Dr Malcolm Howard, Canadian eight Beijing 2008 “People say it was always so easy for you, so straightforward. But it’s always been about the work. Rowing, by its nature, is a beautiful sport because you get out of it exactly what you put in. The harder I worked at rowing the more success I had.”
Timestamps
00:45 Why your brain is working against you
Many masters rowers are putting in less than they think believing in a ceiling which is not real. And limited by a brain that pulls the 'alarm cord' long before you've reached your limit.
Are you paying what rowing actually costs? This is a way of measuring work and exposes pretend work. If you train by feel (Rate of Perceived Effort RPE) but feel and reality diverge with age. RPE rises as recovery slows. When you bring tiredness into training sessions your RPE can be higher even if your work output is lower.
The three columns - What you planned to do this workout, what you actually did, honest quality rating (1-5 range). Average the scores at the end of each week. Map the gap between what you intended and your execution. Write it down and bring honesty to your training.
Some masters may be leaving more on the table than you think. A limiting belief is that your effort is limited by age. This kicks in before your actual physical limit occurs - mind working separately from the body. Test yourself by picking one thing on your training plan that you dislike and so avoid doing. Am I avoiding this because my body can't do it or because I don't want to find out what it reveals about me? Masters have more choice and may take more recovery between workouts than pro athletes. Do that one session which you've been avoiding next week and notice if the ceiling is your body or your mind.
The science behind your brain limiting you in an effort to protect you. Your brain lies in order to protect you - so renegotiate with your brain. Brains are survival machines and send a STOP signal before you reach your actual limit. It's conserving resources and energy reserves in case you need it. The Central Governor Theory by Tim Noakes - brain limiting your output based on predicted cost not actual capacity. When you expose your body once to a hard effort - your brain re-anchors what hard feels like. Next time you do it the alarm goes off later. Perceived difficulty and the urge to stop reduces on the second exposure to the same stimulus. The brain's prediction model adapts. This is the physiological underpinning of Malcolm Howard's quote. The work doesn't just build the engine, it teaches the brain what your engine can do. Faster Masters Rowing training programs include workout repeats in order to help you use the repeated bout effect in your training.
The ledger shows what you're actually putting in; the ceiling test shows what's still available; the repeated bout effect shows why doing it once is enough to retrain your brain.
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Why do so many masters rowers struggle with catch timing despite endless practice? Al Morrow's counterintuitive principle. The causes and cures of rigidity in your body and the amazing catch timing waiting for you (when you cure it).
Timestamps
Al Morrow's remark when talking about Good Rowing is Horizontal - the issue that rigidity kills how you approach the catch. "The more rigid you are, the lower the probability you will have a good catch." Al Morrow Feeling you are in control in rowing can lead to tension, particularly in your hands. There's a balance between having control and being so tight that you do not have good control. Controlled, accurate movements are your goal. Test this for yourself by gripping your handle tighter than usual and note how your catch timing and depth is or your feather/square movement. Poise is a balance between the right amount of control and tension to facilitate the rowing movement, Enough tension to get into the right positions but not so much that you are rigid and hamper your strength, movement and oar control. Rigidity kills your strength. 90% of your power in rowing is below your arm pits. When rigid it's hard to respond in real time to a gust of wind, balance issues or wake. When relaxed, the boat absorbs the energy from the wind or waves and you don't react to the disruption.
This is a catch drill - put the oar in the water fast so it arrives at the perfect depth under the surface. From the catch position, push down on the handles so the oar spoon is high above the water. Let go of the handles quickly and listen to the sound the oar makes as it enters the water. An oar arriving in the water under zero tension - you will see it arrive at the perfect depth. The perfect depth happens when you are relaxed and do not interrupt gravity. Progress the drill by gradually holding the handle without tension - fingers extended. Make the same sound. Move to holding a normal grip while keeping the same blade entry sound. Then take one stroke. Stop rowing and try it again. Move towards making the perfect catch sound but starting at the finish - roll up the recovery and unweight the handle to place the oar in the water. Work on the timing of unweighting your hands and the slide change of direction. The hand action has to precede the slide stopping. Remove rigidity from your neck shoulders, arms and hands at the catch using this drill.
