What Was Your Work Out Today?
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The Cranberry Trifest was a fun event held yesterday in southeast Mass. Participants were offered many different options, from a Splash n Dash, to a sprint or Olympic distance triathlon, as well as aquabike, duathlon and relay options. About 20 members of my tri club raced it yesterday. My guess is that 450-500 people raced at this event.
I did the swim and bike legs of the Olympic distance race, with a friend completing the run. We didn't finish on the podium, but that was no surprise. I knew several of the relay teams who had specialists in each discipline. Our tri club "dream team" took the relay win.(1:26/100 swim, 23mph bike, 6:06/mile run)
My swim was slow (2:10/100) for the 1500yd distance, but I put down a decent bike split, averaging 18.9 mph for the 26 mile course. Our runner went 9:06/mile for the 10k.
So, it was a great time and several friends won age group and relay awards. I'll probably do this one again next year.
Rest day today.
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Leg Day Monday, a fan favorite!
Squats, BB step-ups, one-leg leg press, glute press, seated calf raises
As my weight has continued to creep down low enough to actually show evidence of abdominal muscle, I'm now starting to add some ab work to my normally scheduled weight lifting. Today's entry: cable crunches.3 -
No workout today, just a lot of steps: teambuilding activity at an amusement park. I dislike rollercoasters, so I basically watched my colleagues in the most insane (in my eyes) rollercoasters and rides and went along on some less adrenaline inducing attractions. 18k steps and socializing all day long completely wiped me out, so no workout in the evening.3
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You could probably guess: 7002m, rowing 2 seat in the quad.
(My rowing buddies seem to have decided they like our new-last-year rower E. in bow better than they like me, and she's usually willing . . . which is all fine with me, because I'd rather be in the engine room - selfishly! - and TBH I taught her everything she knows about bowing anyway so I don't feel tooooo bad about being eclipsed. 🤣 She really is good.)
I convinced her to repeat Saturday's pattern of 10 strokes power, 10 strokes easy, every time we had a clear line (i.e. no obstacles ahead on the river to complicate steering), after a warm-up. So, pretty interval-ish, though there were a couple of stretches of moderate rowing when we were around the singles that were out with us, or bow rower couldn't see around the one major-ish curve. Fun!
It was cooler again to day, 60s/70s F during rowing time, but kind of muggy.
As an aside, not relevant only to today: I never realized how much sweat just eyelids could produce, until I started rowing outdoors in summer. (Cap absorbs the sweat from above my eyebrows, but I still get beaucoup sweat in my eyes on a day like this.)2 -
Had a super stressful work week last week. I exercised, but there was no time for logging it here. The stress led to sleep issues, which means I was TIRED. All workouts suffered a bit, but that's life. Will do an easy paced elliptical session later today, as I'm still sore from yesterday's yard work.
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Just around an hour of cardio -- 30 minutes on the rower, then 30 minutes on the Stepper/Elliptical (LateralX) on the highest settings. All at 140 HR or below (75% max).2
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An hour of strength training. And for the first time ever, an encounter with the rowing machine... rowed 1km in 5m36, so that's my baseline to improve from! Suggestions on how to build up from there are welcome.4
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An hour of strength training. And for the first time ever, an encounter with the rowing machine... rowed 1km in 5m36, so that's my baseline to improve from! Suggestions on how to build up from there are welcome.
For starters, don't try for immediate speed increase. Work on proper technique. It's not necessarily intuitive. Watch some beginner technique videos from a sound source (such as Concept 2 or Dark Horse Rowing), keep your strokes per minute low, work on getting the right stroke sequence (legs-body-arms . . . but there's more to it), learn how to suspend your weight between the foot-stretcher and the handle while adding muscle power in the right order.
If you go for speed or high strokes per minute initially, odds are high that you'll groove in sub-par technique that won't let you get a decent workout (or a fast pace) in the long run. If you're on a Concept 2 machine, the lever with number is not "resistance". Resistance increases as you learn how to apply power properly. Too many people in gyms are rushing up and down the slide at high strokes per minute, setting the believed-to-be-resistance high, not getting power into the stroke.
