(Part 3) Top products from r/Rowing

>I would argue that it is just as important at that stage to build strength as to build aerobic fitness. A well monitored weights program can help build the base strength needed for proper technique and to prevent injury.

Thank you. On that topic, as long as we're beating sacred cows...

Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, and other linear progression programs are not designed for athletes. Period. They are designed for recreational novice lifters to become recreational not-novice lifters. Sure, maybe Ripp used some variation of it with his Wichita Falls HS football team, but the program itself is designed for people who go to the gym, hit the squat rack, then go home and watch Netflix. I have asked in other threads for anyone who pulls sub 6:30 and has trained Starting Strength for more than 3 months to come forward. I have yet to hear from anyone.

Rowing uses a lot of back and legs. Duh. Squatting and/or deadlifting 3 times a week AND expecting you to improve by X increment every session also uses a lot of back and legs (duh) and is a recipe for plateaus, injury, and ineffective erging and rowing.

The purpose of strength training for rowing is to make you a better, healthier rower. Not a powerlifter, not a bodybuilder, not to get striations in your pecs, not to be a Navy SEAL.

Consider another approach that takes into account the variable of sport training. This will usually be lower volume, higher but not maximal intensity (ie weekly/daily 5RM's), a broader exercise selection, and a more flexible progression of weight (ie not linear progression).

The broader exercise selection is important to prevent injury. Rowing is an asymmetrical, but two-dimensional sport. "3d sports" involve movement in different planes, running, jumping, etc. Squats, deadlifts, and bench presses are great. But so are overhead presses, front squats, chin-ups, dips, incline presses, push presses, romanian deadlifts, and face pulls.

For the same reasons that the blanket recommendation of "2x45 mins every day" doesn't always hold up, "do Starting Strength" isn't the best recommendation. It's an easy answer often provided by novices to other novices.

Westside for Skinny Bastards is a good program.

Bigger, Faster, Stronger is a good program.

Forgive the T-Nipple link, but 5/3/1 is a good program and is based on Bigger, Faster, Stronger with a little more math.

What these programs have in common, and why they're superior for athletes, is the flexibility and the lower volume and frequency. Go harder when you can go harder, don't go as hard when you can't go as hard. You'll have to learn exactly what that means and how to manage it. This is referred to as "autoregulation" in strength training, but that's not as important as just doing it. It will be more natural, more beneficial, and lead to more enjoyable and productive training for pre-college athletes.

Boat Race before last the bowman of the winning boat was 5'10", huge heart and lungs, and weighed in the mid 80's (KGs) if I recall, so built pretty solid.

To go sub 6 is the elite standard, but don't forget weight adjustment, there's no point going sub 6 mins if you weight 200kg, no one's going to enjoy dragging a hippo in thier boat if he's not pulling his own weight and then some, the calculator and an explanation of weight adjustment are available here http://www.concept2.com/us/interactive/calculators/weight_adjustment.asp
Train on sliders, or take out a single, there is 10x the chance of an injury in land training than on the water.
long steady pieces are also good, don't even go for distance, just sit on an erg for 30 mins, an hour or even 90 mins, it won't wreck you because it shouldn't, but it will improve your times.

READ: You're going to have to live and breath rowing, I'd recomend the following (Not that I've read them all, but i've ordered them and almost finished the original print of Rowing Faster)

http://www.amazon.com/Rowing-Faster-2nd-Volker-Nolte/dp/0736090401/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314681440&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/High-Performance-Rowing-John-McArthur/dp/1861260393/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b http://www.amazon.com/Lactate-Threshold-Training-Peter-Janssen/dp/0736037551/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314681471&sr=1-1

You're gonna need to know more about rowing and training than anyone on the team, because the hours you'll be putting in will make you your own coach.

I would like to add some videos I've found useful in helping me learn how to do Shell Repair.

How to Make small repairs on your racing shells (Vespoli's Glen McDermott)

Racing Shell Hole Repair (Part 1) crankyriggr

Racing Shell Hole Repair (Part 2)

Bill Elliot Filippi 1x 454 start to finish (Shell Repair USA) (Advanced Expert Work)

Pocock Shell Repair video

List of Boat Repair, Painting, and Waxing videos I compiled

If anyone else has some similar videos, I'd love to add them to my list.


