Train right, row faster.

Some common mistakes when training for endurance competitions.

2012-01-28T11:00:00.000-08:00

Hello rowers and endurance athletes.

Congratulations and thank you for illustrating my first point I am about to make on personality of an athlete or coach. Through your active search, you found me and this article, because you are in search of greater aerobic capacity for either yourself or people you train, which in turn describes you as a motivated individual.

1996 Olympics, Derek Porter, Xeno Muller, Thomas Lange, Olympic record 6:44.85

Do rowers and coaches know when to slow down?

In order to achieve maximum results from training, the mind and body need to be in harmony. From personal experience as an Olympic gold/silver medalist and coach I have noticed that athletes too often forget to look for the connection between the two. Such disconnect can be caused from guilt and competitive paranoya of the "what if I don't train..." Athletes are guilty of this as much as coaches. Coaches who don't understand the importance of limiting hard workouts and neglecting to observe the rowers demeanor during and outside of the workouts, fall into a situation in which more injuries appear and morale of the crew becomes gloomy. Slowing down is not in the nature of motivated people it must therefore learned and accepted in order to improve fitness.

Believing that achieving new personal bests is mainly caused when the mind gets stronger... another problem.

I have heard it many times from club and university rowers. As training "progresses" coaches chose to test their crew members to confirm that their training plan delivers better 2K, 6K, and more boat speed. Some of these coaches also tend to favor harder workouts instead of aerobic training sessions. When too few personal bests are recorded the coaches' answer are more high intensity training with team meetings denouncing that the crews are not pushing hard enough and that it is a matter of getting mentally tougher to sustain more pain. For rowers with less coaching interference a similar situation exists. All-out-effort-self-testing becomes a form of security blanket. Unfortunately the blanket is sometimes used in moments of doubt, for example when coming out of sickness such as the flu. In such cases the test which ought to show improvement ends up informing the rower of how much the illness impacted their fitness. More often than not, the result of the test is less than satisfactory and leads the rower down a path of self-doubt mixed with impatience that lead to harder workouts, because of the idea lost time from being ill needs to be made up.

"No pain, no gain, no Spain." Learn from other endurance disciplines, look outside the box.

This was a headline in Sport Illustrated back in 1992 as the world was preparing for the Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Rowing is known to be one of the toughest sports and therefore it is easy to imagine that training has to be filled with intensity and pain. Many rowers and coaches believe that rowing success comes from going through hell on water and land. This concept of training is so wrong, it makes me cringe. My coaches' adopted training methods from different disciplines such as cross country skiing, flat water kayak, cycling, and Olympic weight lifting. Learning from mistakes and successes of other successful.

Training on Lake Sarnen, Switzerland

Improvement in rowing comes through a carefully mixed training program that gives the athlete enough time to recover from hard workouts and plenty of aerobic mileage to increase the mitochondria count in muscle cells throughout the body and not just the core rowing muscles. Cross training is crucial to avoid chronic injuries, mental burnout, yet extremely beneficial for total body fitness at the molecular level. As rower, listening to ones body, accepting gut feeling, erring on the side of caution is a better way to becoming a champion. Coaches need to accept that athletes achieve greater performance through mileage and fine tuning, rather then creating a living hell, where mental toughness is the means to an end.

Now go and puke your gut out at CRASH-B and its satellite regattas.
Xeno, Olympic gold and silver medalist, Olympic record holder. Row2go, XenoRowingCoach, Digital Workouts.

Can you afford not to? $175 Slow motion stroke analysis, greater success with less work.

2012-01-26T23:24:00.000-08:00

When I receive rowing footage via Youtube or email (up to 50 seconds with iPhone), I complete a slow motion stroke analysis with commentary. I help rowers pick the right technical drill to improve deficiencies in their rowing stroke.
The result is improved power application, greater speed, better boat control, and better erg score, without training harder.
How effective can training be, when you don't know what your weaknesses are and how to strengthen them?

En Español! Remándole... Normal para remeros, nuevos jugadores de tenis.

