Will Ruth: BS, MA, NSCA-CSCS
About
I started this website in 2015 to help rowers of all ages, types, and levels row stronger, faster, healthier, and for longer. If you’re looking for information about what I do in strength training and why I do it that way, read this article from February of 2024. The rest of this page is more about me as a coach and author.
I rowed in high school at Olympia Area Rowing. It was a small club at the time, and we rowed team boats when we had the numbers for it, but more often sculled and rowed small boats. I went to college at Western Washington University (WWU), and I thought I was leaving rowing behind when I started playing lacrosse and competing in strength sports. I studied Kinesiology (emphasis Sport Psychology), and ended up coming back to rowing as the strength coach for the men’s team. I continued coaching the team after I graduated, as strength coach and on-water assistant until 2019.
In early 2019, I completed the University of Denver online MA in Sport Coaching program and moved to Vermont. I began guest coaching in the Craftsbury Outdoor Center’s summer sculling camps that year. I moved into a management role in late 2021, helping run the year-round logistics of the sculling camp program.
In fall of 2022, I became the strength coach for the Craftsbury Green Racing Project program (GRP) four sports of rowing, Nordic skiing, biathlon, and running. The GRP is supported by the Craftsbury Outdoor Center non-profit foundation to achieve post-collegiate high-performance sport training and national and international-level competition with a commitment to environmental sustainability. The GRP is approximately 40 post-collegiate athletes who are either residential (rowing, skiing, biathlon) or remote (running), as well as summer U23 programs for college-aged rowers and skiers.
In fall of 2024, I left my full-time roles at Craftsbury to become the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Norwich University in nearby Northfield, Vermont. Norwich has 23 varsity sport teams, but no rowing.
My online work is now in hibernation with any future updates to come very infrequently. I am still consulting for the Green Racing Project teams and it’s possible that topics may come up through that. Otherwise, I don’t see a way to produce quality content for about a sport I’m no longer immersed in. I’ll still reply to comments and emails as my time allows.
All of my existing content will remain available here on my website, on my Youtube channel (with playlist of 16 webinar/presentations since 2019), shorter posts and training tips on Substack (post archives), and the “Rowing Stronger” book in PDF from my website and in print from Blurb.com, including the 2024 “5-Year Update” PDF. I’ll announce any changes or new content via the Substack list, so subscribe there for notifications with no spam or anything in the meantime.
Education and Certifications
Master of Arts
Sport Coaching
2016-2019
Bachelor of Science
Kinesiology, emphasis sport psychology
2010-2014
National Strength & Conditioning Association
Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS): 2014-Present
Functional Movement Screen
FMS Level 1 (2024)
US Rowing
Level 2 (2016)
USA Weightlifting
Level 1 Sports Performance Coach (2013-2015)
Published Work
Rowing Stronger: Strength Training to Maximize Rowing Performance (Second Edition, 2019)
Free Preview: Available in print and e-book (PDF)
Updated in 2024: Included/Standalone
“NSCA Coach” Magazine
Part 1: Reducing Injuries
Part 2: Improving Performance
Part 3: Energy System Development
Webinars and Conferences
In-person and virtual presentations at the Joy of Sculling Conference, numerous USRowing events, the Craftsbury 2020 Webinar Series, and more. Many of these are available for replay via this Youtube playlist.
Science of Rowing
Co-founder with Blake Gourley and Joe DeLeo, contributor until 2022
Strength Coach Roundtable Podcast
With Blake Gourley and Joe DeLeo: 18 episodes from 2016-2020 on the Rowing Chat Network
PS: All the hand-drawn artwork on my website and in my book is by my Olympia Area Rowing high school double partner Eamon Smith (stroke).
