- If getting faster on the machine,
being able to transfer more of your power to the machine
and feeling like you have better connection
are all things that you wanna find on the rower,
then let's chat.
When I was rowing I actually had that very same problem.
As you see me now I weigh 190 pounds.
At my heaviest I've been 195.
But when I was rowing I balanced between 163 and 170 pounds,
and I'm six foot three, I was very lean.
I was just nothing but legs.
I was emaciated from the waist up.
And one of the the constant things that plagued me
was just never feeling
like I could apply power to the machine.
I felt like I was just lungs and I was able to endure,
so my endurance was great and I was able to deliver enough.
But I just never had oomph
when I was on the machine or in the boat,
and it always really frustrated me.
And ironically, it was when I stepped away from rowing
and moved into the world of strength and conditioning
that I actually learned what I was missing
in that piece of the puzzle
that would've made such a huge difference in my training
that I really want you guys to be able to find
and take into your own training now.
If this is your first time here,
welcome, I'm Shane Farmer.
This is Dark Horse Rowing
where you build the life that you want to live,
and we just happen to use rowing to get there.
So make sure you click that subscribe button
so that you can walk the journey with us
and we can help you along the way.
So what is this exercise, this secret exercise that I have
that I discovered when I moved into strength training?
Well, it's not actually a single exercise,
more a group of exercises that I call TTMs.
Trunk Thickening Movements.
Now, that's pretty self-explanatory,
but let me get into it a little bit more.
Trunk-Thickening Movements are movements
which puts your body, or your trunk, under duress.
Meaning, heavy load and stress, and done over time,
produce a wall-thickening impact.
As in, your body gets thicker
front to back and side to side.
Now, that is important because, by thickening your trunk,
this is your relay system for power.
Everything from your hips to your chest,
that's your relay system for power.
Whether you're on a rowing machine or in the water
putting that directly to an oar, that's your power system.
If this is not strong it cannot handle, over time,
the number of strokes and the transfer of power
that you need to go fast.
So, we need to spend that time working on TTMs,
Trunk-Thickening Movements,
so that you can grow a thicker, stronger trunk
to relay more force.
Traditional philosophy in rowing has typically held
that the more volume you put in
the better you're going to get,
because of number one, aerobic base,
number two, practice of mechanics
so that you begin to gain better feel,
whether that's erg feel or boat feel.
Now, I'm not saying that that's wrong,
but traditionally, power and strength
are kind of ignored in rowing,
versus higher volume being the priority.
Now, I can say that volume has its benefits.
However, power and trunk strength
can have tremendous benefits
to your rowing performances as well.
So what are the benefits of putting TTMs into your training?
Well, it's a fewfold.
Number one, you are going to begin
developing muscular strength which,
while you can develop that through rowing,
what you can't develop is that
above-and-beyond-your-body-weight type of strength
without inducing some kind of higher duress level,
higher stress level onto your body.
And not to mention, the body really benefits
from strength training,
because it likes to have a variety of movements.
The body does not like to be so singular
that it performs a same action over and over.
So, if rowing is your primary thing, that's great.
However, adding strength training becomes a complement
to all of that aerobic work that you're doing,
giving you the ability to develop the strength
to perhaps keep your trunk more upright,
which is important in rowing.
Or, live a healthier life
where you're keeping that spine upright.
Or, you're able to pick up heavier loads
because you need to move mulch in your yard,
like I have in my driveway right now.
It has numerous benefits to strength training,
from both a cellular physiological level
on to your actual performance level.
So, spanning the spectrum,
it gives you good variety in your training
that's going to complement the rowing that you are doing.
So what are some actual
Trunk-Thickening Movements you can do?
Well, we have a variety.
The important thing to know is,
what's required for a trunk-thickening movement
is that you are picking up a heavy load.
It has to be heavier than what you are familiar with
to induce growth hormone naturally
so that your body begins to build muscle
and begins to develop a pattern of supporting heavy loads.
My preference, when I'm talking about
a trunk thickening movement,
is something that you are carrying in your front rack.
Meaning that it's somehow
in front of your face, not behind you.
So, less a back squat and more a front squat.
The reason being, if I put a load in my front rack,
I have to use all of my back muscles,
including my lats, my traps, my erectors.
All of the muscles that run up my spine and my back,
they have to resist and pull back
to keep that load in place,
and those guys are the ones that we want to get strong.
Meanwhile, your transverse abdominis and your obliques,
all the guys on the sides that kinda wrap around,
those all begin to get thicker and strengthen
as you're supporting that as well.
Because you're basically telling your body,
"Hey, we need to create a connection
"from our rib cage to our pelvis,
"and we need to develop more strength,
"because we're starting to do a lot
"that requires those two to work together."
Which is exactly what's happening in rowing.
When you're taking a rowing stroke, the hips are swinging.
