How CrossFit Helped Me Win at Alumni Sprints

Posted by ScullerX on April 30, 2013
Posted in: Crossfit, Crossfit Rowing, Rowing. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a Comment

If you follow my Twitter feed you’ve probably been seeing a lot of tweets about the Alumni Sprints.  This was a first-of-its-kind rowing regatta organized by a Dartmouth classmate of mine, Syd Williams, with the help of a bunch of other alums who row for Ever Green Boat Club, the Dartmouth Alumni rowing organization.  The race was held on the lagoon in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, which used to be used as a racecourse by Columbia “back in the day” but had fallen into disuse and was recently cleaned up after Hurricane Sandy.

The water was great, the weather was perfect, and a lot of former rival groups came together to share equipment and engage in some intense racing.  There were a lot of former national team uniforms around from the US and abroad, and a lot of “big names” from the past 30 years of American rowing who still live, work, coach, or row in the northeast US.  We even had overseas representation from Oxford, Cambridge and Otago (NZ).

I was unsure if I’d be ready, given that I focused on CrossFit more than rowing this winter and that I have only been in my new boat for a few weeks.  This is a very early-season race for masters rowers, occurring in the heart of the collegiate season instead of during the summer.  I was unsure if I had trained the on-water rowing skill sufficiently, and I was unsure about my fitness to do multiple races back to back.  I knew I was strong, but was not sure I was fit.

It turns out that I was fit enough, and had an unexpected benefit:  resilience.  I raced 3 races back to back and came in 2nd in the Masters Four, 1st in the Masters Eight, and 3rd in the Masters Single, with less than 30 minutes between races.  I left it all on the water in the eights race, and felt good about being able to apply a lot of watts to the oar (which fried my legs for the single!).  The last time I raced in a sweep boat (1 oar vs. two) I ended up very sore due to the unbalanced loading that I’m not used to.  This time, I experienced almost no soreness.  I was ready to go the next day.  I was tired in my muscles, but my connective tissue and joints were solid.  I attribute this to 2 things:

1.  My squat (front and back) has improved a lot in the past year, and I’ve concentrated on working it multiple times per week.  This also means my core is much stronger.  My back did not feel “tweaked” as it sometimes does after sweep rowing, despite the one-sided imbalance of the stroke.

2.  My shoulder and overhead stability has improved a lot.  I usually experience a lot of deltoid and rib cage fatigue after rowing on starboard, which is my weaker side.  Not this time – it was “no problem” in the races and I experienced no sense of having overstressed my shoulder or ribs after the races.  In looking at photos and video, I am actually engaging the shoulder too much vs. hanging from the lat, but even with that fault the small muscles of the shoulder were not a limiting factor in the race, and I was able to stay fully connected through the stroke and take advantage of my improved max watts capabilities all the way across the finish line.

In retrospect it was a great event and it looks like it will have “legs” to continue as and early-season test of speed.  I fell great that so many people participated, and I feel confident that a winter of CrossFit 3-5x per week has significantly injury-proofed my body compared to April in past years of training.

Dartmouth Mens Masters 8

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Don’t Forget Your Squats !

Posted by ScullerX on April 11, 2013
Posted in: Crossfit, Crossfit Rowing, Rowing. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

This time of year, it is a pleasure to be off the erg and back on the water.  Even bad weather doesn’t seem too bad compared to being indoors.

The good news is that there’s a lot of emphasis on developing specific power through loaded rowing, either through the use of a bungee wrapped around the hull, or by beefing up the gearing on the rigging.  There is nothing like the true “hang” you can get in the boat.  You simply can’t get it on the erg, even with sliders, because there is not enough momentum to really stretch and pre-load the system before you pull.  I am very sore in all of my joints after doing some loaded power pieces into the wind, even after doing fairly aggressive CrossFit and indoor rowing in the weeks leading up to getting back on the water.

But don’t forget your squats!  I find it’s easy to get caught in the euphoria of getting faster on the water and forget to get in the gym and maintain my core strength movements.  Generally I scale back on CrossFit metcons at this time of year, and focus on on-water rowing and CrossFit strength workouts, as I get the “metcon effect” through loaded rowing.  Squats, deadlifts, planks, squat jumps, and kettlebell swings are the core, with Turkish get ups and kettlebell snatches to correct imbalances.  It’s important to keep developing core strength and stability, and then translating this into specific power in the boat.

Here’s a great article by Coach Kaehler on squats for rowers.  I prefer the low-bar back squat, fully inhaled, core locked, knees out, below parallel.  It doesn’t take a lot – I often build up to a just a few sets at a high weight late at night after a stressful day.  I always feel awesome afterwards, but I find that if I don’t keep up with them regularly, my stabilization suffers.  Don’t forget your squats!

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Is Rowing Like a Deadlift?

Posted by ScullerX on April 4, 2013
Posted in: Crossfit, Crossfit Rowing, indoor rowing, Rowing. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

I had a fellow CrossFitter tell me today that they had been coached as part of a CrossFit cert to keep their heels anchored when rowing since “rowing is like a deadlift.”  I smirked a little as this impressed me as an example of the old adage “to a carpenter, everything looks like a nail.”  The coach was somewhat right in that the last half of the drive uses the posterior chain, and the heels are anchored.  But I think the coach was wrong on two very important points:

1.  At the front of the drive, the quadriceps are the primary muscles used, and this switches to the hams/glutes only after half slide.  Explosive quad activation at the catch is one of the primary predictors of boat speed.  The level of compression in the legs is much closer to a deep front squat than to a deadlift, which requires more quadriceps activation.

