Workout of the Week #3

This week your challenge will consist of two basic exercises: Rowing Machine & Wall Ball

Please read all directions below before proceeding to the workout.

Men will be using a 12 pound medicine ball and women will be using a 6 pound medicine ball for Wall Ball.

Complete this workout in your best time possible:

Row 2000m at a damper setting between 5/6
50x Wall Ball (12M / 6W)
Row 1000m at a damper setting between 5/6
35x Wall Ball (12M / 6W)
Row 500m at a damper setting between 5/6
20x Wall Ball (12M / 6W)

What is really going on during this workout?

This week is designed to have you withstand a constant heart rate zone throughout the entire workout without fatiguing.  Endurance is a large component of how we improve our aerobic capacity (cardiac output).  This increase in cardiac output will lead to your heart becoming more efficient by pumping more blood per beat and at a slower rate.  This saves your heart from working too hard at rest and will allow your body to push more blood to working muscles during workouts such as these.  Ultimately by enduring these types of workouts on a regular basis you will notice a positive correlation between this workload and a decrease in resting heart rate, recovery heart rate, and lower resting blood pressure. In other words, you will become more fit when you implement these workouts at least once a week.

Directions on Technique that counts…

Form is crucial for every rep to count.  Squats on Wall Ball must be parallel.  Women must aim at a 9 foot target and men at a 10 foot target.  This workout must be completed in the large cardio room near the large gym.  The reason why it must be done in that spot is because Wall Ball must be done in the large gym.  I have marked two distinct spots on the left (West) wall (on the brick).  These two points on the wall are marked with a blue tape line…one at 9 feet and the other at 10 feet.  Use a newer rower, if possible.  They’re the rowers with the word Concept 2 on the side and have blue handles.  They look exactly like this:

Concept 2 Rower

It’s fine if you wish to setup your computer for each distance but I highly recommend getting on the rower and just start rowing each segment without fiddling around with the computer.  Once you start rowing, the display will turn on and start accounting for the meters you row.

Rowing Technique…

The Rowing Stroke

The rowing stroke can be divided into two parts: The drive and the recovery.

You will learn a coordinated movement pattern built upon the following positions and phases:

The Recovery (Phase 1)

• Extend your arms until they straighten.
• Lean your upper body forward to the one o’clock position.
• Once your hands and the oar handle have cleared your knees, allow your knees to bend and gradually slide the seat forward on the monorail.

The Catch (Position 1)

• Arms are straight; head is neutral; shoulders are level and not hunched.
• Upper body is at the one o’clock position—shoulders in front of hips.
• Shins are vertical and not compressed beyond the perpendicular.
• Balls of the feet are in full contact with the footplate.

The Drive (Phase 2)

• With straight arms and while maintaining the position of the upper body at one o’clock, exert pressure on the foot plate and begin pushing with your legs.
• As your legs approach straight, lean the upper body back to the eleven o’clock position and draw the hands back to the lower ribs in a straight line.

The Finish (Position 2)

• Legs are extended and handle is held lightly at your lower ribs.
• Upper body is at the eleven o’clock position—slightly reclined with good support from your core muscles.
• Head is in a neutral position.
• Neck and shoulders are relaxed, and arms are drawn past the body with flat wrists.

Here is a link that shows you a video on rowing technique:

http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/training/technique-videos

Wall Ball Technique…

Keep the Torso Vertical
The more upright your torso, the more you can translate power from your hips into the wallball.  Here are a couple of things that will help you:

• Foot placement
  Play with the placement of your feet, the wider your feet the greater amount of space we have for our hips to go down.  Bearing in mind we don’t want to be so wide that we are unable to gain depth (hips below knees) or so wide that we lose vertical drive.  As a start, I would recommend going slightly wider then shoulder width apart, and more toed out then usual.

• Move your hips in a vertical plane and not a horizontal plane
  If you emphasize moving your torso up and down rather than back and forth you will save your back and use more legs to drive the ball up.

The Throw

• Throw towards the wall, not just straight up and down
  Without any horizontal force you risk not touching the wall.  If you do touch the wall with just a purely vertical throw, the ball will probably slide down the wall and impact your ability to reload quickly as you will need to change body positions to catch it.  There needs to be a subtle bounce at the apex of the throw.

• Forearms vertical and under the ball – elbows down!
  Imagine your forearms as arrows, they need to point where you want the ball to go – UP!

The Catch

• Catch high, ride low
  Catch the wall ball high, and let it ride/push you to the bottom – imagine your self like a human piston.  When you get tired your instinct will be to catch high and hold the ball in your hands.  This doesn’t put us in a good position to reload, as we will need to hoist the ball back to our shoulders, or do a weird under arm throw.  So as much as you can, catch it high, and ride it low with the elbows under the ball.