Row, Row Row Yer Boat...

Racy

Hello

I am a long time lurker no time poster for the past two years or so and I have finally decided to start a log. The reason for this is that I would love input, in the form of criticism and congratulations:D. I have struggled over the past few months to stay motivated in the weight room and by writing out my routines I am hoping to try regain some consistency.

SO background:

Novice Rower whose stats are as follows:

89kgs
around 10-12%body fat
183cms
23years old

1rm:
Deadlift 130
Squat 100 (wanna improve here too along with the deads)
Bench 75 (need to improve here)
Bodyweight Pull Ups 9

In a minute

35 push ups (improvement needed here too)
27 inverted rows, sternum touching bar

C2 Row time

5km 17mins 43secs
2km 6mins 40secs (need this to drop)

They were my testing results from the past two weeks.

Now the programme, well I am training in Hercs in town and i try to get down there 3 times a week, I sometimes have to change the order around of exercises in order to stay felxible with races and testing/improtant erg sessions.

Day 1

Squat (Box used for determining point of threshold)
PUll Ups (wide grip) I alternate weeks where i will use extra weight/only bodyweight.
Seated Cable Rows
Scap Work/SHoulder Stabilisation stuff
Hip Flexibility work
Ab Pulldowns
Lower Back Exercises, eg natural reverse hypers etc.

Day 2

Bench (I am just trying to increase in increments) I alternate between 3 work sets of 6 and 5 work sets of 3, the former being heavier the latter really slow down, explosive up
Single Leg Squats using box as threshold
Shoulder and Scap stuff,
Hip mobility exercises
Core/Lower Back work
Incline dumbells/barbells or flys

Day 3

Deadlift, once/twice a month I do some RDLs
Arnie Press/Military Press, Vary,
SHoulder Scap and Hip WOrk
Core/Lower Back WOrk
Close Grip Pull Ups.

That's the basic outline of the programme, you'll see it develop as the weeks pass. The Erg work I do in the CLub but i'll log it here with times if anyone is interested. I'm trying to improve my diet which can fluctuate but that a psychological thing. Most of my training I do is in the morning so if you see me in hercs say hello, i'm nearly always in a red shirt with a big rubber band for the shoulder stuff.

Edwardius

Racy wrote: »

Hello

The Erg work I do in the CLub but i'll log it here with times if anyone is interested. I'm trying to improve my diet which can fluctuate but that a psychological thing. Most of my training I do is in the morning so if you see me in hercs say hello, i'm nearly always in a red shirt with a big rubber band for the shoulder stuff.

Ahoy there, I'd be interested in seeing the Erg work. Do you do any indoor comps?

Racy

Hi Ed

I haven't competed in any indoor comps yet but i am going to go to the irish comps next year. The only thing is that i am only 6ft tall so i am at a disadvantage, there are two 6ft 6ers in the club who can just post some amazing scores because of the length of their stroke. So the only way I can beat them on the erg is to be fitter and have more power, thats what i am training for, power output and higher stroke rates for longer.

Of course this means nothing unless i can actually row on the water so i am still practicing on the liffey as often as i can, i am in a novice 4 boat, sweep rowing(each person has one oar), i really want to compete in a single scull as well though but i am not training in it at the moment.

two ergs sessions i have been doing are 500's and step down,

500's
Row 500 meters as fast as you can then record the split rate, add two seconds and then start another 500m, this is the first of 10 (hopefully) try and keep below the target split rate. If you fail to stay under on say the third then on the fourth if you fail again you stop. Recovery time is 1 1/2 to 2 mins between 500's. When you can do ten drop the recovery time and change your split rate which has probably improved quite a bit.

step down
40 mins, 4 x 10min intervals no breaks inbetween. Find your best split range over a 5km distance, some people it's 1min 35secs some its 2mins 05secs.

Take your split rate and add the following

0-2mins split rate + 20secs
2-4mins split rate + 15secs
4-6mins split rate + 10secs
6-8mins split rate + 5secs
8-10mins split rate

do that 4 times, check the memory on the erg afterward and see your average split it should be your best + 10secs

if i learn more i'll put them up

Racy

Squats

empty bar x 5 x 1
60kgs x 5 x 1
80kgs x 5 x 2
90kgs x 5 x 3
100kgs x 3 x 1
110kgs x 1 x 1 PB

Pull Ups
Bodyweight 6,5,4,5,6 (wide grip)

Had to leave then which meant cutting the session off early but I managed to get some core work in. I have a session in the boat tonight which looks like it'll be horrible with all that wretched rain

Edwardius

Racy wrote: »

Hi Ed

I haven't competed in any indoor comps yet but i am going to go to the irish comps next year. The only thing is that i am only 6ft tall so i am at a disadvantage, there are two 6ft 6ers in the club who can just post some amazing scores because of the length of their stroke. So the only way I can beat them on the erg is to be fitter and have more power, thats what i am training for, power output and higher stroke rates for longer.

Of course this means nothing unless i can actually row on the water so i am still practicing on the liffey as often as i can, i am in a novice 4 boat, sweep rowing(each person has one oar), i really want to compete in a single scull as well though but i am not training in it at the moment.

two ergs sessions i have been doing are 500's and step down,

500's
Row 500 meters as fast as you can then record the split rate, add two seconds and then start another 500m, this is the first of 10 (hopefully) try and keep below the target split rate. If you fail to stay under on say the third then on the fourth if you fail again you stop. Recovery time is 1 1/2 to 2 mins between 500's. When you can do ten drop the recovery time and change your split rate which has probably improved quite a bit.

step down
40 mins, 4 x 10min intervals no breaks inbetween. Find your best split range over a 5km distance, some people it's 1min 35secs some its 2mins 05secs.

