Should we prioritise our rest more? How much is right for my training? Marlene and Rebecca run through some pointers for you to review.
01:00 This Past Week - what we do to advocate for masters rowing - who is the fund raising group in your club?
04:00 Corporate rowing if you’re interested in a discussion - get in touch.
05:00 Marlene’s rigging dock talk
07:00 book of the Month with Jess di Carlo is Olaf Tufte’s Skjerpins. This literally means “sharpening” or more prosaically “Get a grip - you can always get better”. It's in Norwegian and Jess used Kindle translate function to read it.
10:30 Olaf is strong on visualisation and spent 10 minutes working on the first stroke before the Beijing Olympic final.
15:00 Hiking with his family - he found himself in trouble and said 'get the breathing right and the head will follow'.
21:00 Start rowing slowly and rebuild the stroke from the basics after a set back.
Peaks require a rest and reset before another peak event. Recover - between your sessions each week - between each is a recovery period. Sleep is terrific for recovery as is nutrition and hydration. Glycogen in your muscles fuels muscle action - heavy legs
26:30 Doing 2 sessions a day versus 2 days between sessions. Hard and easy days take planning.
28:30 Rest and sleep means 7-9 hours per day asleep. When you sleep your hormones are active. Maintain weight, mental sharpness and dehydration. Interrupted sleep is a common issue for masters. Naps are a useful tool to use.
30:30 Other types of rest include sports massage, sauna, contrast showers (hot and cold) all help flush your system, Plan the rest days in a week's schedule Plan the rest weeks in an annual schedule. Cross training can be a rest and a change too,
33:00 Heart Rate Variability measures the fluctuation of what is happening between your heart beats. Compares the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Different ways to track are available. Get age group comparison data and personal day to day changes in your analytics. High values mean you are more recovered.
35:00 Active Recovery is rest or sleeping an extra hour. Simple ways to test your recovery. Check your waking heart beat in the morning for 1 minute. If it’s 10 beats higher than normal don’t do hard work that day or take a rest day.
37:00 Rebecca used to track using the Daily Diary from Harry Mahon If it’s 5 beats higher than normal you could have a virus coming on. Err on the side of caution.
40:45 De-conditioning takes a long time. You have to stop training for a long time to get to lose your fitness. Two sessions a week are enough for fitness maintenance. Keep it low intensity. Two sessions a week are enough for maintenance at low intensity.
Who are you becoming? the importance of contemplating this question - become the athlete you want to row with.
03:00 This past week Rebecca was at the South Island Masters Regatta.
05:00 There is a need for handicaps in masters rowing to make the races work better. What do you think are the benefits?
08:00 Who are the athletes you want to row with? Can you row with them?
Why do more experienced athletes warmup square blades?
Different attributes of an athlete - Trainers, Racers, Technicians.
What is it they do that I would like to also do?
12:00 Attributes of rowers you admire and aspire to be like - positive attributes
14:00 Open minded on the water gives and asks for feedback.
Use the same language that the rowers use for a discussion about feedback.
17:00 How's it going? is a good way to ask for feedback during a training session.
19:00 Advance a common understanding in your crew and group. A common language.
Mike Spraklen asked us what does "stride" mean to you?
21:00 Can we give confidence to other people in our crew as we discuss the outing?
Ask the question carefully. What words to use when you give feedback?
You sit behind me - uniquely positioned to see my technique. Can you remind me when you see me doing something wrong or right in the boat?
Ask opinions - helps people to feel they are being heard. "What are you personally working on?"
25:00 Start the positive behaviours yourself. Begin before you get on the water - where are you going? What to do today? Did I do what I set out to do? Quality score points out of 10 for rowing practice, acquisition of skill.
27:00 Openness in rowing - is this challenging for masters compared to youth rowers? Our practice ebbs and flows through the year with more intensity. Small moments of joy in what you are doing. Smiles and grins after the row.
32:00 Why do we row? Where do we get enjoyment? Process goals - lead the change yourself that you seek in others.
What is the ideal athlete for your club group? It's incumbent on rowing leaders to be inclusive of returning rowers (who rowed as youth) and those who learn as adults.
I got asked about rowing coach education available in Europe. Here are some suggestions for self education - which is a great place to start.
1 - Go to your local club and speak to the coaches there - ask if you can sit beside them and watch and learn from them
2 - Read - lots. Find books, articles. Listen to podcasts and videos. Listen to Faster Masters Rowing Radio weekly. Each time ask yourself
Why is that crew going faster than the other crew?
Then ask
What would I do to try to improve their rowing?
3 - Find a local club or school and volunteer to coach. Try out the things you learn in 2.
​World Rowing has free online coaching resources which you can use to teach yourself
https://worldrowing.com/technical/coaching/
Also join the email list for CRI in Boston MA, USA - they have a one year coach education course which is highly regarded - the Institute for Rowing Leadership.
https://www.communityrowing.org/programs/coach-education/rowing-leadership​
Faster Masters Rowing Radio - the podcast for masters rowers. Tips, advice and discussion from Marlene Royle and Rebecca Caroe.
