- It is extremely important that you never,
never forget this one body part when you are on the rower,
and that is your feet.
Technically, I guess that's two body parts.
I'm Shane Farmer.
This is Dark Horse Rowing,
and today, we're gonna learn
about how your feet are the access point
to unlocking new power in your stroke.
(upbeat music)
Your feet play a surprisingly important role
in the stroke for a number of different reasons,
and today, I wanna make sure that we get to that quickly
so that you can get using your feet more effectively
on the machine.
So quickly, what do the feet do for you?
Well, A, they're your attachment point,
but so much more important than that,
they dictate your approach angle,
your catch angle, your drive angle.
How you are actually pushing
through them is a big determinant
of what kind of force you're gonna be able to drive
and what muscles you can recruit,
and they can also be a linchpin if you're in a workout
that has multiple rounds or you need to get on
and off the machine.
So let's tackle all of those and make sure
that you're doing it right.
These are five simple steps that you can do to fix your feet
on the machine and make sure you're using 'em right.
First and foremost, how do you adjust these things,
and what is right
'cause that's a critical first step,
number one, making sure that when you're connected
to the machine it, you're connected properly.
Well, that part's easy.
You're going to set these guys
so you can move them up or down,
and this goes for any machine,
so that the strap runs across the widest part of your foot.
You can think like bottom shoelace is a good target,
but just that wide, meaty part of your foot,
that's where you want the strap to run.
For me, that's a four on a Concept 2.
I make sure they're adjusted.
Then when I tie in,
I make sure those straps are nice and tight and snug.
That is step number one.
Make sure you tackle that before you go
and do anything else.
Number two is don't lift your heels.
Now, let me take a step back from that and explain why.
The majority of errors that you find in somebody
who's getting on this machine for the first time
or as they're learning stem from not being
in control at the catch position.
When you lift the heel,
if I'm in the machine, and I lift my heel,
it causes a host of problems,
like my seat to scoot closer to my butt,
or it forces me to open early when I'm driving.
It causes all of these problems,
and therefore, what we've learned is
that if you can keep your heels down
when you're learning the movement,
you will learn how to press through your whole foot,
and it will also help you learn
what your right catch position is.
Once you've learned that and that's locked in
like solid steel,
now you can add in a little bit
of heel flash because you're doing it with intention,
not as a byproduct of not knowing positions.
So don't lift those heels when you're learning.
As you're getting into this, keep that heel down,
and with that heel down,
try to get as much compression as possible.
If you need to get deeper,
don't do it by lifting the heels or splaying the knees out
or rounding the back.
You simply do it by trying to compress with good position.
Number three is the push.
We put push on everything.
Push, don't pull.
It's on our T-shirts, but what does that really mean?
Well, there are a couple things that you need to know
when it comes to pushing the machine away.
First off, the application
of pressure through your feet is a roll-on of pressure.
Now what do I mean by that?
Well, as you're taking your stroke,
if you allow those heels to lift a little bit
and even if you don't,
you wanna initiate that press of the foot from the ball
of the foot, rolling to midfoot,
and then pressing through the entire foot,
and that's what I mean by roll-on.
You're almost like rolling your foot down
and into the pressure.
Now, that is how you initiate.
You initiate through the ball of the foot, roll to midfoot,
then press the remainder through the entire foot,
always making sure that at the backside,
the release position or the end of the drive,
you need full contact with your feet because
without driving through the heels,
your posterior chain can't engage,
and generally, if that's happening,
you're ending up with this kind of a stroke,
where the heels never touch,
and you're never using the entire leg to drive force.
So that is the roll on that I'm talking about.
Now, the next piece on the push is that there is a need
for both a vertical and a horizontal push.
Imagine that this is at 45 degrees.
It's actually closer to 42,
but when I go to drive,
if I'm connecting through the whole foot,
it's almost as if the foot stretcher is trying
to push me that way,
not that way.
