We discuss the different types of masters training programs - for elite racers, for club racers, for fitness rowers, for return-to rowing. Benefits of 'cross fit' versus the more traditional 'miles make champions' approach. 
Timestamps
01:00 Types of training though year 
01:30 The new "Spacer Placer" rowing Tool for pushing out spacer washers. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvkCApr2-l8
04:45 Types of training what is your goal? 
In a weekly cycle use a mix (polarised) low, high, medium pace intensity & strength training. 
Different types of session you can choose.
• Endurance-low intensity 16-20 strokes per minute 
• Medium intensity 22-24 spm
Aerobic system stresses 
HIIT is a very broad definition  - it could be oxygen utilisation 4×5' or a power 30" on 90" off.
07:30 Plan your training through the year.
Your 2 key days a week training and insert your low intensity a strength in between. 
High performance racers - you can insert Crossfit only if the workout is inserted in the right place & right way for your goal. 
09:00 Cross fit workouts are intense.
Prepare to do it. 
As a master how careful do you need to be? 
To do intervals and explosive work and not get injured, you need to be strong and ready to do the workout. The faster you do things the larger the injury risk. 
Does this type of workout fit your needs and goals? 
Also remember to check out your instructors - are they experienced and qualified? 
Testing - speed of repetition amount in a given time. 
12:30 make the right choices of training type to fit into your overall training. 
Sport science reviews how to train your body. 
A word of warning - if you do 2x HlIT sessions you can't spend that time in the boat too. 
16.20 Racers' training needs. 
Train three times per week. Aerobic work for one session and two endurance sessions with one at a higher intensity. How high that is depends on time of year. Use AT tempo endurance closer to the racing season.
Oxygen utilisation or  1K / 4- 5min pieces. 
Speed and power workouts are shorter and quicker. 
What stroke rate you want to race at? 
18.00 Fitness rowers don't need extremely high intensity intervals. 
How skillful are you in the boat? 30 stroke pieces if you want to. 
Aerobic work is for fitness - combined with strength work in the gym.
19:45 Strength stimulates muscle metabolism. 
At the end of the session do 6x 30" on / 90" off or 20" on / 40" off. Power works at the end of a strength session. 
Combination workouts. 
21:00 Return to rowing rule of thumb is to approach it gradually to build tolerance. 
Take it easy. 
Focus on technique and efficiency. Ensure your posture and body positions are correct. Hinge through the hips not the back. 
22:50 Keep it fun and interesting focus on drills and steady rowing
Pick a theme for the day to keep the interest and focus aligned.

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Types of training plan for masters rowing

We need to map an athlete pathway for masters. All other parts of rowing have this as it guides federations, funding, coach resources and competition. Why don't masters have a pathway?
Timestamps:
01:00 Rebecca's advocacy work to get masters taken seriously, our needs to be noted.
Speaking out on behalf of masters as the fastest-growing part of the rowing community.
Would people who run the sport and set policy acknowledge the needs of masters? We are not the same as youth rowers - what's right for them is not right for us.
02:30 A pathway for masters 
This is one aspect of big-picture policy setting for masters. Pathways guide policy for sport and I hope this will enable masters to be part of the overall plan for sport in your club / region / country.
04:00 Systems thinking is a framework we can use to find answers for masters needs
A call for a working group to create the pathway and change our sport to become masters-friendly.
Link to Rebecca's slides for download
https://www.slideshare.net/rcaroe/sys...
06:00 Systems Thinking for Masters Rowing speech
The situation in 2019 - what is broken in masters rowing?
The Frustrations of Masters Rowers article.
08:45 How masters come to the sport and how the sport of rowing organises around masters - clubs and federations' roles.
What is needed for "Rowing For Life"?
10:15 Four things that help us to solve the problems faced by masters rowers.
A list of solutions already in place to help masters overcome the frustrations listed earlier. Three of the 9 solutions are:
- Too few masters regattas
- Ignorance of rigging
- Reducing friction in club administration
15:15 The Athlete Pathway for masters
As it is now - starting with learn to row. The learning journey is not smooth and needs to include intermediate stages where athletes masters parts of what's needed to race well in competition. It's rare for someone to jump up these levels.
16:45 A Masters Pathway proposal
Includes 2-5 years of racing with people whose learning is equivalent to yours. Masters train fewer times a week compared to young athletes and so it takes us longer to acquire the same level of skill and capability at the end of a novice year.
Federations should acknowledge this as a status - providing credibility.
Clubs need to continue learn to row classes.
Regattas should offer racing in these classifications.
Hyper-local events are needed for this group of new masters learning to race.
19:45 Without Masters diversity fails.
Diversity and inclusion fails if it doesn't also include anti-agist work for masters.
20:45 Get the free advocacy articles for yourself or your club.
https://fastermastersrowing.com/advocacy
Please invite Rebecca to speak to your group and hear this presentation.

A Pathway For Masters

Resource
Rowing Blisters And Skin Injuries ebook 
https://fastermastersrowing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2022-Rowing-Blisters-And-Skin-Injuries-Prevention-Cure-And-Management.pdf 

3 Value Bombs
1) wearing gloves is a good way to prevent rowing blisters.
2) cover band aids and plasters with electrical tape when rowing  
3) applying band aids 40 minutes before you go rowing makes it stick better to your skin. 

Timestamps
01:00 Prevent rowing blisters 
Hand cream may be insufficient to keep your hands soft and supple enough to prevent blisters forming.
By wearing rowing gloves - padded palm and finger protection. The Crew Stop gloves are specialist - light and flexible gloves. 
04:00 Treating rowing blisters
1 - your blister is filled with fluid.
Tape your hands. But band aids and plasters are not good when you row - they roll up and stick to the oar handle.  
2 - raw skin exposed.
3 - skin around the edges is inflamed.
4 - raw skin is cracked.
Bind the edges of the crack together with tensioned band aids. A butterfly cut made with micropore plaster. 
5 - Trim the hard old skin around the blister wound
6 - Healed blister but a raised callous on your hand. Don't allow blisters to form under the callous - they hurt because they're deep in your epidermis.

rec.sport.rowing discussions about blisters
https://groups.google.com/g/rec.sport.rowing/search?q=blister 

Methylated spirits are NOT a good solution - avoid at all costs as it kills living skin tissue. 

13:00 Good hand hygiene when rowing


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Rowing Blisters

Mis-timing the catch causes the boat to slow down. You can go faster for no extra effort.
Timestamps
These three things are super-easy to correct and take no extra fitness and effort. So important for masters to enjoy our rowing and so "speed for free" is great for us.
01:45 Putting the oar in the water at the wrong moment.
Roll forward to full compression - there's a micro second when the seat is stationary. This is the moment when you want the oars already under the water.
Too early - means you miss the opportunity to use all your leg drive. 
Too late - means you aren't at full slide; you waste leg drive because you're pushing air not water, and the bows are not at their highest.
03:50 The boat tilts longitudinally during the stroke
At the bows' high point you are generally at full slide and closest to the stern of the boat. This is when you want to place the oars into the water.
04:50 The cure starts at the finish
Get the set-up correct - refer to our earlier episode about Speed Murdering Mistake #2 The Finish.
- Be prepared early for the catch.
- Oars need to be square before you change direction on the slide,.
- Have as few body movements as possible while sliding.
- Instability compromises catch timing
- Loose legs on the recovery creates poise and control during the sliding and means you are doing less
- Sequence off the back (finish) arms - body - legs bend last.
08:30 Ensure you correctly understand the recovery
You should not roll fully forwards before squaring. This movement needs to be earlier in the recovery.
09:15 What to do differently
1 - Look at your knees. They are at their highest at full slide and full compression.
2 - Listen for a moment of silence when the seat wheels stop moving. That's when the seat changes direction - that gives you an auditory timing point to place your catch
3 - Be active with your placement. Make a definite, active movement to place the oars under the water.  Try pushing your handles away from you as a drill to practice this using your thumbs at 90 degrees along the oar handles to emphasise the pushing movement.