Timestamps:
01:00 This Past Week - we launched the June training program.
Little and often is a good mantra. Regattas - every club should do a winter and summer regatta. Different types of regatta - boats are provided, racing for time, skills and drills, juniors and masters are good companion athletes.
13:00 Summer head races - Maine State Championships around 3 buoys for 5k. The "Killer Meter" a 1k race with a mass start. The CRI Classic is a preparation for HOCR. The Head of the Kevins - 3 series of races seeded by time Cambridge Winter League over 3 months with cumulative time.
- a service fee on race entries - bottle returns and tin cans - jumble sale / rummage sale / bake sale - junior disco - raffles - donated merchandise in kind and gift certificates
28:00 Run a learn to row for parents of juniors
30:00 Corporate rowing is a league possible?
37:00 Resources within the membership - who is already a member who could help you? Local library www.spacetoco.com allows you to list rooms for hire (a commercial Air BnB for club rooms) 47:00 Catchy things like "sponsor 10 strokes" Buy a row or buy 1 hour or 1 outing.
Getting a group of rowers into one boat is simple - making their individual techniques blend into a crew combination that can row in time is a longer process. Our podcast discusses 3 core drills to combine into a crew.
01:00 This Past Week - what you can learn from elite athletes. Intention and attention.
Good rhythm and flow and energy.
Does it "click?"
Is the recovery matched up?
Why do trials and tests? Do these have to be part of a masters rowing program?
Support this show with a donation
https://fastermastersrowing.com/podcast
01:00 This Past Week – what we do to advocate for masters rowing.
Marlene is coaching a camp – why go on camp? How to select a camp.
Situations where rowers don’t want to do a time trial.
But coaches want a measure of fitness.
– race in single sculls
10:30 Are you trying to boat the best possible crew?
What is your philosophy of training – how do you measure progress?
Have the strategy discussion. What do you want from your rowing? Why are you here?
These will guide your boat lineup choices and testing and trials.
14:30 The main tests you can do
22:00 If you don’t want to measure progress, don’t test.
25:00 Do not be afraid of trials.
Mahe Drysdale article “Why do rowers fear the erg?”
The Last Amateurs by Mark de Rond about the 2007 Oxford Cambridge boat race.
Economist article by Mark de Rond - Rhythm and Blues about his time researching the book and how it applies to business management.
This book tries to answer the eternal questions
– How do coaches pick crew lineups
– Why is this crew off-balance?
Seat racing – can you blend your crew to make it go faster than the sum of the parts?
You are competing with your squad to make the lineup but then once you are in the crew, you have to gel to make the boat go fast.
In our final instalment about the rowing and sculling stroke we will focus on holding the handle(s).
01:00 This Past Week - what we do to advocate for masters rowing.
12:00 Hand placement and grip. In our final instalment about the rowing and sculling stroke we will focus on holding the handle(s).
Establish your hands correctly or end up under or over-rotated.
Find the right place - sit at 3/4 slide and place the blade in the water square. Put your hand on the handle and ensure your wrist and hand back are flat.
Read and watch the full video series on the rowing stroke cycle - 6 episodes from catch to finish.
The top row of knuckles is on top of the handle - not in your palm, not in the tips of your fingers.
15:00 Learn to move the handle in your hand not your handle with your hand.
16:00 Open versus closed grip
19:00 You don't need to grip the handle - you guide it.
Water supports the blade in the water.
Oarlock supports the blade on the recovery
How tight to hold the handle?
21:00 How much pressure to put on the handle?
23:00 The sweep grip. How wide to hold the handle.
Inside versus outside hand roles.
Avoid wrist tendonitis by taking the load with your back / shoulder not your wrist.
27:00 Cranking your wrist with pressure stresses the carpal tunnel - the "Harley Davidson Method".
Use an elastic band as a guide for you hand if you move it around during the stroke or it drifts.
In sweep the grip effectiveness changes from outside hand to inside hand as you move from catch to finish.
Don't let you hand come off the handle as you get to the placement.
30:00 Drills for grip
34:30 Posture in rowing
The extremes are the gymnast and the couch potato.
Pick a mid point.
Work on your posture all the time. Not just in the boat.
In the car - adjust the rear view mirror; use the head rest so you sit with your ears over your hips; neutral spine is more resistant to injury.
38:00 During the drive phase you don't want pressure on your vertebrae you want it through your hips.
Keep low back supported
Make posture a habit in your daily life.
Further resources
Timing the catch, how it should feel, drills to improve the catch.
01:30 This Past Week - what we do to advocate for masters rowing. When procedures for communication don't work out through an organisation.
Lake Safety committee - many users of the water.
09:00 The placement of the oar at the catch.
Get pressure on the blade is key to moving the boat well.
You are moving while placing. The entry is the final action of the recovery - your wheels are still turning. It's important not to stop - this causes missed water.
