♪ But I feel alive with you ♪
♪ Take it easy on my heart otherwise I fall apart ♪
♪ Alive with you ♪
- So you're ready to try the rowing machine.
You can picture where it is in your gym.
You know exactly where it sits on the perimeter
where nobody else wants to try it
'cause they just don't wanna look weird
and you're like I am gonna tackle this,
I've heard it's great for me, where do I start?
I got you covered.
First off, welcome to Dark Horse,
where you are the hero of your own story
and we are the guide that helps you to get
to where you would like to go.
Now, with that being said, this is actually kinda fun.
For those of you that are wondering why I'm wearing
what looks like a very tight tank top,
well we actually had a comment from somebody
a few videos back, maybe a couple weeks ago,
that said, "Shane are you just so lazy
"that you never take your drying laundry off of the rack?
"I'm tired of seeing that one
"tank top always sitting there."
Well, it's not laundry
and I decided it was time to wear the tank top.
And why might you ask do I have
a rack full of tank tops here?
Well that's a great question
and the quick answer is they're trophies.
Because in the sport of rowing you basically bet jerseys
and so when you win a race you get to,
you basically take the jersey from the guy that you beat
and so for rowers having a bunch of jerseys,
it's like a bunch of trophies.
It's that every time you've won a race you get to keep
a jersey and this one happens to be my team's jersey
which is why I always have it in front.
So no, I'm not always just doing laundry
and just happen to hang all my tank tops
here in the back corner.
Those are my rowing jerseys.
There are more of them behind it as well.
Not as many as many athletes have
but I'm proud of all the ones I have
and it's fun for me to be able to display.
So that is why I'm wearing this tank top today.
All right, so understandably the rowing machine
usually has its place reserved on the edge of the gym
where a lot of people don't use it
because they're often afraid to sit on the machine
and get captured in one of those gym fail videos
not knowing how to use the machine properly.
And you through watching this video
are gonna avoid that fate.
We are going to teach you the absolute basics.
How do we get on this machine?
How do we get comfortable?
How do we get our start?
So that you can avoid a lot of the common first mistakes
that people make when they're on this machine,
so that you can get a strong foundational start to this
and that you can get better workouts
and not end up in one of those gym fail videos.
There are some really important
foundational steps that you need to take
getting on to this machine for the first time.
They're not complicated, they are simply set ups
that are going to make all the difference
for you as you get started.
So let's just get in to those right now.
Point number one that you need to focus on
is actually your first connection point
to the machine and that is your feet,
where your feet connect to the machine.
There are three things that we need to focus on
when it comes to the feet.
Number one, making sure the machine
is adjusted properly for your feet.
Our general rule of thumb is that the straps
should be running across the widest part of your foot
or the ball of your foot.
So you wanna adjust the foot stretchers as they're called,
up or down so that that strap is running across
the widest part or the ball of your foot.
That's thing one when it comes to the feet
that you need to understand.
Number two is how you actually push
or use your feet when it's time to do work on the machine.
The best way to explain this is that
it's not the ball of the foot,
it's not the heel of the foot, it's the entire foot.
Use your whole foot to be pushing through the machine
when you need to deliver power because that whole connection
point is gonna be really important because by putting
the whole foot down it accesses
both posterior and anterior chain.
Meaning your quads and your hamstrings and your glutes
and your back and your trunk,
use the whole leg to push through.
And the final piece is mobility.
This can come from hip mobility, ankle mobility,
knee mobility, all of those things come in to play.
Ankle mobility is often blamed as one of the reasons
that people struggle to get deep into the stroke.
More often than not though, it's usually just mechanics,
we haven't trained the right mechanics
to get comfortable into the position.
So don't fret too hard but do spend some time
working on ankle mobility to allow you greater access
for foot position and for better overall
body positioning on the machine.
Number two thing that you need to be focusing on
and we've covered this at length in videos before,
is the catch position.
Now that's the front end of the stroke,
right as you're about to take the stroke,
that position is really important
and critical to making sure that you are in
the right place at the right time to be able to
apply as much force as you can through the stroke.
So don't shy away from spending a healthy amount of time
learning that catch position.
I'll go ahead and link to some of the videos
around somewhere here so that you can find that
where we talk about it in great length.
But the fastest way that I can explain it
is you're creating a rigid chain from your hand
all the way down your arm, your shoulder down your trunk
to your hips, through your legs,
connecting to the foot stretchers.
That then transfers up your whole body
into the handle which is why it's really important
that you get in a strong catch position
is because it sets you up for success
as you take the stroke.
If the saying goes, or as we like to say,
if you miss the catch, you've missed the stroke entirely
and on the next stroke,
that's your opportunity to correct course.
So getting that catch right is the first thing
that you need to start isolating.
Number three, the drive.
The drive is where you like actually do the thing,
the whole thing that makes this all work
when you actually get work done, why rowing is such
a fantastic exercise is because of the drive.
The drive is the only moment in time
where you can actually do work
on the machine or to the machine.
So executing a proper drive is really critical.
Now the saying goes, legs, body, arms,
arms, body, legs, that's recovery, we'll get to that later.
But the drive is actually quite complex
and with that being said,
a proper catch allows you to get a strong drive.
Now the drive can be developed in many different ways.
Needless to say, the first, foremost,
and biggest hairy beast you need to tackle,
take that catch and then use the legs
to be your primary driver.