Speed Murdering Mistakes  3 - Mis-timing the Catch

Georg Gruetzner is the masters representative on the German Rowing Federation.
Resource: Structure of masters rowing slides
https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/systems-thinking-for-masters-rowing-1pptx/263741256?from_search=2 

3 Value Bombs
1. Use the Block Racing format for masters regattas to enable boat sharing
2. Invest in masters learn to row pays dividends quickly (financial and participation)
3 Look to other countries for innovations e.g. combine university and masters rowers for a big regatta

Timestamps
01:00 The Masters Officer in the Federation is responsible for the rules in Germany. 
There are many local groups who run masters events. 
02:30 Masters are in many clubs. There are 55 clubs in Berlin alone - but it's variable from year to year. Some masters come to racing from touring rowing - exemplified by a Hamburg club.
Most clubs have fine boat regatta rowing and also touring rowing boats. 
05:00 Some touring regattas are very long like 100km down the River Rhine. 
There are four main events - March ergo and long distance events.
Starting in June the Meister Championnnat two day regatta. Then in July the German Master's Championships happens which combines with the German champs and University champs in the same week. 
They use the block format for regatta organisation to enable boat sharing. 
There are around 650 masters participating each year. 
The outcome of the triple championships was well received - youngsters respect the masters and masters like staying in contact with the younger rowers.
Euro Masters in Munich at the end of July is very popular internationally. Then the World Rowing Masters Regatta in early September which is in Brandenburg, Germany in 2024. 
13:00 There are 85,000 rowers in total in Germany. Stimulating novice participation is important and offering them races means the future masters generations is successful.
14:00 Innovations in masters rowing - Adult Novices and young masters
Many novices will race and some events also offer races for under 27 year olds. A little like the AA category in USA. They allow touring boats to be used by novices. The goal is to stay in masters rowing for life. The goal is to remove the break from 21 year old students and 27 year old masters.
Wolfgang Fritsch also runs masters seminars for people who want to improve and come from club beginner/novice courses. 
Clubs often do beginner courses but fall short when people need to improve their technique. This gap is filled by Wolfgang's camps and seminars. 
20:00 The structure of masters rowing in Germany has been examined to find the gaps and opportunities to improve. 
The German Masters champs are open and so other countries can participate as well. Recent years Netherlands, Austria and Belgian rowers participate.


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Masters Rowing in Germany

Staying hydrated for training and racing can give you hidden benefits.
It's very easy to become dehydrated and not realise.
Performance improvements and recovery gains from hydration.

Resource: Home Made Sport Drink Recipe (below in notes)

3 Value Bombs
1. Daily drink plan for hydration
2. Always use sport drinks while training for electrolyte and carbohydrate intake
3. Drinking caffeine can help on regatta day   

Timestamps
What you are drinking and how to get fluids into your body. It's more than just drinking while training, off the water drinking matters too.
01:00 Daily Drink Plan.
Start with a glass of water when you wake up in the morning. Every time you have a meal or snack, have another glass of water. Snacks might be mid-morning or mid-afternoon. Get into the habit of 2 litres of fluid a day - this includes any hot drink, shake or smoothie count too.
Keep a record of your hydration - cricket notation makes it easy to see each 5 glasses of water you have.
02:30 Before during and after training sessions hydration is needed as well. Drinks need carbohydrate and electrolytes in them. This is part of your recovery from exercise.
Carbohydrates help you maximise energy levels to maintain intensity through to the end of a workout. Training works to provoke adaptations. Electrolytes are minerals which get lost through sweat. The air temperature during exercise affects your feeling of thirst. Do not rely on your sensation of thirst - anticipate your hydration needs before you feel thirsty.
06:00 Caffeine drinks - these are worthy of your consideration because caffeine is a stimulant.
I drank a half and half Red Bull and water at a regatta when I had a lot of races. I'd learned that Dame Kelly Holmes used this for her race day hydration.
09:45 Race day caffeine use
Use sports drink only on regatta days. Use either caffeinated drinks or tablets (noDoze or Pro Plus). Have caffeine every 2-3 hours while racing - half a can of drink 30-40 minutes before your first race or half a caffeine tablet.
11:15 Home made Sports Drink Recipe
From Nancy Clark's Sport Nutrition Guidebook affiliate link to buy
https://amzn.to/3z6023E 
Flavoured with orange juice and lemon juice or cranberry/lemonade.
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup Orange juice (not concentrate)
2 tablespoons Lemon juice
3.5 cups of cold water.


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Hydration For Rowing

You're preparing to race and are concerned you aren't rating high enough.
Why rating matters. Two drills you can do to get the rate up.
What prevents you getting the rate up?

Resource: Practicing Racing Starts
https://fastermastersrowing.com/practicing-racing-starts/

3 Value Bombs
1 - Know your ideal mid race rate
2 - Precise bladework can always be improved
3 - Over-rate drill helps you get confident at high rates

Timestamps
01:15 First you must know what your ideal race rate goal is for the main body of your race.
Your training programme should have increasing race rates to help guide you closer to your race rate goal. 
04:20 Be precise in your bladework practice. Can you get your oars in and out in perfect time with your crew mates? Increase the quality of precise practice. 
Have a clearly defined sequence of the rowing stroke cycle. 
Do these movements slowly and then test under pressure (rate, firm pressure). 
10:30 Over-rating as a test 
Can you practice rating higher than your race pace rate? 
11:00 Three drills for rating
Half slide drill - take the rate up 2 strokes per minute every 10 strokes. Find the rate where your precision fails. Do this 3 times in every outing practice. Try at increasing pressure. 
Double quick hands drill - double quick hands around the finish - from the extraction round to weight on the feet on the recovery. Helps develop fluidity of movement in the handle speed. 
Over rating drill - row and pick a target rate and accelerate up to that rate and then do 10 strokes at that rate. Then wind down to light pressure. Then try it again at rates higher than your race pace goal. Later do the drill only to your race rate goal you should feel that you have plenty of time and can manage this rate with ease. 
20:00 What should your rate be in the race? 
Challenge your preconceptions about race rate by practicing drills regularly. Get familiar with the feeling of getting the boat up to higher rates.


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Get Your Rate Up!

Getting coached sometimes feels like being told you are wrong all the time. What can you do as an athlete to enable yourself to receive critiques and not feel vulnerable?

