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Successful Rowers – 8 Personality Traits You Must Have

December 21, 2010 / / 3 Comments

But I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep – Robert Frost (1874 – 1963)

1. Stubborn

“I will NOT give in! – No way…” Even in the face of an earth shattering storm, or a length down with 250 meters to go, or being told to go home – you’re not good enough. This is truly a magnificent  personality trait of all great rowers.

Think of times when you did something extraordinary, a time when you continued on into the storm when those all around you fell away.

You kept going, you persevered through night and day despite people firing negative shots at you from the shadows. You kept going despite them and despite… yourself.

And you got there. You stood on that podium, or on that erg room floor, victorious after a life altering, mentally ravaging battle. And you did not even flinch.
 

2. Optimist

Everyone loves an optimist – especially a realistic optimist. Great rowers have this personality trait in spades.

How many times have you been in a dark situation in your rowing or erging life when you stepped forward and offered yourself a glimmer of hope?

A small, instantly realisable task that you can set to work on and learn to row your way out of darkness. And then you cherish that optimism and nurture it and grow it into something tangible. And you row out into the light.
 

3. Obsessive

Do you think about rowing more than 7 times a day? Do you surf the web endlessly searching for new answers to age old rowing problems. Maybe you talk a lot about rowing and your friends do too? That’s ok. You’re probably a rowing obsessive – and that’s exactly what you need to be.

Most of your best ideas and discoveries will come when you occupy at the back of your mind, thoughts of rowing .

Opportunities will arise and new ways of looking at your rowing life will present themselves to you when you are alert and open.
 

4. Dreamer

Sports psychologists and self help gurus talk about visualisation. Which is just a fancy way of describing day dreaming.

I bet that you dream from time to time in broad daylight.

From winning the big race next summer to smashing your P.B. at the CRASH B’s to sitting in the stroke seat of the 2016 Olympic winning 8.

We all do it. Or maybe it’s more immediate dreams like pulling a big score on the erg at your next team workout and impressing your coach.

To be successful at rowing you must dream. And you must dream big – with emotion.

Think about how it will feel when you hit your goal, think of the details – little things like the sounds, smells, environment, the water conditions, air temperature…whatever. If you can dream well then chances are that one day, when your time comes, you’ll take it with both hands.
 

5. Honest

Most rowers have a degree of honesty about them that’s often difficult to come across in ordinary everyday life. Rowers live in the real world – the world of cold, hard early mornings and heavy training late in the evening.

Rowers live in a world where the old cliché (even though we don’t like it) ‘no pain, no gain’ rings cold, hard and true.

Always has, always will.

Be honest with yourself, in your training, in your racing, in your commitment and in who you are. And you will be rewarded with a great honesty back from rowing.
 

6. Realistic

Everyone knows a rowing nut that just keeps talking that they are going to do this and do that. You know the type – the guys who say they are going to be in the top 8 by next summer. It’s hard not to be sceptical of this kinda talk.

And you know what, every rowing group needs one.

But the best rowers are realistic. They know where they’re at and they know where they want to go. And most of the time they have a good plan on how they’re going to get there.

How do you square being realistic with dreaming? Well, most realistic dreamers have realistic dreams – goals that they someday can reach if they believe in hard work.
 

7. Judgemental

Have you rarely, if ever come across a rower who is not a good judge? Every day rowers must make big calls in the boat, on the erg, and in the gym about themselves and about others.

And when a rower is making those big calls they grow into wise, insightful, wonderful people.

Using intuition, experience, intelligence and reason they become like the Oracle at Delphi – a great symbol of ancient and revered knowledge.
 

8. Trustworthy

Imagine you had to go into a life and death battle. And you knew that your life depended on the work ethic, intelligence, bravery and trustworthiness of  the people you choose to go with you.

Who would you choose?

If you had to pick 3  – 5 people that you could honestly trust to fight-the-good-fight with, who would those people be?

You would choose the best rowers you know because they are the kind of people who will fight for you and with you right up to the end and beyond.