2.  A deadlift is a slow, deliberate, powerful movement, usually with a pause between reps, that does not utilize eccentric/elastic contractions.  Rowing is a fast, dynamic, explosive, rhythmic movement that absolutely depends on eccentric/elastic contractions.  Pausing between strokes would cause loss of momentum and stored energy.  I believe rowing is closer in nature to unbroken thrusters, squat jumps, box jumps, or even double unders.  All of these are very different motions from the deadlift, and in none of them does one land on the heels or keep the heels firmly planted on the floor.  They all are done unbroken, at a high cadence, requiring rhythm and timing.  Deadlifts are seldom programmed during a metcon.

A very detailed explanation of the reasons for the combined quad/posterior chain motion in the rowing stroke is provided in the Rowing Biomechanics Newsletter.

New Beginnings in Rowing

Posted by ScullerX on March 31, 2013
Posted in: Rowing. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 2 comments

I am making a fresh start on multiple fronts this week in rowing, which marks the biggest change for me in the sport in over 10 years.  It’s a little scary but also a great opportunity:

1.  I have a completely new “rig” since my boat disaster of a few weeks ago.  I picked up a beautiful green 2008 Fluidesign 95kg boat from a Mercyhurst rower who injured his shoulder and can’t scull anymore.  Thanks to the family and friends who helped make this happen quickly – you know who you are.  Also a big thanks to Leonard Insurance (former Undine guys) who were a dream to deal with.  It’s a weird feeling being in a single-skin boat with a bow-mounted rigger, but honestly it didn’t take me long to pick it up.  The boat is definitely lighter than my Hudson was, and does not require backstays due to the bow-mounted rigger.  The hull design seems more forgiving.  It also has 5kg more capacity than did my old boat, and let’s be honest in that it’s harder to stay at 195lbs. now that I’m older.  I also have a pair of Croker S4 Superlights, which are top-of-the-line sculls and better than the ones I had previously.  They will be great, if unforgiving, so I’d better get my technique in line fast.  I have less than 30 days until the Alumni Sprints regatta.

2.  I have moved my training location from the Passaic River to Overpeck Park.  This means trading decent facilities, dirty water, and powerful tides for no facilities but beautiful, non-tidal, protected water.  In many ways it is a “back to basics” approach, similar to my situation 10 years ago in Petaluma, California.  Given the Passaic’s increasing propensity for floods and the fact that the state will be doing Superfund dredging on the best rowable section of the river this summer, I decided that a “trial separation” was in order.  I now have a vacant lot, a 40-foot shipping container, a dock, and 3000 meters of straight, flat water with a marked 2K course on the northern end.  Frankly, Overpeck is probably the best rowing water in New Jersey, rivaling Cooper River, and it’s hard to believe it’s not jam packed with rowers, kayakers, paddleboarders, etc.

3.  I will be racing independently for Ever Green Boat Club, the Dartmouth Alumni virtual club.  The advantages are that I will likely get on the water much more frequently, and will easily be able to benchmark times on a measured course.  For now it’s just me, some elite kayakers, one bald eagle with an aerie on the other side of the water, and Coach Clemens at the Teaneck docks on the other end.  Anybody want to join us?

The new rig:

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The new water (video):

Step Ups vs. Box Jumps for Rowers

Posted by ScullerX on March 15, 2013
Posted in: Crossfit, Crossfit Rowing, Rowing. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

I recently strained my foot going a little too aggressive on sprinting, so in approaching this week’s CrossFit Games Open WOD 13.2, I opted for step-ups vs. traditional box jumps (step-ups are, quixotically, still Rx for this WOD).

As a rower, I am used to full squat jumps or plyometric jumps up onto a high box, but have always had a love/hate relationship with CrossFit box jumps onto a standard 24-inch box.  I’ve always found them to not have as deep a range of motion as the other exercises, which may be due to my height.  So while they certainly train the finish and hamstrings (last 3rd of the drive), I feel like they are not addressing the front or middle of the rowing power curve, where the quickness is really needed.  I also find them incredibly jarring on the joints and they sometimes give me vertigo.

Initially I felt kind of silly for doing the step-ups, but quickly came to love them.  They require a lot more balance, and are more akin to pistols – which are highly effective for rowing.  Whereas box jumps tend to hit my hamstrings and calves hard, step-ups really worked the quads as well as the hamstrings.  The range of motion is much greater, and the asymmetric nature really requires core stabilization.

In summary, I feel that step-ups are a much more effective rowing-specific exercise than standard box jumps.  I would combine them with a deeper-range plyometric movement such as squat jumps or seated box jumps to work the explosive angle.

I’m not officially signed up for the open this year, but logged an Rx 210 reps for the WOD, which I’m happy with.

Spring is in the Air–First Barefoot Run

Posted by ScullerX on March 7, 2013
Posted in: Running. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a Comment

I think winter in the Northeast has finally broken – it’s not warm, but it’s trending upwards.  The air is perfect for running and the days are long enough to actually be bright.  I took off the Inov-8 running shoes with heavy socks and put on the Vibram FiveFingers.  The new ones with laces worked really well for running.  It was weird because the Inov-8s feel like lead boots in comparison, and even with low-drop shoes, it was hard to get the “heel kiss” vs. running on the forefoot when transitioning to shoes without any appreciable soles.

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