Timestamps
01:00 Criticism is part of the learning process.
Improving requires us to know what we are doing right, what we're doing less well and how to change. It is hard not to feel it's personal because it's directed at you.
Separate the message from the emotion and the personality giving the feedback.
Peer-to-peer coaching in the boat where you don't have a coach enables you to give and receive feedback in an environment where it's appropriately received and acted upon.
03:30 John Zarao [captain sabre fencing team 1984 Olympics] quote "Competitive sport is a cruel mistress. You are competing on merit, but you can have a gad day - like everyone else. You must listen (not if) to those who know what they're talking about."
04:30 A learning opportunity - constructive criticism
Do I want to improve the way I row and scull? If the answer is yes, you have to be open to hearing information about your current state and how to get to a desirable future state.
1 - What is the message being given to you?
2 - Does this message apply to me?
3 - If yes, how can I use it to improve my rowing?
06:00 How you get the information and feedback. Work with the person giving you the feedback.
- repeat back to them in your own words what you think they have said to you. Clarify the message until they say to you "that's right" so there's no ambiguity.
- challenge your defensiveness and work out why you are so bothered by this message.
- focus on the message not the delivery.
- apply the message to your rowing / sculling 
08:00 Giving criticism / feedback
You have to prepare the athlete to receive your message first. Few people change their position after being shouted at. Ask the athlete "May I give you some feedback?" and stay silent until they answer yes. Because if they aren't ready to receive your message it won't land.
"Before I give you advice can I ask if you are interested in improving your technique?" and get the answer yes to this question too.
10:45 Coaches giving feedback
Contextually it's important your athletes know that you only give feedback to athletes you think can improve. Few coaches invest time in someone who you think cannot change. 
See the feedback as respect from your coach that you're a worthwhile athlete to invest their time and energy in. Receiving love and respect from your coach is desirable and the pathway is changing something which isn't right in your rowing just now.
13:30 Ask your coach "Where am I standing right now in the crew and where do you see me at the end of the season?" 
This helps you to put a timeline onto your improvement and to understand where you stand compared to others in the group. The attention you are getting may be because you are on a good pathway to improvement. 
Help each other to receive messages which are not 100% positive is a good pathway to becoming a better rower.

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Taking Criticism - Why It Is Hard

Learn about what it's like to row in the Netherlands from the Royal Dutch Rowing Federation Chair, Seada van den Herik.
Timestamps
01:00 Seada was an international rower prior to Atlanta 1996. She organised the Junior and U23 Championships in the Netherlands before moving into more administration leadership roles.
02:30 There are about 100 masters clubs in the Netherlands. The network is very strong from age 27 upwards including "mid-week" masters groups. There is also erg rowing and coastal masters groups.
A solid, enthusiastic, self-organising group of masters.
04:00 The annual calendar. The Head of the River Amstel and the Heineken Regatta in Amsterdam both in March. There are other long distance races of 5-7km and some marathon rowing events. 
Recreational tours (20-30) happen each year. There are active mid week rowers who organise to row at each others' clubs too. 
07:00 Innovations in masters rowing include collaborations with the German and Belgian federations co-ordinate joint "wander-rudern" touring events.
A recent change in masters age categories was made to encourage student rowers to stay on in the sport after they stop studying. It is a pre-masters field from age 20-30. The race rules changed so the Masters A category is an average of 27 - this allows younger rowers to take part. It gives space for ex-students to grow into masters.
10:30 Adult novice rowing in the Netherlands
There are a lot of rowers joining aged 45 plus - people looking for a new sport join general clubs. They stay in the sport for 30-40 years.
The Board now includes a novice master, Eric, to bring diversity to their group so they can understand the driving force for why adults start rowing.
13:00 Camps - the Touring Committee organise tours internationally (local and in UK, Germany and France). Masters want to keep on learning and developing and they see businesses offering clinics and camps for masters.
14:30 Future Plans
There are 5 committees for masters - the Masters (international); Mid-Week; Marathon; Recreational; and the Touring committee. The recreational group want to both have fun, be healthy and to progress and be challenged. There will be a focus on how to promote offerings for masters recreational rowers.  There will also be a new focus on coastal and erg rowing for masters. The ambitions are of the clubs and rowers, not the Federation - we stimulate their ambitions and exchange of information within clubs so we are the beating heart of the sport.The self-organisation of the network is great with super organisers and volunteers.

Masters Rowing In The Netherlands

London RC won the British Masters Championships Victor Ludorum prize in 2024. We talk to coach and captain James Sexton-Barrow about their approach to training, racing and organising their masters squad.

Timestamps
01:00 The plan to win the trophy began with a tracking spreadsheet. 
02:30 The common goal for masters at London Rowing Club - it's a very big club membership with 100-120 rowers. The vision to win the trophy started after the 2023 event. The rowing sub-committee set the goal in January.
05:00 There are many sub-groups within the masters membership with their own objectives. A kick-off meeting brought everyone together. The club's founding was about winning at Henley Royal Regatta. We can all do this and get our photo on the wall next year.
07:00 Challenges overcome
We have a limit to number of boats and trailer space - the logistical challenge was addressed early. Also members expectations were managed as all fours had to also be quads to save trailer space. [The regatta does sweep one day and sculling the next.]
Shared goals meant members had to do well in lots of events across a broad base of individuals. Time was allocated to crew boats and balanced against individual goals for the collective goal.
11:00 The members age from masters A but the youngest category race offered in BMRC is B. Crews had to be averaged out to accommodate younger members. Ages from 28 to early 70s took part.
Everyone was happy to mix-and-match. Most people did 3 races over the weekend.
Most crews were in championship age group racing, a few did intermediate category events. 
15:15 What next?
Henley Masters Regatta and next year the Banyoles World Rowing Masters Championships is a future focus. We would like to retain the trophy in 2025 too.


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Masters Rowing At London Rowing Club

Flexibility and mobility aide our rowing. What you can do to keep mobility will help your rowing and sculling.

Timestamps
01:00 How can we stay mobile as we age?
Two mornings after a big workout you wake up feeling stiff, tight and tense in your body. Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) has kicked in. Your body does not feel like it normally does.
01:45 Why mobility is important for rowing
Mobility and flexibility are words used interchangeably - but medically they have different meanings.
Mobility - ability to move through the full range of motion. The rowing positions we want to be able to achieve. Sit at the finish with good poise, no slump in your lower back and pressure on your feet. Rock forwards with a pelvic tilt so your shoulders are sternwards of your hips. Roll up the slide to full compression with shins vertical, arms wide and is your body able to take the strain of the load from the oars in the water,
Flexibility - ability to stretch your muscles, tendons and ligaments. IT is possible to be mobile without being flexible.
03:00 How mobile are you now?
Webinar Functional Movement Assessment - how does your body move to achieve a particular position. This free webinar can be watched on demand from this link.
https://fastermastersrowing.com/member-register/functional-movement-assessment/
10 Screening Exercise Tests
Where is your ability on 10 screening exercises? The ebook (free download) sets out the main positions for rowing and sculling. All are useful for you to work out if you can get into the positions for the stroke cycle. The webinar discusses ways to improve your score on the tests.
Rowing with compromises affects many masters rowers. The webinar shows you stretches to help you change your body to improve your screening exercise results. These exercises are useful if you want to make a change in your body.
06:00 Changing your body takes time and regular practice
Muscles, tendons and ligaments take time to change, to lengthen and to strengthen.
Old injuries or health issues affect our body postures. Setting up a rowing boat to suit each person's physical mobility is another article -  link below.
https://fastermastersrowing.com/adapting-rowing-rigging-for-masters-physiology/
Getting more flexible is something we should all be able to do with regular practice.
Morning ritual while brushing my teeth, I stretch my adductors. 
A challenge for you - improve one or two of your screening tests.
08:00 Coaches can use the tests to screen crews.
Find out whether they can get into the positions you are trying to coach. If athletes cannot get into the positions, you will find it harder to teach technique. 
Skill stretch for masters who splay the knees out sideways as you roll up the slide. If you do not have the strength to hold legs parallel. Hold both fists together between your knees and use your legs to squeeze your fists gently. This strengthens the muscles on the outside of your legs and may help to keep your legs parallel.
Find out if your body is mobile and can get into the rowing positions and watch the Functional Movement Assessment free webinar. .
https://fastermastersrowing.com/member-register/functional-movement-assessment/


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Keep Mobile As We Age

What is normal for you? What to expect when you track your normal waking heart rate.

