Category: Q&A

College Coxing Novice Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 30, 2012

I’m 5’2 and weigh 153lbs. I can pull 1:58/500 m for a 30 minute test. I’ve been trying to lose weight but the nutritionist has essentially told me that my only option is to lose muscle (because of weight) or actually get bone removed through surgery (which I think is against NCAA rules). I was a walk-on to the crew team and want to row or cox but I have no idea what to do. My coach has told me I would make an excellent cox but I don’t know how to lose weight/approach this situation. Thank you!

One of your two “only” options is to have bone removed? That’s your nutritionist’s weight loss suggestion? Um…

The only way you would lose muscle is if you started starving yourself, which obviously no sane person recommends. You’re a good height to be a coxswain but maybe too short to row depending on how competitive your team is. The minimum for coxswains is 110lbs if you’re coxing women and 120lbs if your coxing men. You typically want to be as close to the minimum as possible (while still being healthy) to avoid adding unnecessary weight and drag to the boat. Coaches will typically give you some leeway though as to how far you can be over before they start nagging you about your weight (and nag they will). The best way to lose weight is pretty simple – diet and exercise. Substituting unhealthy foods for healthier options, eating several small meals a day, and adding in at least 30-45 minutes of exercise 3-4 times a week is a good way to get started.

Just something to keep in mind too … 153lbs is a pretty high starting point if you want to cox. If you’re at a competitive program that expects their coxswains to be right at or very close to racing weight, you’re looking at having to lose 25lbs at least. Not that that’s not possible but just be realistic with what you decide to do.

I would search the “weight loss” or “weight” tags on here because I know I’ve answered similar questions from both rowers and coxswains that will probably help you out.

Coxing How To Novice Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 29, 2012

So I’m going to begin coxing this coming spring season, and I am constantly reading about experienced coxes getting annoyed with the newbies. Any recommendations for things I should do to avoid pissing everyone off?

It’s impossible to avoid pissing people off though because no matter what you do, someone will be annoyed by what you’re doing. So instead, I’ll give you some general advice.

Pay attention

Soak in the information. Listen intently to the coaches and listen to the varsity coxswains when they’re telling you how to do something or what to do.

Focus

Separate yourself from your friendships and realize that you’re now in a leadership position and favoritism is not something many people appreciate. When you’re on the water, focus on accomplishing the task at hand and not the fact that your friends are in the boat with you. Practice time is not synonymous with sleepovers…you can talk about school, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc. AFTER practice.

Do something

When you’re not on the water and you can see the varsity coxswains and coaches working on something, ask if you can help. If you see things out of place, put them back where they belong. Wipe down the ergs after people get off them, take down times, splits, etc. when they’re doing pieces, etc. Never just be standing around. Crew is not the place to be a wallflower.

Make an effort

Educate yourself. Do research. Coxswains are in the unfortunate position of being expected to do a million things but we’re very rarely ever instructed on HOW to do those things. If there’s something you don’t know or understand, talk with your coach about it and ask them to explain it further, then go home and Google whatever it is and see what else you can find. Ask questions – the only stupid question is the one you don’t ask.

Be enthusiastic

Don’t mope around and make it obvious that you’re bored or unhappy with your role on the team. If you’re actually unhappy about something, talk with your coach or a varsity coxswain before or after practice. During practice, keep the rowers engaged and on point. If the rowers aren’t looking forward to something, get them excited. Be THAT coxswain that always has a smile on their face and can make their teammates smile too.

Rest assured, varsity coxswains piss off novices coxswains just as much as novices piss them off. There’s a learning curve when you first start coxing that varsity coxswains forget about, which is why most of them tend to get annoyed. What I said up above is the bare minimum of what you should be doing but it’s a good place to start.

College High School How To Q&A Recruiting Rowing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 29, 2012

What’s a good way to get the attention of college coaches? Everyone keeps telling me that with my times and progress “the offers will roll in”. I really just want to be proactive in my college search to be sure that I’m choosing the right school. Is it as simple as shooting coaches an email saying that I’m interested or is there some secret step that I’ve been missing?

Rowing isn’t like football and basketball … the offers don’t just “roll in”.

First thing I’d suggest is checking out and making a beRecruited profile. This will allow coaches to get a general idea of who you are as a rower and what you’ve accomplished so far. Second, attend camps at universities you’re considering and get to know the coaches. This can be a good initial way to figure out if this is a coach you might be interested in rowing for.

Third, fill out the recruiting forms on the athletic websites of the schools you’re looking at. Coaches are gonna ask you to do this anyways so you might as well ski the step of them asking you to do it and just get it done on your own. Fourth, go to CRASH-Bs (and do well) or ID camps if you can. They look great on your rowing resume and let coaches know that you have the potential to be an asset to their program. Fifth, visit the schools and see if you can meet up with the coach to tour the boathouse and learn a little bit about the team.