The best possible catch at higher stroke rates comes from being proactive placing the catch - that can negate the lack of rigidity you've been working on.
Build trust that you won't flip when unweighting the handle. Move the moment when you release the tension to being earlier in the recovery. Listen to the sound of the blade entry.
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Hire a coach if: you're serious about competitive improvement, you struggle with self-programming or accountability, your technique needs professional assessment, or you have plateaued despite consistent training. The ROI is highest when you're willing to implement feedback and train 4+ times weekly. Expect to invest $150-400/month for quality masters-specific coaching.
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2. You lack programming knowledge
3. Technique needs assessment
4. Accountability matters
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Technical Expertise:
Programming Knowledge:
Communication Style:
❌ One-sise-fits-all programming: Same workouts for everyone regardless of age/ability
❌ No masters experience: Only coached juniors or collegiate athletes
❌ Poor communication: Takes days to respond, doesn't explain decisions
❌ Volume-obsessed: Thinks more training is always better
❌ Ignores injury/pain: Tells you to "push through" instead of addressing root cause
❌ No credentials: Can't articulate coaching philosophy or methodology
What you get:
Cost: $200-500/month
Best for: Serious competitive athletes, those with specific needs/injuries, athletes who value personal attention
What you get:
Cost: $100-250/month
Best for: Self-directed athletes who want structure and community, budget-conscious athletes, those who train well in groups
What you get:
Cost: $75-200/month
Best for: Disciplined self-starters, those without local masters coaching, athletes with consistent schedules
What you get:
Cost: $50-150 per session
Best for: Experienced athletes who mostly self-coach, technique check-ins, second opinions
Faster improvement:
Injury prevention:
Race performance:
Time efficiency:
You won't see ROI if:
Coaching amplifies effort, it doesn't replace it.
Use pre-made programmes:
Self-educate:
Video self-analysis:
Training partners:
Periodic check-ins:
Many coaches offer:
Use this to evaluate:
Commit for at least 3 months:
Evaluate after 3 months:
Then decide: Continue, adjust, or move on.
If you have in-person coaching and want masters appropriate professional-quality programming, our Masters Performance programme provides:
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Ways to adjust your stroke to match the boat hull speed. Ways to move so efficiently that your body mass moves with the boat speed and improves your maximum boat velocity in rowing and sculling
Timestamps
00:45 The boat velocity changes through the rowing stroke cycle and you can feel these changes as you row.
This is a measure of the difference between a skilful crew and less experienced athletes. When watching crews in a race you can see some crews just inch ahead of the others. Efficiency is a key to why the best crews do well - they use their power efficiently; they help the boat hull to move through the water with greater efficiency - how do they do this? They manage their body mass well.
Body mass is resistance to changes in velocity.
This matters because the entire boat is moving forwards all the time (even though you may think you go backwards and forwards on the slide). Because of the sliding seat, the boat hull doesn't travel level, the bow moves up and down through the stroke cycle.
Diagram of boat speed through the water
Maximum boat speed DOES NOT happen in the power phase. The point of maximum velocity is after the oars have come out of the water. [NOTE: not maximum acceleration as said in the video.] At this point you are transitioning onto the recovery (arms away / body rock forwards).
On a video filmed square off 90 degrees to the rowing boat - when the bow ball is at its highest point is when the athletes have moved closest to the stern (on the recovery) and the point of maximum acceleration is when the bow ball is lower and when the athlete is transitioning from the power phase onto the recovery phase.
The diagram shows the boat at low and high rates (right hand side). At higher rates the point of maximum acceleration is nearer to the catch on the recovery. The boat moves differently at high stroke rates from low stroke rates. Understanding and noticing the boat acceleration feeling and how your body moves are two things you can control. If you can learn how to feel the boat movements you can make refined adjustments to how you are rowing at race pace compared to steady lower rates.
