A-h-h-h, summer! Long days chock-full of fun stuff ranging from sunbathing and swimming, to boating and building your aerobic base.

What? (Insert sound effect of a record-player needle scratching a vinyl LP). Aerobic base?

Yep! Summer is the perfect time to increase your body’s ability to consume oxygen. There’s nothing like low-key, off-season, easy workouts to strengthen your heart, crank up your capillaries, ramp-up your red blood cell count, and teach your muscles how to use more oxygen!

After an intense spring that focused on short 1,500m races, it’s now time to look ahead to the longer, fall head races. These races are usually 5k to 6k long and are typically 15 - 20 minutes in duration. Success at these distances requires a large aerobic capacity, which is very different from the short sprints of spring-season racing.

So, what’s the best way to build your aerobic base and prep for fall? For rowers, easy erging and easy rowing, at least three days a week for 45 to 60 minutes, are the best preparation. Running and cycling are great, too, and can add variety to your routine. But, if you want to improve your rowing, there’s nothing better than… rowing! At this stage, the goal is to log some low-and-slow clicks. Now is not the time to crush your 2k PR. You only need to get your heart rate to 150 – 165 BPM. Heart rate monitors can help you train in this zone. Alternatively, you can take your pulse for 15 seconds and multiply by four. The goal is to keep it easy and keep it fun!

When you aren’t red-lining at your lactate threshold, it's a lot easier to focus on technique. Easy rows are a great opportunity to work on things that you and your coach worked on last spring: sit tall, compression at the catch, backsplash, hand heights, leg drive, recovery ratio, swing… In the past, getting on the water wasn’t easy. But this summer, Stonington Crew is rowing fours every weekday at 6 pm! Email (coachjohn@stoningtoncrew.org) to claim a seat. Fours are a fun way to get in some strokes and improve your rowing!

Strength training is also key to fall success. Three to five sets of circuits (jumpies, lunges, crunches, push-ups, planks, inverted row, deads…) three times per week will build valuable strength and power needed for head races. Former Stonington Crew rower and co-owner of CrossFit Mystic, Chris Banks, is offering team members a discounted summer membership. Download the CrossFit Mystic Flyer to learn more. What a bonus: motivation and supervision all in one package!

Evening summer rows on the Mystic River are pretty special and are perfect for building your aerobic base and improving technique. So, grab some teammates and get out there! Fall training, including 6k erg tests, and racing will be here before you know it!

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