Rowing, Strength and All Round Athleticism

So through to 2nd round for the 1st time, we got left for dead by the eventual winners

Fair play to Thames they were so much better than us and they went on to win it. Really happy with the season and to make the 2nd round at Henley was amazing especially given such a tight race in the 1st round. Still a loss is a loss, so had a couple of weeks off, now back on it to learn and improve ready for next season and hopefully be able to compete with the top club crews in the world.

08/07/2017

10km outing in a double. Prepping to try and get my first sculling win in 2 weeks time, before a month off from rowing on the water.

09/07/2017

11km in a coxed 4.

10/07/2017

5km run in 21:00. Put on a bit of weight already since Henley so need to get back on it as not getting below 20 minutes on a flat route isn’t great.

PM
Squats: 50/20, 50/20, 50/20, 100/8, 100/8, 100/8
Superset:
Pull Ups: 10, 9, 8, 7
Press Ups: 20, 18, 16, 14
Core Circuit x 3:
8 TRX Push Ups
10 Knees to Elbows
Side Plank

11/07/2017

AM
10km outing in double.

PM
10km outing in double again (so good for off season)

12/07/2017

Lunch:
20 minutes on hill intervals on stationary bike.

PM
9km in single scull.

So not been logging too much since Henley. I have still trained a fair bit, but kept it fairly light and mixed it up a bit. Yesterday I have started to get back into it. I will have 2 weeks off to climb mountains in Switzerland then visit a couple of new places in Europe, so up until then I plan on training full time again next 2 weeks, getting back into weights and plenty of crosstraining. I will start rowing again towards the end of August to get ready for the new season.

01/08/2017

15 minute warm up run at 13kph on treadmill.

5 minutes moderate intensity on step mill.
5 x 1 minute on 1 minute off level 16 / level 6 on step mill
10 minutes at moderate intensity.

02/08/2017

AM
Conditioning:
4 rounds of:
15 KB Swings with 20kg
Monkey Bars
15 Burpee Press Ups
45s rest
This was tough!

Strength:
Squats: 60/12, 60/12, 60/12 100/6, 100/6 100/6
Dips: 15, 15, 15
Wide Grip Pull Ups: 7, 6, 5

First one back and hip was tight and felt weak, but I am hoping for some quick progress as I get back into it.

PM
60 minutes on the stationary bike UT2 keeping heart rate around 140. Managed an average of 35.6km/h (not an accurate, but at least it gives me some comparison between sessions.)

Looking to keep the 80/20 split of UT2 and high intensity work as recommended by most coaches and avoid the moderately hard “black hole”. To be fair it is not all that different from recent programmes we have followed, so am keen to see how following a more structured protocol mixed with a weights routine heavy on high rep squats and bodyweight exercises.

03/08/2017

60 minutes on the stepmill at level 8.
10 minutes on the stepmill at level 12.

This machine is tough, but good practice before I go into the mountains again next week.

04/08/2017

7.12km run averaging 13.5kmph. Want to get this back to 10km very quickly as a sub 45 minute 10km is a minimum.

05/08/2017

Conditionng:
Complexes: 30kg x 8, 35kg x 8
Deadlift
Romanian Deadlift
Barbell Row
Power Clean
Military Press
Squats

Strength:
Squats: 60/15, 100/10, 120/5, 130/5, 100/10
Superset:
Barbell Rows: 60/10, 70/10, 75/10, 60/10
Push Ups: 20, 20, 20, 20

Core Circuit:
Plank
Plank with 1 leg raised, then 1 arm raised
Knees to Elbows x 8

Conditioning:
30s on 30s off on step mill.

Much better session today.

08/08/2017

75 minute cycle averaging 198 watts per hour at UT2 keeping heart rate below 145 and averaged 138.

Well my European travels are over. After much mountain climbing, drinking, eating and exploring it is time to get ready for the new season.1/09/

I have been struggling to find a new rowing club since moving, so that is up in the air at the moment, but tried a couple out so far. Annoyingly I have only just got off antibiotics since picking up a bit of illness, but I am sure it won’t take long to get back into it.

