- If you're sitting down on a rowing machine
for the first time this workout is designed 100% for you.
We're going to optimize the way that you fit on your machine
and then we're going to optimize your first strokes,
so that once you get out of this,
you're going to be confident, feel connected
and get more out of every workout
that you do on this machine going forward.
Rowing is a fantastic sport, it works the entire body,
it gives you fitness from both
a strength to an endurance spectrum,
it is just one of the most impactful workouts
that you can do for yourself.
Now with that being said it's critical,
just so critical that the first strokes you take are good
because they're going to determine
whether or not you take good strokes going forward
and develop good habits,
or whether or not you follow bad habits which is normal
because this is a learned movement,
you have to learn how to do it the first time,
and so that's what this workout is geared towards.
We're going to optimize your set up on the machine,
and then we're going to do a workout
that is going to get you confident with taking good strokes.
This your first time here welcome, I'm Shane Farmer,
this is Dark Horse Rowing where we help you build
the life that you wanna live,
we just happen to use rowing to do it.
We have three main points of contact
that you need to worry about whenever you set up
on any machine whether it's a Concept2 or any brand,
that is your feet, your seat and the handle,
those are the three points at which
you connect with the machine
and therefore each of those points needs
to be critically assessed.
Now point number one, your foot stretchers.
This is generally where we start,
you're going to adjust your foot stretchers
so that the strap runs across the widest part of your foot,
or the ball of your foot or you can think
your lowest shoelace whatever works for you,
whatever you prefer that's going to be your target point.
The reason being whenever we set our feet into the machine
it changes the angle of our approach into the stroke.
If the feet are too high it's going to impinge the hip
and it's going to make it tough to get into good position.
If it's too low when you go to apply force
you're going to be driving more up
which is going to tend to cause you to jump out of the seat
and is gonna make a more uncomfortable stroke for you.
So finding that perfect point where
at that 45 degree platform you can produce force going
both that way and that way in the optimal spectrum
that's why we adjust our foot stretchers the way we do.
Second you're going to sit towards the front of your seat,
you don't wanna be falling off,
you don't want the seat to be constantly feeling
like you're teetering on the edge of the seat,
but you don't wanna be sitting at the back of the seat
because when you straighten your legs every stroke
that front edge of the seat is gonna dig
into your hamstrings
and that's just going to get uncomfortable over time
as you get better and you can increase
your distances on the machine.
Finally our handle this one is critical,
so many people are unsure where to put their hands,
so let's just knock it out right away.
You want your hands wide on the handle
not choking up, right?
You don't want the hands close to the center,
the reason being that that natural draw through pattern
comes when that hand is straight out
in front of the shoulder not in tight
and my hands are into tight when I pull the handle into
my body it creates this internal rotation of the shoulder,
it's not a strong position.
When I set the hands wide on the handle,
I can draw cleanly through as if I were doing a pull-up
and that creates a really nice smooth strong position
to draw through it creates strength,
it works my back muscles so that I can get stronger
and it helps develop better posture as well because
I'm not internally rotated, I can externally rotate
don't worry about internal extra rotation,
but it sits me up more so that I draw through
squeezing my shoulder blades together
instead of shoulders forward in this T-rex position.
(T-rex roars)
Nobody's a fan of that.
So handle set wide then you're going to
I call it closing the circuit just touch the tips
of your thumb and your forefinger together,
and then keep that grip loose.
If the handle is sitting in the palm of your hand
you're grabbing too tight and you're gonna be wasting energy
because the rowing stroke is primarily legs
maybe that's a new discovery to you if so I hope it is,
but you're gonna be doing a lot of pushing with your legs.
If you're gripping and death gripping this handle
and pulling with your arms,
then you're wasting a lot of energy not producing outcome
on the machine and not producing a great workout,
instead if you can use your legs
the largest muscle drivers your body has
you're going to be getting a ton out of every workout
because you'll be able to use a lot more muscle,
push your entire body and get a much greater workout.
