More ROW Technique = Less Effort
Ranjith
Skill
Rowing Technique
Catch
Rowing… who needs technique? Just pull the damn thing right? wrong! Efficiency is key in rowing, especially in longer rows and in metcons. In being efficient, you can preserve more energy for whatever is paired in the WOD. There are a few common mistakes we see on the rower and typically they start with the setup or catch. Rowing is a pull exercise, not a push. Therefore we should be loading our hamstrings and posterior chain, similar to a deadlift. As you can see in the first picture, Chuck has a good amount of space in-between his butt and his feet, he is leaning and reaching in but still maintaining his hollow position so he can effectively transfer power from his legs to his upper body and ultimately to the Erg chain. Often times, we will see athletes with their butts to close to their feet, simulating squatting on the rower. In doing so, we are unable to involve our powerful hip extensors and often end up with a weak pull around the knees.
Legs
The next step is a powerful extension of the hips and push with the legs. The legs produce the force in the row.
Lean
After the legs and before the arms, we lean to put the middle of our body into the pull.
Arms
The last part of our pull is with our arms. It is very important not to pull the arms to early. When the arms bend, the power ends.
Finish
In the finish, legs and hips are extended completely and there is a slight lean backward. The chain is pulled to the bottom of the rib cage, no higher, to complete the finish.
Repeat in Reverse Order to achieve the same powerful starting (“Catch”) position. Arms away, lean forward, then bend at the knees only once the handle is past the knees. Remember this is your chance to recover. It should take 1 second for the pull and 2 seconds to recover. Think big powerful pulls, and slow recovery.
WOD
2 Rounds
Run 800m
15 Burpee Box Jumps
Rest 1 minute
Row 1000m
15 Burpee Pull-ups
Rest 1 minute
Level 1 400m Run/500m row
30:48 – burpee pull ups to low bar. Not a chance in hell for this 5’6″ guy to get up to that high bar. So, I am also with Marc, Chris, and Joel on this one being tough for the shorter folk! And also with Joel in that I was feeling nauseous for awhile in the middle of this. Much tougher than it looked on paper!
Loved it!!! Thanks from Jersey!
21:52rx
26:13 Rx (had to run 2x b/c the 6pm class was so packed)
hilarious mobility class too….
29:03 RX surprised myself by doing all the burpee box jumps and burpee pull ups unbroken.
29:47 (20 inch box). I agree with Marc and Chris.
Almost threw up somewhere in the middle…I think it was the burpee box jumps.
28:06 Rx. I agree with Marc on this one being for tall guys (or average height guys with abnormally long arms).
One for the tall guys! I suppose it’s only fair considering all the body weight movements and squatting we do.
26:24
530HTK