Rowing Machine Routine?

Training Powerlifting
41

[quote]echelon101 wrote:

I thought about getting my CSCS but ultimately I am trying to do something with my degrees (corporate finance/accounting/economics) and then once I have my 401k all settled and able to retire I’ll coach collegiate hopefully.

401k? ie you have completed 401,000m in your rowing career?[/quote]

401k retirement plan…I’ve completed way way way more then 401k meters in rowing. I put in well over 2-3 million on just the erg in a year not to mention how many millions of meters I put in on the water.

42

[quote]batman_wannabe wrote:
Would any of you recommend doing indoor rowing as the main cardio activity for fat-burning and conditioning during non-lifting days? I find running really boring so this is basically what I do now in addition to boxing workouts on the heavy bag about once a week. [/quote]

Indoor rowing isn’t really a huge fat burner unless you’re doing interval work. Using it for cardio is great but most people here will say that we use it to increase our aerobic ability more so then we use it for fat burning ability. I wouldn’t be running either really for fat burning though either. If anything I’d do interval sprints or just do some long slow incline walking on a treadmill. That seems to work best for me.

43

I was reading about this yesterday.

Because when you are rowing your body is in a relatively compressed position your heart does not need to pump blood as hard as when you run because the difference in total vertical displacement is less when rowing than running.

I knew my book would come in useful!

44

It’s quite true echelon, same with cycling if they are crouched over like in time trials and what not. What book did you read that in though?

Also anyone have ideas for a formalized weight training program for rowing? I’m thinking of having rowers go 5x5, Westside BB 4 skinny bastards part 1 or 2, and then maybe some German volume training. What you guys think?

45

http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/book.asp?ref=9781405153737&site=1

I don’t think strength programs during the season are a good idea otherwise your rowers will have little to no strength to do their ergs/pieces. Although by all means do it in the off season.

In my day so far I have done, during my seasons;

Sets x Reps

4x6 (early season)
1x10,1x8,1x6,1x4 (early season)
3x8 (mid season)
3x10 (mid/late season)
3x6 superset deload 3x20 (late season)
4 Exercises for 120s each then superset with a exercise of the reverse muscle, use a light weight. eg bench pull then press

Although aim for maybe two full body workouts a week.

M: Technique Row + Long Erg (10k at least)
T: Technique Row + Weights
W: Technique Row + Run (40mins UT1)
Th:Techique Row + Weights
F: Technique Row + Long Erg (10k at least)
S: Piece Rowing + Long Erg (10k at least)
Sun: OFF

Something like that, the technique rowing should not go above UT2 otherwise the off-water stuff will falter. Make sure they eat.

46

I’m thinking that they can be strength training year round, just taking it a bit easier during the spring season (race season). Fall is still considered off-season in my opinion since it doesn’t really matter.

This is what I’ve though up so far:
Monday AM: day 1 of 5x5 (Squat, Bench, Row)
Monday PM: Steady State UT2 technique and aerobic base work. 18-20 rating

Tuesday AM: Off
Tuesday PM: UT1 work 4x20 minutes 22-24 rating

Wednesday AM: Day 2 of 5x5 (Deadlift, Powercleans, Standing Military Press) I altered this to have powercleans instead of pull ups as I feel this will help increase acceleration in the boat.
Wednesday PM: Steady State UT2 technique and aerobic base work, 60-90 minutes.

Thursday AM: Off
Thursday PM: AT work. 5x8 minutes or 4 minutes on 1 minute off for 20 minutes 26-28 rating.

Friday AM: Day 3 5x5 (Squat, bench, row)
Friday PM: Steady State UT2 technique and aerobic base work, 60-90 minutes.

Saturday AM: UT1 work 3x20 mintues
Saturday PM: Steady State UT2 technique and aerobic base work, 80-120 minutes. Recovery row.

Sunday AM: Off
Sunday PM: Off

This is more for collegiate and national level rowers then for high school and I may following something like this for myself depending on what point in the season and how much steady state I’ll be doing versus AT/AN work I’ll vary it up with more AT/AN closer to sprints season and more UT2/UT1 work during the off seasons.

47

Looks good but I am still not convinced with the third weights session on the Wednesday although cleans definitely should be in the program.