We get good at efficiency at low rates because rowers do a lot of endurance training. Yet athletes who race want the effect of efficiency at race rates. Can we improve our agility and how we are moving with the hull and practice in training?
Periodised training plans do not include a lot of high rate work. What we can do to keep the boat skills of handling the oars and body mass at low and high rates?
These are key to learning the skills. Ways to move quickly and keep the handle speed in time with the boat. These can be spliced into endurance rows for short periods of time. This doesn't upset the physiological training effect. Try doing agility drills for 1 minute in every 10 minutes low rate rowing.
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Lower back pain in rowing typically stems from two technical errors: excessive lumbar flexion (rounding) at the catch, and early back engagement during the drive. Both create compressive and shear forces on your lower spine. The fix requires specific technical adjustments and targeted strengthening, definitely not just "rowing through it" or stopping entirely.
What's happening: You're reaching forward with a rounded lower back instead of maintaining a neutral spine. Every stroke creates hundreds of pounds of compressive force through your lumbar discs.
Why it hurts more after 40: Your spinal discs have less water content and reduced shock absorption capacity. The same position that you "got away with" at 25 now creates pain and potential injury later in life.
Visual check: Have someone video you from the side. At the catch, if your lower back is rounded (shoulders hunched toward knees), you've found your problem.
What's happening: Your back opens before your legs finish driving. You're essentially trying to "lift" the load with your lumbar spine instead of transferring power from your legs.
The force problem: This creates massive shear forces on L4-L5. Multiply by 10,000 strokes per week, and you have chronic low back pain.
Feel check: If your lower back fatigues before your legs during a hard piece, your sequencing is wrong. If your lower ribs touch your thighs when you are at the catch and they stop touching early, chances are you lifted your shoulders to start the power phase.
What's happening: Your superficial abs (six-pack muscles) work fine, but your deep stabilisers (transverse abdominis, multifidus) are weak. These muscles should stabilise your spine during the rowing stroke.
Why this matters: Without deep core stability, your spine moves too much during the stroke, creating irritation and inflammation.
What's happening: Tight hip flexors prevent full hip flexion at the catch, or tight hamstrings prevent pelvic rotation so you compensate by rounding your lower back to achieve compression.
The compensation: Your body finds range of motion somewhere. If your hips can't flex enough, your spine flexes instead, and that hurts.
Setup position:
Key cue: Your forward reach comes from hip flexion (folding at the hips), not spinal flexion (rounding your back).
Trade-off: You may lose 1-2cm of reach. You'll gain 10+ years of healthy rowing.
Practice drill:
Correct sequence: Legs → Back → Arms
Not: Everything opens at once, or back-before-legs (shoulder lifting)
Practice progression:
Mental cue: "Push then swing" not "lift and pull."
Feel check: Your hamstrings and glutes should fatigue before your lower back. If your back is screaming and your legs feel fresh, you're still sequencing wrong.
Why this matters: A rushed, uncontrolled recovery forces you into poor catch position, which creates the back pain downstream.
Recovery principles:
Ratio: Recovery should be 2-3x longer than the drive at low rates If your drive is 1 second, recovery should be 2-3 seconds.
Dead bug progressions:
Bird dog:
Plank variations:
Key principle: Quality over quantity. Perfect position for 20 seconds beats sloppy form for 2 minutes.
Kneeling hip flexor stretch:
Couch stretch:
Goal: Improve hip flexion range so you don't compensate with lumbar flexion.
Deadlifts or Romanian deadlifts:
Single-leg deadlifts:
Glute bridges:
Go and see a medical professional who is sports-trained. A family doctor or general practitioner is not suitable for sports injuries. Be proactive - seek a physical therapist who understands rowing. Physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic and sports massage experts may all be suitable for you. Find one who helps your condition - do ask other rowers who they use.
It's important to get injuries seen quickly - do not wait two weeks and hope the pain subsides using pain medication.
