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SorA

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Win

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2015

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Editor in Chief Cherry Fermor

Photographer Cherry FermorPhotography courtesy ofWorld Coastal Rowing AssociationBritish Indoor ChampionshipsDevils Elbow Rowing ClubAlistair HillPaige Padilla

Illustrator Cherry Fermor

Conten

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4 Editors Note

5 Rowing is the new spinning

9 Follow the leader

12 Weights

15 They call me coach

19 What kind of erger are you?

23 Rowga

29 Dates for the DiaryCon

tents

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Baby its cold outside (bursts into full 40’s song). I don’t know if any of you have noticed, but there seems to be a chill in the air, and either my eyes are failing me or it’s getting darker. This all means one thing (suppress groans please) HEAD SEASON.

They say you earn your trophies at practice, you just pick them up at competitions, and that is what head season is, one long, cold, practice. Don’t fret though keen rowers, this seasons edition is jammed full of motivational interviews and ‘get the best out of your training’ articles. You’ll be so busy winter will rush by, I promise.

As for you poor juniors, not training on the water if it is below 5 degrees is

not always a bad thing, trust us…but for when you do find yourself waiting at the end of a long line at a head race, take apart the cover and find yourself a nifty little foil blanket courtesy of the Royal Navy. It’ll ward off flu and should be every rowers kit bag must. Now you may fall in the water as many times as you seem fit (sorry parents).

Cherry FermorEditor in Chief

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Rowing is the New spinningFor all of you hard-core ergers out there this is an article that will make you feel smug. And more importantly, become an incentive for those heavy winter UT2 pieces coming your way this winter. Cycling usually goes hand in hand with rowing legs, but now it seems we were right all along.

Die-hard spinners are jumping off their bikes and on to … rowing

machines? Yes, it’s true. Call it the fitness trend that no one predicted, but suddenly boutique rowing studios are opening at a fast pace across the country and loads of converts are swearing off cycling classes. “I drank the Spin Kool-Aid like so many—but after a year I plateaued and no longer saw the results I wanted,” says Hilary Rainey, 26, a manager at a nonprofit. She’s a regular at New York’s CityRow studio, going twice a week, and has lost 11 pounds in just under

two months. Jessica Luftig, 38, a project manager, has gone three to four times a week religiously since February in lieu of TRX Suspension Training and barre-toning classes and dropped 25 pounds. “I can’t get enough,” she says.

Here’s why: Rowing just might be the most efficient exercise ever. “With each stroke, pretty much every part of the body is used,” says Stella Lucia Volpe, an exercise physiologist and professor

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of nutrition sciences at Drexel University in Philadelphia and an avid rower. And it may let you skip crunches—for good. “A big part of rowing is core strength,” she adds. “People think it’s all arms, but rowing is much more legs and core.”

CityRow founder and CEO Helaine Knapp decided to line a loft with rowing machines after losing weight and making her own body “tight” with a rowing machine at her local gym. She hired a team of fitness pros to create a 50-minute high-intensity interval-training workout (which alternates between the rower and

the mat), and opened CityRow last January. Classes are often wait list only.Similar to indoor cyclists, rowers are meant to stay in sync with one another, as they would if they were gliding across the water. However, unlike Spinning’s call for 95 percent legs and 5 percent upper body, the rowing ratio is more along the lines of 60 percent legs and 40 percent upper body. CityRow’s mantra (“legs! core! arms!”) is repeated again and again throughout each 30- to 60-second sprint.

“Rowing is a full-body exercise, and it keeps the heart rate

elevated,” says Garrett Roberts, an exercise physiologist and personal trainer who founded GoRow Studios in Hoboken, New Jersey. “But then it’s leg press after leg press and row after row, so there’s a huge strength-training component to it too.”Which is why you’ll get a svelte physique faster. “Rowing burns two to three times the amount of calories of Spinning,” explains Roberts. “Unlike a bike, which only has resistance in one direction, rowing has resistance in both directions—forward and back—making you much stronger and increasing the rate at which you burn calories.”