The same basic technique applies not only to Concept 2 rowers, but to any of the flywheel or water-tank style rowers and others that have a single handle, sliding seat.3 -
For starters, don't try for immediate speed increase. Work on proper technique. It's not necessarily intuitive. Watch some beginner technique videos from a sound source (such as Concept 2 or Dark Horse Rowing), keep your strokes per minute low, work on getting the right stroke sequence (legs-body-arms . . . but there's more to it), learn how to suspend your weight between the foot-stretcher and the handle while adding muscle power in the right order.
Thanks for this, Ann. I watched a Concept 2 video early this morning before I went, so I'm glad that was a sensible thing to do. And I met a nice bloke at the gym today who is a surf lifesaver (the type who row boats), so he gave me a few tips too. Probably the best thing I have going for me at the gym is a cheeky grin and no problem asking random strangers for help!!!
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COVID has not been too bad for me. My main symptom seems to have been sleeping deeply for 11 hours a day, which isn't one of the listed adverse impacts.
I did a 12 mile walk yesterday, wearing a mask to protect passers- by.
Of the 40 people at my Dad's memorial, 17 got the virus. One has it very severely; she is immuno-compromised. However, the NHS is very rules based and she seems not to qualify for anti-virals.5 -
@AnnPT77 Quick question... it feels like my legs need to be longer to get a decent pull... will it feel less awkward when I get the back and arms technique more sorted?
The sequence of rowing is not very easy to master. Legs, body, hands (on the drive) and then hands (quickly returning), body and legs on the return.
One trick that's kind of will tell you really quickly if you're getting it is rowing unstrapped. You have to be very careful with doing that. Perhaps with your feet loose in the straps at first. If you're rowing the correct sequence, you will not fall off the back of the rower! It takes time to get right.
When I first started rowing, I rowed strapped in always. Then, I learned about doing it unstrapped and quickly made all my easy days unstrapped. I got away from it for a while and my form suffered -- too much momentum at the back, using the straps to pull myself back on the recovery (which can hurt your feet) -- this is all wasted effort and incorrect.
My legs are shorter. It is hard to really feel the leg drive until you get the sequence down. Once you do, it's easier to feel. Another mistake most make is a rounded back (big no no) and pulling with the arms first -- your arms should be straight, fingers hooked around handle on the drive, all legs to start, body tucked, back nearly straight. Like a deadlift.
Another thing to watch is overextending/reaching so your knees are too far over your feet. I use a bungee strap on my rower to make sure I don't overreach/extend. It helps train the mind where to stop and when to start the drive.
Dark Horse, that Ann mentioned, has some great instructional videos. So does a lady named Cassi Neimann. Hers are outstanding. She's a Concept2 Master instructor. There's also an app called asensei (I think). It's the only one with real world class over the water rowers teaching not only training programs, but technique.2 -
Pull Day in the weight room:
Pulldowns, high machine row, low machine row, T-bar row, DB shrugs, DB side-bends, preacher curls1 -
MikePfirrman wrote: »@AnnPT77 Quick question... it feels like my legs need to be longer to get a decent pull... will it feel less awkward when I get the back and arms technique more sorted?
The sequence of rowing is not very easy to master. Legs, body, hands (on the drive) and then hands (quickly returning), body and legs on the return.
One trick that's kind of will tell you really quickly if you're getting it is rowing unstrapped. You have to be very careful with doing that. Perhaps with your feet loose in the straps at first. If you're rowing the correct sequence, you will not fall off the back of the rower! It takes time to get right.
When I first started rowing, I rowed strapped in always. Then, I learned about doing it unstrapped and quickly made all my easy days unstrapped. I got away from it for a while and my form suffered -- too much momentum at the back, using the straps to pull myself back on the recovery (which can hurt your feet) -- this is all wasted effort and incorrect.
My legs are shorter. It is hard to really feel the leg drive until you get the sequence down. Once you do, it's easier to feel. Another mistake most make is a rounded back (big no no) and pulling with the arms first -- your arms should be straight, fingers hooked around handle on the drive, all legs to start, body tucked, back nearly straight. Like a deadlift.
Another thing to watch is overextending/reaching so your knees are too far over your feet. I use a bungee strap on my rower to make sure I don't overreach/extend. It helps train the mind where to stop and when to start the drive.
Dark Horse, that Ann mentioned, has some great instructional videos. So does a lady named Cassi Neimann. Hers are outstanding. She's a Concept2 Master instructor. There's also an app called asensei (I think). It's the only one with real world class over the water rowers teaching not only training programs, but technique.
@TicTacToo, good advice from Mike.
