Rowing WOD 8/15/14: 2x2k w/ 4min Rest – Post Splits During On

Rowing WOD:

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 8/11/15: 2x3k w/ 6min Rest – Post Avg Splits

Rowing WOD:BC Men 2k Test

2 x 3k Row w/ 6min Rest as follows …

  • 1k @26 s/m (@5k+5)
  • 1k @28 s/m (@5k+3)
  • 1k @5k Race Pace

Why is rowing fun?  One reason is that it provides a challenge in learning technique to be as efficient as possible while working everything from your head to your toes.  Elsewhere in sports and training, if you’ve tried the Pose Method of running you may understand the beauty of focusing on technique and the perception of what your body is doing in space. Focusing on form and technique gives your mind something to work toward rather than complaining about how much your legs burn.

At the end of the month we’ll be testing our first 5k of the fall season.  We’ll be ramping up the volume/longer distance intervals a little to get you ready.  Focus on hitting the prescribed ratings and splits.  September will bring some additional strength and metcon work that will play hand in hand with the teams training with Renegade Rowing.  If you have a crew team interested in training with Renegade Rowing please have them get in touch with me soon.

Today’s Rowing WOD is a good opportunity to focus on one or two form fixes but get after it as well.  Set the monitor for Intervals Distance and enter 3,000m of Work and 6 minutes of rest.  This WOD has the potential to build your confidence for the 5k.  Come up with a plan and execute.  Be consistent with your splits and stroke ratings for both pieces.  If possible go a little bit faster every 1k.  5k Race pace should be at a stroke rating of 28-32 strokes per minute.  Find your efficient stroke.  Novices should focus on one form fix for each piece and work hard.

Post your Average 500m Splits to Comments!

Rowing WOD 8/10/15: “Snow Drifts” – 2x17min w/ 4min Rest – Post Distance

Rowing WOD:

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!

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

Rowing WOD 8/7/15: 6RFT – 500m Row, 20 Push Ups – Post Time and Splits

Rowing WOD:

RRT Getting after their first Rowing WOD on the Water earlier this year!

6 Rounds for Time (20min Cap)

500m Row

20 Push Ups

As we begin training for the fall season it’s important to work in some longer pieces to build up our endurance and prepare ourselves for head races.  Head Races are anywhere from 4k – 6k in distance and take around 15 minutes or more to complete.  They are run like time trials with one boat starting at a time.  Mental toughness is key to keep intensity up and push hard enough to catch the boat in front of you.

In today’s Rowing WOD you’ll need mental toughness to keep pushing through the middle rounds.  Imagine there’s a crew just ahead of you.  Chasing them down is the only option.

Pick one split you can hold all the way through each piece.  If possible try to negative split each round.  On the push ups get full range of motion and scale as necessary.  You can scale by elevating your hands, giving yourself a target, or decreasing the volume to 15 or 10 per round.

If you’re looking to spice things up and have some more fun try this on the water.  I’ve done this workout in a single off of the docks at Community Rowing.  It was pretty epic.  Can’t wait to have a group of Renegades doing workouts like this on the water with me.  If you’re interested let me know!

Post time and splits to comments!

Rest Day 8/6/15: What Competition are you training for this Fall? – Share

Rest Day:RRT13 Racing at ROR

What Competition are you training for this Fall?

An easy goal to kick-start a training cycle and get yourself motivated is picking an event to compete in.  As we come to the end of Summer and Fall picks up there are tons of fun competitions to look forward to.

What are you training for in the next couple of months?  Who are you training with?  Challenge a training partner to compete with you.  Share what competitions you’re training for to comments!