Check out the recruiting tag as well as the “contacting coaches” tag too. There’s lots of questions and information in there that might help you out.

Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 29, 2012

For winter training we have to do about 5 erg work outs, both as cardio (3 or 4x 10′) and distances (multiples of 500m/1k/2k). We can also substitute these by runs/biking/swimming, and specific times/distance for those are written down. I was just wondering what kind of balance would be good? So far I’ve pretty much only done the erg option (except for today) but I don’t know if that’s really beneficial. What would you advise? Or could you do half erg half run for example?

If I understand this correctly, I would do something like this:

Monday: Cardio erg + short run (one in the AM, one in the PM)

Tuesday: Long run

Wednesday: Distance erg + short run

Thursday: Bike or swim

Friday: Cardio OR distance + short run

Saturday & Sunday: OFF

It’s more beneficial to cross train by adding in some biking, swimming, and running vs. only training on the erg. The variety and increased workload force your body to do more, which means it has no choice but to adapt and get stronger. It also helps with injury prevention. If you’re constantly working your muscles and joints in the same way (i.e. by only erging), they’re being put under a large amount of stress via the same continuous, repetitive movements, which can eventually lead to overuse. Adding in some different training modes gives your overworked muscles a chance to rest and the underworked ones a chance to get stronger and get on the same level as the overworked ones. Plus, a psychological benefit is that the variety helps prevent you from becoming bored and burned out.

Ergs Q&A Technique Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 29, 2012

I have an erg at home. I’ve been using to train over the holidays like our coaches told us to, but I feel it’s making my technique get worse. I really want to train and do well on our erg test when we return from holidays, what should I do?

Over the winter when you’re training, there’s typically no one to correct your technique as you progress through a steady state piece so bad habits become ingrained pretty quickly. If you can, have a teammate come over and watch you erg. Have them point out any technique issues they notice and make note of it. The next day when you get on the erg, tape your list to the monitor and make a conscious effort to pay attention to each part of the stroke. Pause drills, technique rows, etc. would be good things to add into your workouts.

If having someone watch you isn’t an option, set your laptop webcam up to record you while you erg. You can either do it for 1-2 minutes or for the entire duration of your row if you don’t wanna get up and mess with the camera, that way you can see where your technique starts to deteriorate in relation to the amount of time you’ve spent on the erg. Another thing you can do is cut out a short (short) clip and email it to your coach to get some feedback.

Don’t spend ALL your time on the erg though. Having one readily available like that is awesome, but make sure the convenience isn’t guilt-tripping you into using it. Cross train and try to work in other workouts 2-3x a week that don’t involve erging, that way you don’t get burned out.

Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 28, 2012

It’s summer holidays where I am, I have this problem and I was wondering if you could give me some advice. So my coaches for my squad are all ex-rowing students of my school and they are between 19-20 year old, who can be a bit intimidating. So my problem is about completing exercises/not stopping for a break etc. which one of coaches have helped me with earlier on in the season. As a coach would you think It would be better to ask her via email or Facebook before it gets worse or becomes a habit OR should I not bother her on holidays and just ask someone (like you) and explain in as much detail as possible even if they don’t know me personally. Secondly as a coach would you be willing to help someone via email during your holiday? Would I be better off asking the head coach even if they can be very very scary at times?

19-20 year olds are never as intimidating as they seem, trust me. They’re goofballs that technically fall under the label of “adult”. That’s about it. If your coach has a fairly open-door communication policy or you have a good relationship with her, I don’t see why it’d be a big deal to send her a short email. I think it only becomes annoying and a problem if you’re messaging her on an overly-regular basis for no reason. If you just have a simple question, especially about something that she already knows about, I don’t think she’ll mind.

As a coach, I wouldn’t mind emailing with a kid over break if it was just a one-off thing, otherwise I’d say wait until we were back and can talk in person. If you know your coach is traveling or out of the country, that’d probably be the only time when they’re actually unwillingly to help. If you don’t hear from your coach after you email her, you can try emailing your head coach. Or, to save time, you can CC your head coach on the email to your other coach, that way they get it too. Don’t be intimidated by your coaches – they’re there to help you out, not to make you feel scared to talk to them. A coach whose athletes are afraid to interact with him/her is not a very good coach.

College Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 28, 2012

Are there any summer programs you’d recommend for collegiate coxswains?

Check out places like Vesper, Penn AC, Riverside, etc. They all have summer U23/high performance programs that race at the big summer regattas. I’d also talk with your coach and see if they know of anything. Sometimes they have the inside track on that kind of stuff and it can come in pretty handy when they can make a call on your behalf. If all else fails, start coaching. I can’t tell you how much more heightened my coxing senses have become since I started coaching. Email high school coaches or clubs in the area you’ll be in over the summer and ask if they could use a hand.