Here is a book on Amazon that goes over some of the same stuff

I (male, 82 kg, UK) was coached to erg at a drag factor of 130, so that's what I do for both endurance and sprints. That's in the range recommended by Concept2:

> Adults

> - Male heavyweight (over 75 kg) - 125-140

> - Male lightweight (under 75 kg) - 120-135

> - Female heavyweight (over 61.5 kg) - 120-130

> - Female lightweight (under 61.5 kg) - 115-125

Now, The Complete Guide to Indoor Rowing makes a compelling argument that for prolonged erging, lower drag factors can reduce injury without compromising training value. Rowing Australia heeds that advice and recommends the following instead:

> Adults

> - Male heavyweight (over 75 kg) - 115

> - Male lightweight (under 75 kg) - 105

> - Female heavyweight (over 61.5 kg) - 105

> - Female lightweight (under 61.5 kg) - 95

The other way to think about this is that the drag factor is intended to mimic the type of boat you row in. Valery Kleshnev has worked that out for all the various boat classes (accounting for work done by other rowers in the boat and sweep/sculling blades contributing to a lighter or heavier feel to the boat, and, frankly, a number of other metrics that I don't understand yet). Then, according to that link above, the appropriate drag factors would be:

> - 1x - 127

> - 2x - 103

> - 4x - 84

> - 2- - 127

> - 4- - 100

> - 8+ - 86

... which I'd be happy to follow, but, whoof, good luck trying to convince my coach to let me erg at df=86 ;).

I'm kind of in the same boat erg as you. I've been doing 5/3/1 for a couple of years now, and just took up rowing this winter. I've been running Pete's Plan. I'm still doing the 5/3/1 main lifts (with a little reduced volume), but instead of the accessory work, I row. I lift first, then row, then some stretching. So far, it's working for me.

Given your age (i.e. our ages), you'll want to read The Barbell Prescription. Check out the chapter on conditioning; they do an excellent comparison of running, treadmills, rowing, etc, vis-a-vis aging knees and other body parts.

This is on my summer reading list: "The Shell Game: Reflections on Rowing and the Pursuit of Excellence" by Stephen Kiesling

http://www.amazon.com/The-Shell-Game-Reflections-Excellence/dp/0963846191

>fellow water gaychainers

This is how we're going to identify each other in pubic from now on. If you hear somebody use the term "water gaychain" you'll know they're a Redditer.

Just echoing what the other guys have said, back off the SS at least for a bit and make sure you're stretching a lot. More than you think you need to. The reason your back is sore is probably partly due to your job if you're sitting for the majority of that time (in addition to time spent commuting). Could you maybe try getting a different office chair and seeing if that helps? My boyfriend's had that issue in the past and getting a butt pillow (these), as we call them, has usually helped things as well.

"Blood over water" is another excellent rowing read.

Agreed on the biking, swimming, and running for cardio (do be careful with running though, it's the one cardio activity I've ever gotten injured from).

Also though I'd throw in a good number of circuits to improve strength. Even without a gym there are TONS of bodyweight workouts you can do that will utterly kill you (jumpies, 8-counts, all sorts of ab exercises, pullups if you can find a place to hang from, pushups, and all sorts of variations/combinations of those). Google bodyweight workouts to find some, or if you have a bit of money you can buy some bands for resistance workouts.

edit: and by kill you I mean in a good way. In that you'll be exhausted afterward and get in great shape.

Two of these and something like this

I really recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/Short-Snarky-Guide-Coxing-Rowing/dp/1500906107

Oh America... The concept of not having health insurance is still fairly foreign to me.

I would suggest that you give yourself a week off pain-inducing exercises and introduce a serious foam rolling regime & stretching. I highly recommend the book Becoming a Supple Leopard - http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Supple-Leopard-Preventing-Performance/dp/1936608588 - if you are in the business of self diagnosis and treatment. I use it quite often when I have a pinch or pull that I need to work out.

https://www.amazon.com/Last-Amateurs-Hell-Back-Cambridge/dp/1848310153/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1511885515&sr=1-2&keywords=the+last+amateurs

Here it is, your new best friend

Creo que esto es lo que estás buscando.

https://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Rowers-Building-Physical-Strength/dp/1450546935/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?keywords=yoga+for+rowers&qid=1574693331&sr=8-2

This has all the earmarks of an application of certain business rules. I know of no rowing organizations that simply discriminate against women - or other people - because of who or what they are. However I know of many organizations and individuals who draw the line at individuals they simply don't get along with. https://www.amazon.com/Asshole-Rule-Civilized-Workplace-Surviving/dp/1600245854

tell me more :-) ... I found some more info - it's a body filler paste not a tape

Edit: sorry - I misread your comment - I thought you were saying it was like Gorilla Glue Tape, but that was just me being confused.