move the boat and ultimately the faster you can go.  Same thing applies indoors, rowing on the erg.  The only problem with that equation is your positioning.  Are you in a strong position at the catch and finish?  Today is a day to work on mobility and improve that positioning.  Take at least 15 minutes, ideally longer, to work on your tight spots.  What limits you?  Ankle flexion at the catch?  Shoulder mobility at the finish?

Share where you tend to be tight during a row as well as your problem areas for WODs. What are you doing daily to work them out?

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Here’s a glimpse of practice this week for the Renegade Rowing Team!  They race at the Rumble on the River, September 15th at Community Rowing Inc.  Come cheer them on!

Rest Days 9/1/13 − 9/2/13: Enjoy Labor Day Weekend!

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BC Men's Crew and I doing our first Row, Run, WOD, Run, Row on Friday afternoon!

BC Men’s Crew and I doing our first Row, Run, WOD, Run, Row on Friday afternoon!

Congrats to all those that tested their 5k yesterday!  It looks like there were a number of PR’s and everyone executed a solid game plan.  Labor Day Weekend is a time to rest, relax, and have some fun with family and friends.  With that in mind get outside and be active.  Grab a friend and go a hike a mountain or hit a swimming hole.  Play some golf or go for a ride.  I wish you all a happy Labor Day Weekend and I look forward to hitting training hard with you on Tuesday!

All the best!

Coach Pat

Rest Day 8/25/13: Which distances do you prefer? Short or Long?

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Rest Day 8/25/13:

Which distances do you prefer? Short or Long?

This week the Renegade Rowing Team practiced 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 head race.

Share your thoughts and preferences to comments!

Rest Day 8/22/13: What’s your favorite mobility move for Rowing? – Get Loose!

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Rest Day 8/22/13:

The Renegade Rowing Team drilling by Moonlight!

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 8/15/13: How does sport specificity play into your training? – Share Thoughts

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Rest Day 8/15/13:

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

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?

This Fall a collegiate crew team, the renegade rowing team, and myself will be building their work capacity and general fitness on a regular basis throughout the week.  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?

This week I’ve combined the two – 1. Rowing on the Water with 2. Metabolic Conditioning and Strength Work – in the gym.  I’m testing my new programming that we’ll be using this fall.  For a two-hour practice we’ll 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 just 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.  I Can’t wait to see the results at the Head of the Charles in October.

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