College Novice Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 27, 2012

I guess this is more a social life outside of rowing kind of question, but I’m in university rowing and there are a lot of socials which a lot of people attend. But, being in the UK, it’s all about getting drunk and partying etc, and I don’t particularly enjoy that so most of the time I feel left out and only go to the bigger ones (like Christmas ball) and have one glass. But I’m also a novice and want to meet people/seniors which is hard if you just go to practice. Do you have any advice?

When you go to the socials, try not to focus so much on the fact that you feel left out – instead, try and join in on some conversations if you see any happening, as well as look for anyone else who looks equally bored. There’s almost always someone else who is uncomfortable or feeling left out too that you can strike a conversation with.

If parties aren’t your thing, that’s OK! Take the initiative to try and organize something more low-key – maybe a team dinner at one of the senior’s apartments at the start of the year/season to get to know the new team members or a team activity to raise money for charity (an ergathon, triathlon, etc.). You’d be surprised how well you can get to know someone when you have to be on an organizing committee with them. You could also have once-a-month team get togethers … ideas for that could be each boat brings their favorite board/card game to play and you spend the night playing games, going on a restaurant crawl (drinks at one restaurant, appetizers at another, entree at another, desserts at another), etc. You could also look on Groupon or similar deal-sites to see if they have any good deals on stuff like rock climbing, laser tag, spa days & massages, etc. that you and some teammates can do.

Don’t be afraid to admit that parties aren’t your thing. If there is an upperclassman that you know fairly well, ask them for their advice … just say that parties aren’t your thing but you don’t want to seem anti-social or like you don’t want to get to know people, because you do. They might have some ideas for you too!

High School Novice Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 27, 2012

I’m a novice rower in my third season. I’m one of the strongest novice rowers, but also the heaviest (female) novice. This hasn’t seemed to be a problem before, I’m very healthy and strong, but when we did weight-adjusted pieces I began to realize it was a bit of a problem. I’m 5 7 and about 178 pounds, and about 20 pounds heavier than the other girls. I’m not self conscious about my weight, although according to my BMI I am slightly over weight, and now I’m realizing I could perform better if I was slightly lighter. I’ve tried dieting before, but I’ve always felt weak and worried about my strength while working out three hours every day. Do you have any tips about losing weight healthily as rower?

First, as an athlete, don’t take your BMI too seriously. BMI can’t tell how much muscle mass you have and since muscle tends to weigh more than fat, it more often than not classifies athletes (of all kinds) as overweight or obese when they’re obviously not.

To lose weight in a healthy manner, it’s requires a fairly simple, boring combination of diet and exercise. To lose fat mass, cardio is the way to go – biking, runnng, swimming, erging, etc. 3-4x a week. To maintain your strength, do core and weight training 2x a week. The biggest change will come from your diet. Successful weight loss tends to be about 70% diet and 30% exercise. As a rower, you’ve got the exercise part covered, so your diet is where you’ll want to focus your attention. Take inventory of what you eat and then spend some time finding healthy substitutes and slowly phasing out the unhealthy stuff. Don’t try and go cold turkey on Ben & Jerry’s or whatever because that’ll just make you want it more.

The reason you were probably feeling weak before when you were dieting is because you weren’t doing it the right way. To some extent, yes, dieting is about adjusting your caloric intake, but it’s more about just making healthier overall choices. You’re young and active, so your metabolism is probably still fairly high, so you’re burning energy a lot faster than the normal person, which means you need to be eating foods that provide an adequate amount of energy for a long period of time. Don’t try and limit how much you eat..if anything, you want to increase the number of meals you eat (instead of 3 large meals, eat 5 small meals) and substitute healthier options for the not-so-healthy stuff.

Also, don’t focus too much on what the scale says. Check it periodically (like, every couple of days or once a week) but look for more noticeable changes, like your jeans fitting a little looser or changes in your measurements – tangible stuff like that is a better indication of weight loss than the scale.

Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 27, 2012

What’s your opinion on rowers smoking/drinking? Do you think there can ever be a balance or should athletes just avoid it?

Well, smoking for one is a straight no because lung function is kind of important to rower and smoking, obviously, hinders that. I also feel like drinking is fairly self-explanatory too. When you’re training and in-season, there’s really no place for it. If you’re just having like, a beer then whatever but if you’re pounding Jagerbombs knowing that you have practice the following morning then maybe take a step back and reevaluate your priorities.

Many teams implement a “dry policy” when they’re in season too that everyone’s expected to adhere to. You also have to consider how your behavior is going to effect yourself, your boat, and your team if you’re drinking or partying too much. That’s an important one to consider because with any other sport, you can put the second-string player in and it wouldn’t effect much. With rowing, adding in a new person to the boat that you’re not used to rowing with or being coxed by can unintentionally mess everything up.

Common sense isn’t all that common but it really reigns supreme here. Situations like this are all about exercising good judgement and just using your common sense.