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!

Sweet Yoga Moves

It is a proud moment for a coach when an athlete does something totally unexpected, but completely in line with the training that they have been doing and then wants you to know about it. In my case, Devin Thomas and his fellow road-tripping teammates (Rob Pennaherrara, Erika Mall, Amanda Nichols, and Krissy Bohrman) sent me a photo of the "tree pose" that we have incorporated into our crew practices.


For those of you who may be looking to incorporate yoga into your workout routine, I tried to find a few basic resources. For SU rowers, if you have a photo of yourself completing one of our yoga moves, send it to me and we can compile our own SU Crew pose post.

iYogaLife.com is a great way to introduce yourself to Yoga and its benefits. They offer a blog entry and then a slideshow with photos depicting the various poses -- making it a simple and understandable to practice new moves. They also have various topics geared specifically toward gender, different types of athletes, and more.

• "The 5 Best Poses for Athletes" highlighted by the iYogaLife Slideshow
• "The Gym Goer's Guide to Yoga" on the iYogaLife Slideshow

eHow also offers a free video series on Yoga Poses & Positions for athletes.

Form and Function

Aristotle once said in Metaphysica that, "the whole is more than the sum of its parts."

Gestalt psychology also follows the principle of totality, that "the conscious experience must be considered globally (by taking into account all the physical and mental aspects of the individual simultaneously) because the nature of the mind demands that each component be considered as part of a system of dynamic relationships."

At Susquehanna, we treat rowing in a very holistic manner. We stretch and lengthen our muscles through yoga and focus on our breathing, we tear apart and build up our muscles through lifting, we push our lungs to their capacity through cardio, we do interval training and sprints to condition our fast twitch muscles, we test our endurance in longer workouts to challenge our slow twitch muscles, we erg on slides to work on ratio and teamwork, and we erg individually to learn how to push ourselves to our personal limits. That's just the physical part.

Mentally, we have the blog to celebrate team accomplishments and disseminate information, we have long talks on bus rides and cafeteria meals, debriefing sessions after rowing, we watch videos of ourselves and others, we send each other reassuring messages through Facebook/campus mail/and on our doors, we psych ourselves up through music and good luck rituals, we make t-shirts that show the world our group identity, we have coaches and coxswains to point out our form and our work ethic, and we have each other.

We don't just do the same lifts every day, the same workouts, the same pep talks, and the same conversations... It is hard to tease a part what actually goes into our "training." The same thing goes with teasing a part the rowing stroke and movement of a boat. Many rowers mistakenly believe that there is some kind of magic automatic fix to issues in a boat.

There are a million tiny details (or dynamic relationships) that go into the physics of rowing a boat that can create the slightest offset or drag. There is often a desire to "call someone out," by pointing out a weakness or a troublesome part of the stroke. The trouble is, sometimes there are so many small things contributing to an overall problem that a lot of things (from a lot of people) need to be fixed to make a noticeable difference.

Most rowers that I see on the Susquehanna team have very predictable issues. No amount of calling attention in the past few months has addressed individual style or action. Here are some general tips about issues I regularly see:

• Don't use a problem to fix a problem - Don't shorten the stroke to offset having trouble getting the blade cleanly out of the water. This will not help the boat operate at full efficiency - ultimately you are just slowing it down.
• Don't get mad - The tenser you are, the less fluid and dynamic your bladework will become. Use any frustration and channel it through the drive and your breath rather than letting it consume you.
• Give yourself permission to have a bad stroke/day/practice - The best of crews don't have perfect rows all of the time (sure their "less than perfect rows" may look differently than ours, but it still happens). We have to "do" to learn in crew and often that means making mistakes. As Coach Steve likes to say, "It's all about the miles," meaning the only way you are going to become a better rower is if you put in the water time -- miles and miles and miles.
• Stay FOCUSED - Keep your mental brain and physical head in the boat. You have to be physically and mentally present to be in top form as a rower. Also, "sightseeing" by turning your head around/staring at your oar/or other form of lallygagging is going to offset the boat. Need to get your head in the game? Close your eyes and concentrate on the feeling of the oar through the water and the rhythm of the boat or focus on listening to your breathing or the sounds of the boat/water. Rowing is more of a feeling than a physical product you can see.
• Coming up the slide is called the RECOVERY for a reason - Don't rush the slide and expect the boat to fly underneath of you. The minute you feel tension in the undersides of your knees is when you know you are pulling yourself up the slide instead of floating. The recovery (or return) is when the boat is moving underneath of you to gain the maximum amount of water per stroke. When you rush, you can actually send the boat sternward and giving up valuable water. EVERYONE in the boat can do something about rushing - e.g. not contributing to it. Don't get sucked into the rush.
  
