Improving rowing technique and performance with me.

[xenotheolympian]

Hello Rowers

I had a great time on Sunday! I as at Crash-B without having been there physically it was super! I even saw my "old" teammate Jamie Koven win his master division.

I chatted while watching and sent a greeting that was read out aloud over the PA system. How many years has this been so interactive?

For those who wonder who I am. I have rowed many years and have run an indoor rowing studio. I have always been a fan of using the sliders which now is replaced by the Dynamic erg which I have at home and love to row on.

I know I was not the only one on the chat group who was watching the races unfold and was surprised by the different rowing techniques. For those who want to improve their time a video file exchange with me is what I do as a rowing coach. I do a slow motion analysis of the rowing stroke. When the rower reviews the footage I send back it has me in the top right corner explaining what I see on the frame by frame commentary.

As mentioned above, I am a fan of MOVING ROWING MACHINES. I hope that over time, more and more schools will buy them because they are very useful for improving rowing technique on the water. One thing is certainly clear, the technique used on the static ergo and the dynamic DOES NOT CHANGE, although the feel of using the two machines is really different. I highly recommend testing a dynamic for ten minutes and then hop on a stationary machine and you will be blown away when you feel the forces on your body, when the seat makes all the travel.

When I was watching CRASH-B I watched the best rowers pull amazing numbers for 2K, including my old teammate Koven. What was crystal clear to me is that he could have gone 8 seconds faster WITHOUT A DOUBT. With MANY rowers I observed the contraction of the upper body was so pronounced that the use of the legs was amazingly undermined. It was a bitter sweat feeling for me to watch this. For one, great that effective technique is not a common denominator, gives me work to do, BUT I know how amazingly hard all the rowers work, the pain they feel, I know I was there myself. Just take a look at the ROW2K.com photos taken at CRASH-B. The faces of the rowers were tell a story of pain and continued shock, it was fascinating and at the same time I wonder if I would want one of my children have to go through with this.

My last participation at CRASH-B was in 1993, I believe. I won the hammer as a junior going 7 minutes and 40 seconds, yes you read right, no it was not for 2k, but for a whopping 2500 meters. My own mom wanted to try and I coached her from afar by writing her training program. She ended up winning the French, Swiss, and CRASH-B indoor championship, back in 1992. By that time I was already going to Brown.

When I watched the footage of CRASH-B I also noticed how cold and harsh the decorations were. There was a lack of FLUFF. I am showing my softer side, after all I have four kids, and I appreciate how they play little kids stuff. What I saw was of course pain and suffering, but also a very grey floor and an overall color scheme that was on the cold side. I know this might come as an absurdity, but the location of CRASH-B should be held where winter is not so dominant that you feel it come in through the doors of that arena. Man would it be nice to have the competition happen where some sort of natural light peaks through bay windows. CRASH-B could be held in a large indoor botanical garden, that would be beautiful to watch.

I live and breath rowing. I use a heart rate monitor, I don't train to hurt. If I wanted to become really competitive again I would work above my aerobic threshold 4 out of 11 times. I love to cross train and find the correlation in developing power from one sport to another fascinating. Finally, remember to adjust your stroke rate to your breathing rhythm.

Those are my thoughts for now.

Have a great week!

[RogerR]

I have ordered the dynamic erg and look forward to working with it. Xeno, will you produce additional workout videos with the dynamic rower?

[xenotheolympian]

Roger you are back!
Yes, I will do more such workouts.
I can tell you, that having four children, is one great ride that makes it hard to put in the miles on the rower, let alone film it!
The large list of workouts on www.row2go.com is perfectly suited for the Dynamic. You often see me row with one arm on those workouts. The beauty about the "string" instead of the chain is that rowing with one arm at a time is smooth without any rubbing noise. Rowing with one leg at a time is also simple to execute.
Bis bald,
Xeno

[RogerR]

The dynamic erg arrived yesterday. According to the distributor I am the first owner of a C2 dynamic erg in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Phillipines...

This morning I gave the new erg a run and I loved it. I worked out along Xeno's Anytime, anywhere workout (online at Row2Go) where Xeno is using the dynamic erg. Very smooth and even better than the model D on slides, no bumping at the frame and the compact design is awesome. Great machine!!

P.S. Xeno's online workouts are terrific. There is enough choice for a lifetime of sweaty shirts, great bang for the buck!

[xenotheolympian]

Great you got the machine already.
Thank you for your kind words and compliments.
Be well, row far, don't overdo it

[RogerR]

After completing a number of your interval workouts it's obvious that I need to do the bulk of training in staedy state. I hope you will produce a couple of 10k, 45min, etc. steady state mp4's for aerobic training.

Thanks.

[jofinneg]

Hi Xeno,

I was hoping to get your advice, and I hope I'm not too late in posting to an old thread.

I am brand new to indoor rowing and I'm looking for the best option for the beginner just starting out: Concept D Static, Concept D with Rails, or Concept Dynamic.

The static Concept D Static seems to be the competition standard, and although I will not be partaking in competitions in the near future, I'm very competitive by nature and logging accurate Times will be very important to me.

Can you effectively train on a Dynamic or Rails setup and then later compete on a Static? Will the times translate accurately to the Static?

As an aside, lower back problems have been somewhat of an issue for me in the past, but I mostly attribute that to being somewhat overweight and working at a computer much of the day (weak core). I'm 5' 11" and 210lbs, but my calves seem to make up 30% of that total - my frame is naturally built for power and I think 195lbs would be a good target training weight once I convert the fat to muscle.

Thanks for your time,
John

[xenotheolympian]

Times are the same.
Dynamic is far better for your back.