If you still want to do the third session make sure you tell your guys to do it in the right order which would be PClean, Deadlift then Military Press. I remember I wasn’t told any orders of weights and some times found myself quite unable to do cleans after doing squats and deads (Proper weight order is in a Thib article somewhere). The others it doesn’t matter so much since it’s different parts although starting with squatting first would be good initially to get their depth right (hypocrite :P).

I suppose you aren’t as fool hardy as me putting the AT work on an erg rather than water :stuck_out_tongue:

Do you guys in the US use the Head Racing as training for Regatta season or approach Head Racing as whole different event type ie you’ll train for the Head season then switch to training for the Regatta season?

48

Yah I just typed the order out as it came to mind, not in how I’d probably do it even though I do tend to do deadlifts before PC’s.

I’ll do some AT work on an erg but most on the water. I’m in the South US so I can row year-round on the water and I like to take advantage of that. I’ll do some AT work like 3x2500 on the erg but most is on the water. We train differently for head race season and regatta season. There is less sprint work done during head race season obviously since there isn’t a huge sprint or rates in the high 30’s/low 40’s range. That being said it’s just periodized training, just one step on the way to regatta season. Even if we didn’t have head race season we’d still train like this.

49

[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
We train differently for head race season and regatta season. There is less sprint work done during head race season obviously since there isn’t a huge sprint or rates in the high 30’s/low 40’s range. That being said it’s just periodized training,[/quote]

True, although I think, unless I am told differently, it is likely that I might allocate a training session to anaerobic. This is because in my view the head season is the basis for good regatta results, which is the general consensus, but as a result since you are training for a race that’s about 80% Aerobic/19% AT/1% Non-Lactic you need to have 1% of workouts dedicated to being able to get your rowers to place the strength they’ve gained from weights into the water. It’s all well and good being able to trundle down a 2k course at R36 but to win you have to be able to transfer the initial huge burst of power into the water effectively, not just at the start.

According to my book, all it’s not gospel by any means, the Non-lactic training has a duration in total of 2-6mins in which intervals of 5-20s are done with a rest of 1-3mins. So although they are small workouts its my belief they are still useful.

50

Has anyone actually seen a team do well with a 40+ stroke rating, excluding the last 500-250 meters of a 2k? I’ve seen a boat try and I thought they were going to have whip lash in their necks, not too mention they weren’t going anywhere.

51

[quote]CrewPierce wrote:
Has anyone actually seen a team do well with a 40+ stroke rating, excluding the last 500-250 meters of a 2k? I’ve seen a boat try and I thought they were going to have whip lash in their necks, not too mention they weren’t going anywhere.[/quote]

CP, yes I have my high school 8+ that beat you all when you were in college raced consistently at a 40-41 for sprint races. Raced well I might add.

Also take a look at any international 4 or 8 and most of them are around a 40 with great ratio.

52

[quote]echelon101 wrote:
LiquidMercury wrote:
We train differently for head race season and regatta season. There is less sprint work done during head race season obviously since there isn’t a huge sprint or rates in the high 30’s/low 40’s range. That being said it’s just periodized training,

True, although I think, unless I am told differently, it is likely that I might allocate a training session to anaerobic. This is because in my view the head season is the basis for good regatta results, which is the general consensus, but as a result since you are training for a race that’s about 80% Aerobic/19% AT/1% Non-Lactic you need to have 1% of workouts dedicated to being able to get your rowers to place the strength they’ve gained from weights into the water. It’s all well and good being able to trundle down a 2k course at R36 but to win you have to be able to transfer the initial huge burst of power into the water effectively, not just at the start.

According to my book, all it’s not gospel by any means, the Non-lactic training has a duration in total of 2-6mins in which intervals of 5-20s are done with a rest of 1-3mins. So although they are small workouts its my belief they are still useful.[/quote]

It just depends on when the major races are in head race season and in regatta season. Usually in head race season we try to peak at head of the schulykil in philly and in regatta season it’s whatever national championship we’re rowing at. The above workout was geared more towards off season work looking at expanding upon aerobic work while maintaining AN/AT work as well. I don’t truly try to expand upon my AN/AT until regatta season when it is much more prevalent.

53

Hmm not liking the new quoting format. Also anyone have any ideas as far as nutrition goes?

I’m trying to still lean out but maintain muscle.

