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Giovanni Calabrese has a phenomenal background and story in rowing. He began competing as a lightweight - had great success at that weight class and transitioned to being a heavyweight. His career culminated in world championships in two different weight classes and an bronze medal at the Sydney Olympics. Giovanni continues to coach and develop young rowers.

Enjoy the interview!

Part 1 - Intro/Background

• How did you get started with rowing
• First success came as a lightweight
  • How many years did you compete as a lightweight
  • Won LM2x at World Championships in 1987 in Copenhagen, Denmark
• Moved to heavyweight and began competing in M1x and M4x
• Seoul Olympics in 1988
  • Achieved great result in m1x
  • Raced in Lucerne in M4x
  • Went with Agostino Abbagnale in m4x
  • M1x finished 10th
• Won silver in M4x in 1989
• Took  off 91 and 92?
• 1993 5th in m1x
• 1994 4th in m1x
• 1995 4th in m1x
• 1996 Olympics
  • 10th in Atlanta
  • Virus in spring of 1996; no training for 1 month
  • Recovery took a very long time
• Won Worlds in M4x in 1997
• 1998 - Back in m1x; well prepared to train; raced waddell in heat; 4th position in final B
• 1999 - Moved to Sicily and began to coach
  • In September 1999 came to return to rowing and go to olympic games
  • Giovanni took the mindset to “Train for me and myself” and training like that everyday was the last day!
• Culmination in 2000 winning a bronze medal at Sydney in M2x
  • 1st race in m2x was the heat at sydney
  • Stay as close to Slovenia as possible
  • Changed clubs in 2000 and started coaching there

Part 2 - Coaching

• Teaching and developing the athletes
• National team - about results and winning
• 3 months stop because of COVID
• "they use the boat like they use the bike” ....Giovanni's philosophy on developing younger rowers and their skill set.

Show Notes:

• World Rowing Profile
• Wikipedia
• Sydney 2000 Race

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Ed McNeely received his Masters Degree in Exercise Physiology from the University of Ottawa in 1994 and has been involved in the strength and conditioning industry for 30 years. He has been a consultant to twenty one Canadian national and professional sports teams and is currently the Strength and Conditioning Lead at the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario.

 Ed served as a physiology and strength consultant to Rowing Canada for 24 years - through the Rio 2016 Olympics. He is the author of five books: Power Plyometrics, The Resistance Band Workout Book, One Hundred Strength Exercises, Training for Rowing, and Skillful Rowing. He has published over 100 articles on training and athlete conditioning covering topics such as strength training, plyometrics, making weight, assessing fitness, speed and power development, planning and periodization, and aerobic fitness. He is a frequent resource for other writers, acting as an expert for articles in Muscle & Fitness, Outside Magazine, the Georgia Tech Sports Medicine Newsletter, the Rowing News, the Globe and Mail, Ottawa Citizen and the Discovery Channel.

Ed and I discuss rowing at the elite and masters levels. In addition, he shares how he was able to establish benchmarks for rowing high performance athletes and research using isometrics. Enjoy the show!

Part 1 - Ed's  background and bio 

• What’s the backstory of how you came to work with and be the lead for  the Canadian Rowing Team? 
• 24:00 patience
• 4-5 exercises for strength

Part 2 - Strength Standards for Rowing

• • You were one of the first to research and publish strength and conditioning standards for rowers from the junior through masters levels in both Rowing Faster and Strength and Power Goals for Rowers
    • How did you go about identifying the strength to bodyweight factors for each age group? Did you test each age group? How did you standardize squat depth, bench pull and deadlift for athletes/age groups of various weights and heights?
    • Absolute Strength vs. Relative Strength and why relative strength is more important to a rower.
    • How much strength is too much? Once your athletes hit the standards in the chart outlined in the journal what qualities do you begin to focus on to continue their development? Do you have concerns about mass impeding their ability to row technically or move well?
    • Would you continue to emphasize the back squat, deadlift, and bench pull or is there another skill/lift you would focus on given your experiences at this point?
    • When I attended your lecture at Joy of Sculling you mentioned you have athletes deadlift 1x a week, and squat 3x a week. Why do you feel there should be greater emphasis placed on the squat?
  • Peak Power is the limiting factor of performance
    • Most rowers are pretty equally trained when it comes to aerobic capacity. Peak power is often a key differentiator in rowing performance. Do you think this applies to all rowers or more mature rowers (college, U23, Elite, Masters) vs. juniors and novices?
    • When following the protocol for peak power improvement, power output (strokes) must be 90% of greater. Why?
    • What exercises in S&C do you feel are more transferable to improving power in the rowing stroke?
  • Plyometrics / Jump Training for Rowers
    • “Plyometrics is the link between strength and power”
    • The athlete should be able to squat at least their bodyweight for lower body plyometrics and bench press 0.75 times bodyweight for upper body plyometrics. Why do we need this foundation of strength before we start introducing plyometric work and how were you able to determine this for the rowing population?

• Into catch position and accelerate out of catch position

•  
•  Masters rowers
  • Benefits of strength training for the aging athlete
    • Osteoporosis, dynapenia, sarcopenia, combat loss of power/strength
    • Why masters rowers may need to place greater emphasis on strength training for age and health related factors?
    • What would you prioritize more for this population vs. college/elite?
    • Why you are not a fan of machines vs. free weights.

