Rowing Program

Ass pain, compression shorts and jog bras

Occasionally we will hear people complain about how their bony paleo butts are inconvenienced by rowing workouts.  Mind you these are people sitting on padded (not wooden seats).  Mind you these are people sitting on completely level and stable work platforms (not tippy vessels that routinely crash down to the port or starboard, or worse can list to starboard for miles).  No these people are safe indoors and not buffeted by cold, wind and the relentless back splash of the morons you happen to be rowing with, no this is not the case at all.  It is not exactly that this whining falls on deaf ears, but I have seen Alex have to physically restrain Louisa on a couple occasions. 

Having said that we feel your pain.  Get a patch of ¼” thick close celled foam, about the size of the concept II seat, cut out two silver dollar size holes where the sit bone indentions are (optional), then put two loops of duck tape on the bottom, place the pad down on your favorite machine and the nick name sweet cheeks will no longer be superfluous.

Men.  Depending on your size each one of your legs probably weighs between 50 and 85 lbs.  When you are rowing right those mules are slamming down as fast as they can.  You do not want your junk to get caught between those presses.  Get a good pair of compression shorts and keep everything high and tight.

Women. The rowing stroke finishes right under your breasts and just above your rib pointers.  We don’t finish at our chins, our necks, or our navels; we accelerate right into the sternum.  If this reality dictates certain jog bra choices, most excellent.

Workouts:

Primary – 4 X 3 ½ minutes seat races.  Last year’s race pace – 4 (spm); fan setting = 95% of last year’s race pace.  Rest Interval – 5 minute.

Secondary – 2 x 6 min; 24-28 spm; you chose first fan setting for first piece, second piece = 4 guys, 3 girls; Rest Interval – 7 min.

It’s more of a pry than a pull

If someone were to hold a gun to your head and insist that you either do soul crushing work all night long or dance all night long.  Which would you choose?  If you’re a friend of KO’s the choice should be obvious.  And that’s going to outline the major enhancement to this year’s rowing program.

Last year’s performance was outstanding.  We trained hard, had good technique, outstanding conditioning and great race savvy.  Our performance at the Mile High Sprints was a resounding confirmation.  So the levers for improving  are few.

My goal this year is to continue to do what we did well last year, and to increase our awareness and experience of rowing as a dance; a brutal and somewhat medieval dance, but a dance with a tempo and rhythm none the less.  If we can capture that tempo and bring it to the erg, I think it will make all of us that much more of a force to be reckoned with.

On the water eight men (or women) convert, 8 - 12’ 6” carbon fibers oars into levers that in unison behave like a series of compound bows that flex mightily and then launch a 70 foot long  paper thin water dart with about one ton of loose cargo around 120 feet down the race course.  With that spring and pop, and water’s demand for grace, it is possible to concentrate oneself into a rhythm of work that significantly exceeds the amount of work one can actually do.

As with any dance, we need good foot work.  So we will drill a lot this year.  We are going to video as much as we can.  But footwork is not enough.  Every dance has its demands for rhythm, timing, body position, cadence, and in this case a savage intensity that is often best served by rowing above 30 strokes per minute. 

FRCF rowers always have two goals.  One – to be efficient and comfortable with pacing so that rowing is not an obstacle to WOD performance.  Two – to be able to blaze a 2000M piece like no body’s business.  This rowing program is about goal two.  

We will get very good at rowing at a high cadence.  For some of our bigger guys this will be challenging.  For some of us we may race down the course at 28 spm and that will be most optimal.  But I think for a number of us, we will find a higher gear than we had last year.  Lots of work.

Workouts:

Primary – Five x (3+30) stroke pieces above 28 strokes per minute; fan setting = 4 guys, 3 girls.  (3 + 30) means you are paddling and then you take 3 full slide strokes to build pressure and wheel speed.  The fourth stroke is at full pressure and the first stroke of your full pressure 30.  (3+30) 3 to build and 30 to go, plenty of rest between pieces.

Secondary – 3 x 3 min track “Drag Factor” over each piece.  Move the fan by at least 0.5 settings between pieces.  Observe how diff you feel with diff fan settings, and observe what happens to drag factor number. 

• Improve your rowing technique and efficiency
• Greatly expand your total Met-Con(?) work capacity
• Train and prepare for the Mile High Rowing Championships in January
• Any athlete qualifying for the world championships in February will get further programming and preparation help

Our 2011 Program will start with two Seminars:

Saturday, September 10, 2011 - 2 - 4:00 PM
&
Friday, September 16, 2011 - 5PM – 7PM

If you have not taken a FRCF Rowing Seminar

OR

last winter’s rowing program, please make one of these seminars.

________________________

Winter Rowing Program begins Wednesday, September 21^st @ 7pm.

Class is limited to 28 FRCF members; if you intend to take part in the Winter Rowing Program please touch base with Skip or Jodi.

The Rowing Program has ended for the 2013 season. It will resume around Sept 2014.

To help prepare CrossFit athletes to compete in the Concept 2 World Indoor Rowing Championships, Front Range CrossFit has put together a winter rowing program.

Big Jon Kissick, FRCF's Rowing Coach, will post two weekly rowing workouts on Sunday, a primary and secondary workout.  Those athletes whose main objective is to compete at the Indoor Rowing World Championships should do both workouts.  If the reason you are doing the rowing workouts is simply to improve your rowing abilities to improve as a CrossFitter, just do the primary workout.  The workouts are designed to be done in conjuction with your regular CrossFit workouts. 

If we can get everyone to post their weekly workout times to the comment section on this page it will be much easiter to monitor our progress.  And you can ask any questions that come up about the workouts here as well. 

The workouts will be tailored toward improving a CrossFit athlete’s aerobic capacity for rowing and anaerobic threshold.  The training goal is to prepare as intelligently as possible for the Colorado qualifier - the Mile High Sprints. 

As a CrossFitter, you already have great work capacity.  With a little bit of rowing technique work and some time spent getting used to the unique level of suffering that a 2,000 meter rowing piece offers, it is amazing to see what CrossFitters can accomplish on a rower.

Those that choose to continue on to the C.R.A.S.H - Bs are invited to continue to use this training resource as they prepare for Worlds in Boston in February.  But even for those that do not choose to compete at the Mile High Sprints or at the World Championships, this is a great opportunity to improve your rowing performance, your overall conditioning level, and your ability to excel at any CrossFit workout involving rowing. 

The FRCF athletes that are going to compete at the Mile High Sprints will be doing the primary rowing workout on Thrusday evenings at 7 PM.  We will post the FRCF athlete's results either Thursday night or Friday during the day.