Its like a dead lift, but its not…
Rowing 101 at CrossFit All In was a great success. Success being defined as, much was learned, we had a great WOD and we all had a great time.
Some of the take home points were, connection, pressure, block your back, straight legs. Clear enough? Me neither. It was so interesting to hear the concepts explained from a rowers point of view. The vernacular is different the background frame of reference is different and this all made the experience that much more interesting. As the class went on all of the important points became clearer
Connection. When we first went down this road it sounded to me like some sort of transcendental, metaphysical relationship with the erg. I’m thinking- be the flywheel-or something. As I listened further I began to understand. Here is my best explanation. Its kinda like a dead lift (many rowing instructors don’t like this analogy, but it makes sense to me) the handle is in your hands just like a bar. The flywheel is analagous to the weight. In the deadlift we all know the lifting isn’t done with the arms regardless of the fact that the bar is directly connected to them. The arms and the back are rigid making a direct transmission of the power created with the legs to the bar. The same is true on the erg. This is the connnection. You want to feel the direct relationship, or the connection between, the extension of your knees and hips on the flywheel. At this point in the pull if you could attach the bar directly to your pelvis taking out all the variables between the leg drive and the handle that would be good. Our dead lift analogy obviously breaks down when you begin talking about the arm pull, recovery, the fluidity of the movement and the timing and nuances of the catch. At this point it feels more like learning a golf swing.
Pressure. This goes hand in hand with connection. When you transition from the catch in to the drive you should feel the pressure of your legs against the flywheel in your feet on the foot pads. Think of pressing smoothly and aggressively with your legs. The goal of these two points is to get you to do the work with your bigger stronger muscles in your legs.
Block your back. We call this a rigid spine. Even if you lean over your legs for a bit more reach this angle must be achieved with hip flexion rather than spinal flexion. Think flat back.
Straight legs. As you continue through the drive think of keeping the slight angle forward of your torso and just straighten your legs aggressively. Once they are almost straight you begin to lay back into the finish. On the recovery your arms and torso return first and your legs remain straight almost until you have achieved the forward torso angle of the catch.
Well, that it, other than all the stuff I learned that I don’t have time to share here. The class was very informative and enjoyable.
AM Class
Happy rest day!
PM Classes
Thruster 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps
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Filed under: Olympic Lifts | Tagged: Thrusters
