Tag Archives: mental toughness

Where’s the fun in life? Our Reason for Competition in Rowing, Fitness, and Strength Training

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The morning crew at CRASH-B 2015. Great racing everyone!

The morning crew at CRASH-B 2015. Great racing everyone!

Last week I shared my belief that life is all about motion and learning.  To live and survive, we must be able to move from place to place and interact with the world around us.  That’s great, but how does fun fit into that line of thinking?  I recently had an epic weekend with my college buddies and they reconfirmed my love for competition and sport, which is where I find fun in life.  Competition turns some people off, but let me explain why I think it’s an integral part of our daily lives that everyone should embrace.

Competition is the basis for all sport.  People play sports because they’re fun.  Sports are fun because every participant is given a chance to compete.  It’s not the outcome or the opponent that matters.  People enjoy competing because they’re given an opportunity to test themselves and their abilities in order to experience the thrill of an improvement toward a goal.  Competition can be both individual and team oriented.   By incorporating competition into everyday practice, Renegade Rowing allows us to track progress toward our goals, but more importantly to have fun and experience the journey.

Pat UVM CrewIn order to compete, athletes must develop mental toughness.  Firsthand athletes are developed through competition when they harness the power of the mind.  Our thoughts affect our feelings and our feelings affect our actions.  Anyone can develop an ability to do work with regards to fitness and rowing, but when work capacity is combined with mental toughness, athletes can control their actions and reach their goals.  Mental toughness is an athlete’s ability to commit to competition with a belief in oneself, to have a positive focus on the things they can control, and to embrace challenge as an opportunity for learning and self-improvement.

While the thrill of intrinsic motivation should be what drives us, we should not forget about the power of the opponent or the teammate in competition.  We can push ourselves asCFRowing Trainer Courseindividuals, but the opportunity to push ourselves against others will only make us better.  I’m a competitive guy and I like being pushed and challenged and testing my abilities against others.  There’s honesty in giving it all you have against others, especially knowing they’re doing the same.

Rowing is an Olympic Sport that elite athletes train for year round.  Some athletes may only compete 5 to 6 times per year and of those competitions they might only peak for one race.  Most other sports have seasons filled with games allowing for learning and development during competition.  Renegade Rowing incorporates daily competition so that athletes have the same opportunities that other sports have.  Renegade athletes will have the confidence needed to perform on race day.  By providing many opportunities to experience race day competition in practice, athletes will have a wealth of experiences to draw from when race day arrives.

If you enjoy the thrill of competition and are looking for a community of like-minded individuals who push each other to be better, Renegade Rowing is for you.  Share your thoughts, comments, and questions below.  We’d love to hear from you and compete alongside you!

Here is the training plan for the week:

RR Training Plan 3-16-15

Rowing WOD 3/14/15: 15min Pyramid and 12min Castle – Post Splits and Distances

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Rowing WOD:

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Thor, Terese, and myself! Renegade Rowing Team Sign Ups!

15′ PYR30 (Pyramid @30s/m)

3′, 2′, 1′, 2′, 3′, 4′ (@26s/m, 28, 30, 28, 26**, 24)

  • Post Split @30 and Split @26** after Ratio Shift

6′ Mobility: Couch Stretch, Pigeon Stretch, Posterior Chain Floss

12′ CAS26

2′, 2′, 2′, 2′, 2′, 2′ (@24s/m, 26**, 24, 26**, 24, 26**)

  • **Target split at 26s/m comes from Split @26 after Ratio Shift in PYR30
  • Post Splits for each 2′ segment @26

I hope you all enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day weekend and you’re ready to celebrate the official day next week by wearing something green and working hard!  The focus of today is maintaining power with Rhythm and Ratio.  If the stroke rating goes up, the split should go down.  Fight to stay long and have ratio on the recovery.

Give us your best and share your results and experience to comments!

Rowing WOD 3/13/15: 10×1:00 On, :45 Off – Post Splits

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Rowing WOD:

Checkout this Renegade Rowing fan!

Checkout this Renegade Rowing fan!

10 x 1:00 On, :45 Off

  • Goal Pace!!!
  • Post Goal Split for our next 2k and Results to Comments.