If you're feeling like your legs aren't long enough to get a good leg push, then there's probably a problem somewhere in the overall stroke sequence. I know some great rowers who're very short, put up good times on the rower by using good mechanics. Short legs work.
I can say it, but you have to feel it: On the drive, keep your arms fully extended, and keep your forward body swing until your legs are very nearly flat (don't lock your knees). It's as if you're making a wedge shape with your body (angle of that straight back to the line of the slide), then driving that wedge back up the slide with leg power. Bring the handle with you when you apply that leg force (vs. letting your butt speed backwards faster than the handle). Your arms are like cables, just transferring the leg force into the handle, flat wrists, relaxed but strong, connected through your lats.
When your legs are almost flat, swing the body open from the hip joint (still straight back) and again bring the handle along with you, arms still cables. When your body is nearly swung open "enough", only then do you add the arm pull, letting the elbows come out to your sides in a relaxed way. Maybe add a bit of acceleration on the arm phase with the pull, if you can.
On the recovery, you reverse that in a very structured way . . . and getting the recovery right is surprisingly important. Overall, the stroke sequence is like coiling (loading) and uncoiling your body (to apply power in sequence). The recovery is the coiling/loading.
I wrote more about the details, some of which you already know, because I can't help myself. Might be some useful info in there, for someone who cares, but it's long, so I'm putting most of it in a spoiler.First, make sure your arms go out from your body at the same speed they came into your body during the end of the drive, no mini-pause at the so-called finish. This lets the flywheel (or water mechanism) keep spinning at the highest speed possible. Keep your shoulders back and down, lats engaged, chest open. Then, when the body is almost at your full forward swing, follow with swinging your upper body forward from the hip joint (straight back still), also quite swiftly (flywheel keeps moving). Have your whole correct arms and body configuration almost done before you release your knees.
Relax to let the slope of the slide bring you back to the catch again. You don't need to - shouldn't - pull yourself up the slide in any way, just relax and let it happen. Unless racing, I usually row on a 4 count, with the slide muuuuuch longer. The count is "in, out, 3, 4, in" - even time intervals. The drive sets the interval length. "In" is the catch, "out" is the finish, then 3, 4 are equal intervals, with another equal interval before the next "in". As your drive gets more powerful (faster), the intervals can shorten, and your strokes per minute can come up. In general, artificially increasing strokes per minute (by rushing recovery) isn't helpful (and in a boat, it's super counterproductive). There are some wrinkles to this for race pace, but it's a good way to think about practice IMO.
Note that I'm saying "almost" a lot in there, when talking about when to start each next phase. You want the parts to be as separate as possible (legs-body-arms-arms-body-legs) while still being smooth. "Almost" is enough overlap between the parts to make the sequence smooth, no more.
At first, it can be OK to be a little robotic about the separate pieces, then work to smooth them out into a flow. That's a good drill, at first. Go at really low strokes per minute (low teens at most), and that's a time when (if rowing C2), it can make sense to set the damper at 10 so you feel it more. But learn to use each part in its place. Letting each body part apply its strength separately, in an accelerating way, lets the flywheel be powered as long as possible.
A drill we do sometimes is to start with arms-only rowing (for maybe 10 strokes), then arms+body, then add quarter slide, half slide, finally go to full slide rowing. You can also do it in the opposite direction, i.e., start with legs only (upper body and arms don't change at all), then legs+ body, etc.
Push with your whole foot, not your heels or your toes. If you need to let your heels rise a bit at the finish to get to vertical shins, that's OK, but if so be sure that your heels come down first, so the full force of your leg drive is using the full foot on the foot-stretcher.
I admit, Mike's stronger on the importance of rowing unstrapped than I feel (I think it's a good drill, and valuable, but it looms larger in his practice it seems than in does in mine . . . not a criticism, we all have our individual tricks or drills that have been instrumental).
How much layback (how far to swing back/forward) is really individual. It depends on being able to keep your back straight and move smoothly through the swing, so core strength. (Your core will improve as you keep rowing, may be able to increase swing angle.) Eleven o'clock to one o'clock is fine, to start. You can get a hint by sitting tall on the machine and doing the swing slowly. As you open (swing back), at some point the seat will scoot forward under you. Don't swing that far when you row. 😉 If you swing to a certain point, can't keep a straight spine (sit tall), don't swing that far.
