Rest Day 11/19/15: What do you eat before a workout?

Get some ratio at the Renegade Rowing Club starting December 2nd!

Get some ratio at the Renegade Rowing Club starting December 2nd!

If you’re interested in joining the Renegade Rowing Club to train for the Renegade Rowing League and CRASH-B’s please email Coach Pat.  The club starts training Friday, December 4th at 6:30am at CrossFit Boston.

What Should I Eat Before a Workout??

Deciding what to eat day-to-day can be challenging. Choosing the best thing to eat – a meal that will give you energy to perform without making you feel too full, sick, or hungry – can be even more challenging. Every workout is different, so how you fuel for each one will be different too. You probably wouldn’t eat the same breakfast before a 2K test as you would before a 10 mile run. Read on for some basic pre-workout meal guidelines and some ideas for before a workout.

..Read The Rest Here…

Then share your favorite pre-workout meal in the comments!

Rowing WOD 11/18/15: 5RFT – 300m Row, 15 Push Press – Post Time and Splits

 Rowing WOD:

Renegades attacking their 2k Pace last year!

Renegades attacking their 2k Pace last year!

5 Rounds For Time

300m Row (@2k Pace)

15 Push Press (95/65 lbs.)

Today’s Rowing WOD is all about maintaining consistent pressure and efficiency of movement.  We did a similar WOD at the gym a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been meaning to work it in to the programming.  A good goal is to try to hold a 2k split for each row.  So if your current 2k takes 8:00, your split would be 2:00 /500m.  If you can hold your 2k split consistently or perhaps even go faster as the rounds go on you’ll be doing well.  Do your best to hold onto the barbell and go unbroken for the Push Press.  Be aggressive with your hips to assist/save your shoulders as much as possible.  Breathe, Push, and Have Fun!  This one is a great challenge!

Post your time and average splits for each row to comments!

Rowing WOD 11/17/15: 5x500m Equal Work:Rest – Post Avg Splits

Rowing WOD:

The Renegade Rowing Team!

The Renegade Rowing Team!

5 x 500m

Rest as long as it takes you to complete 500m.  

Row as follows:

  • Pieces 1 and 2: practice the start of the race plan
  • Pieces 3 and 4: practice holding race pace like the body of the race plan
  • Piece 5: practice sprinting out at 250m like the finish of the race plan

Before getting after today’s Rowing WOD I want you to recall two things.  What are you training for and who are you training with?  Setting appropriate goals is a big part of Renegade Rowing.  Along with goals you should be finding an appropriate training partner.  In terms of the psychology of training and performance, we will always push harder and focus more when there is someone right there next to us.  A training partner will make you faster just by being there and holding you accountable.  Training partners are huge, especially when that little voice starts to creep inside your head and tell you to stop pulling.

Today you should practice a few of the suspension drills we covered on Saturday and then really put that suspension to work in these 500′s.  Practice those drills once or twice with your training partner this week when you workout.

Rowing Together at CFB

Rowing Together at CFB

Along with suspension, today’s Rowing WOD is all about POWER!  P = Force x distance / time.

There are three ways to row faster:

1) Row Harder,

2) Row Longer,

3) Row Higher (increased s/m).

For most rowers it’s easy to learn to row longer and higher, but rowing harder doesn’t come easy.  That is why we work on General Physical Preparedness!  Gym’s like Our Crew Fitness are what allow us to row harder, push ourselves, and produce more force each stroke.  Keep up with your WODS!  In order to row longer we need more compression with the legs at the catch while maintaining a tall posture and not lunging.  This requires us to have more flexibility, so keep working on that extra mobility!  Hips and Hamstring Flexibility are key!  Last, rowing higher means rowing at a higher stroke rating.  After playing with the damper setting and learning about drag factors, we have come to realize that we are more efficient at that higher stroke rating.  Remember when we need to sprint at the end of a piece we can  start to bring that split down by picking up the stroke rating!

Before starting today’s Rowing WOD you should review our race plan.  My idea for using this race plan is to keep it simple.  I’d like us to keep it simple and execute rather than coming up with some elaborate plan that we can’t execute.

Here is the race plan:

Starting 3 strokes (Half, 3/4, Full)

7 − 10 high strokes

Settle to race pace (your goal split, this requires a RATIO shift, take time to sit up and breath on the recovery!)

Pull a consistent split +/- 1 split second through the body of the race

@250m sprint for the finish line!

