Alex Wolf - Strength and Conditioning for Rowing

STRENGTH

AND

CONDITIONING

FOR

ROWING

STRENGTH

AND

CONDITIONING

FOR

ROWING

ALEX WOLF

First published in 2020 by
The Crowood Press Ltd
Ramsbury, Marlborough
Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2020

Alex Wolf 2020

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 742 2

Dedication
To Beatrix and Evalyn, my gorgeous girls.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

When agreeing to write this book, I didnt quite know what I was letting myself in for. I wanted to share the expertise of some truly great strength and conditioning (S&C) coaches who have been gracious enough to contribute to this book. Many thanks to Jack Birch, Nicole Chase, Chris McLeod and Tom Rusga for your contributions. Several chapters have been shaped by the numerous conversations with Frances Houghton who always reminded me of the importance of conveying the message that we are all human, coach and athlete alike. A big thank you to Paul Thompson for graciously sharing over thirty years of rowing experience and wisdom to add greater depth and understanding of what is most important when working within a collaborative team. Thank you to Karen Bennett, Olivia Carnegie-Brown and Mel Wilson from the 2016 Olympic silver-medal winning British Womens 8 who generously shared their personal insights around the athlete perspective and eloquently articulated the wider impact of S&C coaches beyond that of the weight room.

When I started to build the content of this book, I felt there was something missing, without which I couldnt tell the full story of being an S&C coach. Thank you to both Chris McLeod and Stuart Pickering for being critical friends and helping to shape this book to be closer to the intended narrative. Thank you, Stuart, for sharing your research to help convey the important messages around being an S&C coach.

Several training programmes are included with permission from Chris Boddy. Thank you for sharing your work; it has been great fun coaching you. Thank you also to all those who agreed to appear in the book as models: Max Honigsbaum, Matt Thompson, James Cheeseman and Lu Shi Yu. Finally thank you to Nick Middleton from Nick Middleton Photography, who provided the beautiful rowing images throughout the book. I am grateful to you all.

Disclaimer

Please note that the author and publisher of this book do not accept any responsibility whatsoever for any error or omission, nor any loss, injury, damage, adverse outcome or liability suffered as a result of the use of the information contained in this book, or reliance upon it. Since some of the training exercises and methodologies can be dangerous and could involve physical activities that are too strenuous for some individuals to engage in safely, it is essential that qualified medical advice and consultation is taken before training is started.

FOREWORD

By Frances Houghton MBE
5 x Olympian, 4 x World Champion, 3 x Olympic silver medallist.

When I stood in front of Alex I knew he saw a person, not a potential line on his CV. I knew he understood that for me to reach the Olympic podium the time I spent in the gym presented multiple opportunities to improve, and was about so much more than how much I could lift.

I remember one day between sets, he started talking to me about normal stuff he asked what I enjoyed doing outside of sport. What made me laugh? We compared notes on our favourite box sets.

Becoming Olympic Champion in rowing, getting fitter, stronger and more skilful every day had been the focus of my life since the age of sixteen. In a day that was one like every other training food training food gym food sleep he brought connection to the outside world. That day it felt like he reactivated my personality; he reminded me that I was a person outside of rowing. Over time he taught me that the whole of me mattered and the more of myself I brought to my sport whether it was a Tuesday afternoon in the gym, or the Olympic start line the more powerful, and fulfilling, my performances would become.

Consistency

During the time I worked with Alex from 200916, the gym felt like a safe place, no matter what form I was in. The S&C coaches treated me the same every day through some of my worst and best years in sport whether I had just won a world medal, or had underperformed in a major trial, or I was in my third month out crab-walking my way through another injury. It wasnt where I was judged; it was where I could always move forward no matter where I was at today.

Standard

Behind all of this were layers of understanding and clarity reflecting on what it really took to be a good S&C coach.

During his time in rowing Alex instilled a standard of consistency, clarity, alignment to the end goal, professionalism, individualization within a complex programme, and acceptance of the challenge of navigating strong personalities that made the rowing S&C programme a gold-medal benchmark of effective contribution. He reformed the impact it was possible to have.

In this book Alex shares those layers both the technical and the human. He writes: Credibility cannot be fast tracked, hes right, and as athletes we often feel like we are putting our one chance dreams in someone elses hands. Our standards are uncompromisingly high.

But Alex raised the bar.

In the End

In the years since I retired, Alex and I have continued to reflect on what played the biggest part in taking me from glimpses of world-class form, but seemingly endless years of injury and underperformance, to standing on the Olympian podium one last time.

He helped me realize that I started out thinking that elite sport was all about winning gold at all costs, and focusing on making myself the best athlete I could be to make that happen, but that for me, my most powerful performances were about far more than my technical and physical ability.

It was really about the connection I had with my teammates, coaches and support staff, and what we could create together working together to produce something more than any of us could do alone and being able to share that moment with those people that really knew what it had taken. Not just my teammates, but the physios, coaches, doctors, physiologists, and S&C coaches who had been there day in day out, through the highs and the lows the PBs and the crumples to the floor. Sharing that journey and celebrating what we had created together was what the ultimate experience in sport was for me. It was, and continues to be, about far more than the medal.