• Don't drop the hands over the knees - Time and time again, I see blades skying (e.g. hanging way up high in the air) before the catch because rowers drop the hands once they get past their knees. Maintain even, steady hand levels on the return to ensure a clean and well-timed catch.
• Square up early - "Show your colors" by starting to square the blade over the ankles. Showing your colors means that spectators will know exactly who is coming down the course because of the length of time your blade design and colors are shown. The blade will continue to move backward as you square, eventually lining up perfectly for the catch. Quick hands, early square, clean and crisp catch. BOOM, then you are moving!

Although I just spent a great deal of time talking about the need to think of rowing as a whole (from a macro rather than micro perspective), Row2K features just posted a great new article entitled, "Fixing the Set, One Detail at a Time: A non-holistic approach to set," written by Rob Colburn. He identifies a set of symptoms and causes for boat set issues that I think we can all learn a thing or two from.

USA World Championships Team 2004

For me, rowing comes down to attitude, tenacity, perseverance, willingness to learn (and fail), and FIRE! Take what you will from that.

When It Rains, It Pours Friday

This morning we beat the bad weather by getting in three 8 minute racing pieces. All of our boats are progressing well at this point in the week and I had the opportunity to film some more of their rowing. As a little preview as to what is to come, here are some SU boats and part of the Canadian National Team (with a few Olympians and a bronze medalist in there somewhere!).



During our optional 11:30am practice, I got to drive the van by myself and coach by myself. I guess I am moving up in the ranks. Nothing beats a week of intensive launch driving and practicing as a crash course into coaching. I certainly feel more confident with the motor and megaphone than I did last semester. I'm still learning a lot each day, but it feels nice to have something to be challenged by as much as rowing once did for me as a student.

"I think that's why I coach.. I used to get up early every morning with a clear goal in mind of how fast I was going to be. When I stopped rowing, there was a void in my daily routine. Now I go to bed at night and get up morning with a clear goal in mind of how fast you are going to be." -- Chris Allsopp, freshman coach, United States Military Academy

The sky looked ominous on the way over, with a bit of rain, but we were determined to go out anyway. Devin Thomas took out a single after one practice in the double. Nick Fritz and Chris Ballway took out the double with limited experience as well. We stayed on the 2000m course, so that we would be close to the dock. The wind kicked up a bit across the course and just when we thought the storm may have passed, lightening struck. Luckily each boat and the launch made it safely back to the dock in the pouring rain. Kudos to the guys for rowing in adverse conditions and still having a great time.

We spent the rest of the afternoon indoors playing "cards." Each team member was dealt five cards and the sum represented the number of reps or seconds the team had to perform of the exercise of their choosing. We had a wide range of exercises from yoga, burpees, mountain climbers, diamond push ups, air squats, jumping jacks, ab work, jumpees, and much more for a total of over 40 different kinds of exercises. We finished our session with some pilates, yoga, and stretching. We also reviewed our film footage from this morning and watched a great technical breakdown on Row2k regarding front and backsplash. We also got to distribute our sweet Spring Break tshirts.


After cleaning up, we had a spectacular dinner at the Flat Water Grille which overlooks the Oak Ridge 2k race course. The food was excellent, the portions monstrous, and the company divine. You can tell we are a tight knit crew team when we have no problems eating off one anthers' plates! I think that I almost laughed until I cried today and found out that you can actually snort food out of your nose. Luckily I did not personally experience this phenomena. It will be sad to say goodbye to Oak Ridge tomorrow and return to regular life. The good news is that the racing season has just begun and who knows what is in store for us for the rest of the semester!

Slow But Steady State Wednesday

It's Wednesday and everyone is starting to drag a little bit. It was obvious today that more than a few of us could use a little more rest. Everyone is experiencing some kind of stiffness, overuse soreness/injury, or being just plain tired. We were a little slower to the bus this morning for practice, but all in all had a great practice. Every day we seem to make it a little bit farther downstream. Despite being tired, I saw some great energy on the water and some boats really starting to move together.