2012-01-23T12:31:00.000-08:00

Veo partidos muy reñidos en la tele y se me ocurrió que muchos de estos atletas tienen poco tiempo para recuperarse para la siguiente ronda; especialmente los jugadores que se enfrentan en dobles y singles durante el mismo torneo. Conozco una manera suave para apresurar la recuperación. Pero primero echemos un vistazo rápido a lo que se hace comúnmente.

Xeno Müller, Olympic Gold and Silver Medalist, Olympic record holder

Dependiendo de la edad y el nivel físico, el tiempo necesario para regenerarse después de un partido duro puede variar mucho entre individuos. Con el fin de "ayudar en la recuperación", la mayoría de los jugadores pasa algo de tiempo bajo la regadera caliente, lo cual en términos fisiológicos se describe como recuperación pasiva. Muy pocos se tomarán un baño con hielo, el cual atrae la sangre a la piel del cuerpo de ese modo sacando el ácido láctico del tejido muscular. Algunos harán tiempo para una sesión de masaje valiosa, lo cual se describe como un método de recuperación semipasiva. Tal vez unos cuantos usarán una bicicleta estacionaria para producir el lactato en las piernas bien torneadas. No tengo duda que un porcentaje de los mejores jugadores usa alguno de estos métodos para sacar ventaja en la recuperación. Aún así uno de los métodos de recuperación activa más eficientes en cuanto al tiempo ha permanecido sin descubrirse en el mundo del tenis, hasta ahora.
Tiempo para presentar el "remo regenerador" de 20 minutos". ¿Por qué un jugador de tenis querría usar el remo para una recuperación más rápida? Para los novatos, el remo es un movimiento soportado por el peso de cero impacto de cuerpo completo que es extremadamente suave en las articulaciones y así facilita lograr una gama completa de movimiento con las rodillas, caderas y tobillos. La parte superior del cuerpo se asegura en la articulación coxofemoral con los hombros flojos mientras que la parte inferior de la espalda se apoya permitiendo que se estiren y contraigan suavemente los tendones, al mismo tiempo la espalda se involucra de manera uniforme durante todo el ciclo de remada. La resistencia suave y gradual de remar es una excelente terapia para el dolor muscular. Remar es un proceso ACTIVO para regenerar el cuerpo.

Existen otros beneficios regeneradores importantes que el remo proporciona, tales como el ritmo de respiración profunda usado para relajar el cuerpo en la recuperación y cómo la aceleración que comienza desde el impulso de las piernas suspendiendo la parte superior del cuerpo desde la fuerza de su esqueleto. El remo fácil también es suave con el corazón debido a la posición paralela del riel al piso y, así, reduce a la mitad el poder necesario para que el sistema cardiaco bombee la sangre a través del cuerpo.
El remo también es un excelente ejercicio de entrenamiento en múltiples áreas. Los ejercicios físicos varían en intensidad y duración. Se sabe que el deporte produce algunos de los atletas más aeróbicamente sanos y mentalmente duros. La adición del remo a la rutina de ejercicio semanal brinda variedad al entrenamiento que, de lo contrario, se enfoca enormemente en estar erguido y poner mayor presión en las articulaciones que ya están puestas a prueba de manera importante a través de los entrenamientos y partidos de tenis.
¡Sería sorprendente para mí ayudar a los jugadores de tenis a usar el remo para mejorar su recuperación y récord de triunfos! Considere nuestro paquete de iniciación de 10 semanas, el cual es excelente para aprender de forma pausada a remar y es perfecto para enfriamientos del tenis y entrenamiento en múltiples áreas.
Xeno www.row2go.com para entrenamientos de remo en línea. www.xenorowingcoach.com para DVDs y coaching privado.

Learning from Olympic gold and silver medalists, directly to your computer.

