The Humble Yoga Mat

The humble yoga mat is the unsung hero of yoga. Here are some tips about how to care for your mat, and yourself :)

When I did my first yoga class, I didn't have a mat of my own, so I borrowed a spare one from the teacher. It had been borrowed by countless newbies before me... It smelt like feet, had grubby marks all over, and it was not very pleasant to touch.

Yoga mats are not expensive. A normal one is about £10. I would suggest buying a couple: one for at home use, and the other can be kept in your car for classes and yoga emergencies.

I tend to do yoga after my shower when I'm nice and warm. I always moisturise after a shower. I do it on autopilot. But the problem is, it makes my hands all slippery... Not great for yoga! So, try not to moisturise your hands before a yoga session.

Keeping your yoga mat clean is easy and important. I just use fairy liquid (washing up liquid) and give the mat a good rub down in the shower / bath and rinse it off. If you don't have anywhere to hang it up to dry, you could lay it on a towel, or give it a wipe down with a towel. Simples.

If you have hard floors at home, you can make your yoga experience more comfortable by laying the mat onto a rug, rather than straight onto the hard floor.

This blog post won't win any awards, but I hope you find it helpful (in a really mundane way).

Yogi with a mat :)

Feeling That Connection

Erging was always a necessary evil for me. I saw it as a way to keep fit as opposed to a useful tool for rowing. The saying 'Ergs don't float', was used a lot at my old club as a reason for not taking erg scores too seriously. Performance on the water is ultimately more important. It's easier to get a good erg score because you don't have to worry about balance or water / weather conditions.

Being on the water feels natural and comfortable to me, so getting my rating up on the water was never a problem. Feeling the connection between my oars and the water, and feeling the consequences of my actions makes it easier for me to correct and adapt my technique. On the ergs, however, I struggled to make the mental and physical connection between my actions and the numbers on the screen. I couldn't quite work out how erging was supposed to feel.

Like a Fish Out of Water

I didn't know what the connection was supposed to feel like. I wasn't quite sure what it meant to squeeze with my glutes, as I thought I was doing enough by pushing down with my legs. I didn't have a discerning eye when looking at other people's technique. I felt like a fish out of water on an erg!

Thanks to some great erg coaching from John Gill, and the support of a couple of the experienced ladies during our squad erg sessions, things are finally clicking into place. My sequencing is improving and I now know what the connection feels like, and my glutes just keep on firing! Even a relaxed session on the ergs now is more powerful than what used to be a hard session for me!

Milestones

I did a session on the erg this afternoon, and my times are better than they ever have been, and that was just during the warm-up! Rowing is a journey that I came to quite late in life, and it has taken a lot of perseverance to get this far, but it has totally been worth it! I'm still a novice and this will be my second regatta season, so who knows what will happen!

Gold star!

Looks can be deceiving...

It was an absolutely beautiful and summery weekend on dry land, but the River Thames had other ideas!

Because an odd number of people turned up for the ladies squad outing on Saturday morning, the coaches decided to put together a IV, three doubles, and a single scull. I am the only person in the squad who actually enjoys single sculling, so when they said that I would be in the single, I was so happy!

I pretty much shot up the river right away to do my warm up, whilst the others sorted their boats out. The sun was shining, the river was calm, and although I was rowing against the stream, it felt easier than usual, which was great. When I got up to the weir to turn around, I took off a couple of layers because it was such a warm day.

You can't step into the same river twice

Normally the journey downstream is the fastest, because you're carried by the current to a certain extent. On Saturday, however, the river seemed to have had a personality change. The usually helpful and accommodating downstream journey was tough! The currents were so strong that it felt as though I was hardly moving! I had to push down with my legs as hard as I could with every single stroke! The waves were lapping over my boat from every direction! It was bizarre to say the least! My warm up was definitely complete by the time I got back to the water near the boat club! I turned my boat around again to do the second loop of the river.

