1. When my rowing started:

I grew up in France and I learned to row on the river Seine next to the towns of Fontainebleau and Avon.  The rowing club was called Association Nautique Fontainebleau Avon.  The year was 1985!  My friend Eric from school told me to show up because my hands were allegedly big enough to row with without using oars.  My parents loved the idea.  I gave up tennis for rowing.

2. Evolving into an Olympic competitor

After finishing my French high school.  My father offered me a sabbatical from school in order to train full time for the Olympics in 1992.  Maybe I should have accepted the offer, but my urge to leave for Providence in the state of Rhode Island was stronger.  I began my freshman year at Brown University in the fall of 1991.

3. Competing at three Olympics as a Swiss training in the United States

As far as amateur sports go, it is rare that an Olympic bound athlete trains on his own in a foreign country.  For me it was normal.  I had always lived in a foreign country.  Providence was my home in preparation for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.  After a short move to Kent Connecticut in 1995, I was advised by my friend Joerg Weitnauer, a great single scull constructor, to move to California where the weather is simply awesome for training year around.  I arrived in Corona Del Mar in November of 1995.  A few month later I met my wife.  She came to the Olympics in 1996 to watch me win.  My participation at the Sydney 2000 Olympics were as a married man with two young children.  It was an incredible feeling to be able to show my kids a freshly won Olympic medal shortly after the single scull final had finished.

4. My coaching years in person and online

Newport Beach is not a huge rowing hub.  But since my parents in law lived in this area, I chose to not move away with my family.  It is for that reason that I gravitated towards building an online coaching service.  The internet opens up the whole world to me.  I can easily be contacted.  I love working with rowers from different countries.

Join me with Scullingfundamentals.com and enjoy personal coaching.

Rowing Gloves And Good Rowing Habits

Rowing is one of the most excellent sports for people concerned with whole-body health. People who row build muscle quickly while burning calories and improving cardiovascular health. While outdoor rowing is generally held in the highest regard, indoor rowing is a great way to master rowing from the comfort of home. Rowing machines are ideal for rowers with busy schedules who rarely have time to visit lakes and bodies of water.

Unfortunately, people who do not use proper techniques can injure themselves when getting into rowing. Individuals who injure themselves early in their rowing projects may feel discouraged about continuing in the sport. New rowers can develop painful blisters on their hands. While rowers develop protective calluses on their hands, building these calluses can take time. Gloves for rowing machine users are very useful accessories. Different rowers have individual tastes in gloves. Many rowers swear by weightlifting gloves made of durable synthetic material.

Even when wearing gloves for rowing machine use, rowers gradually develop needed calluses. Blisters can develop when people pursue overly intense training schedules. Proper fit is important for rowing gloves. Overly loose gloves can actually increase one’s chances of developing blisters. While people can order rowing gloves online, they should only do so if they can patronize firms with good customer service. These firms make it easy to return gloves that do not fit. Even gloves that are advertised as “one sizes fits all” may not actually fit all consumers.

Tips For Purchasing Rowing Gloves

It’s preferable to purchase rowing gloves from dealers with excellent reputations for honesty and integrity. Online customer reviews are great resources for comparing different fitness apparel firms. However, readers need to use their critical faculties when processing online reviews. While most online reviewers are honest and thoughtful, most unwittingly post reviews that are characterized by personal biases and proclivities.

Gloves are great for reducing wear and tear on hands while rowing. For further protection from injury, many people who row invest in comfortable rowing shoes or thick socks. Proper foot position is also important for rowing in comfort. New rowers should learn from the professionals to develop sensible rowing habits. Some websites feature contributions from athletes with enormous wisdom and experience. Visit Sculling Fundamentals for valuable information on rowing safely and efficiently. This website is a great resource for indoor and outdoor rowing for improved personal health. If more people take up rowing, obesity-related illnesses could gradually decrease throughout society.

Bad rowing technique found on Youtube:

• Erg technique on youtube: The footage depicts a bunch of rowers who are lightweights who took part in the famous boat race in the UK. I added short comments to the clip. 
• I don’t understand, why rowing technique is not taught on the erg. For many rowers, the erg is a big part of training. When I coach I a talk about grace, and elegance similar to dance, I can’t find it in this footage. I also think that such technique makes the rowers prone to injury.
• Higher drag using the main rowing muscles will “destroy” any goofy style. Goofy styles are often ultra long at the finish which prolongs the time using the smallest muscle groups, wastes time, keeps the stroke rate low, and under utilizes the last quarter of the leg drive.

