Ok I promise I’ll end it here. After the British cyclists earned much needed bragging rights over traditional sporting rivals France, Germany and Australia, the rowers followed suit. In the blue-ribbon event, the 2000m Men’s Coxless Four, the British lads lined up against a very talented Australian unit as well a threatening French and German bunch. 

The Aussies shot out maintaining a good pace for 1750m. However they put too much into trying to make a lead and were left with no extra gears for that all-important final 250m. Cue the British four, who made their push and eventually won by over a second. France came third, the Germans sixth. 

Rowing is renowned for the killer training sessions which reputedly often end in vomiting and the like. Four years of training for an Olympic final can’t be underestimated then. Below is a routine of weight exercises, designed by an Olympic coach, that can help rowers improve their strength for faster 2000m times.

Our special report Training for Rowing reveals the secrets top rowers use to skyrocket their performance

High pull

Press behind neck

Biceps curl

Bent-over rowing 

Side bends to right and left 

Squat 

Bench press 

Clean and press 

Crunch Bench pull 

Hyper-extensions 

The exercises are: rowing specific / they must be performed ultimately at a pace equivalent to actual stroke rate / they must create conditions that mirror the heart rate and lactate levels sustained during a 2k race / reflect the time it takes to complete the race distance. 

For all exercises the weight (where appropriate) is kept to 15-30kg to enable the speed component of the lift/exercise to remain high and closely match the rowing stroke.

The coach, Terry O’Neill progresses this circuit format from pre-season, to competition, increasing endurance, speed and power expression commensurately. As he says, ‘In this mesocycle (mid-length, training phase) the weight is reduced. This is so that the athlete can complete 45 seconds of continuous rhythmic exercise at a given rate at each station (exercise), and at the end of each station, the athlete moves on to the next exercise without stopping. This gives a total of 8 minutes of work, during which time the heart rate will rise to 85-95% of maximum. I get the athletes to rest for two minutes at the end of each complete circuit. The aim is for them to do 3 complete circuits during the first 3 weeks and 4 in weeks 4, 5 and 6 of the mesocycle.’

Not for the faint-hearted, congratulations to all the medallists! 

Our special report Training for Rowing reveals the secrets top rowers use to skyrocket their performance