On the way back upstream, we had to do a continuous 16 minute piece, which meant that we had to do 2K at race pace, turn at the weir, and shoot right back downstream again without taking a break. The conditions going upstream were as lovely as they had been when I did them the first time that morning, so I assumed that the freak conditions on the other side of the river had been just that - freak conditions. So I happily raced up to the weir, turned and raced back downstream. But again, on the downstream journey, I was moving, but the boat wasn't. It was a battle to get that single scull to shift against the horrible currents and the wind and the waves. It was like rowing on two different rivers going each way!

Sea-legs

As I was powering along, I passed some quads, IV's and doubles, and they were not moving much either. They didn't catch up with me or overtake me, which is very unusual! So I realised that the conditions that day were affecting everyone.

My legs and glutes were struggling! I did one more loop, and I could feel the lumps of tension forming in my glutes as I crunched over them! It was a real test of endurance and willpower! I gave that third and final loop everything I had, and then I took my boat back in to the boathouse.

When I paddled up to the landing stage, I couldn't actually stand up! I had to roll out of the boat onto the landing stage (and the bird poo...) for a second before my legs were of any use to me! I put my boat away and went up to the cafe to wait for the rest of the ladies squad to finish their outing.

Small Victories

As the ladies started to drift up to the cafe, they each congratulated me on surviving out there in my single. I was really pleased with myself, to say the least, and even the coaches were impressed, which is unheard of! Andy likened the conditions to the North Sea! Charlotte, who had been in a double, said that I deserved a gold star, so I will take that and allow myself to enjoy that small achievement for a while until the next challenge!

Cometh the hour, cometh the [wo]man

Temptation

Last week, our circuit training instructor said she wouldn't be around for our session this week, so we should run it ourselves. That announcement seemed to have turned us all into naughty school children. We all nodded dutifully and assured her that we would be fine without her for one session, when in fact we were all thinking "Yay! Day off!"

My husband calls me a Tasmanian Devil because I'm always darting around doing something and keeping busy. I'm always buzzing with energy, and if I didn't exercise, I simply wouldn't sleep. So I got my kit on and went down to the rowing club last night to check the lie of the land. If no one else turned up, I was going to do a session on the rowing machine or do some weights.

Don't Short-circuit!

I got to the club, and I spied Catherine - in the far corner of the gym - one of the faithful. She's usually one of the first to send out an email to check who will be down for each session, and she only ever misses training if she's unwell. You can count on her to be there. I went over and chatted to her for a bit as we waited to see who else would turn up.

After a few minutes, Donata arrived and informed us that one of the other ladies had also been around but she didn't see us, so she left. Oh well. Three's better than none. So we set up our circuit, and got started.

There were about 12 exercises. We did a minute of each exercise, and allowed between 5 - 15 seconds to move on to the next exercise. It was great because we worked together to do the timing, and it felt like team work. We took a couple of minutes break after each circuit, and we did 3 laps of the circuit in total. It felt really good.

Opportunity Knocks

After the session, I went over to chat to one of the coaches, John, who was coaching the para squad at the time. He has coached people to Olympic gold level, so I am always keen to get as much knowledge and input from him as possible and, luckily, he is always very happy to give it. I thought we were just having a casual chat when, before I knew it, he had me on a rowing machine and I was doing a whole bunch of new exercises. It was brilliant! After just one session, I have so much practical and useful feedback that will help take me to the next level. The rowing machine feels like a whole different beast now. So many things have fallen into place since our first session a few weeks ago, and I am aching in new places today, which means that I'm finally starting to engage the right muscles on the rowing machine.

I really need to lose my novice status this year. It will be my second year of regattas and I am determined to win something!

Persevere & Doors Will Open!

It has been a long day! Went to work, did some work; came home, did some more work; went to a little leaving do for a colleague; and then to the rowing club to do an erg...!

When I got to the rowing club, there were a couple of people in their who I knew, so I chatted to them for a bit, before finally sitting down to tackle the beast.

