Tag: burnout

Coxing Q&A

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Do you think you can cox so much where you start to not want to do it anymore? I don’t feel that way but I’m basically dedicating my entire summer to crew (and I’m perfectly happy with that) but I don’t wanna burn myself out, you know? I love coxing and right now it’s my favorite thing in the world to do so I don’t want to make myself hate it.

You definitely can. That’s partially why I quit in college. Even if you enjoy doing something, you’ve got to give yourself a break every now and then. That means getting completely away from crew for a few days, a week, a month, whatever and just focusing on yourself, doing the other things you enjoy doing besides crew, sleeping, catching up on TV shows, etc.

Related: How do you know it’s time to throw in the towel with coxing?

If you’re OK with coxing all summer (after having coxing in the spring and fall, I assume) then go for it but just make sure you give yourself a week or two before school starts back up to unwind and relax before the season rolls around again.

Coxing High School Novice Q&A Rowing Teammates & Coaches

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I’m currently a novice high school rower but I haven’t been feeling really into rowing lately. I’ve wanted to cox since I started in September, but I’m too big to cox for the women. I’m 120ish and really want to cox for the men next season. However, I’m really nervous to talk to my coach about it because she considers me one of her better lightweight rowers. I know I still have a while to think about it since the season doesn’t end for a few months but how should I talk to her about this?

If you’re leaning more towards coxing than rowing, just tell your coach that. Explain to her why you feel like that and just say that even though you know she considers you an asset to the lightweight boat, you think you’d be more effective to the team as a coxswain. Then explain why, of course. Always have reasons that you can explain and/or back up. It makes for a much more effective argument. Don’t be nervous to talk to her – coaches are there for a reason and one of them is to help their athletes when they’re having problems. If you think she’s going to react poorly or punish you in some way, you’ve got bigger problems on your hands. Ask to talk to her privately and then just have an honest discussion about where you are mentally with crew. If your heart isn’t in rowing but something about coxing excites you, tell her that. I’d rather have an enthusiastic rower-turned-coxswain than a rower with a perpetual “meh” attitude.

Related: Is it unusual to change from rowing to coxing? I’m nearing the end of my novice season and feel like I could be a good cox in the future. I love rowing and am getting decent results but at 5’4 (shorter than one of my coxswains) and 120lbs (female) I have to work crazy hard to keep up with all the bigger girls. I’ll be sticking with the sport either way but it just seems like such a cool component of the boat to be.

I’d also think about why you’re not feeling into rowing lately and ask yourself if coxing is going to make you feel any differently if you’re able to make the switch. I’ve had friends try and do this before and I always end up equating it to people who are really unhappy about things and think that losing 20lbs will suddenly make all their problems go away. For the short term, maybe, but in the long term there’s a good chance you’re probably still going to be unhappy because you never dealt with the root issue. Before you make any decisions, figure out why rowing isn’t doing anything for you right now and what you could do to fix that. If whatever you try doesn’t seem to make things better, then try coxing. Don’t look at coxing as the be all, end all solution though.

Ergs Q&A Training & Nutrition

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How do you fight the winter blues? I know it’s different between rowers and coxswains but I’ve just been getting so frustrated with myself and with workouts. I’m in a perpetual state of soreness (that’s a given) and it’s getting to the point that I struggle to maintain the splits that my coaches are asking me to hold. Spending one more day on the erg might drive me nuts and my team still has 2-3 weeks indoors. HELP!

Sounds like you’re getting close to being seriously burned out. I would spend some time first figuring out why you’re frustrated. Is it just because you’ve been inside for so long that you’ve got cabin fever or is it something else (coach problems, teammate problems, coxswain problems, life problems, school problems, etc.)? What’s frustrating you about the workouts? Are they getting predictable and boring? If that’s it, you’re probably not the only one who feels like that.

Related: How to survive winter training, pt. 3

Also figure out why you’re frustrated with yourself. Is it because you’re not putting forth the effort you know you’re capable of or is it something else? If you can’t physically take a break from practice, do something each night after practice (as soon as you get home, after your homework is done, before you go to sleep … whatever works for you) to relax yourself. If you can tolerate doing yoga, try and do 20 minutes of that. Or grab a foam roller or a tennis ball and stretch out for the duration of an episode of something on Netflix. Just do something to take your mind off of everything that is stressing you out.

Related: How do you fight off the stress of rowing? I can’t just stop because it helps me ease school stuff but at the same time it makes everything pile up and I can’t hold everything in anymore.

To an extent it’s inevitable to have a little residual soreness but you shouldn’t be painfully sore all the time. Are you stretching before and after your workouts? Are you eating the right foods before and after practice? Are you staying hydrated? Stretching, eating properly, and drinking water are all crucial to repairing your muscles after a workout. Even if you do stretch before and after practice, stretching when you get home while you watch TV or read your history notes is still a good idea. You can even stretch while you’re in the shower. The hot water and steam works wonders on sore muscles.

Related: How to survive winter training, pt. 1

It’s easy to get discouraged so there’s no point in saying “don’t do it”. It’s not that simple. Instead, when you are feeling down or you want to smash the erg monitor with a sledgehammer, look at the bigger picture. What are you training for? What are your goals? What are you trying to accomplish? Then ask yourself is any of that is going to be achievable if you quit or give up. What’s going to get you what you want – pushing yourself, mentally and physically, or taking the easy road out? Take your frustration and use it to motivate you instead of bringing you down.