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Erg Rowing Tests – 7 Tips For Domination

December 18, 2010 / / 5 Comments

Ok, preparing for an erg test involves  making sure you do things like some good 2k erg specific workouts. It should also involve having a solid 2k erg strategy as well as doing some mental preparation for the test itself.

But there are a lot of other things that you can do to help you score a good 2k. Let’s take a look.

#1 Nutrition

For endurance athletes like us, we need lots and lots of carbohydrates. Because intense erging burns gets it’s fuel from carbs you need to make sure you eat diet high in carbohydrates. I’ve followed this rule for many years and the difference between a high-carb diet and a low-carb diet is like the difference between night and day.

# 2 Hydration

You can run car with gas, but if you don’t have oil in the engine you’re going to blow it. Your body needs water like a car engine needs oil. Water is lubricant. And because you wouldn’t want to put any old oil into your BMW, you wouldn’t want to put any old water into your body.

You need a good hydration strategy that ensures you are topped up and ready to pull hard. Sports drinks like Gatorade are good because they have electrolytes that help you retain the fluid. Otherwise you’ll be just pouring water down the drain – literally!

# 3 Lactate Threshold

The best workout in the world for erg test preparation is 3 times 1000 meters faster than race pace. You need to do this session 1 or 2 times per week for maximum effect. Warm up well and set the C2 Erg monitor for 1000 meter intervals with 3 minutes rest. Go off hard and maintain a pace that you can hold for the entire piece.

Hold on towards the finish and make sure you do not back off the power. Repeat 3 times. Each 1000 will get harder but this is ok – it’s where you earn your race day pain tolerance gold.

# 4 Caffeine

Taking on a good dose of coffee roughly an hour before a hard workout or test can work wonders for your perceived effort. Some studies have shown a 6% drop in perceived effort after the ingestion of caffeine.

But the thing with caffeine is that tolerance can kill its potency. If you are a regular drinker of coffee, tea, caffeine drinks or even high percentage cocoa chocolate – the benefit you will gain on race day will be reduced significantly. For best results, stay off all caffeine for about 2 weeks before a big race. You might suffer a little from DTs but stick with it – it will be worth it.

# 5 Mental Toughness

This term is as elusive as it is important. Mental strength and Erging go hand in hand. Embrace the fact that you are a unique person able to withstand large amounts of suffering and discomfort. It’s what sets us apart. If you are having problems with your toughness examine your physical condition. Most mental strength issues have their source in over-training, poor hydration and nutrition or lack of fitness.

# 6 Race Strategy

I’ve mentioned at the beginning that you need a solid 2k erg strategy. But I want to mention again how important it is to have a race approach – particularly 2k race strategy. And while it’s something that you can learn and get better at with experience, you can avoid many mistakes by talking to other more experienced ergers. Ultimate erg domination will only come when you have nailed down an excellent world class 2k erg tactics.

# 7 Relax on the Burn

One major difference between the average and the dominant erg rowers is their ability to row the last 500 meters almost like it’s their first. All good race plans are almost symmetrical – the first and last 500’s are fast with the middle 1000 slower. Because the last 500 is cumulative it’s where the most pain is.

The best way the top rowers deal with it is by being more relaxed the harder it gets. Tense muscles will only lead to a restriction of blood flow to the parts of the body that need it most. So row like the champions – and stay loose.

Next Steps – Supporting Articles

Strategy

https://ergrowing.com/crash-your-2k-erg-score-test-strategy/
https://ergrowing.com/advanced-2k-erg-test-indoor-rowing-strategy-part-1/
https://ergrowing.com/advanced-2k-erg-test-indoor-rowing-strategy-part-2/

Workouts

https://ergrowing.com/rowing-rhythm-workout/
https://ergrowing.com/indoor-rowing-workouts-boost-your-vo2-max/
https://ergrowing.com/race-winning-rowing-workouts/

Mental preparation

https://ergrowing.com/mentally-prepare-for-a-2k-erg-test/

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Strapless Erging Will Fix Excessive Lay Back.

December 17, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Sit on the erg and pull a few light strokes without putting your feet into the straps.