Timestamps
00:50 This is important as we age. It's a free way to track your physical wellbeing.
I found out about it from Harry Mahon, the New Zealand rowing coach. 
Resting heart rate is important for masters because we are too good at "keeping going". Knowing how well you are is key to how you approach training and to give you confidence.
03:00 What is resting heart rate useful for?
In the longer term it's an indicator of your fitness. The lower your resting heart rate the fitter you are. Heart rates are very individual - what's normal for you is not the same as mine.
Your readiness to train today. Waking heart rates when tracked regularly show you what number is normal for you. After one week you will see your numbers and what's normal.
The resting heart rate can show if you are incubating an illness - viral or bacterial. It shows up in your resting heart rate before you see symptoms. Before you get symptoms your heart is already responding to the illness. This could also be stress, poor sleep or dehydration - it's not always illness.
The heart rate jumps up 10 beats per minute when suffering an illness.
07:00 After being sick and wanting to go rowing again, I have gone out when I still have symptoms but find doing a medium intensity workout helps to clear the final symptoms of the virus. The normal pulse precedes this.
08:15 How to find your pulse
Two places the side of your neck or the wrist - on the thumb side about 2 cm from the wrist joint - use two fingers to locate it (not your thumb because there's a pulse in your thumb). 
Take a one minute reading or 30 seconds and double the score. When you start counting, make the first pulse zero and then one, two, three etc.
Keep a daily record - use this free daily training diary from our website - to record your training, overnight health and hydration state. 
https://fastermastersrowing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Daily-Diary-Recovery-Training-Tracker.pdf

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Resting Heart Rate

Top Crew Academy is a coaching service run by Sam Dutney. He explains the differences and how they apply to masters rowing.

Timestamps
Different modes of training methodology are polarised and pyramidal.
Most of the time people use pyramidal so the training intensity distribution is like a pyramid. It has a large base of low intensity, a moderate amount of mid intensity and a small amount of high intensity.
Polarised training skips the mid intensity and has 20% at high intensity.
02:00 Percentages are 60: 30: 10% for pyramidal.
Rowing training has been pyramidal for a long time - since 1930s.
Polarised became popular in mid 2000s and is based on a study done on elite cyclists in endurance sports.
04:45 is HIIT influencing this change?
The benefits of polarised training link well to the benefits of High Intensity Interval Training. What drives the benefits are the high intensity training - the top levels are very similar - the top level training is at or near top efforts.
A huge amount of rowing performance comes from efficiency and time in the boat. Develop the skill in a polarised model in the low intensity sessions.
07:00 How to choose which mode is right for you
Available time - if you can only train 3 times a week. Do a program with one low intensity and the other two as high intensity/
If doing 4-5 sessions a polarised model may be more suitable.
Pyramidal training is effective in the early season and head racing. because you aren't trying to operate at maximum intensity. So pyramidal can be effective at this time of year. 
A 2016 paper on runners compared pyramidal and polarised training for 16 weeks; The results from pyramidal for 8 weeks and then shifting into polarised for 8 weeks was very much more effective than all the others. The polarised hard sessions have to be really hard and the easy sessions need to be really easy.
As we get older you don't recovery as well that's where polarised training can help recovery for masters.

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Pyramidal versus polarised training for rowing

The athlete pathway for masters is different from other groups. What can clubs and Federations do to enable masters to succeed by changing the structure of our sport. 

Timestamps 

00:40 What is our goal for masters in rowing? 

Should masters be allowed to leave and rejoin the club? One of the differences compared to youth rowers is that we remain in the sport for a long time. Youth, school, Seniors all have a long term athlete plan for the pathway of their progress. Masters are not the same. Our goal may be to race and achieve high results - but it is not always. The long term development plan is very different. Some join for participation and to learn how to row; others are there all the time, training and racing. Others like the weekend rows and train for fitness, pleasure and friendship - they may also race but on a shorter term horizon leading up to an event. 

04:30 Looping in and out of rowing 

Many masters remain in the sport for a long time. What is possible for you right now? Life stage is important. In your 30s you may have a high pressure job. Or a flexible worker who can train during the working day hours. Some masters retire to row - actively. If you have children, under 14s are different from over 14s and can look after themselves for a time. Care responsibilities for aging parents are also another different group of masters. Our goal is continued participation - can you manage to stay involved on a level suitable for where you are right now? 

07:00 Club membership structures don't align If you are required to buy an annual membership and are injured, this makes people decide not to rejoin their rowing club. 

07:30 Create enabling structures 

These allow members to loop in and out of masters rowing participation over time. How can you stay involved while injured? Join social events with the club group. Can memberships be by quarter, term or semester? 

Groups in rowing clubs - often LTR, fitness, racing groups are common. As a club how to you enable members to move between groups in a way that reflects their life circumstance? How frequently do you re-assess group members? Can people see a pathway so they can see what the next step is for them in their rowing journey? What does it take to move from intermediate to elite racing? 

10:00 Long term athlete development for masters 

How can you make it possible for members to stay involved over the long term in your club? These structures might make masters rowing long-term participant so we can remain engaged with the sport over the ultra-long term. Athlete development needs to be aligned with an individual's goals, skills improvement, not necessarily always-upward movement towards high racing achievement. Masters pathways are not necessarily linear - people can loop into rowing and then step away and loop out for a while. Making this happen is structural, requires a strategy for leaders who are involved in masters rowing. What can you do in your club to help?

Long term masters athlete development

Reflections on the 2024 Older Athlete and Aging conference learnings.
Timestamps
01:00 My learnings from  Al Morrow
Al Morrow on developing a good "eye" as a coach. Demonstrated the importance of being able to look at your athlete and see where they way they row doesn't line up with the model you are using.
First you must have a good model of rowing to compare with.
02:45 Books on sport - most have the first chapter on grip. We don't check and instruct athletes on this frequently enough. It affects your posture and efficiency.
Shoulder alignment in sweep and sculling.
Most masters can probably row longer at the catch.
03:50 My learnings from Greg Benning
Greg Benning on the power of reducing negatives and 1% gains modelled on the Sky Cycling team led by Dave Brailsford.
Review all aspects of your training and life and find places where you can make small improvements. Some are compounding and others are linear e.g. weight lifting are linear. The compounding effect of rowing in the same crew consistently gives big gains.
06:00 The power of reducing negatives - taking fewer bad strokes. Slowing down less on the recovery will make your average speed higher. Greg showed the change in his absolute strength over 12 years and how he increased his boat speed despite this - the whole picture of positives and reducing negatives.
07:30 John Leekley on when to coach the whole crew vs individuals.Everyone focusing on the same thing at the same time.
How to give more to your athletes as a coach and how athletes can get more out of their time with a coach. Can the coach take two crews simultaneously? The important role of the bow person. 
Can my crew competitively "beat" the other crew by being better at the thing the coach was focused on. Not necessarily a race but you can do better.