Show Notes:

• Original Research: Isometric Force Time Characterstics and Test-Retest Reliability of A Rowing Specific Isometric Assessment
• Strength Goals for Rowers
• How Hard is Hard Enough
• Strength Goals for Masters Rowers
• Peak Power: The Limiting Factor to Rowing Performance
• Jump Training for Rowers Part I
• Jump Training for Rowers Part II
• Breathing Stronger
• Balance and Stability for Rowing
• NSCA 2017 S&C Journal Excellence Award

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Theo Pickles is the High Performance Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Netherlands Rowing Team. You may recognize Theo as he was a guest on the podcast way back at the beginning, Episode 30 to be exact.

In this interview, Theo and I catch up after our last interview which was four years ago! We discuss how he has implemented velocity based training for the Netherlands Rowing Team and how this allows him to implement autoregulation with these athletes. In addition, we also discuss educational opportunities for strength and conditioning coaches through the Australian Strength and Conditioning Association and how he has fine tuned the warm up for his athletes.

Enjoy the show!

Part 1

• Updates from 1st Interview
  • Any solid program has these three lifts!
  • Power sessions structure: 2 power exercises, 2 strength (1 push, 1 pull); 45 minutes or so
  • Training in afternoons, rowing in AM. Sync up intensity based on rowing session.
  • Revisiting the interference effect. Why power/strength training alters motor patterns the following day?

Part 2

• Model for return to sport from injury.
• Exercise selection.
• VBT - why have you gone to this and how has it helped?
  • Are you also tracking RPE and RIR?
• Fascicle length and pennation angles
• Individualization of programs by decreasing structure and having an ongoing conversation with the athlete, 
• changes in emphasis on coaching cues to come more into line with what the coaches want in the boat. 
• Men's team's periodization strategy
• Bosco strength continuum, force velocity profile,
• Gym Aware
  • DL not a good choice
  • Integrated over a year
  •  Reactive Strength Index
  • Athletes must be very proficient in movement; not for novice athlete
  • Use mean velocity not peak velocity

Show Notes:

• Moving the Bar Fast!
• Theo's Instagram
• Theo's Twitter

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David Young is the strength and conditioning coach for Rowing Australia Women’s Team. David and I sit down to discuss athletic development and how to teach rowing athletes the fundamentals for strength and conditioning who may be brand new to the weight room!  We also discuss how he and the Australian team structures their training with three gym sessions and two core sessions per week!

Part 1 | David's Bio and background

• How did you come to work with the Women’s Team?

Part 2 | Training and Progressions

• Framework for Rowing Australia in regards to S&C is following goals:
  • Robustness and injury prevention
  • Improve movement efficiency of the rowing stroke
  • Athletic development
• The Drive Extended: S&C Video on YouTube
  • Key Message #1) Build Movement Competence Before Load. Technique 1st, Load 2nd!
  • Junior Rowing Benchmarks
  • Key Message #2) Balance your resistance training program
    • Primal Patterns: Squat, Lunge and Step Up, Single Leg Squat, Hip Hinge, Upper Body Pushing, Upper Body Pulling
    • Explosive Movements: Med Ball Throws and Plyometrics
  • Key Message #3) Challenge Trunk Musculature
    • Why it’s important to focus on abdominals, lower back, gluteals, scapular stabilizers
    • Categorizing Core Movements: Anti-Extension, Anti-Flexion, Anti-Lateral Flexion, Anti-Rotation, and Rotation
• 3 Lifting Sessions and 2 Core Sessions Per week
  • Is this year round or does it fluctuate throughout the year?
  • What do you emphasize in the core sessions?

Show Notes:

• Rowing Australia Strength & Conditioning
• Rowing Australia Sports Medicine
• The Drive S&C Video

Episode 122 | Ryan Turfrey - High Performance Individualization

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Ryan Turfrey is the Senior Strength Specialist at High Performance Sport New Zealand and the lead for Rowing New Zealand. In this interview Ryan and I discuss periodization across the calendar year. We also chat about how to individualize training for athletes at different age and experience levels.

Enjoy the episode!

Part 1 - Ryan's background  and bio

• High Performance New Zealand
  • BMX 2010-2014
  • Canoe Slalom 2014-2016
  • Rowing 2011-Present
• PhD work | Structural changes of muscles and tendons during strength based exercise and how they affect performance at the highest level of sport.
  • Muscle research aims for more Olympic Gold
  • https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11586317

Part 2 -  Rowing S&C 

• Should we approach strength training differently for U19, U23/Senior, and Masters Rowers? Adaptive? Those with orthopedic issues?
• Should rowers max test? If so, how often? Should they use VBT as an alternative or force plates?
• Should strength training occur on the same day as intense workouts, or on UT2 days? Should strength training occur before, or after, other workouts? 
• How long do you keep the S&C sessions, is 45-60’ an optimal time frame or shorter/longer?

Part 3 -  HP New Zealand S&C Training

• What kind of evaluation or screen do they go through? How does that impact their program?
• Overall role of S&C in the athlete’s program. How has it evolved over the years?
• Is the athlete’s power profile taken into consideration when developing their program? Communication with sports medicine and physiology staff?
• Bond and Murray shared they stopped doing S&C under Dick Tonks and did more rowing training. What's Hamish up to now?

Show Notes:

• Ryan Turfrey's Instagram
• Ryan Turfrey's Twitter
• Muscle research aims for more gold
• Postactivation Potentiation
• New Plymouth's Cameron Rolling with the Pros