2012-01-20T21:35:00.000-08:00

This is a digital compilation of my Olympic training and technical understanding of how to make the boat move as fast as possible with the smallest amount of wasted energy. Rowers who seek more speed on and off the water will benefit from this information. No matter whether it is sweep rowing or just sculling. The technical method has been proven successful at the Olympics in eights and in the single scull. My technical form keeps the Olympic record in the single scull alive to this day. So enjoy following the training program in the digital download as well as my life commentary as I scull my single in the Newport Harbor, my Olympic training site, under the sunny sky of Southern California.

Olympic high performance sculling package, with Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist

Xeno Muller

Rowing it off... Normal for rowers new for tennis players.

2012-01-19T10:33:00.000-08:00

I am watching hard fought matches on TV and it occurred to me that a bunch of these athletes have little time to recover for their next round; especially the players who play doubles and singles during the same tournament. I know of a gentle way to quicken recovery. But first let's take a quick look at what is commonly done.

Depending on age and fitness level the time needed to regenerate after a hard match can vary quite a bit between individuals. In order to "help recovery" most players will spend some time standing under a hot shower, which in physiological terms is described as passive recovery. Very few will take an ice bath which draws the blood to the body's skin thus removing lactic acid out of the muscle tissue. Some will make time for a valuable massage session, which is described as a semi-passive recovery method. Maybe a few will use a stationary bike to spin off the lactate in their hard worked legs. I have no doubt that a percentage of top players use some of these methods to get a leg up on recovery. Yet one of the most time efficient, active recovery method, has stayed undiscovered in the tennis world, until now.

Time to introduce the 20 minute "regenerating-row-off." Why would a tennis player want to use rowing for faster recovery. For starters, rowing is a full-body-zero-impact-weight-supported motion which is extremely gentle on the joints and thus makes it easy to attain full range of motion with knees, hips, and ankles. The upper body hinges at the hip joint with loose shoulders while the lower back is supported allowing the hamstrings to gently stretch and contract, while the back is evenly engaged during the entire stroke cycle. Rowing's gentle and gradual resistance is excellent therapy for sore muscles. Rowing is an ACTIVE process for regenerating the body.

There are other important regenerating benefits that rowing provides such as the deep breathing rhythm used to relax the body on the recovery and how the acceleration starting from the leg drive is applied by suspending the upper body from its the skeleton strength. Easy rowing is also gentle on the heart due to the parallel position of the track to the ground and thus reducing by half the power needed for the cardiac system to pump the blood through the body.

Rowing is also an excellent cross training exercise. Workouts vary in intensity and duration. The sport is known to produce some of the most aerobically fit and mentally tough athletes. Adding rowing to the weekly workout routine brings variety to training that otherwise is heavily focused on being upright and putting further pressure on joints that are already heavily taxed through tennis workouts and matches.

It would be awesome for me to help tennis players use rowing to improve their recovery and winning record! Consider our 10 Week Beginner package, which is excellent to gently learn to row, perfect for tennis cool downs and cross training.

Xeno
www.row2go.com for online rowing workouts.
www.xenorowingcoach.com for DVDs and private coaching.

Rowing on Lake Union a beautiful 7 minute piece of history

2012-01-16T23:08:00.000-08:00

I am so happy that I came across this beautiful piece about rowing. The filming is great and the voice of the coach extremely nice to listen too. Great job and I am excited about sharing it!
Xeno Muller

Rowing the Xeno Signature Waterrower

2012-01-15T10:50:00.001-08:00

Xeno,
Love my Waterrower because I can get an erg in anytime at home, it feels like rowing (no flywheel chain pulling me to the catch and it feels like water against the blades on the drive) and it is quiet and peaceful and not consigned to the garage or basement. The signature series changes are great additions as well especially the wide handle.

Rowin happy,

Rich

Mental preparation for rowing, and where to find great examples for pushing through pain.

2012-01-02T20:47:00.000-08:00

Alas, our rowing stories are not as well publicized as other athletes' stories of other sports. We could claim that our rowing market is smaller and there is not as big of a financial gain to be made or public interest in publishing autobiographies of rowers. Maybe it is partly because the rowing archetype tends to not brag publicly about personal rowing achievements. Whatever the reason, we as coaches need to come up with stories that illustrate what it takes to win no matter what. In my case I can whip out personal stories to tell to the rowers I coach; I have a few, but telling the same story over and over would get old for me as well as to my audience, that is why I enjoy reading about other athletes' feats.

