High School Athlete PR’s on 2k Erg
May 28, 2010
Athlete Profile of the Month
“Now when I present myself to coaches, I feel like an athlete.
Not a junior rower” – Olivia McShea, 17, Peddie School
By Yasemin Watkins
Olivia McShea was a developing junior rower looking to sustain the momentum she established during an intensive rowing camp in the summer of ‘09. To continue her progress, she set aggressive goals for the 2010 C.R.A.S.H. B’s. Olivia and her mother, Anne Marie McShea, turned to Coach Kaehler for a training program tailored to help Olivia meet her objectives.
“I love his attitude,” said Olivia of training with Coach Kaehler. “I’m a positive person, and I want to be around positive people.”
“Before (Coach Kaehler’s program), I thought I was a strong rower, compared to the club team. It turned out I had a lot of weaknesses. Not only did Coach Kaehler make me stronger, but he also gave me the tools to transfer this knowledge to the rowing stroke.”
“(During the program), I lost a lot of weight … gained better posture … felt more athletic . I became more confident.”
Of her decision to consult Coach Kaehler to design the program that would help daughter Olivia meet her goals for the C.R.A.S.H. B’s and beyond, Mrs. McShea commented, “He’s an athlete’s coach. There’s no one better.”
“He looks at you individually, and helps address hurdles. He shares his knowledge of training and development. Now, Olivia can keep this knowledge forever.”
Using Coach Kaehler’s three-month training program Olivia subsequently dropped more than 20 seconds on her 2K score at the 2010 CRASH B’s.
Congratulations Olivia!
Summer – Body Balance and Strength Training Clinics for Rowing
May 20, 2010
Join 3-time Olympian, 4-time World Champion Coach Kaehler For a Unique Body Balance and Strength Training Clinic
Where: Transcend Sports Training Facility – Wrightstown, PA
When: Clinics:
Clinic 1: June: 19-20 – CLOSED
Clinic 2: July 24-25 – Closed
Clinic 3: July 31 – August 1
– Other dates are available for teams or groups who would prefer other days!
Ideal for and athletes of all levels of experience who want to take their rowing to the next level.
Coach Kaehler is now offering this unique clinic to athletes of all levels. This two day clinic will teach you how to integrate Body Balance principles to your rowing and strength program, and features one-on-one sessions, as well as a hands-on, and two group seminars on Kaehler’s Body Balanced approach to strength training. This clinic includes Coach Kaehler’s unique Body Balance Evaluation, Strength Training for Rowers Clinic, analysis of your rowing, and a copy of the BRONZE LEVEL 8-Week Training program!!
See why coaches from leading high schools and colleges, including Northeastern and Harvard, have made Coach Kaehler’s clinics a must for their training programs.
Each clinic is limited to (4 )participants so sign-up now!!!!
This clinic includes:
Body Balance Structural Evaluations (individual sessions)
Understanding and correcting your specific flexibility and strength imbalances is essential to helping you achieve a long, powerful, and balanced rowing stroke. These one-on-one sessions include Coach Kaehler’s comprehensive Body Balance Structural Evaluation, followed by a personalized program of easy-to-follow exercises that address and correct each of your structural issues.
Body Balance helps athletes row more powerfully and avoid injury by shifting stresses of the rowing stroke toward proper support muscles, and away from your low back and other joints.
Use this simple, but highly effective system to improve your performance and enjoy rowing to your potential!
Strength Training for Rowers
This all-day clinic is spaced out over Day 1 and Day 2, and will help you better understand how Body Balance is essential to achieving athletic success in rowing. Learn how to identify and easily correct common rowing imbalances to improve your rowing performance. Then learn how to apply Body Balance principles to your strength training program to make it far more effective.
This hands-on, intensive clinic includes:
• Day 1 Power Point: Includes a presentation on anatomy and structural imbalances as they relate to rowing, as well as detailed information on how imbalances affect rowing and lifting performance.
• Day 2 Power Point: This presentation outlines the bio-mechanics of strength training and rowing, and you will learn how specific strength training techniques can improve rowing performance by helping to restore body balance.
• Strength Training: Hands-on review of bio-mechanics and correct lifting techniques in the gym. With class participation, Coach Kaehler explains key points, and demonstrates safe and effective exercise instruction.
• Hands-on instruction: Coach Kaehler shows how to identify an athlete’s inflexibility, and explains why it will limit rowing performance.
• Hands-on instruction: How to perform basic stretching techniques that improve rowing mobility and performance.
• Participation on the ergometer and weights: Coach Kaehler demonstrates specific exercises that directly link strength training to the rowing stroke.
• A copy of Coach Kaehler’s comprehensive Power Point presentation.
This clinic sets a strong foundation for effective strength training programs, and removes the myths concerning its safety.
Coach Kaehler provides hands-on, individualized coaching instruction.