From there you're going to then swing the hips open
and finally you'll snap the arms in to the body at the end.
But it is first and foremost a big push of the legs.
That's where all your power comes from.
You ever notice how much thicker
your legs are than your arms?
And if there's a disparity there, if your arms are thicker
than your legs, we need to talk.
Let me help you get on a strength program.
I promise we'll get your legs bigger.
But with that being said, notice how much larger
your legs are, bigger muscles, more force production,
use them to your advantage.
Don't get stuck in to this pulling through the arms.
That's not how the rowing stroke works.
It's all about that push through the legs.
Then you're gonna allow the hips to swing open,
finally you'll snap the arms into the body.
That is what summarizes the drive.
Again, tons of drills.
I can take you deep and deep and deep into our videos
and I encourage you to go check out more of them
because in numerous videos, especially our follow along
workouts we throw drills at you to help you
develop that very strength.
Number four, recovery is your friend.
Now recovery in this instance, when we're speaking about
the rowing stroke, is the movement after we have finished
that drive and we're moving back to the catch position.
That's called the recovery and guess why it's called that.
Give you a second.
You can Wikipedia it if you want.
But the recovery is called the recovery because we recover.
It's like, that one, you know.
We didn't get fancy with the name.
But really, in that position, it's about collecting
yourself to get in to the right position
so that when you arrive at the catch, you're ready to go
and take the next stroke.
The other piece of it is that because you can't do
any work to the machine as you're gliding forward,
as you're gliding forward, you can't do any work,
therefore you are going to actually minimize
the amount of effort that you're putting in to it.
Instead, you're gonna put your effort into collecting
your body to be in the right positions
and so we take our time through the recovery.
It should take more time than the drive does.
The drive should be quick and snappy.
The recovery should be long, relaxed,
and about position, not about energy expenditure.
So learn to get the recovery right
through pacing, relaxing, and organizing your body.
You'll be much happier for it.
And finally, and this may come off as controversial,
especially with a lot of people viewing
the rowing machine as just a thing to make you sweat
or a thing to make you breath heavy,
you should spend the first two months
using 80% of your time to focus on mechanics.
20% of the time you can use for volume,
intensity, whatever you want.
But the first 80% of that two months, or not the first 80%,
but 80% of your time in the first two months
should be all about perfecting mechanics.
Why?
Because rowing is a learned movement.
It's not a natural movement.
You don't just sit on the machine and magically understand
because it's a sequence.
There's a leg drive, then a hip swing, then an arm pull,
then you push with the arms,
then close the hips, then move the legs.
The whole thing flows together but it has to be taught
or practiced by you so that you can get comfortable
with the movement and that rhythm is what makes rowing
efficient over time is once you learn how to move well.
So I highly encourage you, spend a ton of time on mechanics.
Don't just jump in to volume
and intensity because by doing that
you're surpassing that great learning time
when you're new, you haven't developed bad habits yet,
you get this great chance to learn
from scratch instead of trying to undo work
that you've already done, right?
If I spend the next six months just putting in
volume and intensity, well guess what?
I now have to unlearn some of the habits that I inherently
put in because I didn't know the difference.
Spend 80% of your time on mechanics,
you won't have that problem.
And listen, I know that this can be daunting.
A lot of things are when they're brand new.
But I promise you, just spend some time getting through
some of our videos that are gonna just help you learn
and understand the basics of the movement.
You don't have to make a deep dive.
This doesn't have to become the thing that you do.
But by learning this, it makes the experience
on the machine so much better because you're not gonna
ever have those moments where you feel like
it's just an energy suck or you abandon it
because it just doesn't click for you.
I want it to click for you and that's why I'm hoping
you'll take these basic guiding principles
and put them in to play because by doing so,
you're gonna have a much better experience
and things are gonna go way better for you.
So as always, thank you for tuning in.
If you enjoyed this video and you find yourself
like yeah, you know what, I think I could get into that
and you honestly took to heart that message
at the beginning that you can be the hero
of your own story and that we can just be a guide
that helps you to get where you wanna go,
it's a bigger picture.
Being a dark horse means so much more
than a literal black horse.
It is about being an underdog.
It's about doing the thing for yourself
that you know you can do and maybe there's nobody else
in your corner, that's why we exist.
To be there in your corner for you
and the rest of the Dark Horse community,
they're in your corner too and that's why
this amazing community, all of us that hang out here
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on our YouTube channel, it's all about creating
a community of dark horses who know what it means
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Hit that subscribe button and the little bell next to it
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So with that being said, I end every video
by telling you all I love you
and I mean it from the bottom of my heart.
And please, please, go spread the love.
Give that love to everyone else out there in the world.
We need so much more of it right now
and the more that you can give,
the more you're gonna get back, I promise it.
Come back guys, I love you all and as always,
I'll see ya on the other side.
♪ Got no limits ♪
♪ I like that you're free ♪
♪ I wanna be that way with you ♪
♪ Chasing highs to take the weight outta me ♪
♪ Far from lows ♪
♪ I don't ever feel blue ♪
♪ 'Cause all of my emotions flow ♪
♪ In a way that I just can't control ♪
♪ 'Cause I'm new to this ♪
♪ I don't know ♪
♪ How to act ♪
♪ But I feel alive with you ♪
♪ Take it easy on my heart otherwise I fall apart ♪
♪ Alive with you ♪
♪ Take it easy on my heart otherwise I fall apart ♪
♪ Alive ♪