Rowing WOD 10/24: 3RFT – 500m Row, 40 AS, 30 SU, 20 Push, 10 Pull – Post Time

Rowing WOD 10/24:

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 10/22: 5k Row – Post your results

UVM Alumni 8+ on Saturday!

Rowing WOD 10/22:

5k Row

It’s been over 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 this past 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 10/20: “The Charles” – 1k Row, 10 Push Ups, 800m Run, 20 Push Ups… – Post Time

Boat Trailers at FALS

Rowing WOD 10/20:

“The Charles”

1k Row

10 Push Ups

800m Run

20 Burpees

500m Row

30 Mt. Climbers

400m Run

40 Double Unders

250m Row

The Head of the Charles weekend is finally here!  Rowers have been waiting for this day all year.  It is literally like Christmas for the rowing world.  If you’ve never seen a major regatta come down and check it out.  Today’s Rowing WOD is inspired by the craziness it is to be a competitor and/or spectator on the river this weekend.  There’s tons of running back and forth, launching boats, watching from bridges, searching for friends, making new ones, and enjoying the racing action.  Concept2 will have a ton of ergs setup to warmup on or demo.  If you happen to bring a jump rope it’s possible to do this along the river.  Just be careful of the thousands of spectators and rowers!

Post your time and experience to comments!

Rest Day 10/18: Checkout the Head of the Charles this Weekend! How do you get motivated?

Rest Day 10/18:

The Head of the Charles is taking place this weekend in Boston.  A lot of rowers have used the Head to get motivated by setting goals to place in the top 20, top 10, or top 3.  Come check it out and witness one of the most awesome rowing events in the world.  Below is an excerpt from a great blog on motivation by Alex Black of Wicked Good Nutrition.

How do you get motivated?

The Land of Motivation

Motivation can be tough. It can be hard to find your way to Motivation-land, and once you get there, it can be even harder to stay. It takes at least a month to turn a behavior into a habit, and that month will typically be rife with challenges. Because, you know, the minute you decide to give up sugar or beer the next three social outings your friends plan are a baking pot luck and outing to your favorite craft beer bar…

On top of that, some research suggests it can take up to 3 yearsto reset your body’s homeostasis (sense of balance) at a new weight. What this means is, if you lose 20 pounds, it can take 3 years before you body recognizes this as its new and healthy weight.

But all that aside, there are a few tricks you can use to help you get motivated and stay motivated. These include:

…Read More Here…

Rowing WOD 10/17: 4k Row w/ Control/Burpees – Post Time and # of Burpees

Rowing WOD 10/17:

4k Row w/ Control

Row @26 s/m

80% Effort

*Perform 5 Burpees every time the stroke rate deviates from a 26 for more than two strokes

Executing a game plan during a competition can really help keep you mentally strong and allow you to push right until the end.  Talking with members of CrossFit Boston who competed at the Beast of the East this past weekend really emphasized the importance of this.  All of them crushed it, most of them won their heats, many of them PR’ed, and all of them had a game plan.  A big part of developing a game plan on the rower is to develop your ability to control stroke rating and effort, how many strokes do you take per minute and how much force do you apply to the handle.  

Today’s Rowing WOD is all about dialing in that ability to be precise, hold a stroke rating, and put out a consistent effort every stroke.  Each time you start rowing you’re allowed 5 strokes to get to a 26 stroke rating.  After that you’re only allowed two consecutive strokes not at a 26 stroke rating.  It’s ok if every now and then you deviate as long as within two strokes you get the rating back to a 26. Pick a split that you can maintain at 26 s/m and be consistent with your effort each stroke, it should be hard to say a full sentence.  Each time you catch yourself taking three strokes not at a 26 hop off the erg and do 5 Burpees.  If you’re looking for fun make them lateral erg burpees seen above.

Post your time and number of Burpees to comments!