The weight room for rowers is traditionally a place for gaining strength, power and muscular endurance. Depending on the time of year, coaches will vary an athlete’s lifts, rep schemes or both to complement his or her work on the water and achieve the desired performance result. During race season, gains in the weight room take a back seat to boat speed and time in the gym transitions to injury prevention and strength maintenance.

None of this is new information, correct?

Likewise, we all know that we perform certain lifts because of their direct application to the stroke. The clean and variations like the clean high-pull are standard examples: both train strength, power and speed, and are widely thought of as replicating the sequence of the drive.

Today, I want to consider expanding our idea of weight training for rowing and look at how certain movements on land can improve the feel of the boat on the water. It’s a subtle distinction yet one that can have an immediate impact on speed.

The idea hit me when I was out in my single last month. It was a high-traffic day on the Schuylkill, and my patience with sweep boats and launch wake was just about all tapped out. (May is a tough month for everyone on the water in Philly!) I was struggling to focus and maintain some semblance of decent technique when my hips hinged in a way that felt new, the boat jumped and something just shy of an epiphany saved an otherwise frustrating row.

Back on the dock, I thought, “YES! Practice was not a complete waste.”

And, “Wait a minute… that movement out of bow felt a lot like something I did in the gym!”

Let’s look at three movements that I’ve found enhance boat feel, and subsequently efficiency and speed.

Good Morning

Application in the boat

The Recovery: Hinging at the hip; setting the body out of bow.

Execution in the gym

Place a PVC pipe or light barbell behind your neck as you would for a back squat. Stand with your feet roughly shoulder width apart, take a deep breath and tighten your core. Allow your knees to bend slightly and hinge at the hip to bend forward. Reverse the motion to stand, and return to your starting position. Maintain a tight core throughout the whole lift.

Focus on:

1. Feeling your hips moving backward in space, and
2. Driving your feet into the ground as your reverse the motion to stand.

Stay aware of your core and how your shoulders are set. Remember, initiate the movement by sending the hips back, not dropping the head, chest or shoulders down.

Connection on the water

Next time you’re working on setting the body out of the back-end of the stroke, think about sending your hips toward the bow versus pivoting toward the stern. Feel your hips move in the exact same way as with the good morning. Hold your core tight. Press your feet into the footboard as you reverse the direction at the finish, just like you press your feet into the floor when you reverse the direction of the lift. By working to replicate the mechanics of the lift, you establish a new frame of reference in the boat, which impacts how you experience 1) the draw of the shell, 2) the weight on the seat, and 3) the patience out of the bow.

How?

You physically can’t execute the hip hinge in the same way as with the good morning if you break the knees too early and lose connection with the feet. More importantly, by thinking about sending the hips back instead of pivoting forward, you take the focus OFF both the body and boat stern, and stay in touch with the direction you’re trying to go.

We learn, “set the body,” and hear, “bring the catch to you.” While both cues are right, the language can be problematic for athletes who are failing to access the pivot (my case), doing too much with the body (e.g., moving during the recovery or lunging at the catch), or rushing the stroke out of bow.

Here’s how the shift in thinking worked for me in practical terms. I’ve always struggled to find my weight on the seat and keep the work down low. I would carry too much tension in my shoulders, and had a notoriously difficult time in rough water with my weight and center of gravity so high. Ultimately, I wasn’t accessing the hip hinge and was positioned incorrectly on the seat. I’d hear, “pivot more from the hips,” or, “keep the weight on the seat,” but never felt anything significantly different until I tried pushing my hips toward the bow. Once I reframed the mechanics and literally tried to move as if doing good mornings, I finally—finally!—felt a change in the boat.

One final note: The stiff-legged deadlift (SLDL) can be effective for training the hip hinge as well, but I like the idea of mastering the good morning first and then progressing to the SLDL. In theory, the good morning is the more advanced lift. However, with the barbell set on the back and essentially out of the way in the good morning, athletes can solely focus on the hip hinge. In the SLDL, the barbell can act as distraction and has more potential to pull the chest and/or shoulders down.

Russian Kettlebell Swing

Application in the boat

The Drive: Staying connected to the footboard through the back-end of the drive; extending the hips to stay light on the seat; holding the shoulders back and down.

Execution in the gym

The Kettlebell swing has two main parts: 1) the hips move back and down, which allows the Kettlebell to travel back through the legs, and 2) the hips extend up and forward, which forces the Kettlebell to swing up and in front of the body. Extending the hips aggressively allows momentum to carry the Kettlebell to about chin height. Arms remain long throughout the lift. At the top of the swing, legs, glutes and core stay engaged, feet press into the floor, chest is tall, and shoulders stay back and down.

Focus on:

1. Feeling weight in your feet (i.e., connection to the ground), particularly at the top of the swing,
2. Squeezing the glutes at the top of the swing, and
3. Stabilizing the trunk throughout the whole lift.

A stable trunk includes both a tight core and set shoulders (think about bringing together the inside edges of the shoulder blades). Notice how the movement feels more crisp and efficient when the shoulders are locked and set tight.

