Tag Archives: endurance sports

Rest Day 10/31/13: Happy Halloween, 2k Prep, and Renegade Rowing Club!

Posted on by
Reply

Rest Day 10/31/13:

It was a solid end to the season! Time to turn it up for the Winter Season!

It was a solid end to the season! Time to turn it up for the Winter Season!

Happy Halloween!  I hope you’re planning on dressing up to WOD today!  I’ll be dressing up to coach!

Announcing the 2013 Renegade Rowing Club!

It’s that time of year again.  The weather has gotten cold and no one wants to row in the cold.  Now is the time to get pumped for training in the gym and crushing your 2k on the erg!  The 2013 Renegade Rowing Club will be held at 5:30pm on Monday nights at CrossFit Boston in Allston, MA.  Practices will start the Monday after Thanksgiving, December 2nd.  The cost for the Renegade Rowing Club will be $47 per month or $94 for the whole winter.  We will be training for the Renegade Rowing League, which will be held in December and January, leading up to CRASH-B’s.  Who’s game?  Email me if you plan on joining the Renegade Rowing Club, pat@renegaderowing.com.  There are only 16 spots available in the club, so let me know sooner rather than later!

What’s your 2k Race Plan?

Get hydrated, eat well, and get a good sleep.  It’s been a solid three days of training/testing.  Be sure to take the time to mobilize those quads, hips, and hamstrings.  In training we ask a lot of our quads whether it’s rowing or running stadiums.  Show them some love even if it’s painful.  Do it!

For those that have been following the Rowing WODs you’ve probably noticed we are in the middle of a testing week.  We tested the 5k on Monday, the 1′ domain and 1 RM for our lifts on Tuesday, and our general fitness on Wednesday.  If you’ve missed those or are looking for the ultimate test, Friday will be a chance for you to attain 7 or 8 minutes of glory.  Start thinking of your goal and developing a race plan that will get you there.

Post thoughts on your 2k Race Plan, Goals, and if you will be joining the Renegade Rowing Club!

Rowing WOD 10/30/13: “The Renegade Benchmark” – Post Time and Strategy

Posted on by
Reply

Rowing WOD 10/30/13:

The Men's Junior Light 8+ Fish Head courtesy of WW Crew - a.k.a. "Cindy"

The Men’s Junior Light 8+ Fish Head courtesy of WW Crew – a.k.a. “Cindy”

“The Renegade Benchmark”

3 Rounds For Time:

500m Row

40 Air Squats

30 Sit Ups

20 Push Ups

10 Pull Ups

As a Renegade Rower you should be developing broad, general, and inclusive fitness as well as your competence in the sport of rowing.  Today’s assessment is a way to test your abilities in both.  It should give you an idea of your work capacity in the 12-15 minute range.  Try to row each 500m piece at a consistent pace to stay fresh for the other movements.

Post your time and strategy to comments.  What stroke rating and 500m split did you try to maintain?

Rowing WOD Demo with Renegade Rowing:

Rowing WOD 10/28/13: 5k Test – Post Results

Posted on by
Reply

Rowing WOD 10/28/13:

Home stretch at HOCR!

Home stretch at HOCR!

5k Test

It’s been about a month since our last 5k, how has your aerobic capacity and endurance improved?  Today’s assessment will give you an idea of both your aerobic capacity and endurance.  Set your monitor for 5,000 meters and get after it.  Be sure to record your time, average 500m split, average stroke rating, and average watts.  This will give you an idea of your work capacity over about 20 minutes.

The Head of the Charles was last weekend and it was awesome.  Beautiful weather, tons of boats, and lots of hard work paying off.  For many crews the Charles is the end of the road in the fall or at least the last big regatta.  Before we head indoors for the winter it’ll be good to know where we stand.  That’s what this week is for.  Also, if you’ve never done a 5k this will give you a sense for what the Head of the Charles is like.  Just imagine an ever-changing stadium around you with killer bridges and collisions galore as you row.

