Category Archives: Strength

Rest Day 12/10/15: Video Review: What do you think of your form?

Posted on by
Reply

Video Review

From time to time it can be beneficial to look at yourself on camera.  No we don’t care about the aesthetics or the fashion.  We’re looking to gain feedback and a mental picture.  We’re looking for just one or two cues that might give us a smoother, more powerful stroke.  What’s going right?  What’s going wrong?  What can we do better?

You should be asking yourself, “What do I look like now?  How do I move now? What could use some extra focus and improvement next time?”  Don’t dwell on to many things at a time, just find one or two things that might make your life on the erg or in the boat a little better.  Go work on them.  Then reassess in a couple of weeks.

The Renegade Rowing Club has agreed to help everyone by taking a look at their strokes. If you’d like feedback similar to this, post a 20 second clip of you rowing to YouTube and share it with us in the comments of this post.  I’ll do my best to give you a couple of things to work on!

For each of the following videos I’ll be ranking each rower on their posture, control, and connection.  I’ll use a five point scale where 1 = poor and 5 = perfect.  When dealing with posture we’re looking for the torso to be stacked and strong at all times.  When talking about control we are looking at the smoothness of the recovery and how the seat moves toward the catch.  Does it rush forward for the next stroke?  Is there control in the last few inches of the slide to change direction without pushing the boat backwards?  Last and most important, connection, are the seat and handle connected and moving together into and out of the catch as if connected by a belt.

Take a look and share what you might focus on next time you row!

Posture: 3, Control: 3, Connection: 2

Feedback: Nice job getting the body over.  Don’t let the seat stop at the catch.  Be ready to push with the legs the second you hit the catch and keep the seat and hands connected.

Rowing WOD 12/9/15: 4Rds Max Reps – 1′ Row, 1′ KB Snatch, 1′ DU, 1′ KB Snatch, 1′ Rest – Post Score

Posted on by
Reply

 Rowing WOD:

The RRC warming up on Monday night with Good Mornings and Goblet Squats. Who's ready for the Renegade Rowing League December 21st?

4 Rounds for Max Reps of …

1min Row for Calories

1min Left Arm Kettle Bell Snatch

1min Double Unders

1min Right Arm Kettle Bell Snatch

1min Rest

Today’s Rowing WOD will be a good burner to  get your lungs going and allow you to really focus on a solid core.  The double unders and kettle bell snatches are technical and require a higher focus on skill and efficiency.  For the double unders try to keep your wrists loose and get into a good flow that you can maintain.  A good goal would be to go unbroken for a minute.  With the one arm kettle bell snatch focus on driving through the heels and getting good hip extension to move the weight.  A bonus for the KB Snatch is that it requires you to keep a stable core and not allow your torso to rotate.  Any movement that involves an anti rotation component and stabilizing of the core is good for rowing.  Every time we reach out to the rigger in sweep rowing there is both a compression and rotation on our spines, which can lead to disc injuries over time.  By strengthening the core and resisting rotation we can prevent those injuries from happening. So keep that chest up and don’t let the shoulder drop too much through the bottom!  Here is a good link from Rogue Fitness on the Kettle Bell Snatch: http://youtu.be/6l2Iu26oWW8

Post your total score and thoughts to comments!

Rowing WOD 12/8/15: 5x800m w/ 2min Rest – Post Splits

Posted on by
Reply

 Rowing WOD:

Greg is ready for the Catch!

Greg is ready for the Catch!

5 x 800m w/ 2min Rest

1st @24 s/m

2nd @26

3rd @28

4th @30

5th @32

Some of our best results are found when training at high intensity.  In order to develop as an athlete you’ll need to develop an ability to go hard and bring your “A” game.  Today’s Rowing WOD provides an opportunity for just that.  Set the monitor for 800m of work and 2 minutes of rest.  While the stroke rating starts out low, there should be a focus on power per stroke and solid intensity across all five pieces.  The increasing stroke rating will give you a chance to see where you’re most effective.  Ideally whenever the stroke rating is increased the split should decrease.  Try to pick a split for each stroke rating and commit for the whole piece.  The last 3 should be around race pace.

Post your Average 500m Splits for each piece to comments.

 

Rowing WOD 12/5/15: Max Pressure 2x1k, 2x500m, 2x250m – Post Splits

Posted on by
Reply

Rowing WOD:

Greg of the RRC getting after it!

Greg of the RRC getting after it!

Max Pressure

2 x 1k w/ 5:00 Rest

2 x 500m w/ 3:00 Rest

2 x 250m w/ 1:30 Rest

Have you ever seen a WOD posted in your gym like 5-5-5-5-5 Back Squat and that’s it?  Did you think that would be a good day to take off because there’s not much to it and you’d rather go to a session with more stuff?  Well snap out of it and hit that WOD hard next time.  High Intensity is your ability to push your boundaries a little further everyday.  If you never test your limits you’ll never know what you’ve got.

Todays Rowing WOD calls for Max Pressure and is a test of your ability to consistently perform at your highest intensity.  Set the monitor for Intervals Variable and input 1k, 5min rest, 1k, 5min rest, 500m, 3min rest, 500m, 3min rest, 250m, 1min30sec rest, 250m, 1min30sec rest.  Pick a 500m Split and a Stroke Rating you plan to hold for each distance.  The first time you perform that distance execute that pace (split and SR) as consistently as possible.  When you repeat the distance try to be even more consistent and go a little bit faster.

Remember, the goal is to row at max pressure for every piece.  Focus on your split and stroke rate and row at high intensity with good form.

Post your average 500m splits to comments.

Rowing WOD 12/4/15: “Sculler X” – Post Time and Strokes

Posted on by
Reply
The Humbling Pistol

The Humbling Pistol

Rowing WOD:

“Sculler X”

5 Rounds For Time:

10 Pistols (5 each leg)

10 Inch Worm Push Ups

10 Kettle Bell Swings (2/1.5 Pood)

10 Calories on the Erg

  • (HOW MANY STROKES WILL THIS TAKE YOU?)
Walk the hands out

Walk the hands out

When rowing on the water balance and single leg strength come into play much more than rowing indoors on the erg.  Exercises like the pistol (single leg squat) really help develop the sense of balance and power needed to move a boat.  Think about making a big turn in a sculling shell mid race, like any of the turns in the Head of the Charles.  A sculler must be able to balance (a.k.a. set) the boat and transfer force to the water.  Those that do this well maintain boat speed around turns and can walk through opponents.  If you can’t do a pistol yet substitute goblet squats.

Keep a firm core

Keep a firm core

The inch worm is a great stabilizing exercise if you try to keep the hips and torso quiet.  Then when you add the push up, connection of the feet and hands come into play.  Keep that core firm and ensure everything touches and leaves the ground at the same time.  Last but not least there is the kettle bell swing.  Really focus on driving through the heels and activating the glutes and hamstrings while keeping a solid core.

Full depth push up!

Full depth push up!

Now hold up!  What about all of the athletes out there that are using rowing as a cross training tool?  You’re in luck.  If you can piece together good efficient movement in the first three exercises then you should be able to crush the row for calories at the end of each round.

Your goal should be consistent, efficient strokes.  For those that have been working on suspension and have tried a drill like the strap drill, you’ll want to fully suspend throughout each stroke in order to get done in as few strokes as possible.  If you suspend well and can maintain a nice ratio then the rowing part of this workout will become active rest and allow you to breathe.  Don’t get me wrong, 10 calories is not much and you should be pushing the pace, but work on suspension and make the rowing as effortless as possible so you can crush the rest of this Rowing WOD.

Post your time and the fewest number of strokes it took to complete 10 calories!