Most of my writing so far in 2023 has come from getting back to in-person strength coaching with the Craftsbury Green Racing Project over the winter. I do video review with the rowers I coach online, but there’s no substitute for watching athletes move on a regular basis for every exercise, set, and rep of a training session and hearing their questions and feedback in real time. I’ll feature some posts like this going into what I’m coaching (and how and why), in addition to the new videos emphasizing key points of exercise technique and common errors. This post is all about squats and deadlifts and their connections to rowing performance.

Continue reading → Improving the Rower’s Squat and Deadlift

I’ve been putting some of my winter time toward recording new videos and redoing some of my older videos. Subscribe on Youtube if you want them right away, or wait until I get around to writing about them. I’ll add some more context to each one in posts like this with notes from my coaching and what I’m emphasizing in the re-shoots. Today is all about front squats!

Continue reading → New Video: Mastering the Front Squat for Rowing

What are the key elements in a good rowing strength training program? In this article, we’ll cover five priorities for each major area of exercise selection, strength training performance, and annual training program design. These priorities are where we see the greatest benefits in rowing strength training and changes that we make when I work with coaches and rowers of all ages, types, and levels.

Key Points: In exercise selection, all rowers should be doing some form of squat, hinge, upper body pull, upper body push, and specific minor exercises for the hip, shoulder, and core. These exercises train for specific performance elements of rowing, and also fill gaps in physical development from only rowing and erging. When strength training, rowers should use good technique, tempo control of the lowering and lifting phases of each rep and exercise, as much range of motion as they can effectively control (with a few exceptions), and achieve the appropriate strain targets for each set and exercise. Only after these four factors is the load (weight) of the exercise important for progression. The rowing strength training program design factors that I’ve found most important are knowing when and how to individualize training, having an off-season building phase for general physical development, planning a transition phase to prepare for in-season training, a maintenance plan for the in-season or race prep, and making time to rejuvenate following the final race.

Table of Contents:

• Priorities for exercise selection
• Priorities for strength training performance
• Priorities for program design
• Program priority summary

Continue reading → Rowing Strength Training Program Priorities

This post continues from last week’s short post about the importance of tempo training with some specific advice for pre-season and in-season peak power training. One of the main reasons to make 2:1 lowering-to-lifting tempo the default setting is so that we can get more complex later on in the training cycle when we want to train for peak power.

Continue reading → Tempo and Training for Peak Power

The number one strength training performance element that I’ve coached across populations of rowers is tempo control. Specifically, lowering the weight under control and accelerating the raising phase, using a 2-to-1 lowering-to-lifting tempo as the default setting for all exercises unless noted otherwise. I coach this with all rowers from juniors to masters, and even (especially) the Green Racing Project athletes.

Continue reading → The #1 Thing I’ve Been Coaching in the Gym

The humble pushup continues to be one of the best exercises to develop upper body pushing strength and the muscles of the chest, shoulders, and triceps for rowers of all ages, types, and levels. Read on and watch my new video for key technique features to get the most out of it for connection to rowing performance and building muscles neglected by the rowing stroke, as well as variations to keep pushups productively challenging for rowers of all ages, types, and levels.

Continue reading → New Video: Keeping the Pushup Challenging

This is a lightly edited re-run from spring 2020. I wrote this in the context of gym closures, but it seems annually relevant here in the US winter season especially. I’m responding specifically to the common coach/rower statement, “We don’t strength train, we just use the erg.” I’ll explain in this post why erging and strength training aren’t exchangeable forms of training, don’t achieve or attempt to achieve the same training goals, and how a reasonable approach to both erging and strength training can set rowers up for success in the short-term for rowing performance increases, long-term over their life as a healthy and active person, and reduce risk of injury.

Continue reading → Why Erging ISN’T Strength Training

I recorded a new video to go with my new article on how to start strength training for rowing. I recommend a focus on bodyweight exercises for beginner strength training, but the chin-up is a bodyweight exercise that is simply too challenging for most rowers, even those beyond the beginner level. In this post, we’ll get into why chin-ups are so challenging and how I work with this in my coaching for rowers of all ages, types, and levels.

Continue reading → New Video: Improving the Rower’s Chinup

I’ve worked with many coaches and rowers of all ages, types, and levels who are ready to start strength training for rowing, but just don’t know exactly when to start, what to do, and how to progress from there. In this article, we’ll cut through the mass of information and get right to action with a simple system to start strength training for rowing, including free example beginner strength training sessions.

Key Points: When you’re ready to start strength training for rowing, the initial goals are introducing different and possibly new ways of moving the body, practicing the technique of basic strength training exercises, and beginning to build a foundation of coordination and muscular strength. Rowers starting strength training should avoid using high loads or high reps due to technique breakdown, instead focusing efforts on more moderate outputs in the 8-15-rep range with an emphasis on good technique and a controlled lifting tempo. The 30-30-for-30 circuit training system offers a simple way to achieve all of these goals in a 30-minute strength training session appropriate for rowers of all ages, types, and competitive levels starting or restarting strength training.

Table of Contents:

• Who should start strength training for rowing?
• Goals of beginning strength training
• Common mistakes of early strength training
• The 30-30-for-30 system
• Example strength training sessions
• When to start strength training for rowing
• Combining strength training and rowing
• Progressing to the next level

Continue reading → How to Start Strength Training for Rowing