Make Time
Most rowers and coaches aren’t full-time professionals. Balancing rowing with work/school/family and other activities means that everyday rowers and coaches have a finite number of hours in the week to commit to rowing. It seems that the clock is always against us; imagine what could be achieved with just a few more hours in which to train. The week may already be squeezed for every available minute, but it’s worth thinking about how you can turn ‘dead time’ around and make it available for training.
Many of us spend an hour or more each day commuting to work or school. Can you exercise during this time by cycling or running instead? It may mean you spend slightly more time on your commute, but it may buy you time in allowing you to train when adding another journey to the boathouse or gym would normally take too long.
If your training time is limited because the gym or boathouse is too far away to fit in an evening or morning session consider some cross-training that doesn’t involve any travel time. A running or cycling session can start right from your front door so all your time is spent training, not travelling.
Lunch breaks can be used to improve flexibility by stretching. Posture can be worked on throughout the day when you are sitting at a desk, or performing you usual activities.
Maximise your water time by incorporating your warm-up into your journey to the boathouse by running or cycling. Dead time on the water while resting between pieces or waiting for other crews in your group can be used for technical drills or stretching. Any time when the boat is stopped can be used to improve flexibility by taking your feet out of the shoes and stretching the hamstrings. Once this becomes part of your routine it will dramatically increase the amount of time to give to stretching and show big improvements in positioning and stroke length.
Rest is important, but can you get up half an hour earlier and start the day with some yoga? Do you rush through breakfast instead of spending time properly fueling your body for the day’s training and activities?
See more about time management with “Never Enough Time: Getting the most from your Training“.