Training recovery protocol
Week 1-2: Reduce volume by 50%, focus on technique at low intensity Week 3-4: Gradually increase volume if pain is resolving Ongoing: Maintain technical precision even when fatigued
Warning signs to stop:
Immediately after rowing:
Ongoing support:
Check your settings: Lower your feet - the measurement of shoe heel cup to seat top is what you need to know. And/or use a seat pad to raise your seat further. This effectively improves your compression by making it easier to tilt the pelvis. This can eliminate the need to over-reach into problematic positions.
Heel position: If your heels are popping up early in the drive, your stretcher may be too high, forcing you into excessive forward lean.
Monthly video analysis: Have someone film your stroke from the side. Watch specifically for:
Maintenance work: Even when pain-free, continue daily core stability and hip mobility work. Prevention is easier than cure.
Lower back pain is almost always fixable with proper technique and strengthening. Our Technical Masterclass include:
Don't row hurt. Fix the mechanics.
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Hear Becky Wilson for an in-depth review of the considerations for the masters athlete in terms of cardiac health.
In this episode you will learn
The questions answered during the presentation
Improve your rowing ratio while lifting in the gym.
Timestamps
Lifting heavy has lots of benefits - today we'll talk about ratio. The contrast between the power phase and recovery phase. How to use this concept of ratio in strength training.
As we age we find our muscles and tendons don't have the same range and so our stride gets shorter. Strength training can help improve or maintain RoM. Weight lifting works in two planes - when you lift the weight and when you return it to the start point. Concentric muscle movements are shortening the muscle (as you lift). Eccentric muscle movements are lengthening the muscle (as you return the weight to the start). Eccentric muscle work can help improve your range of movement. Working on this part of the strength lift can use the rowing ratio as part of the movement.
The braking effect that you use as you control the weight in the eccentric lengthening muscle phase as you lower the weight down can enable you to have greater force production. When lifting heavy for few repetitions or using small muscles e.g. doing chin-ups against your body weight you may find the difference between the last successful lift and when you fail is large.
Do your first chin up
One way to improve your strength and do your first chin up is to start at the top of the lift with your chin over the bar (you may need a chair to step or jump up there). Then slowly lower yourself by straightening your arms doing just the eccentric part of the lift. Try a slow count of ten to complete the movement. You will gain strength more quickly by doing this slowly muscle lengthening under load.
When you've done this a few times, try doing one chin up - you probably can lift yourself up. Use approximately a 3:1 ratio in your lifting for big muscles - legs and back. And 2:1 for smaller muscles like arms. The more ratio you can manage the more you will be working the braking effect on the eccentric lift. You will do fewer repetitions using this method as you tire faster.
Consider a difficult lift like a squat using an olympic bar. Getting a deeper squat - to 90 degrees or to a deep squat position is challenging.
3x per week for 6 weeks.
Start each lift with an ultra-light load. This helps refamiliarise your muscles with the movement. Then add weight so that you keep good form. Try to do 3-5 sets of each lift each time you go to the gym.
11:30 Take your ratio training from the gym back into the boat.
Can you push the oar faster through the water so that you can take longer on the slide recovery? You should be able to increase your ratio thanks to your work in the gym.
A visual reference to aide adjustments to blade depth.
Timestamps
00:45 Low technology solutions for rowing too deep.
The tape goes around the oar shaft so that when the oar is under the water at the correct depth and the handle is at the correct height for you to old. Mark exactly where the shaft is level with the water surface. You can do this where the oar shaft is wet if you do this carefully. Measure the spot, return the oars to land and transfer that measurement to all the other oars and put white tape on them too. While rowing you can look sideways at your oar to see if the white tape is going under the water and where in the stroke it goes too deep (and you can no longer see the tape).
Usually it's caused by the athlete holding the handle too high. Modern oar designs naturally sit at the correct depth. If you row 'over the barrel' the path of the handle is too high mid-stroke (and usually too low at the finish so your oar spoon washes out). The water is flat and so the path of the handle in the power phase should also be flat. At the catch if you take the catch by lifting your shoulders it can also cause the oar to go too deep. Tension in the hand grip also can cause the oar to go too deep. In sweep this is often the inside hand holding on too tightly.