Here are three autobiographies that I highly recommend. The beauty about the three books is that every epic battle can be found on Youtube by typing in the names of the athletes and the name of the event. I enjoyed devouring, Andre Agassi's, Pete Sampras', and Rafael Nadal's, autobiographies. Holy cow, it is amazing, what epic battles these guys endured in order to be victors in their own sports.

Pete Sampra's account of his 5 set match where he vomits and still wins here is the link: http://youtu.be/gIvxjjfCGvA EPIC to read and EPIC to watch.

Andre Agassi finally winning the French open, an elusive feat for hard court players. http://youtu.be/gIvxjjfCGvA
Hilarious is also how Andre found Brad Gilbert when he was looking for a new coach.

Rafael Nadal losing Wimbeldon http://youtu.be/4JwT5I2yt5A and then winning the next year.

These three books are entertaining to read and arm coaches with a delightful amount of anecdotes that can be used when rowers come to their weekly realization that the sport they chose is one of the toughest known to man :-).

Being coached by Harry Mahon leading to Olympic Gold and Olympic record

2012-01-01T16:52:00.001-08:00

I met Harry in April 1988 on a lake in Switzerland. I was 16 participating at a 3 day rowing camp. Harry at the time was the Swiss national team coach. That morning I had heard that “He” was coming to watch some of our club row. I had no idea what he looked like, sounded like, all I knew is that he had a beard and was from New Zealand.

As I sculled my single on a amazingly glassy lake, a morning so crisp that sound traveled for miles, and clock towers from different villages along the lake created a symphony celebrating the holy weekend. I spotted at one kilometer across the lake Harry and a couple other club coaches following a men’s straight four. Then the launch veered of and started approaching. I later heard from one of my future junior coaches that Harry suddenly spotted me at a distance and asked who that was and the answer given: “A new kid, he comes from France, has a Swiss passport, speaks English, a big kid, needs some work.” At that moment my quest for Olympic gold in the single scull took a serious turn to reality.

My work with Harry spanned from 1988 to 1992. I had the pleasure to work with Harry in Sarnen, Switzerlandduring summer vacations in preparation of the junior and senior world championships and my first Olympic participation in 1992. He came to coach me a couple of times in Fontaine bleau,Francewhere I lived as a kid. Scott Roop and Steve Gladstone our Brown University coaches inProvidenceRhode Islandhad the pleasure to have him visit me and get his opinion on our Freshmen eight, as I was also training the single scull to prepare for the Olympic qualification.

I have several memorable experiences with Harry regarding sculling technique. He reminded me constantly that him pulling 1:47 at stroke rate 20, with his body size is only the result of hanging from the leg drive and connecting with the upper body without pulling. He would watch like a hawk for any contraction in the upper body that came prematurely during the leg drive. While he coached us on the rowing machine, he would stand next to me and mimic relaxed shoulders with hands drawn to the side of the ribcage, with a totally relaxed face, and say, that the stroke is executed in a powerful relaxed way. Harry loved the Rowperfect and knew how difficult it was to teach pushing and hanging on a static rowing machine. Harry’s ability to understand, push and hang, without ever having been a record smashing rower himself is really remarkable. He simply had a great understanding of body mechanics and the Eye.

