Row-ga

Last Friday, SU Crew took a break from the ergs for yoga, or as Co-Captain Katie Messler calls it, rowga. I've written before about some of the benefits of yoga for rowers and have posted a few links, so I have some more things for you.

Someone brought their P90X Yoga X DVD to practice. I have never actually done P90X, but I have heard that it is a really effective exercise regime. My brother lost a lot of weight at the end of his college career doing P90X with his buddies and my best friend (former SU Coxswain) Jill Sands-Martin '05 started to get into it recently. Sometimes as a coach it can be a bummer to miss a good work out while instructing the team, so occasionally I like to join in and rowga offers the perfect opportunity.

Even on the online videos or infomercial, the spokesperson points out that most people think of yoga instructors as being silly or kooky. P90X prides itself on being intense cross training, and keeps their reputation by teaching the yoga in a really powerful way. Most people at the gym do a couple of sustained planks to work their core, Yoga X has you moving from planks to push ups to downward facing dog to warrior poses in smooth, quick transitions. Your body is never fully at rest, challenging you to breathe through pain, feel your body, and lengthen your muscles.

We couldn't have been very far into the video when I started dripping sweat. The poses are engaging the muscles in such a way that it is challenging without feeling like it hurt so much that you have to give up. I was impressed by how far the team's flexibility has come since we began doing yoga nearly a year ago. There was rarely giggling (except maybe for the "make your body into a triangle and reach your arms underneath your legs and clasp the hands together" ridiculousness) and the focus of the team has certainly improved. I saw many determined, motivated faces in the room that thought very carefully about each position and called upon their body to do things that they maybe had not thought possible.

I really appreciated the chair squats, because as a rower I think the more you can continuously challenge your quads, the better. I would challenge SU's rowers to sit down deeper into the squats, and keep the backs straight. That way if you are ever challenged to a wall sit contest by your coach (e.g. Spring Break '05) to delay getting out on rough water, you know you can be the champion of your team. Even though I hold my share of erg records, Robin Atkins '05 beat me on that one.

I still fervently believe that leg presses are pivotal to a good crew lifting regime, unlike a few guys I know that emphatically believe that it is a "exercise of the nineties." Squats too. I mean really, did Xeno Muller have biceps twice the size of his neck, NO.

Overall, I was really impressed by the level of challenge that the DVD offered and the calm cool-headedness of the instructor.

Key moves from Yoga X if you don't have the DVD:

Runners Pose

Crescent Pose

Warrior 1

Warrior 2

Warrior 3

Plank

Downward Facing Dog

Triangle Pose

Twisting Triangle Pose

Standing Splits

Half Moon to Twisting Half Moon

Tree

Royal Dancer

Standing Leg Extensions

Crane

Frog

Plough into Shoulder Stand

Touch the Sky

Happy Baby

You can very easily Google these terms to make up your own routine!