Buy a ticket now to watch the recording. 
https://fastermastersrowing.com/older-athlete-aging/

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The path to speed is not linear

What "should" a masters rower be able to do? Training frequency, training volume, training intensity.
What is the next big change in YOUR rowing training you can expect as you age?
Timestamps
01:00 When masters start rowing we are likely here for a while.
Longevity in the sport is longer for masters than juniors or young adults.
We come back to rowing thinking we are the same athlete as we were when we last were in a boat. 
Article - Rowing and Aging Each Decade
https://fastermastersrowing.com/rowing-and-aging-each-decade/
02:00 Physiology certainties
Once you age past a certain point you will not be as strong as you were in your youth. This is inevitable - yet it can be delayed with careful training. This is a hard reality check.
03:15 in your 20s and 30s an athletic lifestyle can be achieved within work/family life. Many endurance sports peak in their 30s. You may be able to do 6-9 sessions per week.
In your 40s this is a decade where time is often limited. Time constraints mean your goal is to get adequate training to support your goals. Quality workouts are more important than quantity workout. The strength decline starts in this decade. Focus on rest and recovery to optimise your physical benefits of 5-7 workouts per week.
06:00 In your 50s the really competitive people get going here.
Regatta entries for D and E are large, and growing. Metabolic changes happen here - diet changes for weight control and for women and protein ingestion is more important. Also, menopausal changes also happen. You may need to change sleep patterns by introducing daytime naps to ensure you get enough rest. 
Review your rowing technique to align with your physiological capabilities - you may swap to sculling from sweep because it's symmetrical.
In your 60s more metabolic changes happen. You may be retiring to row and can do more training because you aren't working full time. Your erg score remains steady in your 60s - but technique improvements have big impact here as we lose strength we can gain speed by rowing better.
10:30 There are more rowers in their 70s than ever before. The body response to exercise becomes unpredictable and so affects rest and can cause injury. Flexibility and sensitivity to your recovery needs are a new habit. Maintain muscle mass with strength and conditioning work. 
13:45 To get the best out of yourself each decade, assessing your capability is essential. Test your base aerobic fitness, peak power and anaerobic threshold using the Faster Five assessment.
Your training adaptations will be visible when you test.
15:00 Rigging is essential.
Change your rig to suit your age and strength. The testing will enable you to determine what to do. Adjust rating and gearing to suit your capability.
Webinar - Rigging for Masters has charts for oar designs, across the ages and skill.
https://fastermastersrowing.com/member-register/rigging/ 
Many masters prefer the long distance races as we age - it's easier to keep your aerobic base as we age - what we lose is the high rating and sprint ability. 


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Rowing And Aging Each Decade

Your boat speed depends BOTH on the power phase and the recovery phase. You've done the work - now get the benefit. 
Timestamps
01:00 Get more speed
Your net boat speed is the power you put in to the power phase and the amount the boat slows down when the oars are out of the water. Rowing boats surge through the stroke cycle.
03:15 Simplicity is key to the recovery
Keep the movements sequential and well-organised.
Maximum boat speed comes after the extraction at the finish and as you transfer your body weight onto the feet. A key point is when you can get weight on the feet.
As your arms straighten and your body follows - then the boat gets an extra burst of speed if you can sequence this correctly and smoothly.
05:00 4 focus points.
1 - Keep the slide seat wheels moving, rolling towards the stern and full compression.
2 - Poise and relaxation, both are needed. Keep your body lifted and in a fixed state so you sit high on the front of the seat along with relaxation. 
3 - Muscles get tired when they aren't getting enough rest. The more rest they get on the recovery the more we can activate muscles on the power phase. How to activate and release muscles.
4 - Continue sliding until the blade is under the water. Don't chicken out. 
10:30 Common errors
You must have weight in the hand - elbows have to be higher than your wrist in order to give downward pressure.
Keep a flat wrist as you feather into your fingers allows you to keep weight in the hand. In sweep only the inside wrist bends.
Squaring on the recovery can mess with the rhythm. If you square late or it's a large movement this contributes to losing rhythm.
When to release your knees - a critical timing point to when to relax your muscles. You will get this right when you know what the feeling of weight in the hand is and the feeling of total relaxation in your leg muscles are. 
Increase relaxation - know how to do this will help you to improve the other focus points.
14:20 Things to try
Increase relaxation by 1% and what happens to the boat run, ratio and how the recovery feels. Does the boat speed change? [Remember they average over 3 strokes].

Get Speed On The Recovery

How the catch placement changes with the oar angle. Why an acute catch angle with the oar is easier. Ways to adjust your catch technique as the boat speed changes.
Timestamps
01:00 Catches and boat speed
When the blade goes into the water at the catch, it needs to be buried rapidly and the curved face of the blade needs to grip the water. the early lock on point is hard to achieve - it depends on how and where you place the blade.
02:45 Blade face to the water
The boat is a single unit moving through the water - water molecules are moving past the boat parallel to the length of the boat hull. 
The ideal oar placement should have the smallest surface area possible to the direction of travel. 
At half slide your oar is around 90 degrees to the boat length. It's slow to place the oar.
At the catch, the face of the work facing the water is reduced to around 15 cms compared to half slide. At the extreme, if the oar is parallel to the side of the boat - this reduces to about 1.5 to 3 centimeters width.
07:00 The smaller the face of work of the blade to the water, the easier the blade goes into the water. When the blade is in the same plane as the water movement, it goes in easiest. 
At very short strokes - arms only - it's hard to place the blade. 
With the smaller face of work area at the catch, using an acute angle, it feels easier to place the blade.
08:30 Prepare your catch angle on the recovery.
From half slide to the catch, your legs and seat move in a straight line up the slides to the catch.
However your handle(s) are pivoting around the arc of a circle centred on the pin of the oarlock.
Your body in sweep rotates around the pin  - keep your shoulders parallel to the oar handle and let your eyes look out on your side of the boat - this helps create more rotation because your body follows where your eyes are looking.
In sculling both your handles are pivoting around the arc of a circle  - your arms move further than your legs from half slide to the catch. In effect there are 2 speeds on the recovery  - the seat speed, and a faster speed of your hands leading the oar handles around the pin and upwards to place the oar under the water. 
By allowing your arms to go wider at the catch in sculling, you will get a more acute catch angle.
Row longer by thinking about your arms, separately from your body.
13:30 Faster boat speed
When the boat speeds up and rate increases, you have less time per stroke to anticipate the catch.
Often stroke length shortens as stroke rate rises. Counter this by moving your thinking earlier in the recovery. This gives you more reaction time.
You need to move your body proportionate to the rate - as rate rises your body speed also increases.
When you get the catch timing right the catch can feel very light (not heavily loaded on the blade). 
16:00 Train yourself by trying a drill. Go from full slide to half slide - it gives the impression you're rating very high. Prepare early at half slide so you don't miss water at the catch. Then try to maintain the same boat speed you had at full slide. You move dynamically off the catch placement.


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Catches And Boat Speed

Midlife brings challenges. Rowing is a pathway for getting your spark for life back. Join bestselling author, Rachel Marie Martin for tips and to hear her journey.
Timestamps
01:00
Rachel has a long background in technology and she uses this to communicate her message about life, motherhood and the ups and downs that life has dealt her.
04:00 the overnight success takes 8 years.
Be diligent and keep on trying. 
Get your spark back book is about Rachel's realisation that she'd lost her spark for life.
What made her realise that life wasn't sitting 'right' with her.
During the pandemic she said she didn't know who she was any more. Were was "me"? She was uneasy and went on the journey to re-find her soul without realising that was happening.
In mid-life how to find your soul's journey.
As a runner Rachel had to push past uncomfortable.
07:45 What were the clues?
When you're young you have all the time to do something in the next decade. Looking at her friends and parents she realised time is finite. She couldn't keep postponing things.
It was an awakening, not really frightening.
09:00  Choose to set your bar in the present, not based off the past.
Why do I believe this to be true? Is the key question to ask yourself.
We aren't taught to challenge our beliefs - we don't have the introspection to think.
The story of the Easter ham. Why we do things? Are they applicable to your present?
Choosing to do things that keep you 'small'. Review your own story and where is your bar - low or high?
12:00 Limiting beliefs
I hear these in athletes' rowing frustrations - their mindset shows how their beliefs are limiting.
Be willing to wonder about your beliefs. What is within your realm of possibility?
Pay attention to the words you say. 
Are we keeping ourselves from something greater? This is the only shot I have in this life now.
The audacity and risk of learning to row and not telling your family.
Ask your community to help you spot your potential. What do they think you could do? 
18:15 The story of the green shorts
Rachel used these as a "benchmark" size. The person who wore the shorts didn't do what Rachel had done. Her success and happiness is defined differently now.

