Category Archives: Rowing

Handstand Challenge! – Daily Challenge 5/16

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On Monday I had the privilege of attending the CRI Comp Girls practice.  Both the Varsity and Novice teams competed for CrossFit Boston Tanks and kicked some but.  They did 1 minute of squats and 1 minute of push ups.  The winning score for both teams was 92!  Awesome!

While waiting for the Novice Girls to finish racing each other in a van push competition, I was challenged to a Handstand Competition.  I’ve been working on my hand stands, but my challenger crushed me.  I think I might have held a hand stand for two seconds, but she obviously had some gymnastic skills and could hold it for more than 5 seconds.

I had a blast!  Thanks CRI Ladies!  I can’t wait to see you crush it this weekend at Regional’s and hopefully I’ll see some of you at Renegade Rowing in the near future!

So, without further ado …

Daily Challenge 5/16:

Challenge a friend to a Handstand Competition!  Who can hold a handstand the longest?  3,2,1 Go!

Share your experience!

Hang From It! – Daily Challenge 5/15

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Many rowing coaches will say “Hang From It”, referring to the way rowers hang from the oars as they drive their legs down.  In order to protect our shoulders it helps to build up our ability to keep the lats engaged and shoulders back and down while we hang.  Thus our daily challenge…

Daily Challenge 5/15:

Hang from a pull up bar with your chin over the bar for 3×30 seconds.  If thirty seconds is to long either reduce your hang time or add a light jump stretch band to the mix.

Share your experience!  Was it hard?  Did you keep your scapula retracted back and down?

Are you sending out good vibes? – Daily Challenge 5/14

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What are you doing to change your world?  Some people play the lottery hoping luck might change their world forever and make all their hopes and dreams come true.  I know I would love to just skip town and travel the world.  However, if you want a better life, you might as well start making it happen yourself.  Take what you can control and make it happen one small step at a time.  Lets start the week with that as our focus.  A lot of times things will go your way if you stay a little more positive and send some good vibes out to the universe.  Even if nothing goes your way, you probably will make someone else’s day.

Daily Challenge 5/14:

Hold the door for everyone you see today and give them a smile, even if they’re total strangers.

Let us know how it goes.  Do you always hold the door?  Do you ever just smile at someone you don’t know?  Can you imagine if we all did this?

Sometimes You Just Gotta Dance! – Daily Challenge 5/12

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Are you excited to wake up everyday?  Every morning is another chance to make a change in the world.  Change can be tough, but if you start of with some fun it can be a little easier.

Daily Challenge 5/12:

Do you favorite dance move to start your day!

Literally hop out of bed, turn on the lights, pump some music and dance it up!

Share your experience!

What is Competition?

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Competition

Competition is the basis for all sport.  People play sports because they’re fun.  Sports are fun because every participant is given a chance to compete.  It’s not the outcome or the opponent that matters.  People enjoy competing because they’re given an opportunity to test themselves and their abilities in order to experience the thrill of an improvement toward a goal.  Competition can be both individual and team oriented.   By incorporating competition into everyday practice, Renegade Rowing allows us to track progress toward our goals, but more importantly to have fun and experience the journey.

In order to compete, athletes must develop mental toughness.  Firsthand athletes are developed through competition when they harness the power of the mind.  Our thoughts affect our feelings and our feelings affect our actions.  Anyone can develop an ability to do work with regards to fitness and rowing, but when work capacity is combined with mental toughness, athletes can control their actions and reach their goals.  Mental toughness is an athlete’s ability to commit to competition with a belief in oneself, to have a positive focus on the things they can control, and to embrace challenge as an opportunity for learning and self-improvement.

While the thrill of intrinsic motivation should be what drives us, we should not forget about the power of the opponent or the teammate in competition.  We can push ourselves as individuals, but the opportunity to push ourselves against others will only make us better.  I’m a competitive guy and I like being pushed and challenged and testing my abilities against others.  There’s honesty in giving it all you have against others, especially knowing they’re doing the same.

Rowing is an Olympic Sport that elite athletes train for year round.  Some athletes may only compete 5 to 6 times per year and of those competitions they might only peak for one race.  Most other sports have seasons filled with games allowing for learning and development during competition.  Renegade Rowing incorporates daily competition so that athletes have the same opportunities that other sports have.  Renegade athletes will have the confidence needed to perform on race day.  By providing many opportunities to experience race day competition in practice, athletes will have a wealth of experiences to draw from when race day arrives.

Daily Challenge 4/27:

Compete!  Challenge the next person you see to a thumb war!

Let us know how it goes and why you enjoy competition…