I’m thinking 100g of carbs/day which will include a serving of Surge.

250g of protein

100g of fat?

That’d be roughly 2300 kcals which definitely seems a bit low for a rower who is lifting 3 days/week rowing 4-6 times a week.

I’m thinking I may have to up my carbs a bit. I do not want to be putting on weight due to the fact that I’ll be racing lightweight, that being said I need to give myself enough carbs to have good training sessions. Any thoughts on the amount?

54

[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
CrewPierce wrote:
Has anyone actually seen a team do well with a 40+ stroke rating, excluding the last 500-250 meters of a 2k? I’ve seen a boat try and I thought they were going to have whip lash in their necks, not too mention they weren’t going anywhere.

CP, yes I have my high school 8+ that beat you all when you were in college raced consistently at a 40-41 for sprint races. Raced well I might add.

Also take a look at any international 4 or 8 and most of them are around a 40 with great ratio.[/quote]

lol last I checked I wasn’t in that boat that you beat! Haha when I was in the top 8 we placed 8th at the Head of the Charles.

I know the Scottish Oly team keeps it at about a 37, same with China. Both go up to like a 45 for the last 500 though and at the start for that matter.

55

[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
CrewPierce wrote:
Has anyone actually seen a team do well with a 40+ stroke rating, excluding the last 500-250 meters of a 2k? I’ve seen a boat try and I thought they were going to have whip lash in their necks, not too mention they weren’t going anywhere.

CP, yes I have my high school 8+ that beat you all when you were in college raced consistently at a 40-41 for sprint races. Raced well I might add.

Also take a look at any international 4 or 8 and most of them are around a 40 with great ratio.[/quote]

On an intermediate level- i think it depends on how your oars are loaded, lighter oars, with a smaller spread with allow you to get the ratings up higher. Personally, i like rowing at higher rates. Provided you can row clean with good catches and fast hands away, and your fitness permits it, why not row higher?

I had a coach explain it to me this way- if my boat is racing at a 36 and your at a 32, over the course of 2000m race, your taking around 24 more total strokes (assuming around 6 min total for the race)its like 24 more opportunities to move your boat further and faster than the other crew (provided you don’t row like shit)

Regarding diet- in college I just ate a huge huge amount of cafeteria food, and I weighed anywhere from 215 in the fall, to around 198-200lb in the spring season. I couldn’t even begin to break down the macronutrients, but needless to say, if I saw food i’d eat it.

Now, I’m much more strict about what I eat. I keep a food log, and generally keep my protein around 220-240 grams per day, while trying to minimize and control the amount of carbs that I take in. I’d say most days I range between 60-100 grams of carbs. I’ve also begun supplementing with fish oil pills and green tea.

As far as total calories go- its roughly around 2500 by my reckoning, as I’m making a conscious effort to lean out so I improve my power to weight ratio and move small boats more effectively.

Right now I weigh around 191-195 most days, no idea what my body composition is like, but its much better than when I was rowing in college.

Keeping to a stricter diet, and supplementation has allowed me to make some pretty big gains, in strength and fitness.

Currently, my resting heart rate is around a 38, and I’ve improved my Vo2 max into the low to mid 70’s.

I’d say changes to my diet made the biggest impact on my rowing, it soo much easier to move a boat when you weigh 20lb less and have the same level of strength.

56

Good points Hawk and ones I’d agree with. I doubt that 2500 calories would be sufficient for me to maintain bodyweight considering I’m still leaning out at 1900 calories/day without rowing. Now that I’ve picked up rowing again I’m sure that I’ll be burning more then 600 calories doing that so I may go up to 2800-3000. Depends on how lean I can stay. I plan on racing lightweight and am down from 205 to 172 (as of this morning empty stomach low carbs for last few days). My strength has actually been going up this entire time which is a conundrum of sorts. Either I’m truly burning just fat or I’m really good at building strength. If I can manage to get stay at 170 or so and just drop water before a race I think I’ll be able to dominate some people once I get my aerobic capacity back.

I think Biotest should sponsor a rowing team. I mean they sponsor a cycling team, why not sponsor a rowing team. I think it’d be pretty bad ass. We can put boats together at the major races, schulykil, charles, hooch for the fall and in the spring go with US nationals in Indy and maybe a few other sprint races. Possibly bumps over in UK or maybe get Biotest to help with the training/nutrition of some doubles/singles to put out at trials and give a go at worlds. The possibilities are endless and probably won’t happen but hey it’s worth a shot.

