Category Archives: Skill

Rowing WOD 9/22/15: 6×2:00 w/ 1:30 Rest – Post Splits and Favorite Drag Factor

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How’s it going Renegades?  Apologies for not posting over the past week or two.  I’ve been busy getting one of my new teams up to speed.  I’m now the Head Coach for the Wayland-Weston Crew Team.  I hope to get back on a regular posting schedule this week.  One thing we’ve been focused on at WW is Posture, Connection, and Suspension.  Give this Rowing WOD a shot and let me know your thoughts on those three skills.  How does one lend itself to the other?

Rowing WOD:

Suspension Drills

Recover to Strength in order to Suspend!

6 x 2:00 w/ 1:30 Rest,

@28 s/m for all

  1. @2k+3, Damper Set at 8
  2. @2k+3, Damper Set at 6
  3. @2k+3, Damper Set at 4
  4. @2k+3, Damper Set at 2
  5. @2k+3, Damper Set at 5
  6. @2k+3, Damper Set at Favorite

Check Drag Factor

Recently we’ve been reviewing the fundamental skills of posture, control, and connection.  Today we’ll take the idea of connection one step further as we feel what it means to suspend from the oar handle.  Suspension is all about using our body weight to hang on the oar and help accelerate the handle all the way through the drive.  The key is not to create any force Upward off the seat, but to just become weightless off your seat while keeping in contact with it.  Everything – forces, handle height, chain – needs to be HORIZONTAL when we row!  NO need to do extra Work (W = mgh) by moving stuff up and down every stroke, keep it horizontal!

Drills we’ll cover include the Stand Up/Sit Down drill to get the feeling of suspending above the seat.  Remember this is an exaggeration to get the correct sensation and feeling of good connection.  We will also do the Strap Drill where we statically hang and suspend from the handle while maintaining our body angles and strong postures.  Then we’ll do the Strap Drill dynamically by letting the strap out slowly and trying to hold suspension all the way through the drive.

In today’s Rowing WOD we’ll be varying the damper to find where we’re most efficient.  Over the next week play around with the damper to find where you’re most comfortable/efficient .  When you find a damper setting you like, check the drag factor so you can begin using a consistent drag factor.  For more information on Drag Factors read this article: http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/training/tips-and-general-info/damper-setting-101

For today’s 2min pieces, try to focus on good connection and suspension while keeping a consistent split for all 6 pieces.  After you’re done look back at the memory to see what your average stroke rating was for each piece.  Whatever piece felt comfortable/efficient and was done at a stroke rating of 28-32 might be a good drag factor for you.  Take a couple of minutes to set the damper to that number and check the drag factor on the monitor.  Remember that drag factor and try to use it next time you row to see if you still like it.

Post your average splits and favorite drag factor to comments!

********** IMPORTANT *************

The biggest thing to focus on and practice right now is the fundamentals!!!  Body Preparation by Half Slide is Key and Connection to move the handle with the seat out of the Catch is key!  If you can Prep and Connect, the suspension will come.  Whenever focusing on suspension ensure your abs are engaged and you have a solid hollow body!  Protect those discs!

If you have any questions let me know!

Here is a quick video of the strap drill.  It’s a fun challenge to do dynamically. If you like what you see, come try it and train with the Renegade Rowing Club!  The Renegade Rowing Club practices Tuesdays at 6:00am and Wednesdays at 6:00pm at CrossFit Boston.  Let me know if you’re planning on coming… pat@renegaderowing.com

Rest Day 8/13/15: 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  over the past two years.  For a two-hour practice we row for 15 minutes, run a mile to the gym, do a 45 minute session at Our Crew Fitness, 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

Have you tried Team Squats? – Check it out and Share Thoughts

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As part of the Renegade Rowing Team Warm-Up, we always practice team squats as if we were in the boat.  It helps to learn how to follow and time the catch with the rest of the boat.  If you’re interested in Rowing on the water Renegade Rowing might be a great option for you.  Check it out!

Rowing in an 8+ involves a lot of the same control and timing as team squats.  Have you ever tried doing a movement in sync with another person?  How about with 7 other people?

Share your thoughts on team squats?  Have you ever performed them in a team wod?

Connection and Speed – Skill Transfer between Olympic Lifting and Rowing

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DSC00100Olympic Lifting and Rowing?

What do you think about using Olympic Lifting in training to be a Rower or using Rowing to be a better Olympic Lifter?  Both require speed and power and incorporate similar movement patterns.  However, in rowing you sit down and are in contact with three surfaces.  DSC00102In Olympic Lifting you are only in contact with two.  In Olympic lifting the goal is to transfer forces vertically and in rowing the goal is to transfer forces horizontally.  Where do you see the most benefit in training with both?  Are there downfalls?

 

DSC00103One skill, concept, and idea that I keep coming back to is Connection.  Coaching people in the gym and on the water allows me to see many different movement patterns and levels of ability.  Athletes that grasp this idea of connection from one joint to another and one external object to another are able to learn faster, create more power, and transfer skills to other movements.  DSC00105Learning to connect the hips to the hands as you initiate a movement or connect your feet to your hands at the catch, both in rowing and snatching, is invaluable.  Once this skill is perfected the possibilities are endless.

DSC00106In the Spring I introduced the snatch to the BC Men’s Crew Team.  While we only worked with PVC pipes to begin with and 45# bars in the workout, the importance of generating speed through the middle of the drive and being turned on at the catch became apparent.  Those that had explosive hip extension from rowing and knew how to create speed on the oar through the middle of the drive in the boat had a lot more success transferring that skill to the barbell.DSC00107

 

Using the Clean and the Snatch to generate speed on the drive through good connection is a lot of fun.  Rowers become athletes and are empowered to push harder by learning new movements and finding power they never knew they had.DSC00108  It’s also a lot of fun seeing olympic lifters and other athletes learn to row because it helps them to find more connection and speed in their lifts.

Post your thoughts to comments!  Any experience transferring skills from one sport to another?DSC00109

 

 

 

 

 

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Video Review: Coach Pat – The Pistol and Rowing – Can you do a Pistol?

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Two very important skills required of elite athletes and rowers are balance and strength.  Have you ever seen a standing shove?  That’s the level of balance we need.  Have you ever seen good scullers take the Weeks Turn or the Elliot Turn super tight during the Head of the Charles Regatta?  That’s the type of strength we need to combine with balance and we need to have it in both legs independent of one another.

Mastering a pistol, or single legged squat, will help you develop both balance and strength.  In order to do a good pistol mobility is super important.  Be sure to work on mobility everyday.  Below is a video I put together of all the different progressions I will use to help an athlete develop their pistol.  See where you fall and then start working from there.

Have Fun training and let us know what you think of pistols!

Can you do a pistol?