Some of the ladies went out for a night time outing, whilst the others presumably had other commitments, so I was ready to erg solo. One of the guys said he'd keep an eye on me, so I didn't feel quite so alone. It was a great help. I couldn't just wimp out and go home.

The first 5 minutes were tough, and I felt like giving up, but I didn't leave my colleague's leaving do and go all that way for nothing! So I carried on. Mark came over when he'd finished his weights session and sat with me for a bit so he could give me some pointers. It felt like a good solid session.

Once I'd finished the set piece, I grabbed my stuff from the changing room and headed downstairs to go outside to my car and I reached the door at exactly the same time as Sir Steve Redgrave!!! Sir Steve Redgrave!!!!!!!!!! He opened the door and very kindly held it open for me so I could come out first. He is a giant of a man! I walked under his arm and barely got within sniffing distance of his armpit!

The moral of the story. By sticking with my set piece on the erg and not cutting any corners, my path collided with a shooting star of Olympic greatness! Go hard or don't even bother leaving home.

New Highs! The 'C' Word & Personal Bests

The 'C' word...

Circuit Training was amazing this evening! I was like the Duracell bunny! Everything was at full intensity, top speed, and max fun! I really enjoyed it! And that's something I thought I'd NEVER say about the 'C' word... i.e. 'Circuit' training!

The instructor couldn't believe it either! If there was a prize for enthusiasm, I would've won it tonight! The moral of the story, perseverance makes light work of anything. If I put the same amount of hard work and determination into my other goals, it won't be long until they move from the 'To Do' list and join the 'Done' list!

Personal Bests

Yesterday evening's erg session was fantastic! I'm still floating on the high from slashing a whole 6 seconds off my personal best split time!

We started off with a 34 minute set piece, alternating between rating at 18 and 20 strokes per minute, and then we did some intense sprints! 10 x 30seconds burst of flat-out power! I have never been so fast! It was like I was an out of body experience - as though someone else was erging, but using my body to do it.

It's amazing how much more one can achieve if they just ignore their limiting internal dialogue.

Don't Let Fog Stop You From Seeing Clearly

It was very foggy this morning, so one of the coaches made the call to cancel our outing. I got the text message at 6:30am, just as I was stepping out of the door... Total anticlimax!

Rather than let the weather dictate my next move, I was determined to at least do a session on the erg. I decided to wait for the fog to lift a bit, so it was safer on the road. Whilst I was waiting, an email pinged over from Catherine. She, like me, was all dressed up and jeed up ready to go! So I sent an email out to say that I'd be at the club by 08:30am for an erg session if anyone else fancied joining us.

Myself, Catherine and Donata did some pyramid interval training, which was great. I even managed to squeeze in some shorter 2 and 3 minute sprint intervals at the end of our session! I'm building up to doing double sessions on the ergs by the summer, so I'll be ready for the regattas!

There's ALWAYS something left!

Yesterday night, Circuits was tough! Our trainer changed it up, and the session was more focus on getting a cardio / aerobic workout. I didn't want to, but I almost gave up.

Whilst I was doing one of the skipping sets, I decided to imagine that someone was aiming a gun at my head, and they would shoot if I stopped. That worked for a little bit, but then I decided that a clean death would be a sweet release from the nausea in my stomach. So! I imagined that they were aiming the gun at my right knee, and the thought of real pain spurred me on!

There were a couple of other crews training in the gym at the same time, and when I finished, one of the guys said that it looked like I'd breezed through Circuits. If only he knew that it was a life or death situation!

After all that hard work, I was still able to keep my balance and walk down the stairs without falling on my head. Essentially, I was fine. And that's the thing. No matter how hard you think you're training, you still have something left. It's not advisable to train until you pass out, but it has been known to happen at ergathons!