So as we like to say here at Dark Horse, push don't pull.
You wanna be thinking about pushing the stroke
as opposed to pulling the stroke,
there's a big difference in the way we impact the machine.
So the workout we're going to do today
is 10 minutes long that's it.
I want you to follow me for the entirety of the 10 minutes
because we're going to move through segments of the stroke
and build your confidence in the way that you move,
so that by the time you're done you feel great,
you feel like you're moving well
and you have a greater understanding
of how this thing is gonna give you the massive benefits
that everybody says it's going to.
So with that being said
we're gonna set 10 minutes on our monitor
to help us count down so that we can stay in touch with
how long we're doing it,
making sure that the drills are executed properly, okay?
So to do that on this monitor
I'm gonna walk you through the setup.
From the Main Menu you will go to
Select Workout that's the B button,
you'll then go to New Workout that's the D button,
you'll go to single time that's the B button,
and then 10 minutes.
What you see right now is 30 minutes flashing on the screen
hit the minus button twice that's C one two,
and then you hit the checkmark that's E,
and that's gonna set 10 minutes on the screen, okay?
With that being said let's get into this workout.
The things that we always talk about before the workout
starts number one, make sure that you are warmed up
and that you have stretched on,
everything that you need to do to be ready,
try not to go into this cold,
I've already warmed up I feel good
so I want you to do that ahead of time.
If you would like have some water next to you as well
so you don't have to get off the machine to go get water,
and then I always encourage you to have two video setups.
Number one your phone hopefully set up
so that it's tracking the data on your machine
so that you can always just be keeping track
of your performance,
and the second monitor with this video on it,
so that you can be watching and listening as we go through.
All right, let's get this workout started,
go ahead and grab that handle remember hands wide,
grip relaxed, we're gonna go heels down,
hips behind the shoulders,
and I'm gonna have you take just one stroke
and meet me at the back side and park it there.
Good, now from here we're just going to start rowing
with our arms only, follow me don't get ahead,
don't go faster, don't go slower.
We're using just our arms right now,
this is warming us up one body part at a time
into the good mechanics.
Things to pay attention to,
the handle moves straight in straight out,
no up or down movement of the handle.
You'll notice also there's no stopping of the handle
at either the front or the back,
we're creating a continuous rhythm.
My body and my legs are locked in place,
they're not moving, they're not budging
when I row with arms only.
Keep going and match up with me.
In 15 seconds we're going to add in the hip swing
which is going to change things a little bit
and you'll see how here in a second,
keep rowing arms only with.
And let's add in the hips on this one.
So now I start to work on the sequence of the stroke
which is that the arms push away,
the hips close, the hips open, the arms pull in, okay?
That may have sounded fast,
try to just feel it with me here.
Arms push away independently then the hips close,
then the hips open then the arms pull in.
It should feel mechanical right now, if it feels smooth
there's a good chance something is going wrong,
so if this is your first time
try to make this feel mechanical segments each face
which is arms away then close the hips,
then open the hips then pull in with the arms.
I'm not trying to hit myself with the handle,
I'm trying to be smooth in 10 seconds,
we're gonna add in the legs just a little bit,
we call this half slide, half slide because
I'm only gonna compress my legs half the amount.
Here we go.
Arms away, body closes, knees bend a little
and then I push with the legs.
Push with the legs.
Notice I'm not getting fully compressed that's intentional.
Arms away, body close, bend the knees push.
Arms, hips, knees, push,
arms, hips, knees, push.
Settle in with me here, I'm slowing it down,
you should be moving at the same speed that I am
so that we can do this together.
The slower you can relax or the slower you can move
as you glide forward the better,
it gives your body time to process
and think about being in the right position.
In 10 seconds we're just gonna start moving
a little bit deeper into the catch position,
or the loaded position with our legs.
Three, two, one, here we go.
Just a little bit a bit deeper now,
still not fully compress just a little bit.
