Motivation

ivanans · Post by **ivanans** » April 7th, 2006, 3:02 pm

Hi, I row for a while and I was wondering, how do you keep embolding yourself during some test, e.g. 6k? I mean, what are you thinking about, so you can persist... How do you get motivate to keep up whole test?

Thanks

Neb154 · Post by **Neb154** » April 7th, 2006, 3:16 pm

There are 3 things I think about while I am testing:

1. State Champion T-Shirt that goes to 1st place winner at States

2. The terrible feeling of "bitching out" on an erg piece.

3. It will hurt if you pull a 1:56 or a 1:55, might as well go for the better one.

fender128 · Post by **fender128** » April 14th, 2006, 7:59 pm

get to the next 5 minutes.

so you basically break it into 1500 meter pieces.

its all about fooling your mind into thinking that you only have a ltitle more to go.

lyons9890 · Post by **lyons9890** » April 14th, 2006, 9:16 pm

well no matter what erging/ rowing is really hard mentally especially...i have like 12 voices in my head telling me differnt things.

What i like to try to do, is just zonnnee out. Let your body do all the work and your mind go on a vacation. The best way to do this is to day dream. I always think about me winning at crash-b or something crazy like that

. Also, while you are 'in your zone' try to still keep an eye on your split.

eyespliced · Post by **eyespliced** » April 14th, 2006, 11:53 pm

hmmm, for me (having not done any 'real' long pieces) i kinda meditate before the test e.g focus on splits ect. ect. during the actual race i kinda get so focused i loose track of everything but the monitor, the sound of the ergs (mine and others) and the actual stroke. i don't really have a better way of describing it, it is kinda like loosing focus but not loosing focus. i guess kinda like lyons said zone out.

apdermond · Post by **apdermond** » April 16th, 2006, 10:07 am

There's four things that motivate me on an erg. I have them wirtten on a rubberband that I wear all day everyday.

1. Team - I row for my school and I know that by not giving 100% every time I erg, I'm letting them down. It they're going to go balls to the wall, I should, too.

2. Stanton - my school's biggest competition. The motivation is obviously to beat them.

3. Pride - If not for anything else, you should row for yourself.

and finally...

4. BU - which stands for Boston University which is where I hope to row at college.

I find the rubber band technique works really well as I can see it in the mirror as a I row, and really helps me keep focused and motivated.

jjpisano · Post by **jjpisano** » April 17th, 2006, 3:59 pm

Motivation is an important topic. As I see it there are three main parts to motivation when it comes to our hobby.

#1: Getting on the rowing machine;

#2: Once on the rowing machine, doing the training right; &

#3: Racing.

Regarding #1, habit formation is key. I have preworkout ritual habits that help me get on the rowing machine when every one else in their right mind is asleep.

Regarding #2, day in and day out you must do the training. There are various purposes for various types of workouts; you should know the purpose of the workout for that day and singlemindedly pursuit that purpose. Stay focused on the goal. After the warmup, there is the meat of the workout. You should focus on every stroke and be aware of some basic questions like intensity and stroke rate.

Regarding, #3, if you've done #1 and #2 properly, you should be eager to race. By the time race day comes along, you should know what you're capable of. You should already know what you can do in private and on race day you should show up in public and show off what speed you have. I don't recommend expecting to show up in public and discovering a whole new level of ability. If you expect the excitement to somehow make you faster, then you can expect to fly and die. Train hard and race with confidence.

Perseverence is the final product of a well motivated person and as Sir Winston Churchill once said regarding the subject "Continuous effort is the key to unlocking our potential".

I am no super awesome rower but I now have 5 years of experience of showing up and doing some good work and some lousy work on the rowing machine. During that time I 've been aging from my mid 30's and just recently passed the 40 year mark and I'm just starting to click on my training so that I am now consistently hitting new personal bests.

I think one of the most important steps for me was just showing up more than 5 years ago and doing step number #1 above. I've muddled along with lots of experimenting and lots of reading of this forum and other places and the experience that I've gained is now starting to pay off.

HH · Post by HH » April 17th, 2006, 6:43 pm

i find for an erg if I get into the right mindset I think about nothing at all, my brain switches off and I just carry on driving the legs stroke after stroke until im about ready to pass out and then I tend to get a good score. My mind is clear of anything else except looking at the screen and rowing, everything else gets blanked out.

When I get into the wrong mindset im thinking about a million other things bar pulling hard, i let the conditions around me affect me and get to me I don't commit properly and I get a shite score.

jbell · Post by **jbell** » April 17th, 2006, 10:23 pm

During 2ks, I just count it down til the end. When I reach 1000m left, I'm like "Hey, its only 3 and a 1/2 min left, why stop now". For longer peices, music is also a huge help.

ivanans · Post by **ivanans** » April 20th, 2006, 3:41 pm

Thank you all, something alike i thought. I always think about that I have a ltitle more to go, even if I haven't finished nor 1/3 of all

But I've seen some interesting suggestions here, and I'll try it.

dimebagrower · Post by **dimebagrower** » April 24th, 2006, 11:06 pm

They go much faster for me with some slayer, anything angry. it really get me going.