For those wondering why we’re doing such a long test and how to attack it, think of this as a Girl Wod like “Mary”.  The athlete who can efficiently and effectively move their body weight will be able to consistently do more work aerobically without having to dip into anaerobic energy stores.  Also, when tackling “Mary”, good competitors will go in with a game plan based on what they know they can maintain.  The first couple of rounds may be used to ease into the work without flying and dying.

Whether you’re a Vet or Novice, the goal should be to maintain a consistent 500m split and stroke rating throughout the whole piece.  If this is your first 5k aim to build your confidence by negative splitting.  Start the first 1k at a moderately hard pace that you can consistently hold.  Then every 1k after that try to pull a little bit faster, perhaps 1 split second every 1k.  What you should avoid is going out to hard, say 1:45 /500m, and then dying half way through to limp in at a split of 2:00 /500m.

Novices should try to maintain a stroke rating of 24 to 26.  Vets should work on executing a race plan, maintaining their splits, and rowing at a stroke rating of 26 to 28.

Let us know how you do!  Post your results to Comments.

Rowing WOD 10/26/13: 5x1k w/ 3:00 Rest – Post Splits and SR

Posted on by
2

Rowing WOD 10/26/13:

It's been a great fall on the lake in Wayland, MA! Good Luck to all crews competing at the Head of the Fish this weekend!

It’s been a great fall on the lake in Wayland, MA! Good Luck to all crews competing at the Head of the Fish this weekend!

5 x 1k w/ 3:00 rest

  • Execute 5k-1 Pace
  • Row like it’s the middle of your 5k

While it’s good to constantly vary your training to push your boundaries, there is something to be said about repetition to build your confidence!  Today’s Rowing WOD is an opportunity to build your aerobic capacity and work on a couple of tactical and technique fixes.  Have a game plan for each piece including the split and stroke rating you want to hold.  Ideally each piece will be done consistently or a little bit faster.  If you’re working on efficiency or sequencing, focus on one fix each piece.  Perhaps you find your breath and rhythm on the first.  Or maybe it’s sequencing and body preparation that needs attention on the second.  If you choose the right pace it will build your confidence and you will be ready to tear up your next 5k and Rowing WOD.  Next week we test everything!  Get focused and pumped by crushing it today.  We did this Rowing WOD in September.  Look back and see if you can go faster!

Post your average splits and stroke ratings for each piece to comments!

Rowing WOD 10/25/13: “Farm Erg” – 4RFT – 1k Row, 100m Farmer Carry – Post Time and Splits

Posted on by
1

Rowing WOD 10/25/13:

How will you carry the erg?

“Farm Erg”

4 Rounds For Time

1k Row

100m Farmer’s Carry (w/ Erg if Possible; otherwise {1.5/1 pd} each hand)

The Farmer’s Carry can be used to train core stability, grip strength, balance, and coordination.  Usually it’s done lifting odd objects like yokes, water filled pvc’s, sand filled kegs, or any other heavy objects lying around the gym.  Today we’re carrying the Erg.  Ensure you keep a solid core and let us know what you think is the most efficient way to carry an erg 100 meters!

It’s starting to get cold, but if you can get outside and you have an area to walk 100m with the erg then do it!  Otherwise you can sub a farmer’s carry with kettle bells in each hand.

The goal for each 1k Row should be to hold your average split for 2,000 meters plus 1 or 2 split seconds.  In other words, row each piece at a pace of 2k+1 or 2k+2.  Be consistent and work on improving one aspect of your form during each round.

Use this as an opportunity to test out the Undefined Rest feature on your Performance Monitor.  Select Intervals Distance, set the distance for 1,000m and then set the rest to “Undefined Rest”.  This will give you a running clock for the whole workout and allow you to sit down and row 1k each round without having to mess with the monitor.  If your monitor doesn’t have this feature you’ll have to use a stop watch.  Check here to find out how to update this feature on your monitor.

Post your time and splits.  Let us know how you carried the erg!