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SOAR 8Josh Crosby, a former competitive rower and a co-creator of the WaterRower GX (a.k.a. Indo-Row), a rowing machine outfitted with a water-filled flywheel, says that the GX not only adds natural resistance but also allows you to hear the swoosh of water with every pull. Crosby, along with fitness pro Jay Blahnik, incorporated the modern rower into ShockWave, a class developed for Equinox gyms. In addition to the stellar calorie burn (up to 800 calories an hour), the workout has a secret perk—perfecting your posture, says Gregg Cook, a ShockWave instructor at Equinox in New York. “Most people are

hunched forward over their desk all day,” he notes. “This wakes up all the muscles in your back.”Ironically, just as the rowing machine is transitioning out of the water, the stationary bike is being submerged—in what looks like a personal Jacuzzi. At London’s Hydrofit spa, clients like Pippa Middleton (famous for her rear view) pop on headphones and watch TV or listen to music as they pedal away. Devotees at Waterbike outposts in France (and a few other European countries) also “ride” for 30- or 45-minute sessions with pulsing water jets—thought to rev up circulation and banish cellulite—that are aimed at

dimple-prone areas, i.e., the butt and thighs.But back to why weaving rowing into your workout repertoire is a must (even House of Cards’ fantastically fit Claire Underwood has taken up rowing in place of her beloved running). “Rowing truly uses every part of the body,” Volpe says. So you can spin like crazy in water—or a vat of oatmeal, for that matter—and it won’t even come close to the results you’ll get from rowing.

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Simon is the first men’s captain of Devils Elbow rowing club and has been rowing 33 years. In this interview I will see how, as a men’s captain he has progressed both in himself and in the club.

So Simon, tell me about your history as a rower.

Well, I started at Keele University in 1982 and rowed there for the 3 years of my degree course. After finishing university I moved to Leicester Rowing Club for 5 years. When I moved job I relocated to Nottingham Boat Club and six years later I moved to Nottingham University Boat Club when I

studied a masters. Over the years I travelled and rowed at clubs like Narragansett in Rhone Island and also another in Charleston in the states.

When devils Elbow started 3 years ago I started as one of the first 5 members and then after a year became the first mens captain.

Follow the Leader

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What are your goals for the men’s team this year?

Ideally I’d like to develop a 4x for the national championships but that could take more than a year. For the rest of the men, I’d like to build up a foundation with them but more than anything I want them to enjoy it.

What are your achievements with the men’s squad so far?

Well, when I first came to the club there were around 4 of us which has expanded to 18. I’m happy that we’ve built a team from

scratch and the men race regularly in both Head races and Regattas. Some of the men have progressed from novice to IM3 and our Junior 4 is progressing well. This winter season we have increased our training and endurance so hopefully we will go into the next season as a stronger, more experienced team.

Tell me about the club itself, is there anything you’d like to improve on?

At the moment we are making the most of what we have, but as a new club its very limited in terms of funding and facilities. I

would say that the most important thing at the moment is the quality of our boats. It seems crazy that Oxford and Cambridge burn a boat a year at their bumping race whereas we are struggling for mens and womens’ weight restricted boats.

Hopefully soon that will change as we are setting a fundraiser position into the committee and we have donations from a couple of club members coming in. Our programme for boat repairs is ongoing and that is aiding our club significantly.

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What is your personal greatest achievement as a rower?

As a captain? I think its introducing so many people to rowing, its nice that years later i’ll see them at a race or event and they’ll remember me as the first person who took them out in a double.

Last summer you did explore rowing in Marseille, tell me about that.

As you know, it was a 24km coastal row from Marseille to Cassis in France, and I was rowing

in a double with Sam, a friend from Nottingham B.C and as we just left the bay, about 7km in, we were gaining on a lot of boats and in a good position to win and caught a massive wave and capsized. I wasn’t worried about the capsize or the losing our supplies or anything like that, I was far too angry that we lost our good position. We finished second place with no water or food in 38 degree heat so that alone is an achievement. I remember I couldn’t get out of the boat at the finish line, I felt sick and faint and just generally ill. But probably one of my greatest achievements, I’ll probably do it again next year.

Finally, what would be your advice to anyone thinking of starting rowing?

Don’t do it in the winter. Seriously though, get over the idea that it is a strength based sport, its so much more technique, balance and endurance. Its far more subtle and complex than a lot of people realise. And the whole ‘people being built for rowing’ is absolute rubbish. If you like the sport and you’re passionate about it then keep going because as you improve, you’ll fall in love with the sport even more.

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Chris Long has been coaching for years at Maidstone Invicta Rowing Club and is currently undertaking a Level 3 ‘silver’ coaching award in order to coach under the regulations of the Great Britain Rowing team. This interview is an insight into his journey as a coach and what he intends to do with his new found knowledge.