Most who try this for the first time end up falling back off the seat as their feet rise from the foot plate. And Ergers who have excessive lie back usually end up on the floor!

    • The first secret to successful strapless Erging is timing. You must aim to finish your legs back and arm power phase at roughly the same time. When you do well, your natural lean back angle will be at about 2 o clock. When it is done very well, your chest and core open up and your shoulder blades almost pinch together at the finish. The upshot of this is that it allows your lungs to function very well.
    • Point your toes and straighten your legs. The second secret for successful strapless Erging is to keep pressure on the foot plate at all times – especially at the finish of the stroke.
    • When you first try this you will really feel as though you are cutting the power phase short by about a third. For while it will feel counter intuitive, but stick with it. I always begin my workouts with a couple of minutes warming up with strapless feet. And when I go back to normal feet, the difference is amazing.
    • Work on your core. Lots of excessive layback is caused by default – weak stomach muscles and core. Engage your core during the power phase to brace yourself and use it to prevent laying back excessively.

    Low Pull or High Pull?

    • If you Erg with a long lean back you must pull high because otherwise the handle would end up somewhere below your waist!
    • The most efficient path for the handle to travel from the start to the end of the power phase is in a straight line. And as level a handle as possible. Imagine looking at yourself from the side when you are on the erg. You can see the handle moving perfectly parallel to the floor around and around in a smooth cyclical rhythm.
    • More often than not the handle is drawn in too high. This is caused by too much arm pulling at the finish. If you have this problem, think about powering up early in the stroke and releasing the handle early towards the body in a smooth horizontal motion.

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    Erg Workout Recovery Strategy – 7 Great Tips

    December 15, 2010 / / 0 Comments

    Do you have an erg workout recovery strategy? Are you confident your current recovery strategy is giving you the best type of recovery from a hard rowing session?

    Read on to see if you are getting the most out of your erg sessions by boosting your recovery.

     

    1. Warm Down

    You absolutely positively need to warm down after each erg workout. This is especially true for intense sessions. But it’s also true for easier sessions. The harder the session is, the more time you need to spend warming down.

    There is a big difference between warming down and cooling down. Cooling down is merely lowering your body temperature back to normal levels so that you stop sweating. Warming down involves a bit more.

    A proper warm down involves active movement on the erg or another exercise such as stationary bike or jogging. Exercising at a low intensity will help you to clear up your system from any lactic acid and unwanted by-products from training that will impede your recovery.

    I usually like to jog because I find that it releases me from the pressure of the erg and allows me to start warming down mentally. And warming down doing a different exercise speeds warm down and cleanup process.


     

    2. Stretch.

    Have you ever felt tight buttocks and hamstrings after erging? Ever felt tight arms or shoulders? Even a tight back? Well it takes time for your body to release and heal temporary tightness.

    Boost your recovery time by giving your body a leg up on the road to recovery. Do some static stretching or consider a massage. A hot bath will certainly help or if you have access to a jacuzzi try it out.

     

    3. Eat within the golden window.

    All the experts agree that the best time to boost recovery by refuelling with HI – GI carbohydrates is within 20 minutes of the workout. In other words this is the 20 minute golden window.

    When I say immediately – I mean immediately – even before you hit the shower! Once you begin your cool down, begin your refuelling. This requires a little extra organisation on your part before the workout. Bring along a HI-GI snack which you can start eating right after your workout. I usually have a sports energy bar or a banana right beside my water bottle. Think easy access when you are tired.

    The 20 minute window is important because your body is in an elevated state of absorption during this time where it can guzzle any carbs you feed it. After the 20minute window the absorption slows down -a bit like trying to refil the gas tank of a car with a straw rather than a fire hose!

     

    4. Eat a meal rich in carbohydrates within 2 hours of working-out.

    Snacking within the golden window won’t really cut it if you have spent an hour doing hard intervals on the erg. In a hard session you might have burned over 1000 calories -a high proportion from glycogen.

    So you need to eat a proper meal with a lot of LOW-GI carbohydrates within 2 hours of working out. You should ALSO include protein in the meal to help your body the heeling process.