After returning to the hotel, several team members and I did some more yoga and stretching to help combat soreness or just being generally tight. Today we experimented with a little music with our yoga. Rob Penaherrera showed us all how to "move [our] hips like yeah," to Miley Cyrus. It is hard to concentrate on deep breathing when we were laughing so hard! I also showed Katie Messler and Tess Graham how to do the "Single Ladies" attitude hand movements later that day. It's a real shame that we don't have a karaoke machine down here or a crew team dance off! We are a versatile crew in so many ways.

I found my way to the gym afterward, but I hear that there was a fairly intense game of Ultimate Frisbee going on before everyone showered up for our afternoon off. We took the bus to the Lost Sea, America's Largest Underground Lake. Almost everyone tried to catch a snooze and get some much needed rest. Even going to bed early doesn't seem to cut it at this point in the week.

I was convinced that we would see a Fraggle in the cave and was woefully disappointed that no one had ever heard of Fraggle Rock -- Jim Henson's muppets that lived underground and liked to sing a lot.


We did however get to stare down the "Devil's Hole," learn about prehistoric jaguars and moonshine distilerys, touch/hug/kiss the "Bear's Paw" for good luck (again I wish I had some photos downloaded to post!), and take a ride on the lake in a glass bottom boat. Our tour guide gave us a little guff for not rowing on the lake, even giving us two boat paddles. We did however practice our set by rocking the boat back and forth. It was a pretty cool trip.



After that we hit the mall in Knoxville for some food and more fun. Katie, Tess, and I spent about a half hour in Brookstone on their most excellent massage chairs. It's amazing what a little massage can do for tired and achy muscles. I think we could have fallen asleep right there in the store. Even Coach Jim was hooked.

Tomorrow we race. We are going to do some practice racing against North Park University. Bring it on!

Victory Squat Tuesday

Today we logged a lot of excellent miles on the water. This morning I had an opportunity to cox a mixed four, which is the first time I have been in the John M. Thumm. As a Vespoli DL, the coxswain's seat is nice and roomy to accommodate the snow suit I have been decked out in this week. Although the weather has been fantastic, it always feels colder as a coach or coxswain. While the rowers are dressed in shorts and tshirts, the coaches really layer up and in some cases can be seen sporting brightly colored survival suits. I really do miss being in a boat, and if coxing is what gets me one back into one, I will happily comply!

Speaking of coaches: yesterday Coach Jim dropped his megaphone in the water and I am happy to report after letting it dry out, it is working just fine. My megaphone is still on the fritz, but it usually straightens out after a good bump or two in the launch. Between the megaphones and the motors, there is always something to worry about. It is easy to miss the simplicity of powering your own boat that rowing affords.

"I think that's why I coach... I used to get up early every morning with a clear goal in mind of how fast I was going to be. When I stopped rowing, there was a void in my daily routine. Now I go to bed at night and get up morning with a clear goal in mind of how fast you are going to be." -- Chris Allsopp, freshman coach, United States Military Academy

We have been spending a lot of time in small boats such as the fours and double, in an effort to hone our technique. While the beginning of the week focused primarily on drills, we are now moving into more power pieces. We sent seven rowers, one coxswain, and an observer out during our optional 11:30am pratice. Everyone is itching to try out the double or single and making great progress at that! The afternoon was spent practicing racing starts and longer power pieces.

We finished up with an extended yoga and stretch session, as everyone is starting to really feel the week's efforts. Although some of our teammates thought it looked a little awkward to outsiders, it was much needed. Pictures are definitely to come once they get uploaded! We stuck with the usual -- victory squat, tree, plank, and chair and added some new twists, such as the mermaid and egg. Although thoroughly grass covered, I can say that we all benefited from our poses. A few team members headed to the gym before dinner to get some lifting in.

We ate dinner at Olive Garden and went through many baskets of breadsticks and bowls of salad. Everyone was full and tired by the ride home. Wednesday is our "fun day," which means that we will row in the morning and then take the afternoon off in favor of a fun activity. Until then, SLEEP!

Keep Up the Good Work: EXERCISE!

Practice Schedule for the week:

• Monday: Meet in Classroom 1 at 4:15pm for a meeting to discuss our transition from the indoor season to the water. Several team members will be needed to go with Coach Jim to the river to load the big launch so plan your attire accordingly.
• Tuesday: Loading the boats on the trailer at the river. Meet at 4:15pm to get a ride.
• Remainder of the week: exercise on your own

Here are some suggestions for alternative exercises this week:

Swimming
Swimming is a great way to benefit your heart and lungs. It gets your heart rate up, but takes some of the impact stress off of your body. Regular swimming builds muscle, endurance, and cardiovascular fitness. Lap swimming can be very meditative, and can help rowers focus on establishing good rhythm that is needed in a boat.