We call this three quarters slide because as you guessed it
you slide up three quarters of the way.
Notice how slow and relaxed this is,
I'm not at a rush to go anywhere,
what I'm in a rush to do is learn good mechanics
like you should be too.
Okay, in five seconds we're gonna go fully compressed
into the catch that's three, two, one, here we go.
Not worrying about how hard you're working right now,
worrying about how well you're working,
follow the sequence of the body
arms away, hips close, knees bend
and I'm trying to keep those heels down right now.
You'll notice mine lift a little bit
that's a detail that you can add a little bit down the road,
but right now I want you to focus on keeping heels down,
body sets at one o'clock,
my body being my trunk swings to one and it stays locked in
then I use the legs to push me away.
Find yourself in every position with intention.
We're not in a rush we're relaxing.
Okay, in five seconds we're gonna go back
to the three quarter slices shortening the legs a little bit
here we go.
Breath in with me.
You should be working easy enough
that you don't feel like you have to quit,
I want you to make it through this whole 10 minutes with me.
So we're still at that three quarter catch,
make sure you're not beginning to over compress right now,
sometimes the body wants to sneak back
into a really long stroke.
Your goal is to be diligent,
know what the body wants to do and instead give yourself
or give your body what it needs to do
which is good mechanics so that you can be more effective
in the future, you can stay healthy, you stay safe
and get better workouts.
Can make everybody else jealous at the gym
when they watch you,
they'll be like that person really knows what they're doing,
I wanna learn from them.
Okay, in three seconds we're going to half slide,
here we go half slide shortening the legs again.
Remember just a little flash in the legs, take your time
arms, body, knees,
arms, body, knees and then it's a push of the legs.
Notice how long the legs stay down,
I press them to extension, I lock them out
and then they stay there they don't bounce out of extension,
they don't bounce out of being straight,
I straighten them and I leave them straight,
as my body and my arms have time to move forward.
Make sure you're breathing,
10 seconds and we're gonna take the legs
out of the equation again,
in five, three, two, one, last stroke with the legs
and then arms and hips only.
Focusing on the sequence again,
you should be feeling warm right now,
but hopefully you've kept with me,
meaning you've matched my stroke rate the whole time
and it's starting to make sense.
You find yourself relaxing a little bit,
you're finding the rhythm now,
really work on getting those hips over the trunk
closing, swinging from 11 to one.
In 15 seconds we're gonna drop the body swing
or the trunk or the mid line or whatever you wanna call it,
this and we're gonna go to arms only
for one more minute.
Your back might be feeling it right now
and last stroke here let's go to arms only.
Again keep that body in place,
keep your torso where it is, keep the legs locked out,
I want you to now feel your feet pressing
into the foot stretchers,
feel the whole foot touching not just the toes,
feel the heels connected as well.
Straight in straight out with the arms.
Going into our final minute
we're gonna take full strokes again,
allowing you to feel the good mechanics
that you just practiced for the last nine minutes.
15 seconds until we shift,
and five, three, two, one, shift.
I'm gonna shut up here
and I want you to just look and feel.
15 seconds.
Nice.
What did you learn there?
Get it in the comments below I wanna know.
Hopefully this is gonna set you up,
I would ideally have you do this three or four times
before you ever start hitting workouts.
If you wanna hit a workout after this
perhaps you do 10 minutes as your warmup
and then you go into a workout that's great
because you're gonna take the thought processing
of mechanics and good movement and staying healthy
and getting more out of the workout into the workout,
and that's the goal make you more effective,
make you a monster on this machine
so that you can have fun with it,
and that you don't feel like it's escaping you
which is the feeling that so many people get,
Dark Horse's don't have that they focus on the mechanics
and you guys are confident and you're able to set that path
and set the intention of moving well.
If this is your first time on the machine
and this is the video that you chose,
seriously congratulations it's a really important thing
that you take your movement seriously
and make it work for you.
And if that's you make sure you hit
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