https://shop.findingjoy.net/get-your-spark-back/

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Get Your Spark Back

Hear how people deal with an illness but keep up their rowing.
Overall advice is "do what you can".  
Timestamps
01:00 Many masters try to keep on rowing after a major illness or trauma diagnosis.
Getting out on the water feels good - the challenge is around what is possible for you.
02:00 What is possible?
Cancer treatment often has regular chemo and radiotherapy and you know the frequency of each session. One solution is to go rowing immediately before the hospital visit. Row when you can with a supportive friendship group.
For surgery - muscular rehabilitation and strength training follows a simple pattern over weeks.
After a stroke - lingering physical restrictions continue months afterwards.
05:00 Rowing with adaptations
As we age our bodies may require us to adjust / adapt our stroke.
For hand tremors difficulty holding a thumb on the end of the handle was hard. Suggestions include occupational therapists advice, gloves which tape onto the handle, hand exercises using old grips at home, para rowing has many solutions (adaptiverowinguk.com), baseball grip adhesive on your hands, use the little finger or side of your hand to make lateral pressure instead of your thumb. 
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a repetitive stress condition - the suggestion was to hold your handle with thumb and index finger curled around the end of the handle and to turn the oar with the middle and ring fingers.
Lady with bone cancer continues to row and to go to regattas to enjoy herself with her friends.

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Major Illness And Training

Meet Chair of the Indoor Rowing Commission, Filip Ljubicic and hear about the future of indoor rowing including an exciting announcement about the e-sports Olympics in 2025.

Timestamps
01:00 The global World Rowing strategy for indoor rowing - rules, events, innovations, collaborations with erg manufacturers, digital apps and new tools.
Indoor rowing is important - around 20-25 million people use a rowing machine at least once a year. A pathway or goal is part of the strategy for all participants. 
2018 was the first Indoor Rowing World Championships.
03:30 The goal is to do both physical in person events and virtual events. Being able to compete is an opportunity for those who cannot travel. 
A new format for 2025. All the age categories are offered in addition there will be a World Champion for Indoor Rowing for the first time.
It starts with open heats where everyone submits a time. Top 150 in each continent plus top 10 age category races progress to local timezone races the next weekend. Expect more tactical racing and a different mindset and challenge.
First score submit date is 20th January 2025. There are endurance and sprint relays being offered including an age group 40-44 and 45-49 age group relay championship event.
08:30 Are drag factors recommended? No you choose your own.
Finals day the top 50 will race live at once. The top 20 go through to the Grand Final giving the World Champion top 3 placings as well as age group champions if you get through to the last races. From this global standings will be produced for everyone.
11:00 Innovations for Indoor Rowing
Looking at sport as entertainment. We are competing for the audience's leisure time and how to make the sport interesting. Other sports like athletics have different distances, formats that suit different types of athlete. We are enabling this for indoor rowing.
The Versa Challenge - 5 events over 2 days with points (like heptathlon). A 20 minute race, the person with fewest meters every 2 minutes gets cut - enabled tactical racing and new uncertainties as it was unpredictable.
15:00 Indoor rowing as an E-Sport 
In 2025 there will be a virtual series through the year including standalone monthly challenges. Also World Rowing has submitted it to be part of the Olympic E-Sports - Virtual environments and physical activity category. World Rowing is waiting to hear next steps. The plan is to grow the ecosystem around indoor rowing. Saudi Arabia is the host country for 2025.


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2025 World Rowing Indoor Championships

A key concept needed for sculling well, this challenging skill is essential for setting up the recovery. One drill to practice which helps teach how to control the oar handle heights.

Timestamps
00:50 Teaching a singles course for those who can already row and want to try single sculling.
There are 4 key concepts for essential skill in rowing and sculling.
Weight in the hand is the most challenging key concept.
02:15 What is weight in the hand?
Hold your handle and keep downward pressure on the handle to keep the oars off the water.
It starts by controlling the finish as you extract the oar using a downward "tap down" of the handle.
Use the outside hand in sweep; use both hands in sculling.
Keep stable at the finish and keep pressure on the pin. If your button comes away from the oarlock at the finish you have not got this control.
Facilitate the transition from body weight into the bow towards body weight towards the stern on the recovery.
04:15 How do you know if you can do weight in the hand?
If you can do weight in the hand, you can row square blades. And you can feather high over the waves and keep your boat level in a side wind. 
05:00 How to learn weight in the hand
The stationary stability drill teaches you how to control the handle using weight in the hand.
Sit the oars square and in the water at the finish. Then press down on the handles twice so just half the spoon comes out of the water. Then do a full press so the oar spoon comes fully above the water and hold this position in a pause, then return the blades under the water.
Stage two is to do the same two half presses and a full press and then feather.
Stage three is to add straightening the arms after the press down and feather.
Your body and legs stay stationary throughout this drill.
Sculling Intensive Camp 
https://fastermastersrowing.com/member-register/sculling-intensive/
A self-guided tutorial to improve your single sculling skills over 7 days. Includes drills for the whole stroke cycle including checklists to take in the boat with you.

If you want to learn how to row square blades, take our three-part mini course [free].
https://fastermastersrowing.com/square-blades-challenge-lesson-1/

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Weight In The Hand

Go on rowing camp! The pros and cons of going on training camp. You'll either love it or hate it. 

Timestamps
01:00 Going on a camp refocuses your attention on rowing.
Are camps useful? There are lots of different types of camp 
- training camp
- selection camp for racing crews
- finishing camp before a big regatta
02:20 Three camp benefits
You don't have to go with your whole club. 
Doing a camp at your own club has disadvantages - people keep their other life commitments and so tend to rush off after the workout. So you lose one of the good aspects of going away to camp which is the luxury of un-pressured time.
1 - gives you focus
2 - sense of purpose
3 - make decisions
4 - refresh your attitude to the sport and your involvement.
03:45 Coaching on camp
Athletes get a lot of individual attention on camp compared to home training. There's time for debriefs, for mini tutorials, one-on-one time, sit next to coaches at meals and pick their brains.
Coaches get a captive audience of athletes and can get messages about focus points across to them all.
05:00 Camp issues
Increased training load - if normal rows are 60-90 minutes once a day camp workouts will be shorter. But you may do two or three workouts a day.
Overtraining is not an issue in the long term. Camp is only 3-5 days plus travel days when you're resting. Schedule an off day when you get back home while you rig boats. Then pick up your regular training volume.
If you come into the camp injured or recovering - that's a big red flag and needs management. When athletes don't tell the coach that they are injured that causes problems. Doing only part of the camp program is still beneficial.
Getting injured on camp does not mean your time is wasted. Volunteer to go in the coach boat with the coaches, volunteer to film crews, volunteer to help the coaches. Hanging out with coaches, you learn by listening to their discussions. You can train your eye watching crews rowing to find out where improvements are needed.
Illness on camp - take care a virus doesn't spread to everyone. Good hygiene practices are needed,
08:30 Camp outcomes
Crew bonding and learning accelerated in a focused period. Plus fitness gains and technique input from coaches.
Camp also allows you time to work on technique on your own. Self-coaching discipline and practice is also good.

