Staying healthy, fit, and engaged despite the news
Dan Mahoney
Hello Everyone,
As we are off the water and out of organized practices for the foreseeable future, I want to make sure that our athletes social distancing and isolation is not without at least a little bit of rowing.
I am sending this email to both athletes and parents as I hope that perhaps this will give us all an opportunity to better understand the sport, particularly through film study. Starting Wednesday, I will be sending video dumps with commentary (putting my podcast and production skillset to work). These will be focused on the nuances of the stroke, as well as some more exciting race commentary and strategy - great for everyone to get a better understanding of finding speed on the water. For the parents, if these emails are annoying please let me know and I can only include the athletes.
In terms of fitness, my best recommendation is to maintain a good aerobic base. Biking, running, or erging at a light, low pace for 40-75 minutes at least 4-5 times a week will put you in an excellent place for fitness when we eventually return to the water. In addition to this base work, getting in 30 minutes of core - particularly rotational strength was the primary objective for the early spring anyways, and you don't need to be on the water for that. Mix it up and have fun with it! Every Friday, post a video of your best plank attempt to the groupme and we'll see who makes the most progress from week to week!
Finally, because of my newfound free time, I would love to try and see how I can best tele-coach. Feel free to groupme or email videos of you on the erg if you have one in your home and I can provide some notes and slo-mo analysis. If you don't have access to an erg, look on youtube for race footage or drill footage and send me the link! I can clarify questions or even start you down the rabbit hole of really informative materials on the web.
Stay healthy, stay fit, and stay focused - whenever we get back on the water, let’s be ready to rock!
Best,