Connection on the water

Truth be told, I didn’t swing a Kettlebell all winter. When I started having problems with my neck in the spring, I realized that it was smarter (and safer) to stop going overhead with weight. I picked up the Kettlebell to substitute the snatch and was fast reminded of its value. I found that two aspects, in particular, helped with improving my feel in the boat.

First, feeling weight in the feet and connection to the ground during the swing is the same as keeping weight on the footboard through the back-end of the drive. We access the connection by keeping the glutes engaged at the top of the swing with the Kettlebell and through end of the stroke in the boat. On the water, the connection lets us feel light on the seat and helps us sit-up through the hips. Find the connection on land. Channel the same feel in the boat. Note the effect on your speed on the water.

Second, learning to both feel and move with a truly stable trunk in the swing directly applies to how we should feel and move with a strong, stable body in the boat. Remember, a stable trunk includes a tight core and SET SHOULDERS (i.e., shoulders pulled back and down).

With the swing, it’s easy to let the trunk ever-so-slightly relax. We’re naturally more focused on popping the hips. Plus, the physical Kettlebell acts as distraction, and its’ weight has potential to pull the shoulders away from the trunk. You can accomplish the swing with a relatively relaxed trunk. But compare this to the feel and efficiency of the movement with the shoulders and core locked tight.

Now apply the same thinking to the boat. As you approach the catch, focus on holding the shoulders toward bow and keeping the core completely engaged. Note how the catch and top of the drive feel cleaner and more direct. We see athletes lunge at the catch and/or retract the shoulders off the front-end. Even when the extra movements are slight, a softer than desired front-end results. Personally, I’ve been working to eliminate a small extra shoulder movement at the top of the slide, and found that mimicking the feel of the trunk in the swing has gone a long way in the boat.

Back Squat

Application in the boat

The Catch: Reflex, timing and elastic impulse off the front-end.

Execution in the gym

With the shoulders set tight and barbell placed on the upper traps, stand with your feet roughly shoulder width apart and toes turned slightly out. The starting position will vary among athletes so that each athlete can squat to full depth with their femur and corresponding foot in line. Breathe in and tighten your core, and then bend at the knee and the hip to move into the bottom of the squat. Keep tension in your legs and control the speed into the bottom. Once you’ve reached full depth, immediately change directions and stand up aggressively to return to the starting position. Maintain an upright posture, and keep the movement as direct and efficient as possible.

Connection on the water

The back squat has many applications to the stroke and can be manipulated for training in many different ways. It’s the most basic strength exercise in weightlifting, yet one that I often see rowers fail to correctly execute.

So, let’s talk form and then move onto boat feel.

One common mistake I see in rowers is a failure to reach full depth in the squat. In my opinion, this has less to do with ability and more with lack of understanding of the lift. Most of us learn to send our hips back, and, while correct, hip flexion is only one piece of the lift.

Technically speaking, the squat involves maximum hip flexion and maximum knee flexion. A singular- or hyper-focus on sending the hips back causes athletes to paralyze the ankles and knees. As a result, we compromise upright posture and depth, can’t access the bounce at the bottom and miss the full benefit of the lift.

Yes, rowers, “bounce” is a real thing! Personal note: This might be shocking, or at least mildly amusing, to some of my teammates and training buddies who hear the word “bounce” shouted on the Schuylkill quite frequently.

Next time you’re working on squats, think about dropping the hips down instead of sending them back, and allow the knees to move forward. Also, try using the warm-up below. I’ve found the drill best for training full depth. Plus, it fires the muscles we use in the squat, preparing the body to lift.

Once you can access full depth, turn your attention to training the bounce. Greg Everett, coach of the Catalyst Athletics weightlifting team, defines it like this:

The use of the elastic rebound at the bottom of the squat or clean to recover from the bottom position more easily and with more speed; the combination of three elements: the literal bounce of the upper leg off the lower leg, the stretch-shortening reflex in the muscles of the legs and hips, and the elastic whip of the barbell; used to train reflex and timing.

As it relates to rowing, the rebound at the bottom is essentially the change of directions at the catch. When executed correctly, the rebound will assist with moving more weight in the lift and likewise more distance per stroke in the boat.

How do we accomplish the rebound in the boat? With the right tension and timing.

Earlier, I mentioned keeping tension in the legs and controlling the descent during the lift. The tension and control are subtle—something you learn to feel and manipulate with practice, experience and time. Too much or too little and you might get stuck at the bottom or miss the advantage of the bounce. The same principles apply to the boat. Think of the descent as the recovery. Without the right tension in the legs and control of the slide, we either force the recovery and disturb the boat’s run, or find ourselves stuck (i.e., hesitating) at the catch.

Try using the 1 ¼ back squat to strengthen the bottom position and work the elasticity of the bounce. Pay attention to the timing and impulse, and then carry the feel to the boat. When done correctly, the front-end should feel more dynamic, efficient and clean.

Happy training! Go and get after it!

❤️‍