15: 500m Test – Post Time, Avg Split, and Stroke Rating

Posted on August 1, 2015 by Renegade Rowing

Rowing WOD:

500m Test

Today is the day! We’ve been focusing on improving our 500m time all month. Now is the time to get it done.

How well does your body operate at max effort for 2 minutes? How much power can you maintain before pain and metabolic waste slows you down? Today’s assessment will give you an idea of your work capacity in the 2 minute time frame using all three metabolic pathways – phosphagen, glycolytic, and oxidative. You’ll be pulling from both anaerobic and aerobic energy systems.

Set your monitor for 500 meters and get after it. Be sure to record your time and average stroke rating.

Whether you’re a Vet or Novice, the goal should be to have a strong start, settle for 10 to 20 strokes, and then sprint all out for the last 200m. Stroke rating should be high, above 30 s/m. A good goal would be 5 split seconds faster than your 2k split.

Let us know how you do! Post your results to Comments.

Rowing WOD 7/31/15: 4RFT – 15 Burpees, 150m Row – Post Time and Splits

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Renegade Rowing

Rowing WOD:

4 Rounds For Time

15 Burpees

150m Row

Tomorrow we test our 500m. Are you ready? Do you have a game plan? What will your focus and split be for every 10 strokes? Will you complete it in 50 strokes or will the rating be higher and require 60 strokes? A few things to think about as you mentally prepare for tomorrow.

Today’s Rowing WOD is an opportunity to prepare for your finishing sprint tomorrow. The burpees will start to gas you and push you to stay mentally strong as you fight for those last 15 to 20 strokes. See if you can build up to your sprint pace in the first 50m and then attack the last 100m as if you were in a race or a test. When you transition to the burpees work on the quick release and rolling right to the floor without standing up.

Fire it Up! Weekend here we come!

Post time and splits to comments.

Have you tried Team Squats? – Check it out and Share Thoughts

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Renegade Rowing

As part of the Renegade Rowing Team Warm-Up, we always practice team squats as if we were in the boat. It helps to learn how to follow and time the catch with the rest of the boat. If you’re interested in Rowing on the water Renegade Rowing might be a great option for you. Check it out!

Rowing in an 8+ involves a lot of the same control and timing as team squats. Have you ever tried doing a movement in sync with another person? How about with 7 other people?

Share your thoughts on team squats? Have you ever performed them in a team wod?

Rowing WOD 7/29/15: 2RFT – 800m Row, 60 DU, 40 KB Snatch, 20 Box Jump – Post Time and Avg. Splits

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Renegade Rowing

Rowing WOD:

2 Rounds For Time …

800m Row (@1k Pace)

60 Double Unders

40 KB Snatches (1.5/1 Pd) (20 Each Arm)

20 Box Jumps (24/20 in.)

Why do we train? Why do we compete? … Fun!

What makes training and competition fun? … Variety, Challenge, Training Partners, and Intensity!

Today’s Rowing WOD is an opportunity to have a ton of fun pushing yourself and others through a variety of skilled movements while executing a game plan. I’d like you to challenge a training partner to this workout if at all possible. Talk to them about your 1k pace and how you are going to execute it on this workout. Get comfortable consistently pulling your 1k split under pressure. Be mentally strong and stay positive on every stroke and every rep. Remember to breathe deep after the row so you can fall into a rhythm and flow through the double unders. During the KB Snatches make sure you have an active shoulder at the top and keep your arm close to your ear. Use the hips to move the weight and punch through quickly as the weight becomes weightless so that you don’t bang the wrist. Dumbbell Snatches can be substituted for the KB Snatch if needed.

Post your time and average 500m splits for the 800’s to comments!

Connection and Speed – Skill Transfer between Olympic Lifting and Rowing

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Renegade Rowing

Olympic Lifting and Rowing?

What do you think about using Olympic Lifting in training to be a Rower or using Rowing to be a better Olympic Lifter? Both require speed and power and incorporate similar movement patterns. However, in rowing you sit down and are in contact with three surfaces. In Olympic Lifting you are only in contact with two. In Olympic lifting the goal is to transfer forces vertically and in rowing the goal is to transfer forces horizontally. Where do you see the most benefit in training with both? Are there downfalls?

One skill, concept, and idea that I keep coming back to is Connection. Coaching people in the gym and on the water allows me to see many different movement patterns and levels of ability. Athletes that grasp this idea of connection from one joint to another and one external object to another are able to learn faster, create more power, and transfer skills to other movements. Learning to connect the hips to the hands as you initiate a movement or connect your feet to your hands at the catch, both in rowing and snatching, is invaluable. Once this skill is perfected the possibilities are endless.

In the Spring I introduced the snatch to the BC Men’s Crew Team. While we only worked with PVC pipes to begin with and 45# bars in the workout, the importance of generating speed through the middle of the drive and being turned on at the catch became apparent. Those that had explosive hip extension from rowing and knew how to create speed on the oar through the middle of the drive in the boat had a lot more success transferring that skill to the barbell.

Using the Clean and the Snatch to generate speed on the drive through good connection is a lot of fun. Rowers become athletes and are empowered to push harder by learning new movements and finding power they never knew they had. It’s also a lot of fun seeing olympic lifters and other athletes learn to row because it helps them to find more connection and speed in their lifts.