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Cure for the rowing blues

As a developing sport, there are aspects of masters rowing which we need to improve, change and adapt. 
Three signs of dysfunction and four solutions.
Timestamps
01:00 What are the symptoms and cures to move our sport forward?
Most clubs now have a masters group and a good waiting list of people wanting to learn to row.
02:00 Signs of dysfunction
Rowing is designed to take a beginner towards higher performances. As we age we generally have diminishing strength each decade. Many of us love rowing but don't want to compete - so masters rowing is different.

1 - Cliques - people who only row with the same other people all the time. This is a long term limiting factor for the whole club group. Isolationism is antithetical to a successful masters group
2 - Club Priorities are Inflexible - they focus on juniors and young people. This means boats cannot be shared, it's hard to get a trailer to go to a regatta. Combining juniors and masters is an innovation.
3 - Skills Progression - if you think you aren't making progress it could be because there is not flexibility to enable you to progress.
Failing to solve these leads to sclerosis, group size falling, limiting your ability to form crews across age groups, buy new boats.
07:30 Enabling solutions 
1 - Have a pathway for masters to enable "looping" in and out of the sport year by year. Allow flexibility to change training groups and come back over time. 
2 - Structure of the skills in your group. Starting from beginner, intermediate and advanced. Almost everyone wants coaching and to advance their skill. What are the entry requirements for each group - give transparency.
3 - Agreed club priorities across all groups. Measure actions and budgets against the priorities to see if you're achieving them.
4 - Racing classes for masters. Insert a step between novice and age group racing because it takes us longer to acquire the equivalent skills as a young person novice. A New Masters racing category allowing up to 5 years of learning to compete against similar people would smooth this path to racing.

12:00 How can these be set in place? 
How to bring your board / committee along with you so they understand what the masters group is trying to achieve.
What are solutions we haven't yet thought of?

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What's Wrong With Masters Rowing?

Why the blade pathway from crossover to catch is so different between the left and right hands. If you aren't going straight, three things to check.
Timestamps
01:00 What generally causes difficulties?
Beginner errors are straightforward to work out if these are affecting you.
1 - squaring late
2 - balance issues
3 - missing water at the catch
03:30 Know if you are going straight
Look from your stern to the horizon and line up your stern with a fixed point (house, power pole, tree) and watch the wake off your stern. You can see if the vee is symmetrical.
04:30 Blade extraction - are the blades coming out at the same time and are you pressing down symmetrically? If one blade drags that affects the boat course.
05:30 Blade crossover - from extraction to handle crossover it's important the boat is level. The rig is left higher than the right - your handle heights have to reflect the difference in oarlock height. Ensure your hands are "nested" close together. 
08:00 Blade catch - the handles have to be symmetrical around a similar arc from the oarlock so the tips of the blades are the same distance from the side of the boat. The right hand has to move a greater distance from crossover to the catch than the left hand. It's probably 2 cm greater distance.

Practice the fine motor skills to make subtle adjustments to the handles using pontoon floats on a single scull.
Your arms have to go out to the same distance at the catch (not the same handle height). 
Listen to the sound of the oars going into the water - you can hear if one oar goes in before the other,


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Sculling in a straight line

Boat weight classes across your fleet can be assessed against members' weights.
Timestamps

01:00 your boat fleet should match the needs of your group.
Many masters group 'inherit' boats but for optimal club alignment match the boats with the membership needs.
Assess the current fleet - look for the manufacturer's label - serial number, year of construction and athlete weight. Log these for your whole boat fleet.
Different boat moulds accommodate the water displacement for heavier and lighter athletes.
Variations can be built in by lowering the deck or the saxboards.
When my club did the survey we added in a "state of repair" for each boat. Some are used more than others. And the frequency of boat use - we have some which are favourites and get used a lot more than others.
05:45 Athlete weight survey
All members were asked anonymously what their weight is in kg and if they are men or women. We had fallen into the habit of calling boats "mens boats" or "womens boats". This was erroneous - we had men and women in three out of four weight categories.
Masters do a lot of mixed rowing and so we need boats suitable for mixed and single gender users.
08:00 Do your boats mach your membership weights?
We found a spread of needs across 4 ranges of boat weights. Remember crew weights are averaged to align with the boat.
4 Sizes of boat
- Lightweight 60kg boats  
- Mid lightweight 70kg boats
- Mid heavyweight 80kg boats
- Heavyweight 90kg boats

48% of our members could fit into a lightweight boat; 60% of our membership can fit into a mid lightweight boat; 44% can fit a mid heavyweight boat; and 23% fit a heavyweight. Our club is skewed to female members and older females who are smaller in height and lower body weight.
This affects the fund raising, boat purchase plan and the boat maintenance plan where club resources are focused.
10:30 Considerations for purchases
The resale value of second hand boats is important to consider. This is not just about the boat's age and state of repair - it's who wants to buy this type of boat. Resale values for coxless quads is high in New Zealand due to a lack of supply. Few clubs choose to buy 60kg double sculls because lightweight rowing is being phased out of schools and international rowing.
12:00 Boat builders' weight ranges
Boat builders can advise what size of boat they typically build.
Size inflation has happened in boat weights - classified at one weight but will fit a bigger range of athlete weights than previously. It used to be +/- 5 kg and I believe it's larger than this now - maybe 10kg range. 
I believe that you want the oarlocks to sit half way up the pins for the average weight of the athletes when they sit in the boat with oars squared and buried at the finish.
Too heavy athletes in a boat and you find insufficient freeboard to get the oars out at the finish or to row square blades.
Too light athletes in a boat and you find you have to hold your handle higher up your chest in order to keep the oars buried at the finish and you cannot keep your wrists level with your elbows in the power phase.
Gain an understanding of the number of years you use a boat before you replace it. Plan a replacement strategy so you can get the right range of boats for your needs. For example, we boat a lot of quads and now have a quad in three of the four weight ranges.
Champagne tastes on a beer budget - we always want more equipment than we can afford to buy!


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Do your club boats suit the membership_

Daunting? Hell yes. Listen to our guide which shows you what "tricks" you need to have and how to use them with your crew.
Timestamps
00:30 2 essential calls
What's expected of you - steer the boat to the best possible route. The straightest route and when you steer, make as tight a turn as you can without disrupting the rhythm.
Think of the river as if it was a road and you are driving a car. In general you want to be in the middle - judge the distance between the tip of the blades and the bank on both sides of the boat to see if you are positioned well.
Going round a corner to your right side  - the deeper water is on your left side where the current has scoured out the bank (a slip off bank on the right and an undercut cliff on the left). The fastest water is nearer the cliff. So position your boat towards the left hand bank and get one third of the river between the boat and the left hand bank, two thirds of the river on your right hand side. After the corner you're on the straight - re-position the boat so you are in the middle 50:50 of the river on each side of the boat.
Rowing against the stream - it's the opposite 
Steering is likely what you won't have problems with as you are an experienced steerer.
05:00 Motivating the crew
Have two calls 
- technical call
- pressure call (working harder).
What motivates your crew and what they are skilled at doing.
The pressure call will increase your boat speed. Your job is to work out what the right technique call is that supports the pressure call.
Speak to the coach and crew - what are the aspects of the stroke technique which they find harder to do when they're tired. You only need ONE technical call.
Use the calls in combination - pressure followed by technique or vice versa.
If you do the technique call first - improve the technique over 10 strokes and then follow that up with a pressure call so they hold onto the technical aspect while they add the pressure.
Or do pressure first to increase the boat speed and then use the technique call to maintain the higher boat speed afterwards.
You must practice this in training.
08:30 Landmarks
When to use these calls in the race? Landmarks like a building, a bridge or a bend in the river are good markers. If the landmark includes a steering change - you have to do the call before you start to steer because the boat slows when you steer. Get increased speed before the steering manoeuvre. As you finish the steering, do another call as you are straight and have passed the landmark. Get the crew to look at the bridge / landmark so they can see it moving into the distance.
10:30 Quarter the race
You have to know what's the beginning and end of each section. Have a focus for each quarter.
1 - off the start and into race rhythm
2 - maintain boat speed, good run & efficient movement
3 - make it hard on the competitors to get past you.
4 - push for the finish
Other things - overtaking / being overtaken. Build these into your race plan. "Walking" the crew past another crew - what to say.
13:45 Speed as a horizontal line
Your average speed in the race - the boat speed will change. Your job is to take the crew back up to the horizontal ideal speed line. A good cox can motivate and encourage.
Do not talk all the time - silence for 5-10 strokes gives the crew greater focus and clarity of purpose when you do speak. Give the crew enough time to do the things you have called - 10 strokes minimum.
You must be able to judge how many strokes it takes the crew to cover a certain distance. Look at a landmark and estimate the stroke count - practice on your home course against a buoy or tree. You must be accurate to decide when to start the call as you lead into landmarks and the finishing sprint. 