One of the coaches at the club summed it up nicely. You need to be able to give your best performance in every race. At some regattas, you may have to race 2, 3 or 4 times in a day! Every race has to be your best. So you need to train smart. Get your body to the point where it gives everything that it's got and finds the same to give again.

Work / Life / Rowing Balance

I have no life. I work, I row, I sleep. Training is increasing in intensity, and I'm needing more sleep as a result.

This is what my life looks like at the moment. When I get home from work in the afternoon, I have something to eat right away (so my food can digest before heading out to the rowing club) and then I'll usually rest for an hour. That is the only rest I get all day, so I savour it.

A Stretch in Time Saves Your Ass!

After that, I'll head to the boat club and train for an hour or two, which includes warming up and stretching afterwards. The stretching is the most important thing! For every hour of exercise, I stretch for at least 15 minutes. Usually some yoga poses along with the traditional P.E. stretches we all had to do at school.

When I get home I jump in the bath or shower, followed by dinner and bed.

Sweet Dreams

Now that my training is consistent again, I sleep so well and deeply. I love it. I'm exhausted when I go to bed, but I feel refreshed and energised when I wake up in the morning. I get between 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night.

Life

Friday's are my only day off training, so that's when I can catch up on my life. Last night I went out for a meal at the Cattle Grid in Windsor, which was really good. The best milkshake ever! The cobbled streets of Windsor look great on a postcard, but they're not so great when you're wearing stilettos!

Back on the river after a month!

Today was my first outing in a boat in exactly 4 weeks! It was so exciting to have my first outing with the new club this morning! I went out in a quad with some of the ladies. A 6am start has never felt so good! I didn't care what the weather was going to be like, I just wanted to get out there into the elements!

There is a 2k stretch of river upstream from the club to the lock, and we did 8 lengths in total, which was 16k. It felt so good. We did a few 1k and 2k race-pace pieces at around 28 s/m. Such a treat after coming from a club with just a 700m downstream stretch; although, rowing on the Avon did have its advantages. It is fairly narrow, which means you get very good at steering. On the Thames, it seems that people don't get to hone that particular skill. We crashed into two other boats and narrowly missed a swan. There was another collision near the boat club when a double and a single collided and their riggers became locked into place so they couldn't separate. They then crashed into another boat, and it was the impact of that crash which separated them. So, I'd best look out when the responsibility of steering falls to me.

My core muscles are still feeling bruised from Thursday's session, but I'm not aching, thank goodness. I could really feel my stomach muscles engaging as I did the rock-over at the start of each stroke today. They're definitely getting stronger!

16k? Try 8446 miles!

Emma Mitchell, one of the women who recently completed an epic 8446 mile row across the Pacific Ocean, was at the boat club today. What an incredible achievement! Unfortunately I live in a cave with no TV, so I didn't see the news or know anything about it until today. She was very friendly and unassuming, and smiled shyly as the coaches told me all about her exploits. So impressive! And there I was, feeling good about my 16k!

By the time I got back home it was lunchtime, and I hadn't eaten any breakfast, so I was hungry! A nice bowl of chicken and spaghetti went down well. No more outings until next Saturday, but plenty of land-training to keep me busy until then.

Mad Dogs and Rowers

The ladies squad had priority use of the ergs yesterday evening, but people had other commitments so I was the only one who could make it. Our coach had said that she would come along to give me some pointers, but that didn't happen, so I did my own thing for 20 minutes. I just worked on my technique and trying to get a feel for the sequencing. I felt like I made some good progress.

It was fairly quiet at the club. There were 3 or 4 other people on the ergs at the same time as me, and the mens squad was using the weights for their strength and conditioning class.

Strength and Conditioning

When I was finished erging, I did some stretching on mats and I was in two minds about whether I should call it a day, or do one last set piece on the erg. Luckily I had an offer I couldn't refuse. The mens squad came over to the mat to finish off their session with some core work. They needed even numbers to do some of the exercises, but they were missing a body, so their coach asked if I wanted to join in and make up the numbers. Always one to embrace the punishing regime it takes to become a competitive rower, I said yes. The coach paired me up with his son, who was really encouraging and helpful throughout the session.

