Letter To Alaska

Hello Alaskan Rower,

Here are a couple of tips on intensity and diet:

As far as heart rate goes. Here is a formula that can be used without too much outside help:

http://indoor-rowing.blogspot.com/2007/09/explanation-on-training.html

The most important is to find the routine to get on the rowing machine and put in time on the "water" figuratively speaking. The more strokes you take with the right technic you will find your stroke lengthening out and become more powerful.

Rowing is about efficiency for each stroke that you take. The torque part of the rowing stroke is what makes rating (strokes per minute) too high not necessary. You want the load per stroke to be such that your recovery is worth spending time on. The ratio between recovery and drive is 2 to 1 roughly. So when you drive the stroke, feel the effort, then on the recovery take your time to allow the arms to travel away from the chest until elbows are straight, then hinge at the hip joint to a forward body angle while your arms are still straight and your shoulders relaxed. At that point you raise the knees so that you feel the contraction of the hamstrings which draws you to the footboard. The rolling of the seat on the recovery is steady, whereas in the drive it is an acceleration. When rowing on the water, you actually draw the boat towards you.

Back to intensity: At our indoor rowing studio, I want to achieve two things: Smiles and sweaty shirts. When you achieve that at home in Alaska, you succeeded and will keep succeeding.

As for the weight loss, I am in the same boat as you are. I could lose thirty pounds, yet to do that I would have to row more. The family and business requirements have priority, so I don't get to row as much as I would want to. Therefore, it is important that I do not take in too many cheap and easy calories. Since March, I totally stopped soda pop, no more eating wrapped candy, no more fries and potatoes.

It was in March, that I used Nutrisystem to get myself jump started, with my weight loss. Nutrisystem showed me how LITTLE I needed to eat in order to lose weight. In a nutshell, every main meal would fit in one cup... There was a snack three times a day, which was small, and the anytime finger food were vegetables that you could eat as much as you wanted.

I hope this helps.

Good luck and happy new year.

Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.