01/09/2017

8 minutes on the erg r20 at 1:58.7. (Rowing is a lot harder than I remember it!)
20 minutes on the watt bike at 215 watts per hour. Really like the watt bike, much better than a normal stationary bike in the gym.

02/09/2017

8km outing in a pair. Decent paddle given at a totally new club.

04/09/2017

Started new job today, so absolutely shattered from the information overload.

3.15km run at steady space.

Will build the distance up, along with doing plenty of bodyweight movements and weighted carries to prepare for a spartan beast race at the end of the month.

05/09/2017

Conditioning:
Complexes 20kg x 8, 30kg x 8
Deadlift
Romanian Deadlift
Barbell Row
Power Clean
Push Press
Squat

Strength:
Squats: 70/10, 90/10, 110/8, 70/20

Superset:
Pull Ups: 5, 7, 6, 6
Dips: 10, 14, 12, 12

Assistance:
1 Leg Romanian Deadlift: 20/ 5, 20/5, 20/5 (5 reps on each leg)

08/09/ 2017

Busy first week at week, but all settled in and a solid session on the watt bike today.

5 minute warm up
2 x 20 minutes with 5 minutes rest. 204 watts on the first and 212 watts on the 2nd interval.

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10/09/2017

4.7km run. Just slowly building the distance up. Will start to time these soon to track progress.

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11/09/2017

7.9km run today. Feeling a bit easier now. For the rest of this month there will be a fair bit of running in training for the spartan and then I will be going back to a more familiar rowing program. Again the same aim will be for Henley next July.

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12/09/2017

Conditioning:
5 rounds as fast as possible:
10 burpee pull ups
10KB Swings with 18kg

Strength:
Squats: 60/15, 80/15, 100/12, 120/8

Superset:
Ring Pull Ups: 8, 8, 8
Push Ups: 20, 20, 20

Conditioning:
2 x 20s max effort sprint on the watt bike.

Really felt off today. I don’t know if it is challenge of new job or if I am just under the weather, but still I managed to improve on last week’s squats, so early night tonight and just need to keep the steady progress.

14/09/2017

20 minutes on the watt bike 219 watts per hour
10 minutes row on the ergo r21 at 2:00.7 split.

15/09/2017

Conditioning:
Complexes: 20/8, 30/8, 40/8, 50/6 of the following
Deadlifts
Romanian Deadlifts
Barbell Rows
Power Cleans
Push Press
Squats

Strength:
Front Squats: 50/8, 60/8, 60/8, 60/8
Weighted Pull Ups: BW/5, 5/5, 15/5, 20/3
Push Ups: 16, 16, 16, 20
Ab Wheel Rollouts (kneeling): 10, 10, 10, 10

Solid session, hip wasn’t too bad on front squats, but didn’t overdo it as I still had a bit of pain there. Happy with the conditioning though, massively stepped up from last week.

16/09/2017

Went back to my old club to get some proper sessions and see old friends.

Rowing Outing:
12km in a single with 2 x 2km and 1 x 3km r20 pieces

2nd Session:
Circuit Training: 2 rounds of 45s on each exercise
Lunges Left Leg
Lunges Right Leg
Barbell Pull Ups
Burpees
Russian Twists
Pistol Squats Left Leg
Pistol Squats Right Leg
Push Ups
Crunches
Squat Jumps
Bar Multis
Sculling Sit Ups

Was nice to be back, will try and get a double session in myself tomorrow.

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18/09/2017

20 minute row on the erg r19 at 1:56.5 split
20 minutes cycle on the watt bike at 233 watts per hour
20 minute run on treadmill at 11.2kph

Probably my best session since starting my pre-season training. So much better than the start of this month.

