New Article: How to Start Strength Training
Archive post from 11/28/22
“How do I start?” has been a frequent question in my inbox and at events, and I’ve finally had the time to write out my answer thoroughly. Hopefully it’s just in time for those of you turning to winter training and considering adding or getting back to strength training!
Go straight to the new article here, or read my notes below first about the focus of the article and the 30-30-for-30 system.
I’ve used the 30-30-for-30 system for years now, during the gym/boathouse closure phase of the pandemic and as a simple starting point for strength training. I learned this first from a 2018 article by strength coach Dan John, spoke about it in my “minimalist/at-home strength training” webinar for USRowing in April of 2020, and have continued to use it in numerous contexts.It’s 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, for 30 minutes. You can do as many different exercises within that time frame as you want. I like for the math to work out cleanly, so I tend to use 6 rounds of 5 exercises, 5 rounds of 6 exercises, or 3 rounds of 10 exercises as my go-tos. Do them full-body, upper-body, lower-body, mix in dynamic stretches or walking movements…the possible session designs are essentially limitless!
I have written before about why I don’t like the conventional circuit training design for rowing strength training and how we can make it better. The 30-30-for-30 system has many of these improvements built-in already.
Workload limited to 30-second “on” duration means about 8-15 quality reps per set, not pushing to the fatigue of 20+ reps without proper preparedness.
1-to-1 work-to-rest ratio increases set-to-set recovery compared to circuit training with more work than rest. This reduces fatigue so athletes can focus on good technique and movement quality, and also keeps the effort solidly strength-based, not aerobic.
Session limited to 30 minutes, of which only 15 is “on” time, keeps the workload manageable, recoverable, and repeatable.
This makes a great starting point for rowers of any level, and may be a long-term programming approach for some as well. I have used this for juniors and masters rowers beginning to strength train, sometimes for entire off-seasons, as well as college and high-performance rowers in the early off-season phase of training coming back from the rejuvenation phase.
Read the rest of the article for more about starting strength training for rowing, details of the 30-30-for-30 system, sample training sessions, and progressing to the next level.
https://rowingstronger.com/2022/11/28/how-to-start-strength-training-for-rowing/