Correcting the above mistakes can be done very efficiently with a stroke analysis.

Increase the quality of your training, row with greater resistance, year around, recruit more muscle fibers and blow the competition away.

1. The problem with the erg when the weather prevents you from rowing on the water.

• 8 times out of 10, I need to inform rowers, who I coach in person or online, that the Concept2 machine they are using is too short at the catch.  This problem is inexistent on the Concept2 Dynamic or other Dynamic machines such as the Rowperfect, the Slider by Oartec, and although stationary, the wooden Waterrower.  On the stationary rowing machine, the frame that supports the performance monitor restricts a rower’s full range of motion from extending the limbs fully to set themselves up to hang from the skeleton.  The result is a rowing stroke with contracted upper body during the entire leg drive, NOT what we want.

2. The solution on the water, worry free of capsizing and hypothermia.

• Spending too much time training indoors, does not promote the required motor skills for rowing on the water.  Blade work is completely put on ice during the winter months and this is not a good thing.  Rowing clubs close their doors to on the water rowing because of the risk of hypothermia and death in case of capsizing.
• I rowed year around in larger boats.  My favorite boat to row is the one in my movie above.  I helped design it and I am proud of our creation.  Rigging is identical to a racing shell.  I can work on my blade work worry free.  My sculling boat is virtually unsinkable and you can take it into bigger surf, ad well as skim ice.
• One of my favorite technical drills in my boat is rowing one leg at a time.  It reminds me how to carry my upper body during the leg drive.

3. Slower with greater resistance is better than quick and light

• I am a total advocate for resistance training, BUT NOT IN THE GYM.  You can not substitute specific strength endurance training outside of the boat.  Simply put, my best preparation was done on the water.  The result of slower and greater resistance work is greater muscle recruitment.  The higher resistance during steady state rowing, activates more muscle fibers and develops them aerobically.  Only rowing skinny light sculls will not provide you the torque you need to win a race at the Olympics in the final 250 meters.  Imagine what this type of training can do at the national level.  

4. Keep the intensity in check, watch you technique, a word of caution!

• Now, be very careful!  Higher resistance work, does not mean a green light to greater intensity.  Training at higher resistance is a powerful training method, but you have to use your head and consume in moderation when you increase your specific strength training volume.
• The added resistance WILL EXPOSE YOUR ERGONOMIC WEAKNESSES…. monitor your spine and shoulders, as well as the tilt of your pelvis, record yourself and analyse your technique.  Make sure you are using your heels properly on the footboard.
• If you believe that you need technical feedback, I am here to help.  Cheers,  Xeno

Heavy Boat Rowing

Xeno Müller, Olympic Gold and Silver Medalist, Rowing Coach.  Costa Mesa, California 92627 949-400-7630 Cell; ironoarsman SKYPE

You can rapidly improve your rowing technique with the right feedback.  Let me help you achieve your full potential.

1. The right diagnostic

When I look at your footage.  I quickly see what you do well in the boat and what needs to improve.  I then slow the footage down and further dig into the details of your rowing technique.  The entire diagnostic is recorded so that you get to hear and see how I comb through your stroke on the water and on the rowing machine.  Your understanding of how you move as a rower becomes crystal clear to you and that leads you to correct deficiencies more easily.

2. The right remedies

I learned from great coaches. I spent a lot of time in the boat as a competitor.  I have over a decade of coaching experience to provide rowers with the right set of exercises to optimize their rowing technique.  Technical drills are a powerful tool when chosen properly and used correctly.  Yet, it is very important to explain how these different drills feel when they are done right.  I have a good eye that keeps rowers of all ages safe from injury by improving their mobility and technical smoothness.

3. The right way of training

Under my watchful eye, training is done right.  Rowing superiority is achieved through smart training. A carefully calibrated training program is key to rowing success.  Staying injury free and keeping up with REST are key components to building a massive aerobic capacity at any level of competition.

4. The right way of thinking

Positive thinking and using effective visualization are key ingredients to a successful competitive mind.  Through my years as an Olympic athlete and coach, I have perfected mental training and race programming. I listen to rowers and coaches whom I work with and customize mental development and preparation.

5. Accepting your progress

What you are about to read, may come as a surprise.  Getting better in rowing, moving the boat faster, setting new personal best on the rowing machine, and winning regattas, are events that need to be digested correctly in order to keep progress on track.  With my assistance you will experience new levels of athleticism combined with staying fully grounded.  Your ability to cope with greater stress will come as a bonus.

I look forward to working with you.  Cheers, Xeno Müller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, rowing coach.