I hope everyone enjoys Easter Sunday tomorrow and can spend some time with family and friends. Share if you do anything fun including family mobility or active recovery. Perhaps challenging your family to an Erg Relay?
All the Best!
Coach Pat
Rowing WOD:
8 x 500m w/ 2min Rest
Race Pace
Race Focus
Today’s all about prepping for your next 2k. Try to keep a consistent pace over all 8 or “negative split” toward the end if you’re feeling good. Negative splitting means you pull a faster split than you did the last piece.
As a quick review for novice rowers, race pace over 2,000m will be at a stroke rating of 28 − 32 strokes per minute and a consistent 500m split. The lower the split the better. Good things to focus on include breathing, getting the knees down, driving through the heels, quick hands, and being smooth. I also like to coach a smile or grin 10 just to take yourself out of your body for a second, have some fun, and then refocus with a fresh mindset. Focus on one positive thought for 10 consecutive strokes and you’ll be that much closer to your goal.
Post your split for each piece and share what you focused on!
Look Familiar? If you can do a pistol you can get into a rowing shell!
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!
How’s it going Renegades? Today we’re taking a look at some BC Rowers during a practice they had on Concept2 Sliders. This is a video review that I put together to help them and you develop your stroke and find new areas to improve upon. I’ll be posting regular video reviews about once a week, usually on Thursdays. If you’d like feedback on your stroke or would like to see me talk about a certain area of the stroke, please let me know in the comments. If you’d like to be featured in the weekly Video Review please send me a 5 stroke video via email to pat@renegaderowing.com.
Today’s topic relates to how you hold your posture through the finish. Are you balanced on your sit bones or falling off them? How does your point of contact with the seat affect your posture and positioning throughout the stroke? Are your shoulders/chest big and broad or collapsed? What’s your neck and gaze look like? These are things to think about and an area where you can make a quick change to see big gains. Let us know what you think and if you have any questions.
When’s the last time you performed a Shoulder Press? When’s the last time you lifted a boat from shoulders to overheads? For many of you in Boston and the Northern states it’s been a while, but that ice is almost gone and regular water practices will be happening in no time. Regardless, anytime you take a weight or external object from your shoulder to overhead, you are pressing, because that’s what a shoulder press is. It’s the strongest, most efficient way to move something from shoulder to overhead. If you need to move more weight and create more power the best movement becomes a push press. If you need to move even more weight and create maximum speed and power that movement becomes an Olympic Lift, the Push Jerk.
I believe that if you can learn to move weight from your shoulder to overhead correctly you can and will become a better rower. The key is how you press and what you focus on. Here is a little video review of a pre-elite rower I’ve started working with. This is her form before any coaching. Check out what she’s doing well and what she can do better.
Now take a look at my shoulder press, push press, and push jerk. What parts of these movements can we tie to the rowing stroke? I always teach the skills of 1. Posture, 2. Control, and 3. Connection whether it’s rowing or weightlifting.
1. Posture – How am I doing at maintaining a solid brace through my torso? Is there any movement within the vertebrae of the spine?
2. Control – Is the bar traveling in a straight line over the middle of my foot? Am I in control of my body and the bar? Can I stop at any point in time and be in a strong position?
3. Connection – How am I connected to the bar? How am I connected to the floor? Are my hips, hands, and shoulders connected as I initiate each movement?
After taking a look and answering some of these questions, think about your own stroke. In the front end of your stroke, from 1/2 slide up to the catch and back, how do your joints move in relation to one another? Can you stay connected? Do you break or tense your arms early? Is your shoulder and upper body strong enough to connect the power coming from your legs to your hands? Do you feel or see any similarities when you press/push press/push jerk and row back to back? How’s your posture and brace at the finish? Can perfecting these movements help improve your rowing?
Please share your thoughts to comments and I’ll get back to you with feedback.
One of the First Renegade Rowing Athletes to become a Firsthand Athlete!
When’s the last time you performed a Squat? When’s the last time you sat in a chair or got in a boat? For many of you in Boston and the Northern states it’s been a while, but that ice is almost gone and regular water practices will be happening in no time. Regardless, anytime you sit or stand up you are squatting, because that’s what a squat is. It’s the strongest, most efficient, most powerful way to get your body up out of a chair or seated position.
I believe that if you can learn to squat correctly you can and will become a better rower. The key is how you squat and what you focus on. Here is a little video review of a pre-elite rower I’ve started working with. This is her form before any coaching. Check out what she’s doing well and what she can do better.
Now take a look at my squat and rowing below. What parts of the squat can we tie to the rowing stroke? I always teach the skills of 1. Posture, 2. Control, and 3. Connection whether it’s rowing or weightlifting.
1. Posture – How am I doing at maintaining a solid brace through my torso? Is there any movement within the vertebrae of the spine?
2. Control – Is the bar traveling in a straight line over the middle of my foot? Am I in control of my body and the bar? Can I stop at any point in time and be in a strong position?
3. Connection – How am I connected to the bar? How am I connected to the floor? Are my hips, hands, and shoulders connected as I go to stand?
After taking a look and answering some of these questions, think about your own stroke. In the front end of your stroke, from 1/2 slide up to the catch and back, how do your joints move in relation to one another and what does your body angle look like? How much distance is there between your butt and your heals? Do you feel or see any similarities when you squat and row back to back? Can perfecting one movement help improve the other?
Please share your thoughts to comments and I’ll get back to you with feedback.
Renegade Rowing 