Day: March 27, 2013

Ergs Q&A Rowing Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

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What’s the best way to adjust to higher rate ergs? For a few years now after winter training I just take forever to get my body/legs adjusted to 30+ rates on ergs. It’s fine in the boat, it’s just ergs. My teammates don’t have this problem as much as I do and we’re doing the same workouts. We’re all lightweights. I just feel like I’ll never be able to do good 2ks this way and it’s holding me back from being put in top boat. My coach told me it’s my erg scores, so what should I do?

Try adding in some intervals (8x500m, something like that) into your training during the winter. Right now though, you’ve just got to get on the erg and practice. Short sprints, 2ks, etc. The best way to get better at doing 2ks is to do steady state and more 2ks. Try doing 3x2k with a decent period of rest between each one. Bump the rate up each time – 28, 30,32, etc.

Also, don’t get discouraged. Talk with your coach too and ask them what they think you should do. They’ve got a better idea that I do of what your training, technique, etc. is like so they would be your best resource for figuring out what you can do to improve your erg times.

Novice Q&A Rowing

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My coach has enlisted the help of the rowers who’ve finished their last season at school to help with a learn to row program for the new recruits. We’ll be taking them out in quads for a couple of weeks. Do you have any advice on how to teach them to get the basics down? My learn to row experience is just a big blur now!

Start small … and then back up from whatever you think “starting small” is and start even smaller. The first few times you go out, I would do nothing but catch placement from each position (just tapping down from the finish to start, moving to arms, arms and body, 1/2 slide, then all the way to the catch). Teaching them to tap down first and figure out what their hands have to do to in order to get the blade to respond will help you out a lot, and at the same time will demonstrate how important it is for the boat to be set. Make sure you spend some time going over that as soon as you get on the water, preferably before you even start rowing if you can. Have the ports push their hands all the way down, then have the starboards do the same. Make them figure out what they have to do in order to set it up instead of you telling them. I find that makes the concepts stick better, even if in the moment you feel like an asshole for not just telling them what to do. Once they understand that concept, move into tapping down, figuring out how the oars work, etc. Once they’ve got that figured out, start doing pause drills. Start with a double pause, then go down to a single, and then to straight rowing. I’d stick with just pairs for all of this to start until everyone is reasonably comfortable before you move on to having all four row.

Biggest suggestion is to just be patient. It’s what I have to remind myself every time I’m with novices because at this point, this stuff is so “auto-pilot” for me that I don’t even think about it anymore. You’re going to think that getting the hands away before the legs come up is like, “duh!”, but they don’t get that yet, so you’ve got to take the time to explain it while not going too crazy.

Have a plan of what you want to do before you get to the boathouse. Don’t be overly ambitious either. Think about their skill level and the amount of time you have. If you notice you’re not going to get through everything you had planned, don’t worry about it. Don’t suddenly start trying to rush through things because that’s when people get frustrated and accidents happen.

Crack a few jokes, throw in a few analogies and metaphors, and just make it fun. Obviously the environment in serious but you can still keep the mood light and relaxed. Have a good time with it and don’t take anything that happens too seriously.

Coxing Q&A Racing

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What are some short little phrases I can say in between counting numbers in the starting sequence/power 10s/focus 10s, etc?

Listen to practically any recording I’ve posted – you’ll get some great ideas from there.

Other stuff you can say … the stroke rate and split (if you have a Speed Coach)  are good to say during the starting sequence, particularly if there’s a specific rate/split you want to be at. For focus 5s/10s, keep whatever you’re saying related to whatever the focus is. When I do 5 for legs, the only things I say is “legs, legs, legs, legs” between strokes or something similar that relates to pure power. I also like to say “drive”, “send”, “complete”, “accelerate”, and “stay on it”, in addition to miscellaneous stuff like “yea!”, “there we go!”, “walking!”, etc. when I’m calling bursts.

Ergs Q&A Training & Nutrition

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Hi, I have a couple of questions for you! First off, can you please explain to me how the boats/age groups work in the US? We just row in under 15, under 16 etc but what does JV 8 mean? And secondly, do you have any tips for erg workouts during the off season? I’m just going into mine, and 30-45 min. ergs are great but get a bit boring after a while! Thanks. 🙂

I talked about what JV means, as well as the other classifications we typically use, in the post linked below.

Related: What’s the difference between a JV8 and a 2V boat? Or are they the same thing?

For off-season workouts, listening to music (I have a ton of playlists on Spotify), podcasts, audiobooks, or even watching Netflix can all help with the boredom that sets in during long pieces. Try to mix it up though so you’re not doing the same pieces all the time too. 7 x 10′, 2 x 30′, 3 x 20′, etc. are all solid go-to pieces though.

Q&A Teammates & Coaches

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I’m a lightweight girl rower and our top 4 lightweight girls are doing a quad and I am glad my work has paid off so that I am in it. I have a very good friend on the team who is the girl that I basically beat out for the spot, although everyone says I deserve it over her by a lot. Lately she’s been very nasty and rude, especially to me and makes me feel like I shouldn’t be in the spot. She’s also said she refuses to race because she won’t win. What should I do to make her stop being so mean?

Her bitchy attitude is so not your problem. You should be glad that your hard work paid off and yea, it sucks that you were competing against a friend for that spot in the boat but sometimes that’s what happens. The key to not letting it become an issue is to recognize the fact that you’ve both been putting the work in and ultimately the better rower will “win” the seat. Maturity and respect are also important … and common sense. If she can so easily change her attitude from “friendly” to “nasty and rude” over something so inconsequential, do you really think she’s someone deserving of that spot anyways? Probably not.

If she’s stooping to that level of immaturity by refusing to race simply because she won’t win, her priorities are messed up and that’s her issue to deal with, not yours. If it gets to the point where she crosses a line and your coach needs to be involved, then by all means, talk with your coach, but until then ignore her, worry about yourself, and be the bigger person. You won that spot in the boat. Don’t make your coach question his/her decision by bringing yourself down to her level. Focus on the other three girls in your boat and ensuring that your hard work continues to pay off.

Q&A Rowing

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Can you explain a few terms for me: bucket rigged, bow side, and stern side? And also how do you suggest rigging an 8? Starboard or port rigged? Thanks!

As far as rigging goes, there is no “right” or “wrong” side to rig it. In high school and college, every boat I raced in was port rigged because the women chosen to stroke those boats all rowed on port. The woman stroking my eight right now rows starboard, so we’re a starboard stroked boat. It was a little disorienting at first getting used to everything being on different sides but other than that I haven’t seen any clear advantages or disadvantages to the boat being rigged one side over the other. I think it’s best to determine who your stroke is first before you rig the boat instead of rigging the boat one side or the other and limiting who you can put in that seat right off the bat. It also eliminates having to de-rig and re-rig the boat to fit someone who rows on the other side.

Bucket rigged boats are boats that have two immediate rowers rowing on the same side. So, for example, instead of 5 and 6 being starboard and port, they would both be starboard. I’ve heard it called “tandem rigging” more than “bucket rigging” but both terms mean the same thing. The photo on the right shows a really aggressive example of how you could do this.

There was an interesting article that came out of MIT a few years ago that discussed the different types of bucket rigging. A mathematician was employed by the University of Cambridge to analyze the forces in rowing and he came up with “new” types of bucket rigs that help to eliminate wiggle (surprisingly, that is a technical term). It’s worth a read.

Bow-side is what I think nearly every country except the United States calls starboard. I’ve never heard the term “stern side” but the opposite of bow-side is stroke-side, so I’m assuming maybe that’s what you meant? Stroke-side is the port side of the boat, also a term that nearly everyone but the US uses.