Post your Average Splits for each piece to comments.

********** IMPORTANT *************

Keep practicing Body Preparation and Connection!  Have someone watch you and see if you’re getting your body angle set by 1/2 slide and keeping connected as you start each stroke.

Rowing WOD 11/16/15: Double Pyramids – Post Distance Rowed

Representing at CRASH-B 2013!

Representing at CRASH-B 2013!

Rowing WOD:

Double Pyramids

2 x 19min

w/ 2min Rest

  1. 4′ @18, 3′ @20, 2′ @22, 1′ @24, 2′ @22, 3′ @20, 4′ @18
  2. 4′ @20, 3′ @22, 2′ @24, 1′ @26, 2′ @24, 3′ @22, 4′ @20

Today’s Rowing WOD is a great opportunity for any athlete, experienced or not, to get a sense of form and rhythm without the pressure of intensity and competition.  Sometimes it’s good to slow down for an active recovery day in order to go harder and faster later on down the road.

Rhythm and Endurance are two necessities for successful competition in longer WODs.  A great example would be the KB Swings and Pull Ups found in “Helen”.  Those who find a consistent rhythm can flow through the movements naturally and rely on their aerobic endurance without dipping into their anaerobic energy supply.

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.

When going from an 18 stroke rating to a 20 you should focus on more pressure with the legs and quickly redirecting the hands through the finish.  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.

Post you’re distance rowed to comments as well as your thoughts on Ratio.

***Also remember to throw in a few strokes where you focus on Suspension!

Rowing WOD 11/14/15: 5x500m w/ 1:30 Rest – Post Splits and Favorite Drag Factor

 Rowing WOD:

Suspension Drills

Recover to Strength in order to Suspend!

5 x 500m w/ 1:30 Rest

  1. @2k+5, Damper Set at 6
  2. @2k+5, Damper Set at 5
  3. @2k+5, Damper Set at 4
  4. @2k+5, Damper Set at 3
  5. @2k+5, Damper Set at 2

Check Drag Factor

Recently we’ve been reviewing the fundamental skills of posture, control, and connection.  Today we’ll take the idea of connection one step further as we feel what it means to suspend from the oar handle.  Suspension is all about using our body weight to hang on the oar and help accelerate the handle all the way through the drive.  The key is not to create any force Upward off the seat, but to just become weightless off your seat while keeping in contact with it.  Everything – forces, handle height, chain – needs to be HORIZONTAL when we row!  NO need to do extra Work (W = mgh) by moving stuff up and down every stroke, keep it horizontal!

Drills we’ll cover include the Stand Up/Sit Down drill to get the feeling of suspending above the seat.  Remember this is an exaggeration to get the correct sensation and feeling of good connection.  We will also do the Strap Drill where we statically hang and suspend from the handle while maintaining our body angles and strong postures.  Then we’ll do the Strap Drill dynamically by letting the strap out slowly and trying to hold suspension all the way through the drive.

In today’s Rowing WOD we’ll be varying the damper to find where we’re most efficient.  Over the next week play around with the damper to find where you’re most comfortable/efficient .  When you find a damper setting you like, check the drag factor so you can begin using a consistent drag factor.  For more information on Drag Factors read this article: http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/training/tips-and-general-info/damper-setting-101

For today’s 500m pieces, try to focus on good connection and suspension while keeping a consistent split for all 5 pieces.  After you’re done look back at the memory to see what your average stroke rating was for each piece.  Whatever piece felt comfortable/efficient and was done at a stroke rating of 28-32 might be a good drag factor for you.  Take a couple of minutes to set the damper to that number and check the drag factor on the monitor.  Remember that drag factor and try to use it next time you row to see if you still like it.

Post your average splits and favorite drag factor to comments!

********** IMPORTANT *************

The biggest thing to focus on and practice right now is the fundamentals!!!  Body Preparation by Half Slide is Key and Connection to move the handle with the seat out of the Catch is key!  If you can Prep and Connect, the suspension will come.  Whenever focusing on suspension ensure your abs are engaged and you have a solid hollow body!  Protect those discs!

If you have any questions let me know!

Here is a quick video of the strap drill.  It’s a fun challenge to do dynamically. If you like what you see, come try it and train with the Renegade Rowing Club!  The Renegade Rowing Club starts December 4th at 6:30am at CrossFit Boston.  Let me know if you’re planning on coming… pat@renegaderowing.com