Train Like a Man

When I've seen the men training before, they make it look so easy. I thought us girls worked hard in our circuit training class... I stand corrected! Those guys work hard! It looks easy because they've worked for it! I felt like I'd been in a fight when I woke up this morning! I'm not aching, but I feel bruised! My ribs, and my lower back had a work-out like non other!

We did some exercises that I don't know the names of, but they were tough!

Don't Be a Push-over!

We did a variation of straight-leg leg-raises, were you lie on your back with your arms extended behind you so you can hold onto the ankles of your partner as they stand behind your head. You raise your legs straight up so your body and legs are at a right-angle, and your partner then shoves them back down (with force) but you mustn't let your legs hit the ground. They push your legs away either straight ahead, to the left or to the right, so you get to twist and strengthen your core at the same time. It was brutal! You do 20 reps, and only two sets (which I suspect was more for my benefit than the norm). You swap over between sets so you can stand for a bit whilst you recover, and you get to do the shoving.

The Crunch

Another exercise we did was crunches. Your partner holds your feet and you do crunches whilst holding a weight behind your head. I couldn't even do one of those, so that's one for me to practice! I held the weight on my chest instead.

These Are a Few of My Favourite Things... said no one ever!

We did some of the usual suspects, like lunges, lots of planks, some Russian twists with weights.

There was another exercise that the guys made look easy, but it was serious! You kneel down and keep your body upright from your knees. Your partner holds your feet in place, and you must gradually lean forward (keeping everything in line) as slowly and with as much control as possible before you fall completely forward into a push-up position. You must then launch your body back up in a single push-up motion, and lean forward again. Repeating the whole process. That worked out my legs, back and abs and shoulders like nothing else!

At one point, the coach took me away from the group to one of the pull-up bars. First, it was too high up for me to reach so I had to jump up and grab on! And then, he wanted me to pull my knees up and do a type of reverse crunch, but suspended in mid air. I did not think I could do it, but I managed a few. There was no limit on how many of those I had to do. I stopped when I was losing my grip on the bar.

One Plank Too Many... No Such Thing!

The class was punctuated with planks, and we ended the session with a plank. One of the guys next to me was chatting to me as we planked, but that was a punishable offence, so he had to do crab planks whilst the rest of us finished off. Brutal! I felt bad, but it's good for him.

The coach and the guys in the squad were very kind to me and very patient. It was a great session, and I shall certainly join in again if I am invited. The exercises are so effective, and I'm sure they get great results very quickly if you put the time in.

Erg and weight training update

Monday 15.02.16

Para-Rowing Training Session

I had such a great coached session on Monday! I tagged on to the para-rowing land-training session, and it was brilliant!

Monday's are my 'other' exercise days, when I can do whatever form of exercise I want. I really need to get loads more erging under my belt, so I joined the para-rowing erg (rowing machine) session.

Double Dose!

It was great because they did a combination of erging and weights. So, if you were looking to improve your erg time or beat your PB (personal best), you did an erg session first, followed by weights. But if you wanted to build strength and just get some cardio afterwards, you did the weights first. Simples.

Erg

I am looking to get back to my PB on the erg, so I started with that.

We did a 5 minute warm-up piece, which was just to get us moving. No effort, just movement.

After that we did a 10 min session, which looked something like this:

1 min @ 18 s/m (strokes per minute)
2 mins @ 20 s/m
3 mins @ 22 s/m
4 mins @ 24 s/m

The cool down was just sitting around to get the heart-rate down.

Once we'd done that, we didn't do any set pieces in terms of measuring total distance or overall time, but we did a cool challenge. The challenge was to do a few 5 minute pieces, in which we had to shave 5 seconds off our 250m split time. The split time is the average time it takes you to complete 250 metres.