If you are lap swimming, make sure you give yourself a good push at every turn. Pushing off the wall engages your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and abs. It will also give you the momentum needed to establish good rhythm later that will let you glide through the water. Focus on stretching your stroke out so that you can maintain the flexibility we have established through yoga so far.

Open Swim Hours:

Activity	Days	Times
Lap Swimming	Monday and Wednesday	7 to 8 a.m.
Lap & Recreation Swimming	Monday through Friday	11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Lap & Recreation Swimming	Monday through Thursday	8:30 to 10 p.m.
Lap & Recreation Swimming	Saturday and Sunday	2 to 4 p.m.

Running
Looking for a real challenge? Try running the stadium. Please do not attempt this if you have knee problems or if there is snow or water on the steps! Stadium running is one of the best workouts for a rower to increase mental toughness. As a high intensity physical activity, you will find that running the stadium will fatigue your muscles and the build up of lactic acid will become present (muscles may feel like they are burning and breathing may be labored). This mimics physiological effects that we feel during a rowing race, and can help us work on our concentration and technique through the pain.

I suggest focusing your energy on one motion (either running up or running down). If you choose to focus on the accent, run as fast as you can to the top and give yourself time to recover by jogging or walking down the steps -- repeat. You can even add a jog between stadium sets and run the other side, giving yourself a brief flat recovery on the track. Remember though that when you start to fatigue, take extra care in your steps so that you don't fall or slip. This is a very demanding physical activity and can be stressful on the body, so it is not to be used as a regular work out. Give yourself adequate time to recover (until soreness dissipates), otherwise you will regress and diminish your progress by doing too much too fast.

My favorite flat running course near Susquehanna is the "River Run." Starting at the gym, turn right onto Pine Street. Continue straight until Water Street (Keller's Beer Distributor) and turn left. At the fire station, turn right. Cross the bridge onto the Isle of Que and turn right at the river. Travel straight until you hit the farm with cows and turn around. For an extra challenge, you can keep going. There is a house with lots of lawn ornamentation on it that has a water fountain in the front for runners during warmer weather that you can stop at if you are thirsty. Challenge yourself to sprint back to campus once you get to President Lemon's house. This can be anywhere between a 4-6 mile run, depending on your desired length. It offers the most peaceful and serene views, is very safe (although be on the look out for cars), and provides a nice surface to run on. You may prefer a more hilly run out by the prison, an indoor run on the treadmills or track, or something else entirely -- but the possibilities are endless.

Other Exercises
Pilates or yoga are great ways to stay limber and loose. You may choose to do a program like PX90 that focuses on cross training or something more specific like kickboxing or step. If you are at home over break and have access to a fitness club that offers aerobics classes, programs like "Step & Sculpt," "BOSU," and interval weight training (like "Cardio Pump") are all great ways to improve upon your fitness level by emphasizing good form, balance, and strength development.

Remember, the important thing is that you keep doing something!

A Congratulations in Order

Jump for joy...


Congratulations to the SU Crew team for an outstanding performance at the 2010 Bucknell Erg Armageddon. If Coach Jim's calculations are correct, each team member reached a new personal record (PR) for their 2k yesterday! It is proof positive that the time we have spent preparing this winter has taken us to new and perhaps unimaginable places. The progress made between the end of the fall season and now is incredible.

What makes a difference?

• Regular practice attendance
• Commitment to lifting and exercise outside of practices
• Increased flexibility and focus from daily yoga poses
  
• Attention paid to individualized race plans
• Proper hydration
  
• Selecting a motivating and involved coxswain
• Team support and LOVE
  

As soon as the results are posted online, I will link them here.

Yoga for Rowers

"We win. We lose. We Victory Squat." - Paula Trinchera

SU Crew has added a new section to our warm ups and cool downs for each practice. It's called, "Yoga for Rowers" by Chrys Kozak and focuses on the four phases of the rowing stroke: the recovery (balance), catch (connection), drive (power), and finish (control). It has increased our focus, balance, and flexibility.

Lauren Seamon is practicing good "victory squat" form in the snow on the photo at the side -- one of the moves taught in the book. A side benefit of the stretches and moves provided by the book is the ability to perform wicked awesome Twister moves.


You can also check out this article from the Los Angeles Rowing Blog about yoga breathing. For those of you who might not have our book, you can find some yoga poses on the page as well.