Personal Training
Rowing Kind Of Sucks. But. Its Awesome.
I have a new love in the gym. Well its sort of an old love that I most recently have been revisiting. As you know I go through phases of ‘new loves’ Kettlebells, TRX, Yoga, Spin, Sprints, Lifting. I love it all and somehow try to make time for it all in my crazy schedule. I am a true believer in balance when it comes to workouts and with the body. I also am not one to follow a strict schedule ‘because that’s what is written down and what I SHOULD be doing’ After years of stressing my body to the max, I have come to a happy place where I do things that feel good and make me happy, not just because it is something that is written down on a piece of paper and I have to do. If I am tired one day, I rest, whether or not it was a ‘planned’ rest day. If I am feeling extra good one day, I will crush a workout.
Recently, I have gotten back on the erg wagon. Back in High School I rowed for the Charles River Community Boating Company. My high school didn’t have a rowing team and I was always intrigued by getting out on the Charles River in a boat and learning the mechanics behind rowing. I fell in love with it instantly. There is no better feeling than the sun beating on your skin while working hard at a sport that you love. The rush of your heart beating with every stroke and the water crashing against the oars is such a sensation. So these days, although I can’t get to the Charles to row that often, I can take my competitive streak inside to the gym .
Every stroke requires you to work your calves, quads, hamstrings, glutes, abs, obliques, pecs, biceps, triceps, deltoids, upper back, and lats. Every single stroke on the rower is a leg press, deadlift and a back row. You are literally working every muscle in your body and because of that you are challenging your body well beyond what you think and is the main reason why the rower is ‘hard’ Your heart rate is elevated the entire time and you have be totally focused the entire time to ensure form is spot on. Rowing is not like jumping on the elliptical and mindlessly moving away. You have to use your brain, body and mind with each stroke and because of that THEREIN lies part of the challenge!
Rowing kinda sucks. Let me explain. It is a hell of a workout. It’s one of those ways to conditioning that you hate but you also sort of love. It kicks your a$$ like WHOA. If I throw rowing intervals into my own workout or a clients workout–it becomes a whole new ball game. Whenever I say “Ok 500M on the erg” they usually respond with “I’ll run instead!” and I respond with “why?” and they respond back “because rowing is hard!” And then we hit the erg. Once you make rowing a part of your routine, you will be more conditioned like a MO FO.
HOW TO ROW
The Form: The form of rowing has 3 main parts: the catch, the drive and the finish. I am going to try as best as I can to break down the 3 parts of rowing because one thing you absolutely want is to work your personal best while on this machine. You want to come off feeling, strong, invigorated and a bit pooped, but not in ‘pain’. There are a couple things ot keep in mind as you are rowing.
At no point do you want a rounded back or your head tucked between your arms. If you were to look at the video sideways, you notice that the ‘drive’ of the rowing motion is that of a deadlift.
You also want to make sure that the handles don’t ‘dip’ near the ankles OR pulling the handles very close to the chin.
Basically you want to think in your head “LEGS THEN ARMS, LEGS THEN ARMS” What this means is you should be driving with your legs FIRST and then pulling with your arms SECOND. Pull the rowing handle into your chest/abs and once your legs are extended, you let your arms release and bend your legs after your arms are straight. See what I mean here? Legs then arms, legs then arms. Make it a little jingle!
1. The Catch Place your feet in the stirrups and slide all the way forward to the flywheel, with your knees bent and pressed against your chest. Grasp the handle with an overhand grip. Lean forward slightly from the hips, but keep your chin up, shoulders back, and spine straight. Tip: Throughout the movement, be sure your feet remain flat and that you don’t tuck your chin or hunch your shoulders.
2. The Drive The trick to starting your drive back is moving your hands and butt at the same time. A rower’s power comes from the lower body—as you drive back with your legs, think about pushing your feet through the footboard, like you’re using the seated leg press. As you slide back, don’t start to pull yet—your arms will naturally straighten.
3. The Finish Once your legs are extended, knees straight, maintain a straight spine and lean back slightly from the hips, bracing your core. Now pull. Bring the handle to your chest, driving your elbows over the plane of your hips and behind you. On the pull, think about leading with your elbows. The trick to getting back to start position is bracing your abs, driving your hips forward, and pulling your knees into your chest.
WHY I LOVE THE ROWING MACHINE
All Fitness Levels Welcomed! — Indo-Row was designed to bring the benefits of rowing to the masses. Crosby has had students ranging in age from 10-94, as well as coaching students who were severely overweight and unable to perform other types of exercise.
Total Body — The biggest myth about rowing is that it is an upper body workout. Rowing works 9 major muscle groups: quads, hamstrings, glutes, lats, core, shoulders, triceps, back and biceps. In addition rowing is an amazing cardio workout.
Low Impact – Rowing is great for injury prevention, rehab and runners because it is a low impact alternative to other activities. For those who are overweight, the sliding seat displaces ones weight so the load on their body is less and they can make a smooth transition to other activities as the weight comes off.
Easy to Learn – The basics of indoor rowing can be learned in 10 minutes or less.
You’re In Control – Resistance is created by how hard you push or pull, so you control the level of your own workout. The harder you catch, drive and pull, the harder you will work and the more resistance you will create. Your pace time and strength will increase 10 fold.
Calorie Burn –The combination of full body movements with elevated heart rate will cause your body to becaome a fat burning machine! The potential to burn between 600-800 calories in a 45 minutes is easily attainable
Measurement Is Motivation – All rowing machines have a gauge of where you are at throughout the workout so you can constantly be checking in on yourself. You can set the dial to ‘distance’ ‘time’ or even an ‘interval’ of whatever work to rest ratio you desire. No matter what people say, seeing a display in front of you while working will push you THAT much harder. It is a main reason why I love Flywheel classes as well! Seeing my torque, speed and total RPM on the gauge as well as seeing my name on the torque board during class, I KNOW will push me over the edge to work at my personal best. On the rower, I personally like setting a distance and from there, it counts down until 0. Those last few hundred meters I really get out of my comfort zone and push myself! It also shows the split time and approximate finish time so you can try to beat your last interval! Having milestones provides motivation to continue working hard!
Shorter Workout, Quicker Recovery- You all know I am a HUGE fan of quick and dirty workouts like the ones from THIS POST Longer than an hour? Pshhh for the birds. Seriously, ain’t nobody got time fo that! With my crazy days I want to get in the most efficient work in the shortest period of time and THAT is why I love the rower–it serves this purpose
FULL BODY RIPPER ROWER COUNTDOWN!!
|
TIME |
WHAT TO DO |
ESTIMATED 500M TIME |
|
0-3 |
WARM UP ROW |
2:30 |
|
3-5 |
ROW |
2:15 |
|
5-7 |
REVERSE LUNGES (Hold 10lb DB overhead or by sides) |
——— |
|
7-10 |
ROW |
2:20 |
|
10-11 |
Jump Squats |
——— |
|
11-14 |
ROW |
2:40 |
|
14-16 |
ROWER PIKES (see picture below |
——— |
|
16-18 |
ROW |
2:15 |
|
18-20 |
PUSH PRESS (using those 10lb dumbbells) |
——— |
|
20-23 |
ROW |
2:30 |
|
23-25 |
Knee to Chest Sit ups |
——— |
|
25-30 |
ROW |
AS FAST AS YOU CAN! |
OTHER IDEAS
1. 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off for 10 minutes <—-OMG this one is KILLER
2. 500 Meter row with 60 sec rest 5 times through
3. 3×1000 Meter row with 120 sec rest in between
4. 200 Meter row. 10 push ups, 10 burpees-8 times through