- Backing down into the catch. Push the oars from the finish backing down and then leave the oar in the water and take the stroke. Go backwards and forwards gradually lengthening from half slide to full slide. This helps you to work out the correct handle height.
- Row in circles. One person row in sweep and look out at your oar as you row so you can see the depth. In sculling just row with one oar and get a friend to hold the boat steady.
- Half blade depth rowing. Row with only half the oar under the water - feel the depth by controlling the handle precisely with very small movements.
- The amount of power you put on can affect blade depth. So try alternating light and firm pressure strokes to help you work out depth.
As we age, compromises are part of how we adjust to rowing and sculling. Yet part of the fun of this is to go shopping for gadgets and gear! Let me be clear, you don't have to be old to get more gear - I know a famous rowing commentator who had a collection of row suits (Zooties / All in ones / Trou) that ran into the mid 30s. He claimed to have rowed for over 20 different clubs.
But gear isn't just fun and funky clothing (although maybe that's all you "need" to justify flexing your credit card. There are really helpful accessories which make rowing easier for those of us with physical compromises. Let's review a few
Shoes that fit - petite feet ladies have always suffered with club-supplied shoes. Now Unicorn Shoes has an adjustable shoe design using velcro as does RowFit; and the Active Tools shoes look like crocs and have a sliding clip to shorten the shoe. Taking this a step further and getting your own pair using a quick release system in the boat allows you to row with perfectly fitted shoes. BONT Rowing's quick release system and rowing shoes are priced to make switching your whole fleet very affordable. While The Shimano rowing dynamics system provide the highest quality fitments.
Hands and handles - Get a handle grip the right size for your hands from Croker Oars (4 sizes), or choose the Oarsom Potential overgrips to prevent blisters when your skin bunches up. Newly released soft grippy handles for those who suffer sweaty hands for sculls (My Row Grips),and the textured Stampfli grips. Maybe a simpler solution to blisters is a pair of rowing gloves made by Rowtex or The Crew Stop.
Backsides and Seats - finding a seat pad that gives you just enough comfort - from male / female hole spacings (EURow) to different heights (from 5mm to 30mm at RowPad) and jel squish softness (JL Racing) to raised pads to relieve pressure on your sit bones (Citius Remex ProW)
Eyes in the back of your head - literally not possible - but sadly the Hyndsight vision system is no longer in production - so there are other choices of mirrors to see behind you without twisting. The Coxmate mirror is a cheap option - it's large and on a bendable wire; newly released, the TriEye sunglasses with integrated mirrors for both left and right sides.
Visible Data displays - nearly everyone has a waterproof mobile phone and getting your boat speed and stroke rate on a large display (which you can read in bright sunlight) is straightforward using the Crew Nerd app (free trial available). Taking this a step further you can add a heads up display (HUD) inside your sunglasses from Engo Eyewear.
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Faster Masters Rowing has an Athlete Assessment which sets out how to find your personal training zones. These enable you to work out most effectively because the intensity and pacing aligns to YOU, your fitness, your boat moving skill. Re-testing approximately every 6-8 weeks allows you to gauge your progress.
The testing spreadsheet is where you input your results. These give you an output of your 2k target pace.
The Athlete Assessment comes free with any subscription race training program.
It is in the Faster Five "Joining Bonus" lesson.
From your 2k target pace (calculated from the spreadsheet) divide this number by 2.
Then subtract 10 seconds if you are anaerobically strong based on your spreadsheet test results.
Subtract 12 seconds if you are aerobically strong based on your spreadsheet test results.
[It may be easier for a 500m split to convert it into seconds e.g. 1:52 is 60 seconds plus 52 seconds].
From your 2k target pace (calculated from the spreadsheet)
Add 7 seconds if you are aerobically strong or neutral (balanced) on your spreadsheet test results.
Add 8 seconds if you are aerobically weak on your spreadsheet test results.
When you did the testing, one of the tests is 1'. Use your results from this test as a starting point for your 1 minute race target split.
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