Penang Forward Sports Club

Mail from Physical Coach:

Hi All,

Good to see to that numbers are increasing at weekday and weekend physical training sessions. I would hope that more can come along as we need to build the aerobic side of our fitness now before the racing season next year.

Already from this training we can clearly see that each person needs to work on different areas. What has become evident is that we all need to work on our strength and core muscle training. Be aware though all the old guys by that I mean the likes of the Captain, Luke, Tan, Sonny and of course myself got up on the chin up bar and out performed the young lads, some of us may have the spare tyres and a few wrinkles and nearly over the hill but can pull our body weight which means we can pull our own weight along in the boat.

The younger members particularly need to work on this strength and core muscle groups as it is an area that is vital for rowing. This can be done by going to the gym with a buddy and training twice a week on weights and machines 6- 8 reps sets of three to muscle exhaustion to start off with. You can have a look at the attachment for further info on the exercises for the gym. Take heed it is vital if we are going to pull the boat along faster that we all work on this area now rather than later. Specific core strength exercises are for example are , Push ups, chin ups, crunches, lying hand claps, back extensions, body breech etc.

Please keep up the running, cycling or rowing machine each day. If you feel tired, have a rest day and recover so that you put good quality training the next. Please make sure you have a good pair of running shoes suitable to your foot type. This is important as wrong shoes can cause injuries.

Hey try out the rowing machine test attached to gauge where you are at. Also all team members should ideally be able to do 10 under arm chins up without assistance so starts working on the lat pull downs, bicep curls and bent over rows a minimum of 40 proper push ups.

Remain positive and focused, be honest with yourself as this will help you gauge where you are actually act. Again enjoy the training, please think collectively and encourage each other, it is a team sport after all!

If anybody has any questions please feel free to contact me at any time by email or phone

All the best

Conor