He made me row circles on different lakes, explaining me how the blade needed to be extracted at the finish and how I had to catch on the way up so that I would not miss water and cancel out any chance of rowing it in. I would scull along his coaching launch and he would mention squaring the blade earlier and quietly tell me that I started to move away from the constant speed the launch was traveling at. One of Harry’s trademark coaching technique was to observe the stern of my sculling boat and help me understand what an efficient pick up was. He would pull the launch right behind my stern so that I had the ability to gage my boat movement with the constant speed of the coaching launch. On good catches my single scull would stay at a constant speed away from the bow of Harry’s launch, when I missed, his launch would surge towards me, scarring me at the beginning, when in reality it was me checking the boat, because of a poor catch… rowing it in. At times he would comment every single catch for minutes at a time to let me know whether the way I was doing it was correct or not here is a sample: “No, no, no, no, no, yes, no, no, no, no, no, no, NOOO! Zeino, you have to hang from the shoulders, you go like this, I would look at him and he would shrug his shoulders, blow air in his cheeks, and bend the arms and I would curse inside of myself and want to break boat and oars once I came on the shore with my fits, I never did. Then one day in Providence, suddenly started hearing: “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes…” tears started flowing over my cheeks and I stopped the boat, and began cry. I finally felt it, at the time I could not describe in words, how I did it, but I felt it and I could recreate it. Today, I can describe everything that Harry taught me and convey it to scullers and rowers whom I have the pleasure to coach. Harry pulled his launch up to me and asked what was wrong. I gathered my strength and controlled my mixture of emotional happiness and urge to go to rowing war. I said: “Harry, I get it, I GET IT, holy s..t, I G-E-T it!!!” I then saw his smiling face, his blue eyes, his friendly smile come through his beard. He was happy, he LOVED giving this type of “AHA” moments to rowers of all ages, nationalities, and caliber.

Thank you Harry, you enabled me to become an Olympic gold and silver medalist, and Olympic record holder. You gave me athletic freedom that lead me to California where I met my wife and now have four wonderful children. Thanks to you and the people who supported me over the years I can say that I have no regrets and that you were a huge part of it by sharing your passion on the water and believing in your talent as a coach and the ability of the people you worked with.
Xeno

The weather is the primary reason I moved to SoCal.

2012-01-01T14:21:00.001-08:00

In January of 1995, Joerg Weitnauer, owner of WM rowing boats, advised me to move and train in Newport Beach. 16 years later I am still here.

A tip from personal experience about getting back your fitness and hurting yourself...

2012-01-01T13:07:00.000-08:00

I am 39. I am the proud father of four kids and life goes at one hundred miles per second. There is little time for personal fitness, partly because my kids are not quite of age yet where I can share the same exercise type and duration that I would need to maintain an acceptable fitness level and body weight. I am not the type of person who easily chooses to spend time alone to exercise. I enjoy sharing such quality time with my family and very quickly adjust such time to what works best for the group and this ranges from walking, playground, some tennis. When the kids are in the backyard playing I grab the kettlebell and go at it and this is why I am writing this blog entry, how to overdo it :-)

One attribute I don't lack is personal motivation to exercise. When time is of essence and I feel horribly guilty for not having done any cardio exercise, I have made a couple painful mistakes by choosing shorter and harder workouts. From rowing I have a strong back with solid lats which make horizontal kettlebell rows no problem and I don't feel winded quickly when I attack them. So what do I have to worry about... my elbows, it must be the lack of use but did I mess them up by pulling back the 60 pound bell like a mad former Olympian. Now I am seeking some sort of muscle cream to help whatever I messed up. My lesson learned from this pain, and I hope I won't forget it ever in my lifetime, is that any type of physical exercise that you start up doing after a longer break needs to be brought back to life slowly. The little joints and muscles will give you major flak if you don't.

So why don't I row more consistently... good point, it is because our house is too small to handle a permanent spot for the rower, and there are other logistical issues that are inexcusable reasons for not putting in the miles. Writing this makes me wonder about my ability to self-inflict "AHA" moments. I NEED TO ROW MORE. Rowing is gentle on the joints, I yell it at the top of my lungs on rooftops all the time. Rowing gives you range of motion without being hard on your joints. Rowing allows your entire body to find a rhythm that is dictated by your breathing pattern (and not the other way around!) Stay low with your stroke rate and increase the resistance by raising the drag factor on the concept2 rower, or add more water to your waterrower. One of the "special" ways to increase drag on the C2 is dangerous when you have little kids: removing the silver mesh. You will find double the drag :-) however you will also hear TRIPLE the noise!

