I hit the gym again this morning for my 3rd outing on the rowing machine and longest stint yet, a whole 45 minutes! The previous 2 sessions were fine but I knew I was lacking technique, this morning though I was lucky to have real rower beside me so from the corner of my eye I was trying to compare what she was doing that I was missing, simple answer is she looked like a pro and well, lets just say, I didn’t.
The first thing I noticed was that her stroke rate was lower than mine, so I tried to slow down which felt strangely awkward but I settled into a rhythm after a few minutes. The other obvious difference was the power she was generating, her machine whooshed on every single stroke while mine barely coughed as I dragged on the chain.
My poor little arms just couldn’t make it go faster. Then came the solution, just as I was finishing along came Limerick triathlon clubs, Mike Casey O’Shea, as a former rower he gave me some great tips. Get as much length as you can from every stroke and make them efficient were the key tips. Following some brief demonstrations he had me driving through my legs causing the machine to finally whoosh! And more importantly saving valuable energy in my arms and back. The other key tip was to stay relaxed on my recovery, this will again save me energy and with 12 hours of rowing each day on the ocean every ounce of energy I can save will be so important to staying fit and healthy.
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