Therefore class size is limited to only 4 participants for the all-day clinic.
Schedule for the Body Balance – Strength Training Clinic for Rowers Clinic
Day 1:
7:30 – 9:00 am – Body Balance Lecture
9:15 – 10:00 am- Individual Evaluation – Athlete #1
10:00 – 10:45 am Individual Evaluation – Athlete #1
10:45 – 11:30 am Individual Evaluation – Athlete #1
11:30 – 12:15 pm Individual Evaluation – Athlete #1
2:00 – 3:00 pm Group Corrective Exercise Review
3:00 – 4:30 pm Strength Training Session # 1 (Applying Body Balance Techniques)
Day 2:
8:30 – 9:30 am** Rowing on the Ergometer –Body Balance and Strength Correlation
9:30 – 11:00 pm Strength Training Lecture – Body Balance Correlation
12:30 – 1:30 pm Hands on review of proper lifting bio-mechanics
1:30 – 3:30 pm Strength Training Session # 2
3:30 – 4:00 pm Review of concepts
* Option exists to row on the water in a 4X if all the athletes can scull.
**Each participant receives a copy of Coach Kaehler’s BRONZE LEVEL 8-Week Training program.
SIGN-UP NOW ($ 695) for this unique event!!! Each Clinic is limited to (4) participants!!
2010 Stotesbury Cup
May 18, 2010
Coach Kaehler would like to congratulate all the St. Joseph’s Preparatory School rowers who competed at the Stotesbury Regatta in Philadelphia this past weekend (May 14-15). The Hawks won three gold medals (V8, LWV8, 2nd 8+) as well as a silver in the Freshman 8+, and a bronze medal in the LW4+. They are now preparing for the SRAA’s in Saratoga Springs, NY on May 28-29.
Penn AC – 2010 Summer Gold Program
May 10, 2010
Coach Kaehler is excited that he will be doing his unique Body Balance Evaluations on all the participants and staff of the 2010 Summer Gold Program. Go Penn AC!!!!
Rowing News June Issue -Will strength training lead to increased muscle mass? Only if you want it to.
May 10, 2010
By Bob Kaehler MSPT, CSCS
Is it possible to improve speed and power through strength training without increasing body mass? Many endurance athletes and coaches think not, and tend to shy away from such programs such programs fearing the extra weight will slow them down. For gravity-dependent endurance sports like running and cycling a significant increase in body mass can lead to a decrease in training and racing performance. Lightweight rowers face similar effects on their performance if lean muscle mass increases. Otherwise, however, most of these fears are unfounded.
So where do they come from? Here in the United States, the fear that lifting weights will bulk you up, a condition known as hypertrophy, has been influenced by the bodybuilding community, whose training methods are designed to maximize weight gain The bodybuilding community has adopted specific training methods that are designed to maximize weight gain. These should be avoided if your goals do not include increasing muscle mass. Good endurance strength training programs tend to focus on increasing sports specific strength and power with minimal changes to body mass.
Bodybuilders want to increase muscle mass and shape without any consideration of functional strength or increasing sports specific power. Their training programs tend to focus on body-part isolation and employ higher repetitions (12-20 reps) with moderate to heavy weights. The movements are slow, especially during the negative work phase when the weight is lowered. Apart from brief warm-ups, there are no aerobic components to these programs. Body builders also consume supplements designed to rapidly increase muscle mass. These methods allow bodybuilders to quickly increase the size and shape of their trained muscles, but they may negatively affect your performance by developing muscles you won’t be using on the water.
Weight training programs for endurance sports should focus on increasing sport specific strength and power with little or no changes to overall body mass. The majority of an athlete’s weekly training time is devoted to aerobic training. This significantly reduces the chances that strength training will translate into bulk. In addition, explosive strength training movements like Olympic lifts– power cleans, snatches and the clean and jerk– as well as plyometric movements like box jumps have not been shown to bulk athlete up. For both of these methods, the body must recruit large muscle groups to complete the desired movement.
Research has shown that changes in strength and power from Olympic lifts tend to come from improvements in the neural efficiency of the trained muscle groups and that no muscle hypertrophy occurs. For rowing, the power clean is the most explosive and functional lift and is often referred to as the vertical rowing stroke. The power clean and other similar multi-joint exercises are excellent at building an explosive rowing stroke. For experienced rowers who have not been properly trained or are not interested in using Olympic lifts in their program, squat presses (thrusters) , front squats, push presses, and box jumps (up only) offer alternatives that keep movements functional and explosive. Be sure to keep the weights light enough so you can perform these movements quickly. And always make sure to get professional instruction if you have not received training in proper lifting technique.
