Rowing Intervals
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I'm 5'6", so not tall but not short either. I feel like my hand and wrist strength is lacking some, catching the ball off the wall seems to be the challenge for me.0
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I'm 5'6", so not tall but not short either. I feel like my hand and wrist strength is lacking some, catching the ball off the wall seems to be the challenge for me.
I have found the target version (like on the Rogue racks) make my throws more consistent which make the catches easier. I’m hoping I can eventually translate that to a regular wall, where I focus on one spot on the wall when I throw each time. Hitting a different spot means a different downward path.
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bostonwolf wrote: »^are you tall? Rowing and wallballs both favor us tall people, so I'm just curious.
This explains why they're basically the only two movements where I don't feel like a total noob
There is a reason (amongst the men) that you don't see many elite, competitive crossfitters over 6' tall. Rich Froning is pretty much the ideal blend of strength and conditioning at about 5'10 185. For me to mirror his body type at 6'3, I'd weight about 220. That's 35 more lbs I'd have to schlep around while doing bodyweight movements and 5 more inches the bar has to travel on any overhead barbell movement.
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Im short and I like rowing and wall balls
You can like them all you want, but on the mean tall people will find them easier.
For example. I weight about 290lbs. I'm strong but I have a lot of work to do before I'd be anywhere near what I'd consider to be "in shape."
My PR for a 500m row is about 1:30. The only thing keeping it from being faster is my cardio conditioning. I can maintain a 1:20 pace for about 45 seconds, then I'm just holding on for dear life the rest of the way.
I also have the benefit of a wife who rowed at Syracuse, so my form is pretty efficient. Having long arms and legs lets you create a huge amount of power on the rower. Shorter folks can also excel but it's much harder for them.
The US Mens 8 Olympic rowing team runs 6'5, 6'2, 6'7, 6'6, 6'9, 6'5, 6'5, 6'4.0 -
I'm 5'6", so not tall but not short either. I feel like my hand and wrist strength is lacking some, catching the ball off the wall seems to be the challenge for me.
This is true for anyone. I'm good for a while but if we're doing Karen, at some point I'm using mostly my left hand (dominant hand) to get it up there, like shooting a 20 lbs basketball0 -
The most efficient way of catching the ball is in exactly the same position you would throw it from ie. having to shuffle it into position after the catch is not efficient. We've had them as a skill session sometimes and it's actually really difficult to catch them right. And yeah, for short people you have to either throw the ball up harder which loses some accuracy or you have to actually squat jump which will burn out your legs much faster. Definitely not fun.0
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bostonwolf wrote: »I'm 5'6", so not tall but not short either. I feel like my hand and wrist strength is lacking some, catching the ball off the wall seems to be the challenge for me.
This is true for anyone. I'm good for a while but if we're doing Karen, at some point I'm using mostly my left hand (dominant hand) to get it up there, like shooting a 20 lbs basketball
It's so nice to hear I'm not the only one feeling like they are shooting an overweight basketball! I've never seen the target on the racks before. Our box is pretty compact; so always are throwing against the wall.
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We throw above a line on the wall (there a slightly higher one for men) - its pretty high though! Karen was tough, especially with all the squats, but I did it in rounds of 7 which seemed to suit me as I burn out fast without a short break.0
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bostonwolf wrote: »
Lol! I often notice that when we are warming up - everyone else seems to be rowing a lot slower than me to reach the same distance!0 -
Being stronger and relatively tall (5’11”), I do a 1-2-1 cadence with a very hard pull (breathing out), sit in the back position for a breath in and out, then move forward (breathing in). It comes out to about 19 rpm. Whereas when I first started, I was at 33 to 35 rpm. The stronger pulls and letting the flywheel spin for a second or so gives me a lot more distance for less energy output.
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^^ very true. Watch your strokes per minute on the display. The lower you can get them with really big strong pulls the better.
Rowing is a very big deal in Cambridge (UK), and there's a large rowing community. The one that is the most fun as a spectator is called The Bumps:
Teams are 8 crew plus cox. Each boat starts at a designated position on the river Cam spaced a standard distance apart (might be 100m, I don't know) and then the aim is to catch up the boat in front of you and bump into them. If you get bumped, you're out. If you do the bumping, you advance to the next stage. It lasts several days and it's usually in the spring or autumn when the weather isn't hideous, so we all go to pubs along the river and watch. The tradition is for ladies spectating to note the number of the crew they think is the most attractive
Another rowing thing: look up "ejector crab" on Youtube. Sometimes also "ejection crab". It's when a crew person keeps the oar in the water too long and it creates drag on the boat, thrusting the oar backwards with so much force it catches him/her across the torso and throws them out of the boat. Very funny. The first few Google hits are actually Cambridge University colleges 0 -
Ill try that out then. I just seem to hit my back point quite quickly (short legs!)0
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AllanMisner wrote: »Being stronger and relatively tall (5’11”), I do a 1-2-1 cadence with a very hard pull (breathing out), sit in the back position for a breath in and out, then move forward (breathing in). It comes out to about 19 rpm. Whereas when I first started, I was at 33 to 35 rpm. The stronger pulls and letting the flywheel spin for a second or so gives me a lot more distance for less energy output.
I hadn't thought about my breathing cycle but this is exactly what I do. Two breathes per stroke. I will also vary the cadence a bit depending on the length of the row. 500m is balls to the wall. Longer rows I'll go a little slower (28rpm) and stronger and vary it a bit to keep myself fresh and interested.0
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