Tag Archives: endurance sports

Video Review: Coach Pat – The Push Up, Pull Up, and Rowing – Are you taking advantage of Full ROM?

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When’s the last time you performed a Push Up or Pull Up?  When’s the last time you Rowed?  Now that we’re on the water it’s probably every day.  Regardless, anytime you draw through the finish whether on an erg or in a boat, you are putting your upper body into a similar position and movement pattern as the push up and pull up.  It’s the strongest, most efficient way to get yourself off the floor and send a boat.  If you need to move more weight and create more power in a race you will need a strong position at the finish.  That is where we can take advantage of practicing and training full range of motion push ups and pull ups.

I believe that if you can learn to move your body weight from the floor to a plank position or from underneath a bar to touching the bar with good form, you can and will become a better rower.  The key is how you push, pull, and what you focus on.  Here is a video review of Coach Pat and what he thinks about in regards to push ups, pull ups, and rowing.  Check out what he does well and look for things he can do better.

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 strength training.

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 my body in one straight line the whole time I perform the movement?  Am I in control of my body at all points in time? Can I stop at any point in time and be in a strong position?

3. Connection – How are my hands connected to the box/bar/or floor?  How are my feet connected to the floor?  Are my hips, torso, and shoulders connected and moving together through the whole range of motion?

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 perform push ups, pull ups, and rowing 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.

What are you doing to help move your boat? – Video Review

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Rowing on the water involves moving boats.  What are you doing at each end of the stroke to help move your boat and maintain maximum boat speed?  Here are two video reviews to help you find opportunities to move your boat better.  One video is of steady state rowing and one video is of race pace rowing.  Take a look and see how they can help you.  What is going well?  What areas can you also work on?  Are you focused on rowing on the erg as if you were going to row on the water?  Please share your thoughts in the comments section and consider joining Renegade Rowing.

Rowing WOD 7/20/15: “Snow Drifts” – Post Distances

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Remember when it was cold out?

Remember when it was cold out?

“Snow Drifts”

2 x 17min w/ 4min Rest

as follows …

5′ @22 s/m, 4′ @24, 3′ @26, 2′ @28, 3′ @26

4min Rest

5′ @20 s/m, 4′ @24, 3′ @28, 2′ @30, 3′ @26

Last week we hit “The Castle” to focus on ratio and rhythm.  Today’s Rowing WOD is another opportunity for everyone to keep working on a sense of form and rhythm without the pressure of intensity and competition.  Sometimes it’s good to slow down and dial in that technique.  Pressure should be a moderate to hard steady state.  That means you can get out short sentences but it’s difficult to maintain a detailed conversation.

In today’s Rowing WOD the focus is developing rhythm and endurance.  Another word for rhythm in rowing is Ratio.  By varying the ratio of the drive to the recovery rowers can maintain the same pace or split, but work more efficiently and make the stroke feel lighter or heavier.

Slingshot Hands Away will be key when we get on the water!

Slingshot Hands Away will be key when we get on the water!

When going from a 26 stroke rating to a 28 you should focus on more pressure with the legs and quickly redirecting the hands through the finish.  Think of a slingshot as you pull the hands in and release them quick and smooth away.  This will help increase the stroke rating while leaving you the same amount of time to sit up, breathe, and relax as you slide forward on the recovery.  When the rating shifts down from a 28 to a 26 be sure to perform a ratio shift and try to maintain the same split.  Focus on pushing a little harder and take an extra second to breath on the recovery to bring the stroke rating down.

Post distance rowed to comments along with songs that helped you stick to each rating!

Music can motivate us to push harder and row longer, but it can also give us a sense of timing.  We might have to start calling it Music Monday’s if this catches on, but for now just have some fun trying to row to the rhythm of the music.  Please add to the playlists any songs that help you stick to a certain rating and keep pushing hard!

Below is the start of a list of songs for various stroke ratings.  If you were to use a music editing program like garage band to clip the songs into segments then you could perform today’s Rowing WOD completely in time to your favorite jams.

If you have Spotify, I’ve created a playlist for each stroke rating.  Each playlist is named “Renegade Rowing @(insert stroke rate)”, so for songs that you could row to at a 20 the playlist is named “Renegade Rowing @20″.  If you have favorite songs that go well at certain stroke ratings please feel free to add to the playlists on Spotify.  Thanks Mike T. for kick starting this project and I hope this helps motivate everyone to find better rhythm and ratio!

20 s/m: Renegade Rowing @20

22 s/m: Renegade Rowing @22

24 s/m: Renegade Rowing @24

26 s/m: Renegade Rowing @26

28 s/m: Renegade Rowing @28

30 s/m: Renegade Rowing @30

32 s/m: Renegade Rowing @32

34 s/m: Renegade Rowing @34

36 s/m: Renegade Rowing @36

Rowing WOD 7/18/15: 3k Row, 2.5k Row, 2k Row – Post Avg. Splits

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Would you like to row with Renegade Rowing?  On the water or in the gym?  If you’re interested be sure to schedule a consultation today!

Beautiful Sunset rowing in Jacksonville.

Rowing WOD:

3k Row

6min rest

2.5k Row

5min rest

2k Row

Why is rowing fun?  One reason is that it provides a challenge in learning technique to be as efficient as possible while working everything from your head to your toes.  Elsewhere in sports and training, if you’ve tried the Pose Method of running you may understand the beauty of focusing on technique and the perception of what your body is doing in space. Focusing on form and technique gives your mind something to work toward rather than complaining about how much your legs burn.

Today’s Rowing WOD is a good opportunity to focus on one or two form fixes but get after it as well.  Set the monitor for Intervals Variable and enter the work/rest accordingly.  This WOD has the potential to build your confidence in the 2k.  Come up with a plan and execute.  Be consistent with your splits and stroke ratings for all three.  If possible go a little bit faster on each piece.  Vets might try for a pace of 2k+5, 2k+4, 2k+3 for each successive piece with a stroke rating of 28-32.  Find your efficient stroke.  Novices should focus on one form fix for each piece and work hard to maintain a consistent split.

Post your Average 500m Splits to Comments along with an answer to this question…

Why is Rowing Fun?

Video Review: What does your Posture look like through the Finish? – Share your thoughts!

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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.

Also, if you’d like to join in the fun in person, Renegade Rowing Classes are held throughout the week.  Everyone is welcome!  Checkout the schedule and pricing here.  When you’re ready to get after it and have some fun, sign up for a free consultation with Coach Pat here.