You’ve been training hard all winter with a goal pace in mind for your 2k.  Today is the day to attack it and dial it in.  Those with experience know the benefit of pacing, gaming, and executing a plan to produce a personal best performance.  In the end a game plan facilitates mental toughness and focus to deal with pain when things get tough.

Today’s focus is executing your goal 2k race plan at high intensity.  Set the monitor for intervals distance with 1 minute of Work and 45 seconds of Rest.  Row the first two pieces as if they were the start of the 2k.  Row the next three pieces as if they were part of the second 500m, Row the next three pieces as if they were part of the third 500m, and finish the last two pieces with a sprint like the end of a race.

This should not be an all out Max Effort, but rather a calculated effort at a split close to your goal split.  The goal should be to pull the lowest split possible, consistently through all 10 intervals.  If you have a good start and settle in the first two pieces and a solid sprint for the last two pieces then you’re average split for all 10 pieces should be that goal split you’d like to hit on the 2k.

Hit these next couple of days hard and earn that rest day on Sunday!

Ice Breaker Challenge and Rowing WOD 3/7/15: Race Pressure 2x1k, 2x500m – Post Splits

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Hey Renegades!  Hope you’re as excited as me for the next few days of warmer weather to melt the river.  If you’re looking for a fun chance to test your speed and keep training hard, I’d highly recommend the Ice Breaker 1k Challenge held at CRI next weekend.  Here is the Facebook announcement and the registration link.  Sign up and throw down!  Today’s Rowing WOD is great preparation for the Ice Breaker Challenge.

Rowing WOD:

Greg of the RRC getting after it!

Race Pace

2 x 1k w/ 4:00 Rest

2 x 500m w/ 3:00 Rest

Have you ever seen a WOD posted in your gym like 5-5-5-5-5 Back Squat and that’s it?  Did you think that would be a good day to take off because there’s not much to it and you’d rather go to a session with more stuff?  Well snap out of it and hit that WOD hard next time.  High Intensity is your ability to push your boundaries a little further everyday.  If you never test your limits you’ll never know what you’ve got.

Todays Rowing WOD calls for Race Pressure and is a test of your ability to consistently perform at your highest intensity.  Set the monitor for Intervals Variable and input 1k, 4min rest, 1k, 4min rest, 500m, 3min rest, 500m, 3min rest.  Execute your 2k/1k Race Plan, both split and stroke rating, for each distance.  The first time you perform that distance execute that pace (split and SR) as consistently as possible.  When you repeat the distance try to be even more consistent and go a little bit faster.

Remember, the goal is to row at race pressure for every piece.  Focus on your split and stroke rate and row at high intensity with good form.

Post your average 500m splits to comments.

Rowing WOD 3/6/15: 4x10min Spicy Steady State – Post Distance

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Rowing WOD:

Lauryn and Terese getting in their warm up at CRASH-B 2015

Lauryn and Terese getting in their warm up at CRASH-B 2015

 

4 x 10 min Spicy Steady State w/ 1 min Rest

10′ @ 18 s/m**

10′ @ 20 s/m**

10′ @ 22 s/m**

10′ @ Increasing Stroke Rating as follows – (5′ @24, 3′ @26, 2′ @28)

**First 3 Pieces – Row 4min Steady, 1min @-3 split seconds, 4min Steady, 1min @-3 split seconds

**Hold the same stroke rating all the way through each piece, but vary the pressure with your legs depending on whether you’re rowing steady or 3 split seconds faster

This is a great opportunity to work on the rhythm and consistent effort needed in long WODs with movements like kettlebell swings and sumo deadlift high pulls.  Focus on maintaining consistent pressure through each stroke and every piece.  Rate of Perceived Exertion should be around 60% – 70%.  Effort level on the last piece is open and should be based on how you feel.  Set the monitor for intervals-time with 10 minutes of work and 1 minute of rest. During the rest stand up and stretch out your back and foam roll any areas that feel overly tense.

Novice rowers should focus on one part of the stroke for each piece, like a horizontal handle path or trying to row feet out.

Vets should be dialing in their consistency.  During the last piece Vets should be focused on bringing their 500m split down as the stroke rating increases.

Post the total distance rowed to comments.