Close Shave

So, if we did our first 5 minutes with a split time of 2mins30secs, the next 5 minutes needed to have a split time of 2mins25secs, and so on. We pretty much did that until we couldn't improve our split times any further.

The object of that exercise is to get you to give your best performance, even when you're tired, because on race days, you'll have to complete multiple heats to get to the final; and you'll need to be on top form for each and every race.

After erging, we did some weights. I really enjoy weights because there's no cardio involved, so you can just focus on lifting, or pushing.

Peak Performance

The coach wanted us to try peaking out, so we could shock our muscles into adapting to heavy loads. So the idea is, you lift your maximum load for fewer reps, in the hope that your muscles will adapt and get stronger quicker. That was great!!! I am feeling ok today, but the pain will come!

Tuesday 16.02.2016

Erg

On Tuesday I had a regular erg session with my squad. Only two out of ten us were able to make it for the session, so at least we could be erg buddies. Our coach was there for the first 20 minutes so she could check our technique and set the challenges, and then we just got on with it.

We did 3 sets of 10 minute pyramids (again), which looked like this:

4 mins @ 22 s/m
3 mins @ 24 s/m
2 mins @ 26 s/m
1 min @ 28 s/m

Followed by a 5 minute rest and repeat.

A good stretch and a nice hot bath when I got home were just the ticket!

I've got circuit training tonight, and I'm feeling ok, but I'll let you know how it goes!

Yoga will Body Rock You to Fantastic Rowing

Flexibility in the hips is absolutely essential if you want to row without hurting your back. I see countless rowers hunched over as the reach for the catch, and it's a ticking time-bomb for their poor back and shoulders.

Forward Fold and Body Rock

The 'forward fold' is a key move in the yoga repertoire, and it simulates the rowing 'Body Rock', or 'Rock Over', move, which is at the beginning of the sequence of taking a stroke from back-stops. It stretches out your hamstrings and relieves the pressure on the back.

Stretch Your Way To Health

Stretching in general is so important for wellbeing. Whether you're an athlete or you sit at a desk all day. Our routines are full of repetitive movements with a limited range of motion, which can lead to tension and injury.

From Treat to Treatment!

Before I started yoga, the muscles in my back and shoulders would get really tight. A back massage was not a treat for me, it was a treatment! Since doing yoga, however, I don't need massages anymore. Yoga has made my core muscles so much stronger and my rowing is so much better!

The Core of the Problem

To clarify, the core muscles are not just your stomach. The core includes your sides and back. The centre of your body is your core. They are your muscle power-house! If the core is strong, supple and stable, it means that the rest of your limbs can get on with their jobs without having to overcompensate.

Start Your Yoga Practice Today

A friend of mine introduced me to this great website called DoYouYoga.com After randomly trawling through YouTube previously, it was nice to have a central location with a library of fantastic yoga courses. I started off with the Erin Motz 30 Day Yoga Challenge and moved on from there. I have subscribed to a few of the course over the past year, and they are great!

Whatever your body goals are, yoga will change your body and your life in ways that you couldn't imagine. Hey, and if it's good enough for the England Rugby team, it's good enough for me :)

Rower Without a Paddle

I literally cannot wait to join a new rowing club! I have way too much energy, and I am not sleeping!

Being 'between clubs' is the worst experience! There's no point joining a gym, because I won't need it when I start rowing. But if I don't do something soon, I will have a meltdown!

I need the sweet pain of rowing! I need to hear my blades on the water! I need to be in a boat!!!

To keep myself sane(ish), I am doing weights at home, but I haven't been on an erg for 2 weeks! I never thought I'd miss those horrible things!

I visited three clubs at the weekend, and I'm going to one more on Saturday. I may just sign up with that one out of sheer desperation!

The non-rowers among you may think that there are too many exclamation marks in this piece, but for the rowers out there, you know there are never enough!!!!!!!!!!!!

Danielle. Rower without a paddle...