What you're trying to do on the drive is suspend your body weight between the foot-stretcher and the handle, and augment that bodyweight with the sequence of muscle power starting with the biggest muscles (legs), then back, and finally the weaker of the 3, the arms. (A lot of people try to overuse their arms. Keep your shoulders relaxed, connect your lats to your back and arms.) Eventually, you can feel your butt unweight from the seat on every stroke, and you want to feel it from the time your heels go down on the drive, to when your arms come back to your ribcage area at the end of the drive.
If you're rowing a Concept 2, the Force Curve display is excellent for assessing your transitions. (https://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/training/tips-and-general-info/using-the-force-curve).
I'm yammering on way too long as usual when I get going about rowing - apologies. I'm going to add one drill-like thing that I think is very useful. Not a thing you need to do often, but once in a while to reinforce that "suspend" idea.
You need a willing helper. You sit at the catch (i.e., start of drive position). Your helper leans (braces) over the flywheel, and leans forward to holds the handle with both their hands, between yours. Do not hurt them in the next step! Very slowly and smoothly, begin to apply your leg power (no back or arms, just legs). Your partner should not let the handle move. As your legs push backwards (slowly!), you should feel your weight come off the seat. That's the only thing that can happen, if you keep your upper body wedge, and they don't let the handle move.
That's "suspending your bodyweight between the handle and footstretcher". Long run, you want a flavor of that feeling from the time your heels go down, until just before you start the arms-away motion. Every rowing coach I've known so far and seen coaching new rowers has used that demo.
Do that drill too roughly, and you'll need to find a different helper next time you do it (bad!). If you do it slowly and carefully, though, they need not be bigger than you, or super-strong. I wouldn't ask a frail person, but an average normal active person should be fine.
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Loooong work day, so not a lot of time for a workout. Perfect time for a speed run.
Started at 8.8kph, increasing by 0.5 kph every 5 minutes.
Result: 5k in 29min56. A new personal best, more than 2 minutes better than my previous best!4 -
Supersets this AM. Snapped my 140 lb resistance band in two. That's why I never, ever use bands with metal on them -- those are super dangerous. Ordered another one. Finished without being able to do too many deadlifts, so just replaced with heavy squats and heavy (70 lb) KB swings.
Was hot today at lunch and it's my hard interval rowing day too. So did 8 X 500m/one minute recovery. Got to two and figured out I didn't have any water outside in the garage (not good when it's like 92 and humid here). Got my water but got late back to the rower for the start of the 3rd interval and tried to play catch up to bring the average on that one down below 2:00. I spent a lot of energy and nearly quit after that, but suffered through.
Ended up with a 1:58.5 average. Had it not been for that 3rd interval, I'm pretty sure I would have gotten sub 1:58 average, which would have been my best recent workout on this particular set.
Finished with a light 15 minutes cooldown on the Assault Bike.2 -
21.4 mile bike ride, which wrapped up at 5:20PM.
Grabbed a quick snack (cheese, prune, Kind Bar mini), washed off some sweat, applied more sunscreen, changed clothes, and made it to the rowing club (15-20 minutes away) before 6PM (whew!).
Nice flat water, so I put the racing single in the water and rowed 10k (plus 3m! 😆) during the Tuesday night coached row.
Now, I can feel that I have quads. 🤣
I also have plenty of calories to cover dinner, since that snack (plus an ounce of crispy broad beans on the bike ride) was my only lunch.2 -
Push Day at the gym:
Cable rotations, bench press, incline DB press, decline cable fly, cable woodchoppers, standing overhead press, lying EZ-bar extensions
Somehow when I hit the snooze button this morning, I actually turned my alarm OFF completely. Fortunately (or unfortunately on the weekends) my cats let me know it was breakfast time, but I got up 20 minutes later than I wanted, which thanks to traffic turned into 45 minutes later to work thanks to being stuck in rush-hour instead of driving before it.1 -
Getting better at discipline for the steady state days. I tried to set a hardline today at 135 HR (70% max) and just barely broke over it once.
Did 30 minutes on the rower, then a bit over 25 on the LateralX. Felt like it should -- a recovery day.1 -
C25K, Week 6 Day 1… Check!
Ran a little faster today which was odd, I’m usually horribly slow and today was just slow. Ended up having to extend my route around the block, my usual 2.3 miles turned into 2.5 somehow.
So far so good!2
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