They call me ‘Coach’

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Chris, we know you’ve been a coach for years but how long have you been rowing?

Before I started coaching I rowed for ten years on and off, I started when I was in the forces and from there kept it up. I still compete now and then, for example the France 50km row this October, we are doing a vets quad and have been training for it every weekend.

Was coaching the next logical step or did you just fall into it?

I have had a lot of help over the years and I felt it was time to give something back, as I would expect those who I give the time up for now to do in future years. Smaller clubs need coaches and novices are unlikely to get a trained coach until they acquire points, I hope that my efforts will show the novices the importance of rowing.

What is your current course about?

The overall outcome of the Level 3 Award is to enable you to plan, implement, analyse and revise annual coaching programmes.

“Good mileage is always necessary in order to build up a

solid starting platform”

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What will you do with the course qualification?

I hope to make better athletes, student depending, my four year plan is to train up individuals for Henley…and hopefully win!I don’t want to change clubs, I think my own club needs all the coaching it can get.

Has the course taught you much about techniques of teaching?

As a coach you should always have an open mind to any new techniques it may not benefit your athlete, but your job is to do the best for the athlete, I just need to

focus on finding out what does work and what doesn’t for each rower. Would you suggest coach training?Over the years I have seen many ‘coaches’ teach rowers when they don’t know the basics themselves, I would tell any coach to do as many courses as they can, after all, you can never stop learning.

What is your golden advice for a beginner?

Good mileage is always necessary in order to build up a solid starting platform, a rower should also take a lot of time to learn good technique, good technique is the

difference between first place and bitter last.

What has been your biggest achievement in rowing?

Seeing an athlete develop as they start to understand what makes the boat move. I trained a mens quad for Henley a few years back and they came second, two of the men got scholarships to Harvard and Oxford so I think that was a job well done. I am currently starting to train up Cherry for Henley in four years to compete in a single so hopefully that will be as, if not more successful.

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Most rowers will know, that a workout solely on the erg will not get you those faster times or those medals come regatta season. A study has shown that weights, circuits and stretching all increase the stamina and metabolism of a rower. Now a new class has started edging its way into gyms, ROWGA! A yoga stretching workout based on the average rower - Get the name now?

Most of the classes come part of a hefty gym membership, but have no fear, this article will show you how to combine yoga stretching to aid your rowing physique for free!Why is it important to stretch? Well not to mention the flexibility of your hamstrings and glutes that you’ll need in order to reach out for the catch it also wards off injuries and other aches that can come hand in hand with heavy rowing sessions. Coaches suggest that rowers stretch twice a day, once when you wake up another

when you go to bed, with optional extra stretching post-workout.

A 10 Minute ROWGA workout.

Start on all fours and perform happy cat- angry cat. To perform this, plant your knees hip width apart, hands shoulder width apart and arch your back down towards the ground, hold for 10 seconds, then push your back up towards

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the ceiling, as an angry cat may look, hold for another 10 seconds. Repeat 3 times.

Bring your bum onto your heels and lean forward towards the ground, stretching your palms further away from your shoulders as you can without your bum parting from your heels, Hold for 30 seconds.

Lie on your back, legs outstretched and bring one leg towards your chest, making sure the other leg is planted firmly on the ground. Hold for 30 seconds, then release to the ground, then repeat with opposite leg. Bring both knees to your chest and rock gently from side to side for 30 seconds.

Back onto your knees, place one foot forward at a right angle position, stretch the opposite arm up and lean into the front leg, hold for 30 seconds, then lift the other leg off the ground and pull towards your bum, hold there for

another 30 seconds, Repeat on opposite leg.

Move down into a plank and walk your hands towards your feet, with your bum going into the air and your body forming into downward dog. Hold for a minute. This is also good for your core so try and engage as you hold.

Walk your hands towards your feet with knees straight, slowly roll to standing with your head coming up last.

Bend down again, keeping your legs straight and hold onto your toes/calves with your head towards the ground, whilst holding onto your toes, bend your knees and bring you bum to the ground in a squat motion, then straighten your knees again pointing your bum back into the ceiling and your head down to your feet. Repeat 3 times

Finally, against a wall place your hand on the wall and make sure

your body is an arms length from the wall, feet together, push your hip towards the wall whilst keeping your arm straight. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat on the opposite side.

