When padded shoes don't help you row fast. Yes you read right.

When you lift weights, do body weight exercises, work on getting your pistols going (one legged squat), you need to have the right footwear. Take note of the Olympic lifters and the shoes that they wear... the soles are totally flat. Finally there are running shoes with FLAT shock absorbent soles which allow running with the the middle part of the foot.

I would like to say that I have never been a runner, but this statement is not really accurate. Certainly, I am a lot bigger than any semi serious runner, but the type of shoes that I had been using never facilitated running as cross training workout. The other day, I found out that I had some spring in my step when I had to chase my 3 year old on my bare feet. Very naturally I used my mid foot, avoiding the heal ball type of stride. This sudden discovery made me look into different shoes and to my surprise the trend is on ZERO profile soles.



So why do the right shoes make you row faster? It is simple. You have a much better connection to the foot board on the rowing machine... AND and this the most important, you will be able to enjoy a healthier ankle movement when you do different cross training exercises, let alone start running-jogging-footing-trot, and feel light on your feet.

:0)

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

Beware of staff infection, German E. Coli, water from the faucet and tiramisu.

The British Rowing Team does not mess around in preparation for the upcoming Olympics. As reported in the SUN newspaper, the Brits are not going to the Hamburg World Cup because of E.Coli fear in Germany. In my opinion, the team management is right, better play it safe, than being sorry in the end, especially because the regatta in Hamburg is of no important consequence for the World Championship or qualification spots for the Olympics.

One tip I have for everyone who handles oars, and communal fitness equipment: Do disinfect them often. It is not unusual for rowers to have little booboos on their hands from all the training they do. Staff infection is a serious health problem that has to be addressed in a very timely manner when it occurs. Signs of a staff infection appear through discoloration of the blood veins. When this occurs, waist no time and go get medical help.

For rowing team managers, I highly recommend bringing bottled water to regattas and hotels. You may live in an area where drinking from the faucet is Ok, but do not take it for granted when you travel somewhere different.

As an example, we refrained from eating locally made ice-cream and tiramisu when we trained in Italy.... Simply put, in order to stay safe from any food poisoning stick to what is known to you even if it makes eating a bit boring. The goal is row fast and not to go on a culinary bonanza :0)

picture Sun News U.K.

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

In my backyard, ultimate fighters use rowing machines to be cardiovascularly ready to fight!

From Pro golfers, to race car drivers, and crazy ultimate fighters, the rowing machine is used for conditioning. I just asked my facebook friends in telling me about any pro athletes they know or have heard of who use rowing for conditioning. My FB friend Cameron Sabour told me about BJ Penn and his gym... and guess what it is five minutes from where I live, here in Costa Mesa.

I want to find more pros who use the rowing machine. Showing that pros are using the rowing machine will bring the sedentary and active people to discover rowing and I will show them how to enjoy it. Because let's face it, Ultimate fighters use the rowing machine to beat themselves into the ground... That is not a long term solution to fitness. Finding the groove with training will bring joy and motivation for a long long time. In case you need to figure out how to row right and enjoy easy to hard workouts take a look at my DVD packages: 16 Week Olympic Rowing Training Program with Xeno Muller

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

A nice Youtube account by Mike Nicholson on rowing in Australia

G'day

I have been fortunate in finding a lovely rowing-Youtube account by Mike Nicholson. He features lovely rowing footage on the beautiful Yarra river. His narration about different position in an eight is fun to listen too. He talks about an 8.7 kilometer race through Melbourne. The footage of rowing shows water level angles, nature scenery shots, and rowing through mist and sunset.

Make sure you look at all his rowing films.



Xeno Muller

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

Travis Pastrana and others

Rowing on land has grown bigger than on the water rowing.   Professional Moto Cross, a.k.a MC, athletes like Travis Pastrana help publicize the benefits of rowing. 

You can see on this picture that Travis built a different kind of handle, which replicates the width and angle of a motorcycle handle bar .

For scullers I would recommend independent grips so that the arms pass a little deeper than the sternum.

One of the changes I would recommend to Travis is to get a dynamic rowing machine.  Than he can  start rowing the machine one leg and arm at a time.  I have such  exercises on this DVD: Indoor Rowing Workouts

Final comment, too many keep their drag factor too low.  Experiment higher drag, don't raise your stroke rate

Move with the flow!

Xeno Muller

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