4min Rest – Post Splits During On

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Renegade Rowing

Rowing WOD 8/17/13:

Renegade Rowing Practice – Imagine Today’s Rowing WOD on the water.

2 x 2k Row w/ 4min Rest as follows …

1st 2k:

750m @ Race Pace
250m @ 18 spm (paddle light)
750m @ Race Pace
250m @ 18 spm (paddle light)

Rest 4min

2nd 2k:

750m @ Race pace
500m @ 18 spm (paddle light)
750m @ Race Pace

Have you ever wished you could get a feel for Fran before competing so that you know what to plan for mentally and physically? If you’re competing in the Renegade Rowing League this winter I’m sure you’re thinking about that 2k. What will it feel like? How should it be paced? What can I do to improve upon my last 2k?

While our focus over the next two months is the 5k, it doesn’t hurt to build ourselves up by staying familiar with the 2k distance. Look back at your results from last Tuesday and try to go faster. You only have two 2k’s to do today.

Today’s Rowing WOD is a great way to test out the race pace you’d like to hold on your next 2k. Set the monitor for 2,000m of work and 5 minutes of rest. During the first 750m hold your ideal race pace and really execute with intensity. Then paddle out for the next 250m . At the 1000m mark build back up and row the next 750m at race pace. Finish with a paddle to recover. The second 2k will be executed similarly.

To see your consistency during the race pace portions set the monitor to record split lengths of 250m. This is done on the screen when you enter the work and rest. After the workout go into the memory and check it out.

Post your goal 500m Split and how you executed the 750m portions to achieve it.

Rowing WOD 8/16/13: AMRAP10 − 1 HSPU, 100m Row, … – Post Rounds + Reps

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Renegade Rowing

Rowing WOD 8/16/13:

Renegade Rowing Team after a solid practice learning the Triple Pause Drill.

As Many Rounds As Possible in 10min …

1 Handstand Push Up, 100m Row

2 Handstand Push Ups, 200m Row

4 Handstand Push Ups, 400m Row

8 Handstand Push Ups, 800m Row

… keep doubling the reps and distance each round.

Today’s Rowing WOD provides a chance to work on maintaining a tight midline and building our aerobic capacity. No matter what scale you’re doing for the Handstand Push Ups, be sure to lock your ribs down with a tight belly, squeeze your butt, and point your toes to create tension throughout your whole body. This will work both your core stability, needed for better posture in the boat, and your ability to transfer force to the oar.

After each set of HSPU get right on the erg and get the wheel spinning. Try to keep steady pressure and hold a consistent split until you get your breath back. Once your breath returns try to negative split the rest of the piece with a solid sprint in the last 100m. The idea is each piece will get longer and you’ll have to rely on good form and breathing to get through it. Dig deep and get after it!

Have a goal of the splits you would like to hold for each piece. Just like the HSPU, focus on a solid core as you approach the catch and initiate with the legs. Try to get as much power as you can from the legs to save your upper body for the HSPU.

Post your score, rounds + reps (every 10m is 1 rep), and any scales to comments.

Rest Day 8/15/13: How does sport specificity play into your training? – Share Thoughts

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Renegade Rowing

Rest Day 8/15/13:

The Renegade Rowing Team after a sunset row on the Charles River!

How does sport specificity play into your training?

When training with constantly varied, functional movements, performed at high intensity the focus is to build general physical preparedness. The pyramid model of training has a base made of nutrition that supports metabolic conditioning, gymnastics, weightlifting, and a peak of sport. So if the ultimate goal of our training is to compete in a sport and do so with super health and elite fitness, how do you work sport specific training into your daily/weekly routine?

This Fall a collegiate crew team, the renegade rowing team, and myself will be building their work capacity and general fitness on a regular basis throughout the week. In the sport of rowing it definitely helps to have as much water time as possible to become efficient at moving the boat. One downfall of spending every hour in a boat can be a decrease in strength, power, and overall fitness. How do we get enough time in the boat and still maintain our power and fitness?

This week I’ve combined the two – 1. Rowing on the Water with 2. Metabolic Conditioning and Strength Work – in the gym. I’m testing my new programming that we’ll be using this fall. For a two-hour practice we’ll row for 15 minutes, run a mile to the gym, do a 45 minute session at CrossFit Boston, run a mile back to the boat, and then row back to the dock for another 15-20 minutes.

Having just experienced this, I’m very excited to bring this Renegade Rowing programming to more rowers. It allows for a sport specific warmup and cool down while mixing in an endurance aspect with the running and overall amount of work done in a two-hour practice. The workout in the gym allows us to focus on building strength and power. The best part is that with the right focus this work can be used for skill transfer to rowing. While it’s not sport specific work, there are aspects that can reinforce the sport specific skills needed when we get back in the boat at the end of practice.

The absolute best part though is the Fun! A two-hour practice of competition and fun, both on the water and in the gym. I Can’t wait to see the results at the Head of the Charles in October.

Please share your thoughts and methods for combining sport specific training with general physical preparedness.

If you’d like to join in and train Renegade Rowing style this fall please get in touch with me … pat@renegaderowing.com

Rowing WOD 8/14/13: 3RFT – 1k Row, 15 DL @50% – Post Time, Load, and Avg. Splits

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Renegade Rowing

Rowing WOD 8/14/13:

3 Rounds for Time …

1k Row

15 Deadlifts @50% of 1RM

Last month we performed a similar Rowing WOD on 7/10/13. In light of the upcoming Fall season the volume and load have been increased slightly. Look back at your results and see if you can pull similar if not faster splits at this longer distance.

Today’s Rowing WOD is an opportunity to focus on consistent speed and intensity. During the Deadlift find a smooth rhythm and keep a tight midline so that you can touch and go unbroken for all 15 reps. Try to feel the amount of pressure you have to put into the floor and the bar each rep. If you can anticipate and maintain even pressure through each lift you’ll be able to save energy and go faster. When getting back on the erg try to feel the same thing. Try to push the same amount each stroke and transfer the same amount of pressure to the handle each time. Remain efficient on the erg by holding one split, as low as possible, through each piece. Keep working on good form and do so at the highest intensity possible. That’s how you’ll start to drop your 500m, 1k, and 2k times.

Remember, if you’d like to get on the water with the Renegade Rowing Team, sign up for a consultation with Coach Pat today.

Post your overall time, load, and average splits for each piece to comments.

Rowing WOD 8/12/13: “Snow Drifts” – 2x17min w/ 4min Rest – Post Distance

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Renegade Rowing

Rowing WOD 8/12/13:

Larry’s Post WOD Chalk Prints from last weeks 25min AMRAP! Nice work Larry!

“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

I know there’s no snow drifts out the window, but they’ll be here before you know it. I hope you’re having an awesome Summer, because it seems like it has just flown by.

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!

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