Minimise missed water equals minimising slip.
As the blade enters it's traveling in the same direction as the boat.
Get fully buried before putting pressure on the handle.
Read and watch the full video series on the rowing stroke cycle - 6 episodes from catch to finish.
11:30 Visualise what you want at the catch.
Describe it in words. This helps you understand.
The difference between where the bottom edge of the oar touches the water and where the blade buries is missed water.
14:00 Hands lead the recovery
The handle moves further than the seat.
15:45 Checklist for good blade placement
24:00 Advanced tip to minimise slip
Have soft hands to let the water do its work
As it is buried, maintain distance between the thumbs until you feel pressure on the blade.
27:00 Thumbs along the handle drill
Don't chicken out - keepp the motion going
30:00 Row at 3/4 slide to work on the entry.
Make your corrections here because you are on the move
Backsplash is an exaggeration drill
When timing is good the splash is small
A small v-shaped splash front and back of the blade is desirable.
36:00 Row circles with one oar or in a pair. Create a controlled environment for learning.
Continuing our series about the rowing and sculling stroke and what each phase should look and feel like plus drills on how to coach yourself to improve.
02:30 This Past Week - what we do to advocate for masters rowing.
Organising groups of different skills
Crew racing lineups article.
09:00 Jess Di Carlo reviews book of the month Socrates the Rower. Rowing as stress relief.
See more rowing books on our blog.
Building power as you move into racing.
Technique for the drive:
Get the blade into the water.
Mechanics - move the boat past the blades and not pushing the blades through the water.
Focus on lower body - legs, hips and push on the footstretchers.
Maximise stronger muscle groups and use them first.
Pressure on the handle and footstretcher are the same.
Read and watch the full video series on the rowing stroke cycle - 6 episodes from catch to finish.
Get feedback by checking your oar shaft. Look at it.
Is it changing blade depth? this shortens the time in the water.
Wash happens if you don't extract the blade at the right time.
Slip is if you don't have purchase on the water at the start of the drive.
Purchase at the catch is sometimes called grip on the water.
22:00 Practice rowing feathered on the drive to find the correct height of your handles.
Identify a visual reference point to check you have the correct height.
Initiate the drive with the legs and hips and later bring in the body swing.
Pressure on the foot stretcher - the whole food goes flat on the footstretcher - this is the moment to bring the body swing in.
25:50 Swing through the perpendicular point of the oar handles.
As you do this you start to bend your elbows.
The blade is moving to the pin at this point.
Continue to hold pressure so the blade doesn't tear the water.
If you lose the pressure that hurts the release.
30:00 Practice the drive - legs only rowing.
Add resistance with a bungee.
A good way to get more proprioception into your joints.
34:00 Push a refrigerator
Activate the glutes - this supports the lower back
Activate the lats - this gives a solid shoulder girdle
Together these solidify the torso for the drive.
36:30 Drill - finish all three at the same time - legs, back and arms.
Exaggeration drill - do for 10 strokes
This teaches how you can adjust your movements.
38:15 The result is shown in your puddles
They should be tight dark circles.
39:30 An exercise for swing and rhythm.
Learn to trust your blade. Get your head out of the boat and stop looking down.
Put the blade in the water and look up at the sky. Add your head mass to the leverage.
43:00 The boat is stable when the oars are in the water.
We continue our series exploring all the parts of the rowing stroke.
04:00 This Past Week - what we do to advocate for masters rowing.
10:00 The coxing "plank" and the shoe straps
13:40 The recovery begins when the blade exits the water and continues until it returns into the water.
In practice, I teach it as the beginning of when the knees rise on the slide.
16:30 You've done the preparation for the catch already. Simplicity is key.
Let the wheels of the slide move and only your legs are changing position.
Feathered blades on the recovery and your wrists are bent
You need weight under the handles
Level out the back of your hand and forearm
In sweep use the outside hand to keep weight above the oar handle.
The square up can mess with the rhythm
The point at which you release. your knees - you don't need your body fully over until quarter slide. We prefer that your hands are past your knees and the body has shifted to rock forward.
Read and watch the full video series on the rowing stroke cycle - 6 episodes from catch to finish.
23:45 Release the knees gently. Bring the boat underneath you.
Get the arms out first - the handle leads the recovery.
Focus on the slide seat rolling past.
Be poised and relaxed.
Deactivate the muscles and remain poised without tension.
Strength training can teach you how to activate and release muscles.
34:00 The jelly legs exercise - Rebecca explains how to teach this and practice it yourself.
38:00 Slide in time with the boat. Feel the glide.
Give your muscles the rest so as to gather energy for the top of the slide.
Don't chicken out at the top of the slide. Recovery continues until the blade is in the water.
Continue to compress - you're slowing down. Stay on the arc around the pin especially in sweep.
41:00 Decrease your tension by 1 percent.
Practice this in your crew all rowing together - you can't get the feeling with only half of you rowing.
The Stroke Cycle - recovery
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