    Eating within 2 hours is important because the body is it’s most receptive for refuelling during this period – it’s crying out to be refuelled – so feed it. Lots of studies show that the absorption rate declines significantly after this 2 hour period.

     

    5. Active Recovery.

    If you plan on having a day or a couple of days rest after an erg workout it might be a good idea to consider doing some active recovery to help boost your healing.

    Basically this means you should do some very light exercise on a recovery day to expedite your recovery. Anything from taking a walk to a light jog to a swim or whatever can really help your body clear out any residual debris from the previous days’ workout.

    If I can I love going for a nice easy swim because it helps me do some light exercise while at the same time relaxing my muscles in the water. On the days I can’t swim I just go for a nice brisk walk and enjoy the outdoors.

     

    6. Switch off.

    Learning to switch off after an erg workout is another magical tool to boost rapid recovery. While it’s fine to think about and digest the workout you just had and think about your general position -it’s a whole other thing to not leave it behind.  Don’t obsess about it – especially if things are not going well.

     

    7. Sleep.

    We all need different amounts of sleep – depending on lots of factors. But the one sure thing with Erging hard day-in-day-out, is that sleep is the most important recovery tool of all. When you sleep, magical things happen.

    Thousands of processes occur in your body that help recovery from many things involved in day to day life – including exercise. Top rowers know the importance of sleep and use it to their advantage.

    Many rowers sleep the regular 8 hours per night but they also have cat naps during the day. Rowing at the top level requires 2 or more workouts per day and they often use the gap between sessions to catch a 30 minute cat nap.

    Napping boosts recovery by helping the body produce natural growth hormone which is essential for muscle repair.

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    Best Shoes For Erg – 3 Every Erger Must Try

    December 14, 2010 / / 8 Comments

    It might be a surprise to know that when it comes to footwear for Erging the less cushioning the better. Many Ergers have their favourite shoe that they consider the best for Erging and decide on comfort. This normally means a pair of running shoes. While it’s fine for most erg workouts have you ever thought about the energy you could be losing through all that cushioning?

    The power you apply to the foot plate on the erg is crucial to the power you are can transfer through your body and on to the handle. But imagine if a small percentage of the power you apply was being absorbed in your shoes? This can add up over a long training session and cause a lot of your rowing power to be absorbed by the cushioning of your footwear.

    Cyclists and weightlifters wear flat stiff soled shoes with very little cushioning. There is good reason for this – to transfer power efficiently without any waste. Imagine trying to cycle a bike with a big pair of spongy shoes. It’s not difficult to see that there would be a delay and loss of efficiency in the transfer of your leg power to the pedals.

    Imagine an Olympic Weightlifter attempting to break the Olympic Record in the snatch. He squats down, grabs the bar and lifts. Before the weights even move off the ground his leg power must be transferred to his feet and levered off the ground.

    If he were wearing a pair of spongy well cushioned shoes what would you say are his chances of getting the weight over his head?

    But you and I when we are Erging are no different. The force applied on the footplate might be less but the loss in efficiency could cost us as much.

    Now we Ergers do need a little more flexibility so that we can slide up to the catch and the beginning of the rowing stroke without ankle discomfort. But it still doesn’t mean we need the protective cushioning of a running shoe designed for running. The shoes in a rowing boat don’t have much cushioning – just enough to make things comfortable. So why should Erging be any different?

    Here’s what I recommend are the best shoes for those big erg test days:
    1. Track shoes without the spikes
    2. Weightlifting shoes
    3. Sneakers without the insole
    4. Tennis or Squash Shoes

    Or alternatively there is the option of Erging without shoes or erg barefoot. Some Ergers find that this gives them more of a feel and a more efficient power phase. You could use a pair of socks to try prevent the discomfort of blisters, although there is little you can do about them. Like your hands, it will take some time to toughen them up.

    Erg training with just a pair of regular sneakers for training is fine, but to get the most out of your legs and transfer some great rowing power to the erg footplate for erg tests – think about trying out my recommendations.

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