No time to carry out a full sequence of stretching? No problem, whilst you’re brushing your teeth, just perform a standing quad stretch, then move onto your ITB so cross your feet, make sure they’re both planted firmly on the ground and lean to the side pushing your hip out. Repeat on the opposite side. Consider stretching your arms and shoulders as well by pushing your hand against a wall and your body turning away from the wall, repeat on the opposite side, this will be felt all along your shoulders and different heights on the wall will stretch different areas.

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What kind of ergerare you?

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There’s an erg test coming up, you feel fine…Then with just a few days to go you start to feel a bit different, you’re not yourself, but who are you???Well we’re pretty sure you’ll fit one of these descriptions!

THE MAGICIAN

The master of deception, you set the stage for a terrible performance leading your crewmates to believe that you’ve not been training well, have been a bit ill and are expecting a poor score when actually you’ve been doing secret training, feel great and proceed to pull a very large rabbit out a very small hat – but unlike a magic show, nobody claps, they hate you for it.

THE DESPERADO

You’ve not been training hard enough and you know it. Desperate times call for desperate measures and you’re prepared to try ANYTHING to cover up the fact. You’ll try an experimental rating of 42 spm, you’ll do it in

bare feet so you don’t lose any power through the squishy soles of your trainers or worst of all you’ll give bicarb buffering a go, get it wrong and will be lucky to make it past 500m, even luckier to make it to the toilet in time.

THE HYPOCHONDRIAC

All the training in the build up has gone well, you’ve been looking forward to it because you think you might PB, but then you wake up on the day of the test and you feel terrible. Your throat feels funny, you’re short of breath, is that a rash on your leg? You google your symptoms and someone has posted on a random medical web forum that they had the EXACT SAME SYMPTOMS AND HAD TO HAVE THEIR FACE AMPUTATED! Once you’ve closed all the pop-up ads for prescription drugs you pick up your kit bag, go to the rowing club and pull a PB – you massive wuss.

THE BLIND OPTIMIST

Despite the fact that you’ve only been to 50% of the training sessions you’re not only stupid

enough to think that you’re going to PB, you’re dumb enough to tell EVERYONE. People would be more disappointed in your score if it wasn’t for the fact that you do this every time… Of course this assumes that you actually finish the test!

THE IGNORAMUS

You’ve been rowing for three months, barely long enough to know which end of the oar to hold and not long enough to be jaded by the brutal honesty of the Concept 2. Like a puppy trapped in a gorilla’s body you proceed to rip the handle off the machine with unbridled enthusiasm. You pull a national record, cheer on your crewmates for the remaining 30s of their ergs and then ask your coach if you “did good?”

THE ROCK

Yawn… you’re the guy that never misses a erg, weights or water session. For the amount of training you do you should be going to the Olympics except for the fact that due to a massive mental block you pull the EXACT SAME ERG SCORE EVERY TIME.

are you?

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THE WORKAHOLIC

You’re the reason everyone has to be on the water 30min earlier in the morning and the guy that turns up 30min late in the evening because a meeting overran. You manage be at all the water sessions but do quite a lot of your land training at the “work gym”. You can’t get to the club for the erg test but you do it at work and submit your score. You do an amazing job of balancing a high flying job with competitive rowing, although given the fact you were only 2 seconds off a PB, some might say it’s a little bit too amazing…

THE LORD LUCAN

On the day of the test you don’t turn up, nobody hears from you ever again.

So here you have it, your entertainment for the next long distance piece sorted, probably best NOT to label your fellow rowers these though. They wont appreciate it.

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WE

IGH

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Rowers are constantly looking for ways to better their endurance and strength, whilst not gaining weight weights training is shunned, but studies have proven that the more weight training and muscle you have, the more it’ll burn fat. The idea behind this is that rowers, especially female rowers, should not be afraid to squat and bench press. This article shows the basics of weights, how the beginner can bring it into their training if they’re too shy to ask a coach.

Here are four good exercises for the beginning rower that addresses specific elements of the rowing stroke.Close stance, high bar squats - This is a normal back squat, with attention to two specific technique issues. First, place the feet at less than shoulder width, preferably the same width as in the boat. Second, place the bar at the base of the neck (muscleheads call this the “high bar” position),

not in a “low bar” power-lifting position. This high placement helps to ensure that you maintain an upright body position when you come out of the bottom of the squat. The depth of the squat should be emphasized. I found that full, narrow stance squats were a good exercise, because they allowed me to focus on an important component of the stroke in the weight room, unencumbered by other technical elements. That is the importance of a strong early engagement of the hips and quads at the deepest point of the catch, while maintaining a firm back. Use a weight you can manage for 10 repetitions. The load need not be so great that you are “stalling” on the way up. We want to gain strength and motor coordination that has some resemblance to activities and force characteristics during the rowing stroke. In other words, squatting a moderate weight with good movement speed is more specific to rowing, then doing very heavy squats that have you moving at a snail’s pace.