What that means is that I should have an element
of vertical drive and horizontal,
and that's going to make the difference
in allowing me to engage my whole leg so that if I brace
and I pushed through the foot properly,
that that connection point creates
the accurate results I'm looking for on the drive.
Next is the quick release,
and why does that even matter?
How is that even a part of the rowing discussion?
Well, because this is a fitness tool.
It's used for the purposes of workouts
in CrossFit gyms, at Orangetheory, at F45,
and for rowing teams around the world.
Now, if there's ever a workout
in which you need to transition
from this machine to something else
and be able to come back and not waste time in transition,
then the quick release is the answer,
and especially in workouts,
you find that people waste a ton
of time just getting in and out of the machine,
and it's a very simple fix.
Here's what you're going to do.
Number one, you're gonna take your hands, put 'em up.
Hands up.
Next, you're gonna grab the foot stretcher.
You're gonna place your thumb on the buckle,
and you're going to press the buckle out.
Now, this is where most people stop,
and then they try to sneak out,
and then one foot inevitably gets stuck,
and when I go to get back in,
there's not much space for me to get into the machine.
So instead, what you're going to do is,
grabbing the foot stretcher, thumb on the buckle,
press the buckle out.
Here, you're gonna essentially anchor that buckle in place,
and you will extend your legs, pulling your toes
to your face like you're doing a toe touch,
and what that does is it loosens the straps a ton,
and then you go toes up, heels out.
That's the quick release.
Now when I come back to the machine ready for my next round,
I can go feet in, no problem, grab my straps,
tighten 'em down, and I'm away on my next piece.
That quick release, however silly it may seem,
if you practice that and get that down pat,
you will never get out of the machine another way again,
and you've saved yourself a ton of time with just your feet,
(truck whirring and beeping)
(seat rubbing)
(machine whirring)
and number five is feel.
Now why is feel so important?
Well, A, you have a lot of tactile feedback
that comes from your feet,
and you may not be aware of that,
but if you start spending time without your shoes on,
you'll start to find
that your feet develop this incredible feel
for what's underneath you,
but more importantly, the feet,
when it comes to this machine,
are so responsible for the way that we are learning
because we are applying pressure in different ways,
and as we're learning this process,
if you don't know what your feet are doing,
you're not gonna be able to know what the rest
of your body is doing,
and so by gaining a feel, by spending time listening
to your feet, and that may sound super hippie,
but that's the truth,
the more time you can listen to your feet
on this machine and know whether or not you're
on your toes and know whether
or not you're placing your heels to push,
it will have a profound impact on the way
that you are approaching the stroke
and how that stroke reacts to the different ways
in which your feet are applying force to the machine
or helping you apply force to the machine.
So get working on your feet.
What are you waiting for?
This is like the easiest fix you can make.
Just give some attention to this area
that you've probably never thought about
because you were looking at the whole big picture,
and if we can give you this one small win, take it.
I think you're gonna find it has big ramifications
in the way that you're moving on this machine,
and you're gonna enjoy that workout a lot more.
So as always, guys, thanks so much for hanging out.
I really appreciate it.
If you love this, make sure that you subscribe
and hit that little bell next to it
so you get alerted when we come out with new videos,
but other than that, thanks for hanging out.
I love you all.
I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you for tuning in, and as always,
we'll see you on the other side.
Later.
(upbeat music)
Hey, thanks for watching the video.
If you enjoyed this, and you're looking for more,
and you want workouts,
continuous coaching from me and my other coaches
in our private Facebook community,
it's our monthly workout program.
It's $39 a month.
Just go over to darkhorserowing.com/athlete to sign up now.
(upbeat music)
(truck whirring and beeping)
They are staging 75 feet from me right now,
(truck whirring and beeping)
and they never shut these things...
There are like four tractors,
and they just, if one's not going, there's another.
They don't take a rest.
(truck whirring and beeping)
(sighing)