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19/09/2017

Conditioning:
1km warm up rowing
5 x 300m sprints with 1 minute rest, averaging 1:36.2 split

Strength:
Squats: 60/15, 80/15, 100/15, 120/10

Giant Set:
Ring Pull Ups: 8, 8, 8, 5
Push Ups: 20, 20, 16, 10
Sculling Sit Ups: 20, 20, 20, 20

Squats still progressing nicely. Still trying to improve my ability on bodyweight movements. Definitely felt it in the legs after the sprints on the concept 2, so fairly happy with the squats straight after that. Still a bit more in the tank, but as it it beginning of the season, I want to keep a level of consistent progress and really nail down my form.

21/09/2017

So my gym did an indoor rowing competition in teams, consisting of 2 rowers per erg doing 300m sprints alternating with 15s between each interval. In total we had to do 30 intervals, so 4500m each.

So I managed 15 x 300m with approximately 75s rest at a 1:36/1:37 split.

Then afterwards for fun we did a 100m challenge which I did in 15.9s at 1:20.0 split. I managed the fastest on this (only slow because of lactate in the legs from the intervals)

23/09/2017

Double session back at my old club.

1st Session:
12km in a pair with 7.5km firm pressure work.

2nd Session:
Circuit Training: 2 rounds of 45s on each exercise
Lunges Left Leg
Lunges Right Leg
Barbell Pull Ups
Burpees
Russian Twists
Pistol Squats Left Leg
Pistol Squats Right Leg
Push Ups
Crunches
Squat Jumps
Bar Multis
Sculling Sit Ups

26/09/2017

2 x 12 minutes at 1:55.5 split rowing on erg r20

27/09/2017

5 rounds of
7minutes on treadmill at 11kph
30 burpees

Good practice for spartan race at weekend as it is 30 burpees dor every failed obstacle.

28/09/2017

5.5km run

30/09/2017

Getting a bit nervous now. 4 hours until I start. 13 miles and over 30 obstacles. Going to be a huge test!

30/09/2017

So I completed the 13 mile obstacle race in 3h 46m. I failed 5 of the 32 obstacles, but 3 of those were in the last 5.

My pace in the first half was solid, but cramp in both my calves made it a massive battle to just finish. Disappointed in my time, but lesson learned and I still had a lot of fun.

02/09/2017

3km on the erg r20 at 1:54.2 split.

03/09/2017

Conditioning:
Complexes: 20kg x 8, 30kg x 8, 40kg x 8, 40kg x 8
Deadlift
Romanian Deadlift
Barbell Rows
Power Cleans
Push Press
Squats

Strength:
Squats: 60/20, 70/15, 80/15, 90/15, 100/15 (Legs still a bit sore from the spartan race)

Giant Sets:
Bench Press: 50/8, 50/8, 50/8, 50/8
Barbell Rows: 50/10, 50/10, 50/10
Kneeling Ab Wheel Rollouts: 10, 10, 10, 10

04/10/2017

2 x 17 minutes row on ergo r20 at 1:54.0 split with 2 minute rest.

06/10/2017

Conditioning:
EMOM for 10 minutes
Deadlift: 100kg x 2
Burpee Press Ups x 5
DB Swings: 20kg x 5

Strength:
Squats: 60/15, 80/15, 100/15, 110/15

Core:
Elbows to Knees: 8, 8, 8, 6

07/10/2017

12km outing in a double.

Think I have finally find a rowing club nearby now, so hoping t get some more consistent training with the squad.

09/10/2017

10 minutes row on erg r20 at 1:53.9 split.
10 minutes on watt bike at 233 watts per hour.
10 minutes run on treadmill at 13kph.

10/10/2017

Conditioning:
3 x 3 minutes row on erg at r26 at 1:47.7 split.

Strength:
Squats: 60/15, 90/8, 110/8, 120/8, 130/8, 100/8

Giant Sets:
Ring Pull Ups: 7, 7, 7, 6
Push Ups: 16, 16, 16, 16
V Sits: 10, 10, 10, 10

14/10/2017

Double Outing:
1st Outing:
15km outing in a quad

2nd Outing:
9km outing in the quad again. Looks like this could be the potential race crew.

15/10/2017

1st Outing:
15km in the quad with 3 x 15 minutes of work starting r20 building up to r28.

2nd Session:
20 minutes on the erg r20 at 1:54.8 split.