Coxing your first race

Is biggest fear you have doing a rowing race for the first time? How to prepare, what to expect and the aftermath.
Timestamps
00:45 Fear is real
First races and how you can help your crew mates facing their first race.
As adults it's unusual to get into a situation we've never seen before. Children are different.
Kim Mulvey wrote to us saying "I'm not ready to race."
The first race fear is mostly about the unknown. You feel out of control and it triggers the flight-or-fight response.
Practice in training
The way to overcome this is to get familiar with the situations you'll encounter in a race. One way to do this is to practice in training.
- Do workouts in the crew lineup you will race in. 
- Know your seat number, which are your oars? 
- Know where you adjust your foot stretcher to.
03:15 Practice the racing distance
find a simulation as close as possible - how long is it and how intense will it be? Practice being alongside another crew as you race.
Discuss the race plan within your crew - how to approach the stages of the race.
Coxing your first race episode will also help you understand what to expect.
Have a checklist for the race day and the night before.
Rowing Regatta Checklist article explains the different elements of the list.
https://fastermastersrowing.com/rowing-regatta-checklist/
05:00 Do a race
The things which help you feel most ready for racing are practicing ahead of time and actually doing a race. Once you've done one race you know what to expect next time.
Stories of first races are fantastic.
How the unexpected came about and what they did after it happened. Learn by hearing from your crew mates. 
Read Rowing against the Current – Barry Strauss
https://amzn.to/438F8hm
What you experience is unique to you, but you'll have a lot in common with everyone else's first race.


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Your first race

Researching masters physiology - aging from 50 to 70 affects your rowing.

Timestamps
01:00 Guests from Athlone, Ireland Lorcan Daly and Paul Gallen
Lorcan is a sport science researcher starting with his grandfather, Richard Morgan who was an erg champion. Uniquely he was sedentary for most of his life, was a smoker and at 73 took up indoor rowing. He was tested aged 92 and some of the tests were on a par with a 30 year old.
Three world champion indoor rowers were his next test subjects 
https://www.rowingireland.ie/why-masters-rowing-is-a-game-changer-for-healthy-ageing/
04:00 Testing Paul Gallen
Dennis and Ken were recruited after winning their divisions at the 2024 World Rowing Indoor Championships.
The tests were done over 2 visits - diet, lung and muscle function and sporting history.
06:00 Paul Gallen rejoined masters rowing
He took 30 years out of the sport and his first event back was the Head of the Charles Regatta.
Learned to scull aged 60 and indoor rowing competitions. His 8s crew includes school friends.
For the winter season he does a 10 week lead in to the Irish Indoor Rowing Championships. 
The three age gaps gave a good framing for the study.
10:00 Most remarkable findings
Lorcan found that their muscle oxygen take-up was similar to an Olympic champion.
The deterioration over life is much flatter than non-trained people.
Paul has 10 years of his splits at the indoor champs 6:59 - 7.14 times over ten year drop off.
Paul does daily Yoga for rowers - 12 moves a day. Off season 2 weights; mix of high intensity and longer rowers. At least one high intensity per week.
13:00 General advice on aging well
The principles for healthy aging - keep your full body system going is a mix of resistance exercise and  the mix of aerobic exercise is key. The two together is the winning formula. 
15:00 Returning rowers
Paul the big thing about people coming back to rowing - it depends on how busy your life is. Start at recreational level and not commit fully to being in competition. Build up if your life gets less busy.

Lorcan's paper is called
Toward the Limits of Human Ageing Physiology: Characteristics of the 50+, 60+ & 70+ Male Indoor Rowing Champions

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Masters physiology at age 50_60_70

Three innovations to improve your learn to row classes and prevent drop-outs. Time to get your club organised for LTR 2025. What's new that you could do this year?

Timestamps
00:45 Innovations in adult learn to row
Clubs do these to grow their membership. New joiners are an investment in time and effort - it takes time before that pays off.
Around one third of all masters rowers started to row as adults. There are two pathways into masters rowing - people who started in their youth and then come back later in life, and those who start as adult beginners.
02:00 How to run a good adult learn to row class. Buy the book Masters Rowing by Nolte & Fritsch - the chapter on how to structure and teach LTR is really good.
Masters Rowing – Training for fitness, technique and competition – Volker Nolte & Wolfgang Fritsch
https://amzn.to/3sYSXJB
03:00 First Lesson Experience
The experience of your first lesson is very important to the success of the program. 
Can paperwork be done ahead of time? 
Rebecca starts with an interior tour of the boathouse, the oars, the boat types, the changing rooms. Handling the oars - how to hold the oar handle. How to put the oars on the dock, positioning so nobody trips. How to do the sculling crossover. Parts of the boat - how to open an oarlock, the button position, how to adjust the foot stretcher. Carrying the boat, getting in and out of the boat safely. 
06:00 They start rowing.
We don't give instruction about how to row in the first lesson. They do some confidence drills and then start rowing - working it out for themselves.
This may sound like they've being pushed quickly into doing something they haven't been told how to do.
This method serves a purpose - they work stuff out for themselves - take personal control. There is a lot of rest and waiting while others row in the first lesson. Short periods of rowing then stopping and talking or watching - a learning from Tony Buzan (the Mind Mapping man). 
08:00 Involve the club
You need volunteers to help, give support and be alongside the beginners. Ask those who did the prior learn to row class to be the helpers - they know enough. It helps the new beginners to see how quickly they'll learn. Invite them to coffee after the lesson.
09:40 Pricing a learn to row class
Don't be afraid to charge for what you deliver. Do check prices of courses in nearby clubs. You do not have to be the cheapest class. You can offer payment plans.
11:00 Innovations in adult learn to row
Bingo game - Michael Merwin gives a card to all participants - they have to do a lot of different things during the course. As they complete each cell, they check it off and a line of 4 wins a prize.
Flexibility - teach in different types of boat 
Pontoon floats - enable a lot of different configurations of experienced and novice athletes.
Each lesson, move people one seat down the boat. When you get to bow, rotate into the cox seat next lesson.
Crew Bingo card https://fastermastersrowing.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/bingo.png 

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Starting learn to row classes

Rowing Chat is the podcast network dedicated to rowing.  We have many shows hosted from around the world on specialist topics from Strength Training to USA news, from interviews to data analysis. Produced by Rebecca Caroe, it brings rowing news, coaching advice and interviews to you.  
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