What Was Your Work Out Today?

On Wednesday, I swam 750 metres before breakfast, I went climbing in the evening. I stated off quite strongly, but ended completely pumped and barely capable of moving. It was a 3 hour session, which in retrospect may have been too long.

Yoga and a 5k run

Rowed bow in the double this morning with one of our new rowers from last year's learn-to-row class, so a nice row for me, but also a chance to coach (pester) her a little bit about technique. We did the usual circuit for just under 7k, plus of course the boat-carrying required to get that done.

No workout yesterday, but helped again with this year's learn-to-row class, coxing/coaching a quad with 3 of the students in seats 2 to 4, and an experienced rower (club president ) in bow. They seemed to have fun, and they made good progress technically, which is just what we want.

Incline press 3x12 (40lbs)
Decline press 3x12 (40lbs)
Chest press 3x12(45lbs)
Shoulder press 3x12 (40lbs)
Pectoral fly 1x8 (60lbs), 2x12 (55lbs)
Triceps press 3x12 (85lbs)
Torso rotation 3x12 (85lbs) both sides
Abdominal 3x12 (145lbs)

AnnPT77 wrote: »

The coached part was the standard recent mix of pause drills and cut-the-cake, mostly. We also rowed quite a distance feet out. (The boats have attached shoes that we put our feet in; rowing feet-out helps reinforce that we don't rely on pulling ourselves up to the next stroke with the feet, but rather let the boat move under us (we're traveling opposite the direction we face). Using the shoes to pull up will slow the boat down. It's called "checking the boat".)

This makes total sense, and I'd never have thought of it before. In an efficient hull like a shell, if you pull your body against the direction of travel, you use your body's muscles to take momentum out of the boat. Wow.

I wonder if I can find a way to apply this principal to my rowing and paddling. I bet there's a gem waiting for me to figure it out. It surely applies negligibly for the raft - many more inefficiencies inherent in the boat. But it might have a cross-over for the flatwater canoes since my feet are attached to the foot bar with what is similar to toe straps on a bike. I could slow my own boat down. I think I've become faster in the last year. Fun stuff.

But today's workout was a hike. That same peak I keep going to because it's so gorgeous. My friend and his partner were going up, and they invited me to join them. Turns out that in all the years they have lived here, they've never been up. We got hailed on at the peak, and we were in a cloud. No views of volcanoes OR the coast. Still - the wildflowers were awesome, and they'll go back. So will I.

That is amazing about boat checking.

I only "row" on the ergometer. I never thought about the steps of recovery. I always let all three things happen at the same time. I'll think about that next time I use one. It's very different in rowing a raft because there's no sliding seat. Also, most of the time we're PUSHING on the oars and traveling in the direction we're facing.

Pulling strokes are far more powerful, but you have a harder time seeing where you're going. The rower must look over their shoulder. It's a good skill - some rapids require what is mistakenly called a "downstream ferry." It's not ferry - it's just driving the boat from the stern downstream and across the current. Pulling is also a way to avoid obstacles by slowing the boat and using the oars and current to move the boat where you want it to be. It's also handy if it's flatwater and windy and you need a break from pushing.

The most efficient strokes on a raft are very short. Our oars are relatively a lot shorter than what's used for shells and skulls. Long strokes include some pushing the water away from the boat and some pulling the water towards it. Short strokes focus on when the blades push straight back. The catch happens before the power turns on; the blades can catch up with the water and THEN the rower powers them. The recovery can continue beyond the power phase. If a rower uses oar locks, they can feather the blades to keep them flat against the wind. If a rower uses pins and clips, they never worry that the blade angle is off from perpendicular to the water.

I notice the power more in a canoe. If I'm in my flatwater canoe, the catch happens out near my ankles, and my body is rotated away from the side of the boat I'm putting the blade in. As the shaft passes my knees, I apply the power by un-rotating my body (it's from the core, not the arms). As the shaft passes my hips, the power is turned off, but the blade can continue until I push down on the T-grip and slice the blade out of the water, feather, and get ready for the next stroke. About every third stroke I switch hands. With whitewater, there's still that power portion, but the blade on my whitewater paddle is designed for more powerful catch. That's more about short bursts; the boat is inherently slower, and I only paddle on one side. Every single stroke has a correction built in, and that saps momentum. It's the difference between the flatwater boats and whitewater boats. The flatwater boats are made to go straight and efficiently on flat water where the whitewater boats are made to go sideways (and spin) easily and efficiently on moving water. Going straight in a whitewater boat (canoe or kayak) can be frustrating for a new paddler. Making a flatwater boat spin a short radius turn can be difficult for a new paddler and scary for the paddler that knows how to do it because some of the techniques feel like they're going to flip the boat.

Chair exercises, and stretching afterwards.

Leg press 1x12 (135lbs), 2x12 (140lbs)
Calf raise 3x12 (115lbs)
Leg curl 1x12 (120lbs), 2x12 (100lbs)
Leg extension 3x12 (65lbs)
Leg adduction 3x12 (140lbs)
Leg abduction 3x12 (140lbs)
Abdominal 3x12 (145lbs)

I keep trying the glute extension machine and I just can't get the hang of it

No real workout yesterday, but I did about a 2.5 mile slow amble around/across the university campus, first to go to a lecture in the botanical garden about plants used for fiber, then a walk (on a very hot day) over to the art museum to see an exhibit that was loosely related (contemporary woven tapestries). The lecture was joint sponsored between the art museum and the garden. Among other interesting things, we learned how to make twine from sweetgrass (i.e., we actually got to make a small piece).

Today, a super easy row in bow of the double, with a rowing buddy who was rowing for the first time this season (temporarily back in town for a couple of weeks from a long stint in a distant state with her elderly mother who had a health crisis). We kept it easy pace for her sake, so I could work on the technical corrections from our coached rows, and because it was already on its way to around 90 F (32 C), and fairly humid. Supposed to be around that for most of the week. (Not my favorite weather, especially for outdoor exercise. Declining air quality, too: Yellow zone right now.

Climbing. 2.5 hours. I concentrated on my anti-style, run and jump dynamic competition style boulders. It was good, I got a couple of v4s.