Oakton, VA.
- Crew Terms
- Workouts
- Nutrition
Congratulations, you made it through the spring season! So you've
enjoyed racing and would like to race harder, faster and beat some of the
crews that beat you this year? Competition is fierce in this area and we
at Oakton would like to continue building our program into a top
competitor. To make you, your boat and your team faster next year, I
highly recommend summer/fall rowing and maintenance workouts before winter
training. Our goal over each summer is to improve technique if rowing, and
maintain our current level race-ready fitness. Working out anywhere from
1-4 times a week during the off season can have a dramatic effect on your
speed in the next spring season.
Weights & Cardio.
- Weight-lifting: If you have access to a weight-lifting facility, try to lift every 3rd day for around 45 minutes. Don't waste time with too much rest between lifts, try to start a new lift or another set 30 seconds after finishing a set or lift. Stretch out well and warmup with 5-10 minutes of light cardio (jogging/erging/biking) before lifting. Focus on leg, core then upper body strength. Unlike winter training, lift for max weight, low reps. Start a lift going for 10 reps of a weight that is difficult for you. Increase the weight and try for 5 reps. Increase weight again and try for 1-3 reps. If using free weights or barbells, be careful and work out with a friend who can spot you. Try to lift to failure in a handful of reps, i.e. you shouldn't be able to rep the weight on the 3rd set more than 3 times. Increase the weight as you get stronger over the summer.
- Calisthenics: One word: butt-ups. Get into a routine of butt-ups every day. Do them when you get up or anything else that works for you. Vary between gorillas, preachers and floor buttups. Focus on going slow, keeping a good range of motion without resting on your calves or fully extending your knees. Pick a set/rep combination that makes you feel the burn about halfway through the entire workout. Other calisthenics are good if you can't lift for some reason, otherwise focus on butt-ups.
- Cardio: Erging is preferential by far, but if you don't have access to an erg, mimic the patterns of the erg workouts with biking, running or swimming. If an erg workout is long distance steady state, bike/run/swim for about the same amount of time. If the erg workout is short, repeatedly sprint, bike/run/swim sprint in the same pattern. Shorter, harder workouts help to build muscle and maintain - try to focus on these workouts. All summer and fall, try to do 1-4 workouts per week. Vary your workouts, take a break if you get burned out.
For each week of the summer/fall until winter training starts, your goal is to lift twice and do as much cardio as you want. For cardio, pick one from the short group, then one from the moderate group, then add as you see fit from the long group. Remember, the focus is building muscle with lifting and training it to row with intense erging.
Summer Erg/Cardio Workouts
- SHORT
- 2 minutes on, 2 minute off, min SPM of 30-34. Set of 5 and repeat after 10 minute rest.
- Calorie Climb: Set monitor to calories, row for 1 minute at each calorie level of 500/600/500/700/500/800/etc.... End when you pull 3 consecutive strokes below the target. Repeat after 10 minute break.
- 1000m on, 3 minutes off, (500m on, 2 minutes off) x 2, (250m on, 1 minute off) x 4. Repeat after 10 minute break.
- VO2 MAX: 30 seconds on, 90 seconds off, set of 15-20. Row pieces at maximum pressure and rate (unsustainable sprint, 40+ SPM). Be sure to warm up well before this workout.
- MODERATE
- 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off for 15 minutes. Repeat after 5 minute break.
- Calorie Staircase: Set monitor to calories and 30 minute workout. Break the workout into 5 or 6 minute builds, starting at 400 or 500 calories and increasing by 100 every minute. Repeat 5 or 6 times.
- 2000m x 3. 5 minute rest between pieces, keep the rate up and try to maintain a split near (3-6 seconds slower) than your season PR.
- Power Stroke Pyramid: Pull 10 hard, 10 easy, 20 hard, 20 easy, etc… up to 40/50 and back down. i.e. 10/10/20/20/30/30/40/40/30/30/20/20/10/10. Maintain a steady low rate (20-26 SPM) throughout the workout. Repeat after 5 minute rest.
- LONG
- 10k with 10 full pressure strokes every 1000m. Keep the rate constant (26-30) throughout.
- 60 minutes on, keep the rate low (20-24), ignore the split, just focus on solid connection and drive every stroke.
- 6k for fastest time. 10 minute rest and repeat - try to keep the pressure constant throughout.
- Half marathon / marathon (21098m / 42195m). If you've done all the other workouts repeatedly, try each once through the summer. Put on a movie or lots of music and just try to complete them, with a friend if possible. Take breaks when needed for water/euphemism - the goal is completion, not the fastest time. Try the half first, with at least a week between the pieces. Bike/run/swim for 90/180 minutes continuous for a similar workout. Eat plenty before attempting, also a good idea to have a small healthy snack during the full marathon (i.e. granola/energy bar).