Ok now for the business part of it all. I have a workout library that is available online at www.row2go.com. You can access over 70 workouts and use my instruction and rowing rhythm to get a great row out of your machine. In case you are a possessed on the water rower or a psychotic 2K chaser on the Concept2 machine you will enjoy www.xenorowingcoach.com. In case you want direct downloads have a look at www.facebook.com/row2go :-)
That is it for now!!!

Xeno Muller

Taken from tennis, Federer vs. Djokovic staring in the eye of defeat...

2011-12-31T21:33:00.001-08:00

It happened at the US tennis open last September. It was the semi final between Federer and Djokovic at 40/15 on Federer's serve giving him 2 match points. Thanks to the tennis channel I have watched Djokovic's facial expression several times. He overcame the stress of being on the brink of losing the match with a "bring it on attitude." He pulled down the corners of his mouth, slowly nodded his head and squinted his eyes. If I were asked what I could have read in his mind it was: "Ok, this is now all or nothing, this requires a return that shall rock the house, I will either go down with the guns blazing, no regrets, or Federer is going to have his nerves ripped out of his brain on his first match point opportunity."
The latter is exactly what happened. The Serb ended up winning the semi to later take the entire tournament.
This is how one wins athletic competitions, whether it is in tennis, rowing or any other nerve gripping athletic discipline.
Xeno

In the Empire strikes back...

2011-12-31T15:47:00.001-08:00

Luke Skywalker needed to be trained to become a Jedi. He had to fly to a distant planet.... and find Yoda.

My name may not be Yoda but my knowledge on the "rowing force" is strongly present in myself and my coaching. Southern California is more pleasant than Planet Dagoba, however SoCal is in rowing BFE so to speak.

I was taught to row fast with the least amount of effort and I now teach it to those who make the journey to Dagoba... I mean Newport Beach, happy new year!

Xeno aka Yoda of rowing.

2011-12-31T15:19:00.000-08:00

Hello Rowers,
I would like to wish you a safe slide into the new year. This sentence is a mix of German translated into English with some rowing flavor.
Our coaching offering can be found on www.facebook.com/row2go for direct download workouts for your rowing machine and competitive rowing. You can also have access to over 70 workouts at www.row2go.com and avoid boredom when you have to put in your healthy rowing miles during the winter months. Finally, find your personal coach at www.xenorowingcoach.com. This last site is for people who want to push their personal limits to new records. We use video file sharing technology to help with training and technique.
We look forward to working with you.
Xeno Muller
Olympic gold and silver medalist, Olympic record holder.

How physical activity can aide in cancer treatment.