If you are adding a strength training program or looking to refine your current program and want to avoid bulking up, consider the following: make sure the majority of your training is aerobic in nature; limit the number of different exercises you use in a session to five or so; choose multi-joint exercises such as squats, power cleans, pull-ups, dead lifts over single joint exercises such as bicep curls or knee extensions; try to mimic the rowing motion when possible by setting your body in a similar position; and avoid slow negative work when using heavier weights especially with moderate volume (12-20 reps). Functional, explosive multi-joint strength training exercises can help increase your strength and power without increasing your body weight.
2010 Penn AC Gold teams with Olympic Rower, Bob Kaehler
May 2, 2010
Coach Kaehler teams with 2010 Penn AC Gold Summer Rowing Program
Coach Kaehler to provide Body Balance presentation, individual evaluations and group training session to 2010 Penn AC Gold camp athletes at Penn AC Boat Club
Philadelphia, PA – March 19, 2010 – Coach Kaehler announced today an agreement to team with Penn AC Gold 2010 summer training camp. Kaehler, a three-time U.S. Olympian, four-time World Champion in the Men’s Open 8+, will provide his signature Body Balance presentation, individual Body Balance evaluations, and a group training session for camp participants. All of Kaehler’s services will be included in the cost of the camp. Penn AC Gold 2010 summer rowing program will run from June 9th through July19th, 2010.
“Year after year, Penn AC Rowing Club enjoys extraordinary rowing success, and has produced many world-class athletes,” said Kaehler. “I am excited to partner with Penn AC Gold this summer. Working together, our goal is to provide each participant with a solid platform to build their own future rowing success.”
Penn AC Gold is a competitive and intensive summer rowing program for male, junior level high school athletes. Based in Philadelphia, PA, the camp operates out of the Penn AC Boat Club. The program is designed to help athletes prepare for collegiate competition by educating them on essential training elements, including rowing technique, aerobic and anaerobic training, strength and conditioning, flexibility, nutrition, teamwork, mental training, and coxing.
Penn AC Gold also gives junior athletes a chance to meet and speak with current and former Penn AC athletes who have participated on the U.S. National Team. The program connects generations of Penn AC rowers, who either have or will go on to represent the United States at the World Rowing Championships and Olympic Games.
For pricing and more detailed information on Penn AC Gold, please visit www.pennac.org
“During my collegiate rowing career, I looked up to Coach Kaehler as he competed for the United States, and won 3 consecutive World Championships in the Men’s Open 8+,” said Patrick Rufo, Program Director, Penn AC Gold. “His work ethic and dedication to the sport are among the main reasons I continued rowing at the highest level.”
“Now, as a strength and conditioning coach, I am again inspired by his training knowledge and what he does for our sport,” continued Rufo. “This is why we brought Coach Kaehler to Penn AC Boat Club this summer. His experience as an Olympic athlete, physical therapist, and an athletic / strength trainer will benefit all the athletes who train and compete for Penn AC Gold.”
Included in the cost of the camp, Coach Kaehler will provide the following services at 2010 Penn AC Gold:
Body Balance Lecture
Coach Kaehler’s signature presentation on anatomy and structural imbalances includes a detailed explanation of how these imbalances affect rowing and lifting performance. This presentation also outlines the bio-mechanics of strength training and rowing, and explains how specific strength training techniques can improve rowing performance by helping to restore body balance.
Body Balance Structural Evaluations (30 minute individual sessions)
Body Balance helps athletes row more powerfully and avoid injury by shifting stresses of the rowing stroke toward proper support muscles, and away from your low back and other joints. Coach Kaehler’s 30 minute, one-on-one Body Balance evaluations help athletes understand and correct their specific flexibility and strength imbalances to achieve a longer, more powerful and balanced rowing stroke. These sessions are followed by a personalized program of easy-to-follow exercises that address and correct the athlete’s structural issues.
Group Training Session
Performed in a gym, Coach Kaehler’s Group Training Session is a hands-on review of correct lifting technique using Coach Kaehler’s Body Balance principles.
For more information on Coach Kaehler’s services, or services that can be purchased for an additional cost, please visit www.CoachKaehler.com
or contact Coach Kaehler at CoachKaehler@gmail.com.
About Penn AC
Based in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Athletic Club and Rowing Association (Penn AC Boat Club), is an athletic organization that provides all levels of rowing opportunities and programs. Located on Philadelphia’s historic Boathouse Row along the Schuylkill River, Penn AC Boat Club has been home to athletes of varying levels and abilities, ranging from novice to experienced juniors to masters rowers and scullers, to elite Olympic athletes and world champions. The winning tradition of Penn AC and its spirit of camaraderie draw competitive athletes from across the country.
For more information about Coach Kaehler and his services, please visit www.CoachKaehler.com.
For more information on Penn AC Gold, please visit www.pennac.org
2010 City Championships – Philadelphia, PA
May 2, 2010
Congratulations to all the medal winning boats that raced for St. Joesph’s Preparatory School today in Philadelphia for the City Championships. Keep up the good work!!