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Pre-season training program guidelines-

If you are conducting a pre-season training program for a high school, club or small college team, here are some ideas to get the most out of your training. Pre-season should not just be about how many meters you log on the erg. A well rounded program should incorporate flexibility, core/injury prevention, strength, and cross training such as endurance circuits and biking. Pre-season training should also include a technical emphasis. Performing drills on the erg along with use of mirrors and video tape can be very helpful. Personal attention is easy to give on the erg. Use the pre-season as a time to fix old problems, master drills, and incorporate sound rowing principals before getting back on the water. The time from when you get back on the water until you start racing is usually not long. The more work you can get done indoors prior to the season the more prepared you will be in the spring.

Listed below are some guidelines to help design and run your program:

Technique: Each erg session should have some element of technical training. This can be done as part of the warm-up where everyone in the group does the same drill or has the same focus. Drills can also be added in during a rest period, or during a steady state workout. An example could be adding a pause drill for 10-20 strokes every 10 minutes. It is a good way to break up the workout, and reinforce good habits. Your rowers will also learn your terminology. They will know where to pause for a 1/2 slide drill, or know how to do "cut the cake". This will make things a lot easier when you get back on the water.

Do more individual coaching. Walk around and give reminders of what each rower should be working on. Don't hesitate to stop one of your rowers to explain something in more depth. Grab the handle or seat, and physically put someone in the position that you want them to be in. You can't do this on the water. If you have mirrors then show a rower what to look for while they are rowing. Point out good strokes from bad strokes. Take video when you can. Spend a few minutes with a rower before or after a workout to give more attention. Little tips and reminders everyday can make a big difference. Click on the drill section and fixing common mistakes for more information on technique.

Flexibility- Flexibility should be an emphasis during any part of the season. It is often one area that gets neglected. In my programs we always stretch out at the beginning and end of practice. For those with sore backs or tight hamstrings we will stretch between pieces. I have my rowers do a 7-10' warm up of either erging, biking or running at the start of practice. This is to increase heart rate, blood flow, body temperature, respiration rate, viscosity of joint fluids and perspiration. Warm muscles will exhibit a greater amount of flexibility(1). Depending on the day I then have the group do some type of "active" or "continuous" warm-up. This is when we are actively moving the body in different directions and working on range of motion. This may include a medicine ball (MB) routine where we use the MB to move the body in different planes of motion. We may also do a yoga routine such as a version of the "sun salutation". On some days we follow a routine called "movement prep" that I learned from a book called " Core Performance" by Mark Verstegen. Here you are performing movements that elongated muscles while improving balance, mobility, and strength.

Post workout stretching is usually where we do "static" stretching. This is where you hold a muscle in an elongated position for 10 to 30 seconds and then relax. This is very easy to do and the most common type of stretching. We may also do a routine called a proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretch (PNF). This is either done with a partner or with a rope. A muscle is stretched, then you resist against the stretch for 5-10 seconds, relax and then try to get more range of motion for the muscle. When using a partner to provide resistance they should be coached on how to do this. A rope can sometimes be used to do the same type of stretch. You can do a hamstring stretch with a rope around your foot. You extend the leg keeping it straight until you can't go any farther. Then you push down with your leg against the rope for 5-10 seconds, relax, and then try to stretch the hamstring further. You can learn more about this as well from Core Performance. The last routine that can be done post workout is something called, self-myofascial release. This is basically what I call "cheap man's massage". This is where you use a 6 inch thick foam roller to massage your muscles. If you have "knots" in your muscles the foam roller will help work the knots out of the tissues and improve flexibility. This hurts initially, but the benefits are huge. Rollers are about $15/each and can be purchased at www.performbetter.com.

Workouts - Follow a workout plan that best suits your program and goals. Have a weekly plan of workouts that you want to do. Make adjustments to your training plan to suit different rowers in your group. An example would be if you have some novice rowers training with your varsity, or if you have someone returning from an injury. You will want to adjust the volume/intensity until they are ready to do the entire program. Harder work can be done on the bike or through circuits to improve fitness. Indoor training can bring about soreness in the lower back. Make sure that rowers check the drag factor each time. I usually have all my rowers 120 or below. For females 110 or below. Break up workouts into intervals with short rest periods so that rowers can get off the erg and stretch. I rarely have my groups do anything over 20'. We may do 40-60' of work, but that work is broken up by doing 3x20' or 4x15', 6x10'. I look at the total time rather than the amount of time at once. Getting off the erg for brief periods to stretch out and walk around can reduce back soreness and possible injury.