2011-10-28T12:15:00.000-07:00

How Physical Activity Can Aide in Cancer Treatment

The National Cancer Institute recently completed and published a study on the benefits and positive effects of physical activity for cancer patients. While many people assume that exercise can help with overall health, there are also additional advantages to engaging in physical activity before, during and after cancer treatment.  Prevention  Regular exercise has been shown to influence the occurrence of cancer in patients. Prostate and breast cancer rates decrease among individuals who regularly exercise. Also, uterine, colon cancer and mesothelioma rates are lower for people who are generally fit through exercise.  Colon cancer is one of the most studied types of cancer. Researchers have discovered that patients who exercise regularly reduce their risk of developing colon cancer by as much as 40 percent, compared to individuals who do not exercise and are primarily sedentary.  Improved Survival Rates  Another benefit to physical activity for cancer patients is that it improves survival rates. In several studies it has been discovered that patients who engage in moderate exercise three to five hours per week live longer than patients who do not engage in any physical activity at all.  In breast cancer in particular, it is thought that regular exercise helps with cancers that are hormone-responsive and helps the body’s natural immune response to cancer. Other findings included insulin and leptin level improvement. Also, women who engage in regular physical activity report that they have less fatigue, feel more balanced overall and feel they have a higher quality of life than individuals who do not get regular physical activity.  Emotional Benefits  One of the aspects of dealing with cancer that often is neglected by doctors and patients alike is the emotional effect cancer can have on an individual. Many cancer patients experience depression and problems with anxiety, along with sleep disturbances and changes in appetite and problems with concentration.  Regular physical activity can not only elevate mood and alleviate anxiety symptoms, but it can lead to feeling better about your body and improved quality of life. Regular exercise has been recommended by therapists for a long time to help patients with mood disorders. Cancer patients often report that simply taking regular walks can help improve their mood.  Physical Benefits  Physical activity can also promote general physical benefits. For example, regular exercise can lower blood pressure and improve lung and cardiovascular capacity. Additionally, physical activity can reduce the risk for heart disease and help prevent early death as a result of stroke and heart attack.  Individuals who exercise regularly also have fewer problems with obesity and weight issues. As a result, they have lower rates of diabetes.  Regular exercise is an important part of overall health for everyone. For cancer patients it is extremely important because of the effect it has on survival rates and the ability to cope with the effects of cancer treatment and the illness itself. This goes for cancer patients trying to conquer cancers with low survival rates like pericardial mesothelioma and cancers that have traditionally higher survival rates like skin melanoma. No matter what journey the cancer patient is going through it is important to keep the motivation and positive thinking going and that is all possible with exercise.

Liz Davies is a recent college graduate and aspiring writer especially interested in health and wellness. She wants to make a difference in people’s lives because she sees how cancer has devastated so many people in this world. Liz also likes running, playing lacrosse, reading and playing with her dog, April.
The National Cancer Institute
uterine,
mesothelioma
Colon cancer
pericardial mesothelioma
skin melanoma

You can get instant digital downloads and row better and faster

2011-06-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

Visit our website: www.xenorowingcoach.com/xeno-muller-rowing-coach/Xeno_Digital.html

Single Scull champions going head to head at Koninklijke Holland beker 2011- Synek vs Drysdale

2011-06-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

Xeno Muller

Training tips included in the competitive training package.

2011-06-25T19:39:00.001-07:00

Hello Rowers,
Over the years I have put together a training package that focuses on the last 16 weeks of preparation before a major championship. It includes slow motion stroke study as I prepare for the Olympic games. You can hear from other Olympic gold medalist how they prepared and psychologically focused on winning gold medals. A couple of days ago I received an email from a competitive rower who told me how informative my video clips were in which I explain the training program and the different technical exercises as well as visualization processes. Here is a simple list of the subjects that I talk about: One minute power build during long distance training, why and when to apply it; asymmetric technique drills; how to correlate boat speed with stroke length in the star phase; understanding volume vs. intensity; what stretches and when not to stretch; how to encompass technical drills during steady state rows; understanding rest; understanding regatta logistics as a competitor; timing of warm up leading up to the race; race strategy; why pyramids; how to learn from experience; what to use for hydration; hydration and food during competition; "the calm" before the competition; how to build power without lifting dangerous weights; training the neuro-muscular system for high stroke rates without dipping into high lactate levels.
I rowed in the neighborhood of 100,000 kilometers, I assimilated my coaches recommendations to win a couple Olympic medals. Now I use this experience to coach others to excel. I coach any rower of any level to attain his or her best.
http://www.xenorowingcoach.com/xeno-muller-rowing-coach/Advanced.html

Get your Xeno workouts and training packages on facebook too.

2011-06-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Row2Go-Online-Rowing-Workouts-with-Xeno/180818085305200?sk=app_174058885960413

Wanderrudern, we need this in the United States

2011-06-10T22:18:00.000-07:00

This looks like a lot of fun. I want in. This type of rowing is called Wander Rudern in German and Aviron de Rendonnee in French.

Xeno Muller

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

2011-06-09T19:26:00.000-07:00

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)

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

2011-06-09T16:44:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2011-06-06T21:08:00.000-07:00

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

A nice Youtube account by Mike Nicholson on rowing in Australia

2011-06-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

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

Travis Pastrana and others

2011-06-05T16:08:00.000-07:00

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