Posts by whchambers
Apparently I Slept Terribly Last Night. Shame Nobody Told My Body.
For most of my adult life I have known exactly how well I slept within about four seconds of waking up. No instrumentation required. I would open one eye, assess my willingness to speak to another human being, and issue a verdict. Good sleep: cheerful, borderline insufferable. Bad sleep: monosyllabic, dangerous to approach before coffee.…
Read MoreThe Great Watts Lie
There is a specific type of man in every rowing club car park, and you will recognise him instantly. He has just done a café ride on the bike instead of the erg, he owns at least one item of clothing with the word “aero” printed on it, and he has started saying “watts” the…
Read MoreWhy Strength Training is key for Rowers To Go Faster
Strength training improves your strength, and it will also improve your rowing economy, reduce risk of injury, and improve performance. Find out how.
Read MoreThe Terrible News That Training Smarter Might Make You Faster
For most of my rowing life, training was treated like olive oil in a Mediterranean cookbook. If some was good, more was obviously better. More metres, more intervals, more threshold, more suffering. Especially more suffering, because suffering has always had a suspiciously good reputation in rowing. This suited me perfectly, because I am exactly the…
Read MoreThe Olympics Has Entered Its Talent Show Era
I have always assumed there was a room somewhere in Lausanne, Switzerland containing sensible people. The sort of people who wore blue blazers, beige trousers, frowned a lot and protected important things from fashion. Whenever a new craze appeared, these people would gather around a large table and say, “No. Come back when you’ve been…
Read MoreThe Trouble With Spending 40 Years Becoming Bulletproof
For most of my adult life, I regarded illness as something that happened to other people. This was not a scientific position. It was simply the inevitable consequence of spending forty years exercising. Spend enough time around masters rowers and you start to notice a peculiar trait. We don’t think we’re immortal. That would be…
Read MoreRowing Is Brilliant. Which Is Precisely the Problem.
Rowing has a problem.And no, it isn’t the weather, the funding, the early mornings or the fact that every boat appears to cost roughly the same as a small family car in Sydney.The problem is that rowing is magnificent — and magnificently invisible.For reasons that defy logic, we have decided that the best way to…
Read MoreExclusive interview with Vincent Galliard, Executive Director World Rowing
Join me as I speak exclusively with Vincent Galliard, Executive Director of World Rowing about the future direction of Rowing. In this episode, Vincent shares World Rowing’s 15 year plan to transform the reach, the image and revenues of the sport. We discuss the expansion into coastal rowing, indoor rowing, plans to drive awareness and…
Read MorePower Meter Series: How Greg Benning uses power meters to make the boat go faster.
Join Greg and I, as we discuss how Greg uses power meters set the boat up, understand the effectiveness of the stroke and programme training with the power meter to help him go faster. Greg Benning, started rowing at the University of Pennsylvania in 1980 and has been engaged in the sport ever since. Greg…
Read MoreCaffeine and Rowing Performance: A Boost for boat speed?
Caffeine, probably the world’s most widely consumed psychoactive substance, has long been a favourite among athletes seeking an extra edge and for those that just love a good espresso. For rowers, who rely on endurance, power, and precision, caffeine can play a significant role in enhancing performance during training and racing. In this article, I…
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