154: Push, pull, hinge and drive

Well I may be breaking the minds of the clients I work with, but I’m also doing a really good job of rebuilding as we go.

I believe these 3 steps are held together by world-class basics. Here’s today’s podcast Episode Home: https://www.getfittorow.com/get-fit-to-row-podcast/161-intention-process-results

There is one movement in rowing that’s super powerful, it’s easy to see, but few would know how much power it’s generating, it’s in the body swing. I’ve always thought that the power of a rowing stroke comes from linking the core muscles to everything else. Remembering that you push before you pull, what connects those two movements is the invisible core muscles, they are activated during the body swing. The core muscles take time to train and develop because you can’t see them, they lay deep inside our core. Here’s today’s podcast: Episode Home: https://www.getfittorow.com/get-fit-to-row-podcast/170-invisible-super-powered-movements

If world basic basics is a personal thing, world-class consistency is something others can value. I’ve been thinking about the difference between basics and constancy, I think the former is something to focus on as an individual and the latter something that others observe more so. Can you do one without the other? Which comes first? Here’s today’s podcast: Episode Home: https://www.getfittorow.com/get-fit-to-row-podcast/159-world-class-consistency

I always preferred rowing with a crew. Here’s the thing when I was rowing at Auriol Kensington Rowing Club I learnt that crew boats were my thing and I enjoyed a quad more than anything, a quad is 4 scullers. You can learn to row on a rowing machine or in a single scull but I think the most fun is to be had when you row with other people. So here’s the thing about the Hydrow rowing machine that I think few have mentioned, but I will, when you row on a Hydrow rowing machine your rowing with someone and because of that it’s simply more fun. And if it’s more fun there is a strong chance that you’ll stick at it longer, which means you’ll get fitter….. Knowing this made me smile. Here’s today’s podcast: https://www.getfittorow.com/get-fit-to-row-podcast/158-hydrow-rowing-machine-made-me-simile What about your fitness and rowing, are you ready to get started?

I think and what I have learnt over the years is what people say and what people do can often be very very different. When it comes to high performance, goal setting or just doing something better than others, sometimes you don’t want to share how you’re doing it or you might not realise just how good you are. Are you curious enough about your performance? So here’s the thing, I’ve been thinking about world-class basics, how do people live to deliver them, and what type of people optimise them. Knowing that you have a talent comes through allowing others to see it, you have to share it, even the slightest hint that you think you might have a talent. Once you have shared your talent perhaps with someone you trust, you’d do best to try and understand how you make it simple, simple enough to you, understand the parts, train all the parts, be curious how to maximise the parts. Do the smallest parts, the basics to a world-class standard. I was listening to a recording of Muhammad Ali this week when he shared his most memorable quote “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”. What he said at that moment made what he did in the ring invisible to his opponents. He carried out world-class basics. Here’s today’s podcast: https://www.getfittorow.com/get-fit-to-row-podcast/157-float-like-a-butterfly-sting-like-a-bee What about your fitness and rowing, are you ready to get started?

I've got that winter feeling, a January feeling, one that's very familiar. For a few years, I spent some time at Quintin Boat Club on the Thames by Chiswick bridge. The club had an open fire, we would recover after a session by it. This poem that I heard today reminded me of the feelings of January. January by Henry Wadsworth Janus am I; oldest of potentates; Forward I look, and backward, and below I count, as god of avenues and gates, The years that through my portals come and go. I block the roads, and drift the fields with snow; I chase the wild-fowl from the frozen fen; My frosts congeal the rivers in their flow, My fires light up the hearths and hearts of men. This poem is in the public domain. Here’s today’s podcast and my reading of the poem. https://www.getfittorow.com/get-fit-to-row-podcast/156-my-frosts-congeal-the-rivers-in-their-flow What about your fitness and rowing, are you ready to get started?

Do you go faster because you slide faster, or is it the hand speed, or is it more a leg thing… Eric Murray knows 💪 I listened and watched a series of coached sessions with Eric Murray, a multi times winning Olympian. When you listen closely to world-class athletes, leaders, entrepreneurs and business people it’s often what they don’t say or share that you need to listen out for. Eric talks about smooth hand speed around the turn at the front and back of the stroke, which is interesting to hear. He also talks about “gradually” pushing more power out during the leg drive throughout the session, so as you get more into the session and weaker you focus on pushing more out or you, seems counter-intuitive, but the more you focus the more YOU CAN push more. Give it a try. Here’s today’s podcast: https://www.getfittorow.com/get-fit-to-row-podcast/155-power-and-hand-speed What about your fitness and rowing, are you ready to get started?

It’s the welcome back weights session, make sure you’re up to speed with your technique. There are 4 key exercises to focus on, each builds towards maximising power. Here’s today’s podcast: https://www.getfittorow.com/get-fit-to-row-podcast/154-push-pull-hinge-and-drive What about your fitness and rowing, are you ready to get started?

I simply love low rating, it requires a good deal of personal coaching, meaning you, yes you have to think about what you're doing. Here’s today’s podcast: https://www.getfittorow.com/get-fit-to-row-podcast/153-welcome-back-session What about your fitness and rowing, are you ready to get started?