Take your split rate and add the following

0-2mins split rate + 20secs
2-4mins split rate + 15secs
4-6mins split rate + 10secs
6-8mins split rate + 5secs
8-10mins split rate

do that 4 times, check the memory on the erg afterward and see your average split it should be your best + 10secs

if i learn more i'll put them up

Thanks dude, some good food for thought there. Good luck with the training!

MCOS

Racy wrote: »

The only thing is that i am only 6ft tall so i am at a disadvantage, there are two 6ft 6ers in the club who can just post some amazing scores because of the length of their stroke. So the only way I can beat them on the erg is to be fitter and have more power, thats what i am training for, power output and higher stroke rates for longer.

Hey there Racy,

Don't bother comparing yourself to those 6'6' guys. You are not going to beat them on the erg if they are decent athletes. Of course competing with them will drop your own splits. I used to beat the heavies regularly in training but on test days there was no holding them (I was 75kg at the time) Those guys should be looking at sub 6'10 really. If you have 6'6' ers in your boat pulling 6'40 or worse they may as well be dead weight. Focus instead on the boat and beating them there! In terms of the ergo your 6'40 will look much better if you were pulling it at 79kg weight rather than 89kg. So, focus on power/weight ratio and your stroke!

Good luck with your log

Racy

well the trinity regatta was today and i was entered in a four, first race was against trinity A at 9.40am. We were down at 8am and got the boat set and then had a nice warm up. Unfortunately our cox was late as she was coxing another boat before us. We rushed up to the start but on our way up a marshall told us we'd been disqualified for being late. The whole event was running 10mins late but the two races before us were cancelled too so it was a combination of bad luck.

Stuff like this has been happening for a while because we haven't been able to get a solid crew together but things are starting to get better we have a solid four and might even have an eight as some novices are coming back to the club. Personally i'd perfer to race in an 8 and also a single scull but i have to get out practicing before i can do that.

The next race is the queens regatta next saturday, i'm in a coxed quad which is unusual but i love sculling so bring it on!

MCOS- Hey dude thanks for the advise! Yeah I realise i wont beat the biggies on the erg tests but i hope that i can drop to 6, 30 or lower. I am going to try and get out in a single scull as much as possible to work on my technique. With the days getting longer and the sun out a bit more it's nice out on the river.

Parsley

They're very good times you're pulling on the erg, especially for a novice rower. I've been rowing years and you're doing better than me, but then again i'm lightweight and therefore useless on the erg!

Keep the training up, and remember to concentrate on technique in the boat. Ergs don't float ya know! I assume you're rowing with UCD, don't bother trying to keep up with big Finbar on the erg! (I assume he's one of the big guys you're talking about, I rowed with him back in Limerick before he started college).

Racy

Parsley - Hi how are ya! Thanks for the encouragement, I am actually in Neptune, just started last september. I know what ya mean about ergs dont float. There's a few fellas on the inters whose times i can beat on the ergs but they are far superior in the water which is where it matters.

Right now i just need practice in the water as much as possible. Since the hour change i can get out on the water in the evenings which has helped a lot! At the moment we only have enough novices for a four but we might be getting an 8 together and as i said above i'll be doing the queens regatta next week in a quad which i can wait for because i much prefer sculling to sweep rowing.

Parsley

That's good stuff. It's great getting in the extra mileage on the water in the long summer evenings. Best of luck at Queen's!

Racy

I was out in a single scull last night for the first time. The river was quiet at first but it got busy very quickly! I was moving along nicely but i noticed that my balance is far from perfect and i seem to be exerting more pressure on my right oar.

Even though I know the river pretty well I still had to turn around quite a bit to make sure i didn't slam into the bank. I went for one trip up the river and then on my way back i was realling leaning to the right and i tried to correct it but i came to a stop and next thing I know....

SPLASH

I am in the river, thinking "oh my god it's fu*king cold" I pulled to boat in towards garda boat club then a fella from commercial pulled me and the boat in a bit. I jumped out and legged it to the showers. It was slightly embarrasing to have fallen in in front of loads of people but sure it happens to everyone and I am going to head down early to train this evening so i can warm up in a scull and make sure i get back up on the horse sort of idea.

MCOS

Racy wrote: »

so i can warm up in a scull and make sure i get back up on the horse into the boat sort of idea.

Corrected that for you! Hey, almost everyone that takes up rowing as a novice will fall out of a scull at some stage. Those junoir 14s flaking up and down in the sculls fearless makes it look easy but its not! I once fell out of a double on a January morning brrrrr... I also fell out of a scull on the Nagaragawa in Gifu Japan in August and it was like taking a warm bath The sculling will bring your technique on loads though...

Parsley

Couple tips for the scull- when your hands are moving away and on the recovery, make sure they're as close together height-wise as possible. That'll help balance. As far as uneven pressure goes, make sure you're pressing on both feet evenly, and your arms are both hanging on the end of the oars. The thing about sculling technique is just concentration, keep telling yourself exactly what to do every stroke and after a while you'll do it automatically.

Racy

Mcos - Hey dude thanks for the corrections, a friend of mine fell out of a double in winter this year. The other fella couldn't swim, said he could to the coach, and when he hit the water he did panic, haven't seen him around the club since. It was cold yesterday but it must have been really cold in winter!

Parsley - Thanks for the tips dude, i am going to head down to the club early tonight and try to get out on the water. Concentration was definitely an issue yesterday, i was looking around and messing about far too much, I'll try to be more focused tonight. Once i get to know the line of the river better i'll be able to focus more.

Parsley

So, how'd ya get on at the regatta?

Racy

hi parsley

i'm really busy for the next two days but i'll write up a full report as soon as i can, we didn't do well though

castlewellen is lovely though

Racy