57

[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
Good points Hawk and ones I’d agree with. I doubt that 2500 calories would be sufficient for me to maintain bodyweight considering I’m still leaning out at 1900 calories/day without rowing. Now that I’ve picked up rowing again I’m sure that I’ll be burning more then 600 calories doing that so I may go up to 2800-3000. Depends on how lean I can stay. I plan on racing lightweight and am down from 205 to 172 (as of this morning empty stomach low carbs for last few days). My strength has actually been going up this entire time which is a conundrum of sorts. Either I’m truly burning just fat or I’m really good at building strength. If I can manage to get stay at 170 or so and just drop water before a race I think I’ll be able to dominate some people once I get my aerobic capacity back.

I think Biotest should sponsor a rowing team. I mean they sponsor a cycling team, why not sponsor a rowing team. I think it’d be pretty bad ass. We can put boats together at the major races, schulykil, charles, hooch for the fall and in the spring go with US nationals in Indy and maybe a few other sprint races. Possibly bumps over in UK or maybe get Biotest to help with the training/nutrition of some doubles/singles to put out at trials and give a go at worlds. The possibilities are endless and probably won’t happen but hey it’s worth a shot.[/quote]

Haha as much as I would love to see a Biotest boat I’m not sure it gets enough attention as a sport for them to put their money into it. The only time we get on TV is for the olympics, so it would be a hard sell.

58

[quote]CrewPierce wrote:

Haha as much as I would love to see a Biotest boat I’m not sure it gets enough attention as a sport for them to put their money into it. The only time we get on TV is for the olympics, so it would be a hard sell.[/quote]

Well not like you ever see Biotest cycling team on TV. Who knows maybe Biotest could dominate the nutrition/training of rowing and bring all sorts clients in just by being a known name. I mean heck how many people tried the v-diet after the physique clinics and Gus’s transformation. If people saw that one team was dominating everyone due to their training/nutrition I bet Biotest would get a ton more business by having an entire sport go with their stuff.

59

Nothing like tapping down through fat…

As far as sponsoring is concerned in the UK Deloitte sponsors a lot of university rowing clubs although how much they pay the clubs to put “Deloitte” on their boats and kit I do not know. Meryll Lynch supports the Oxford Crew I know for sure.

I doubt Cressey/Waterbuy/CT would be able to providea a full training program incl ergs and weights for rowing in the manner that Spracklen et al would be able to them. And to be far to them it’s not in their remit, although Cressey could probably help with technique and injury prevention.

As an aside there is no way a rower whilst training would be able to do the V-Diet.

In terms of Biotest support for a squad, the provision of supplements, a rowing team should not be taking, in my opinion;

Superfood, should have balanced diet anyway
Any Spike Products, caffeine and rowing = no
HOT-ROX/Carbolin 19, no need for fat supps
Test boosters, should have balanced diet anyway
Rez-V, should have balanced diet anyway
Creatine, non-effective mass
Power Drive, same as spike
Grow!, same as superfood

which leaves

Metabolic Drive Stuff
Surge
BCAA

Whilst there maybe an argument for Surge, for it’s combination of salts/carb/protein, and BCAA, for it’s anti-catabolism, post- and pre-workouts the nutrients for Metabolic Drive should really come from whole foods. If Biotest did an electrolyte replacement drink (Lucozade Hydroactive or SiS) then it would be applicable.

However I do see no reason that Biotest would not be able to find a boatclub that would be unwilling to sport their logo for commision.

In the UK Lucozade and Red Bull regularly give out free products in order for rowers to be shown to be consuming these products so that the layman who does 30 minutes on the treadmill will go “oooohhh buy buy a rowing is using it”

60

I think a Biotest uni could look pretty sweet. As far as supps go, I would agree except for Superfood and creatine. There is always a place for those. Creatine will help with ATP conversion which in rowing is definitely a good thing once we go anaerobic. And everyone can always use Flameout. I really just want an excuse to use that Surge Workout Fuel that all the physique clinic guys got heh.

Side note/plug I just put RMP thread up so feel free to go have a look see.