So the legs drive, which is a resistive force
against your body as you have to brace against it,
and then the hips begin to swing and tilt.
And as this swing happens, all of this
needs to be able to distribute that force and that load,
so that you can still do the work you need to do,
driving power to machine.
So again, back to movements,
let's talk about what we can do.
Number one, classic front squat.
Either barbell, or sandbag, or kettlebell,
all three are great.
You can develop your own, you can do 'em with dumbbells,
with kettlebells, with the sandbag, with a barbell,
anything that's going to force you to squat,
moving of the legs, while forcing the midline to stabilize.
Another favorite of mine
is a Zercher hold, or squat, as well.
A Zercher is a pretty unique movement
that allows you to place a barbell
into the crook of your elbow, holding it tight to your body.
Now, why would I do a Zercher hold?
Well, because it forces
a lot lower trunk stability than upper.
It's actually, I've found, a little bit safer on my trunk.
If perhaps you have a back injury
and you're not as sure about loading
or putting weight higher up,
it brings that weight a little bit down
and almost just creates this deeper strength.
I often find that, when I've done Zercher squats,
I almost feel like my bronchial tubes gets sore,
like my lungs get sore from stabilizing against it.
But it's a good one.
Next would be dead lifts.
Again, of any kind.
Kettlebell, sandbag, dumbbell, barbell.
But again, the important thing
is that you are not just going light,
you are forcing yourself
to move a heavier load when you do it.
Another would be any kind of
a carry in the front-rack position.
Now, that's not carrying it down on your hips.
That's like bear hugging it against you.
We can do this a variety of ways.
You could do a double-kettlebell front-rack carry.
You could do a barbell front-rack carry.
You could do a Zurcher carry,
a sandbag carry, a dumbbell carry,
any way you wanna carry things.
Just carry heavy things and just go.
Just challenge yourself with going and moving that weight.
And inversely,
if you're in a cold environment
so you don't wanna take, understandably,
you don't wanna go for a walk outside,
'cause it's icy and negative 20 outside.
Could be in Minnesota.
If you don't wanna do that,
you can simply do in-place marches.
That would be any of the same things,
but you literally just march back and forth
standing in place, trying to simulate walking.
And finally, yes, you could use a back squat as well.
I'm a bigger fan of the front squat,
but a back squat often allows you
to place a heavier load onto a barbell than a front squat,
and so you can get some direct benefit
to a trunk thickening because you are able
to carry a heavier load,
and it creates definitely a different stimulus
than a front squat will.
So the important question is, how should you use these
if you want to implement them into your training?
Well, a few factors that are really critical
for you to be thinking about.
Number one, higher weight, lower reps.
Ideally, you're probably not going over maybe seven reps
if you're working on something
that requires reps like squatting.
Now, when it comes to carrying,
maybe, maybe 400 meters.
But even that's a little bit far.
we'd be talking, you should have something
that's hard to carry for 200 meters.
100 out, 100 back.
You want to challenge yourself to stay in a short duration,
but high-intensity moment
where you're really feeling challenged with that movement,
to create that benefit.
Next, you wanna be thinking,
maybe two to three days of week.
Obviously, it doesn't have to be this hour-long workout.
You can find ways of working it into your training.
It doesn't have to be the priority
or the end all be all,
but you should be creating two to thee moments a week
where you are taking on that challenge.
The other thing I would add is,
don't be afraid to repeat a movement.
There's no harm in front squatting two days a week.
That is totally doable.
We often live in this space now
where we're supposed to constantly create
and constantly do new things.
It doesn't have to be that way.
Just like rowing is quite repetitive,
your strength training can do that for a little bit as well.
So if you want to, for five weeks, work only front squats,
you can do that and then change it up
to one of the other Trunk-Thickening Movements.
The point is that, over a prolonged period of time,
you are practicing lifting,
and lifting and moving heavy loads,
creating duress and creating a totally different stimulus
than what you're used to with rowing.
I can tell you how great of an impact
this has had on my performance when it comes to rowing,
but you have to try it for yourself.
I bet, I would place a lot of money on,
if you have not been doing this before
but you have been rowing in some form, by adding in
these Trunk-Thickening Movements to your training,
you are going to see a massive benefit over time
as you begin to develop the ability to transfer more force,
transfer more power, feel more connected,
feel like you have more hip swing,
feel like you really have this strong strength connection.
And and and, I bet that you are going to start feeling
happier and healthier in your everyday life as well,
because you're going to start to be able to carry yourself
and you're gonna find that lifting loads in everyday life
is gonna get easier as well.
Adding TTMs to my training
has been a huge boon for my performance,
and I know it is gonna be for yours as well.
So make sure that you subscribe to our channel,
so that you get alerted whenever we come out with new videos
and you become a part of that PDP,
that Push Don't Pull army.
And check out this video where we talk about
how that new power that you're going to gain
can be transferred better to the machine.