One legged Squats - This exercise is both, very practical and very effective at curing several ills. Strength with balance is the

mantra of the rower, and these exercises are a reasonable weight room simulation. Find a high bench and stand on it so that one leg dangles over the outside edge. The bench needs to be high enough, that your foot doesn’t touch when your other leg is in a parallel or lower squat position. At first you probably should have something to secure your balance in front of you, like a wall. Now, lower yourself slowly into the squat position and stand up. At first, you may find that you can’t go down under control to a thighs parallel position, but stay with it. Eventually, shoot for 3 sets of 10 to 15 repetitions each leg, with no touching the wall, and your thighs below parallel before coming up. This exercise is good for several reasons. 1) It can help to cure strength imbalances that are either neural or muscular in origin. It is not uncommon to have one leg that is doing more than its share of the work in the boat and not even realize it. 2) It’s another way to work on whole body balance and fine coordination with big muscle groups. 3) In this exercise strength without balance and control is useless, just as in the boat.

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Straight legged dead lifts - This is a good basic preparatory lift for strengthening the back extensor muscles. Use a barbell. With the knees just slightly bended for safety and a very straight spine, grip the bar at shoulder width and pull up to your waist. Lower the weight along your legs. If doing this lift correctly, the behind will stick out in back, counterbalancing the upper body leaning out in front of your center

of gravity. Focus on keeping the spine straight as you raise and lower the weight with the hips. Keep the bar very close to the legs, while executing the lifts, and do the movement slowly. Three sets of 10 repetitions will do.

Seated row - The reason this exercise is important, is not to build up enough shoulder strength to allow the rower to arm-wrestle your way down the

course. Rather, by allowing the back musculature to stretch at the “catch” (start of the lift), the rower learns, how to let the arms relax, while the stronger upper back muscles take the load. This is an important element of good rowing technique. In addition the athlete will build up the supporting shoulder girdle musculature, that is not well developed by cycling, running etc. The key focus of this exercise should be to begin the pull with the back, not the arms. If done correctly you will feel stretch in the “lats” and less burning in the biceps and forearms.

These basic exercises, in conjunction with a few others for non-rowing muscles and the abdominals represent a safe weight program independent of rowing performance goals. However, for the competitive rower, other methods of specific strength training seemed to have greater potential benefit. Now go forth and spread the word to your fellow rowers!

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Septem

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October

Decem

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Janu

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2930 123Cambridge Sml Boats HeadRuncorn Autumn Head 4St Neots Head5

1314151617Bedford Autumn Head Cambridge Autumn HeadTees Long DistanceAgecroft Small Boats Head1819

12345Bideford RegattaN. England Championships6Lea Autumn RegattaGreat Ouse Marathon7

151617181920Boston Marathon21

89101112South Championship13Cambridge Autumn Regatta14

2223242526Durham Autumn Regatta27Chester Long Distance Yare CupMonmouth Autumn Head28

123456Liverpool Victoria Head of the FloatBurway Small Boats Head7Monmouth Winter HeadWallingford Head

151617181920GB Rowing U23 Trials21

891011121314

22232425262728

2930311234

121314151617Tyne United Head18

2627282930 31Quintin Head

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SOAR 24Novem

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1Star New Year HeadHead of Taff Exeter Winter Head

234567Peterborough HeadDurham Head8Warrington Head

161718192021Newark Small Boats HeadTrafford Head22Greenwich Head

678910Cardiff Autumn Head11Ancholme Head 12

2021222324Huntingdon Head BR Championships25 Burton Head26

2728293031Norfolk L. Distance

12

34567South Hylon Long Dist.8Isle of Ely Small Boats Head9

1718192021Soar Head of the RiverAlton Autumn Head22Star Head of the River23

1011121314Cambridge Winter Head15Northwich Autumn Head16

24252627282930

567891011

192021222324Northhampton HeadCambridge Head to HeadWeybridge Winter Head25Boston Head

91011121314GB Rowing U23 TrialsTyne Head 15Bedford Eights Head

232425262728Nottingham Masters Head

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