I think the most important thing about training indoors is for rowers to learn how to pace themselves. All workouts should have a target goal whether it is 500M pace or heart rate. Most rowers will go out too hard and then have to adjust down during a piece. Make sure that your rowers stick to their target split. It will teach them how to be efficient and they will learn confidence. If a rower complains that a split is too easy, then still make sure they hold it for the entire workout. If they can finish the workout easily, then the next time you do that workout you can change the split. I find it better to see what a person can do rather than what they can't do.

For target splits I find it easy to base workouts on the average pace from a current 2K or 5K piece. Based on the average pace, seconds are added or subtracted from that pace based on the workout. An example would be if you were doing a steady state workout you would add 18" to 24" to the average 2K pace. For more information on pace charts click here.

Core Training - During winter training, core exercises should be done at least 4 times per week. Core exercises can be broken down into 4 categories - flexion/extension (forward/backward), lateral (side to side), rotation and stabilization. To make it easy you can do flexion/extension and lateral work on days 1 and 3. On days 2 and 4, do rotation and stabilization. If you are only training 3 times per week you can have your group do core work on their own, or you can alternate exercises each week. One week you can do circuit 1/2/1. On the next week you can do circuits 2/1/2. It is helpful to stay with the same exercises for at least 3 weeks before changing any of the exercises. You want your athletes to learn exercises well before changing up. If they are becoming more proficient at them then you can add more reps. For more information on core training click here.

Weights and Circuits - Strength training should be part of any pre-season program. Overall body strength will help any rower. It also gives time for someone that is weak in one particular area to get stronger before the season starts. Adding strength training also breaks up the routine of just erging all the time. If I am training a large group I like to follow a circuit style format. If we are doing weights for strength (6-10 reps) I will set up 8 stations. This might be: (1) DB squats/(2) Bench Rows or 1x arm DB row/ (3) OH walking lunge or split squat/(4) Pull-ups or chin-ups/(5) Back Extensions/(6) Push-ups or band press/(7) Russian Twist/(8) MB Crunch. Here I will put 2 people on each station and they will work on a station together until all sets are done, then they move to the next station. The partner not doing the exercise to will spot and coach the exercise. Make sure that you coach your rowers well on how to do exercises. This is often neglected on many programs. Coach an exercise the same way you will coach technique in the boat.

On days that we may do muscular endurance circuit (as many reps as you can for a given time), I will set up 8-10 stations. I like to do this on days that we are working doing steady state. Here I might break it up by doing 20' on the erg/circuit-2x/20' erg. The circuit could be: (1) Jumpies, (2) elastic band row, (3) MB throw into a wall or floor, (4) Jumping Jacks, (5) Push-up plank hold w/hands on floor or SB (6) Band Surfers, (7) SB Reverse Hyper, (8) Crunch, (9) Lateral Box Step, (10) Back Bridge Hold. Here we will go for time such as 45 seconds on and 15 seconds off. As the group gets more proficient I will add more work time. For less experience athletes you may want to have only 6-8 exercises. Make sure that everyone knows how to do the exercises. The only thing that I don't like about circuits is that as an athlete gets tired their form will deteriorate. If you have someone that is loosing form on their jumpies have them go to body squats. If they can't do lateral box steps then have them run in place. Make sure you watch your athletes carefully to prevent injuries.

Cross Training - For cross training I like to make use of indoor bikes. They are easy to use and anyone can do it. It is a great way to get additional endurance work with out the stress of rowing. If you have someone with a sore back or shoulder then you can move them to the bike. If a rower is biking in place of the erg then you can have them do the same workout as the group. If you are doing 5' intervals on the erg then do the same on the bike. If any of my rowers are good runners then I may have them do some running in place of the erg. Mostly I will do this on a day that we are doing steady state. If the workout is 2-3x20', then one series can be done running. This is mostly because my rowers as ask to do it. I will only have a rower run if they have run in the past and do not have any history of a running injury. I won't ask someone to start running for distance that has not run before as this can lead to injury and soreness.

Schedule and format - Here are some ideas for a daily schedule. This is based on a 90' training session. 90' can go by pretty quickly so you need to be efficient. If you have time for a 2 hour session that should give you plenty of time to get all the elements of your plan in. If you have more than one coach then you can break up your group so that one coach is running the erg session and the other overseeing the weights or circuits. Play around with the format until you feel that your program is streamlined and running efficiently.

References-

1. Baechle, T.R. (Editor) Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning/National Strength and Conditioning Association. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. 1994.