Episode 11: Body Sequence

[00:00:09] Speaker A: In rowing, the basic body sequence is critical. The movement is legs, body, arms, arms, body, legs. The legs move first and are the foundation of the stroke. You want to make sure you're able [00:00:20] Speaker B: to maximize the power from your legs [00:00:22] Speaker A: and transition it to the rest of your body. So you don't want to open your body early or, or bend your arms early in shortchange the power coming from your legs. The legs are the foundation. Your body, your core is the translation of that power. Use your hips to take the power from your legs, bracing to ensure stability and transferring the work built in the legs to your arms. Your arms are the finish. Naturally pulling into your chest as your body transfers the power from your legs and core to send to the oar. The finish is what everyone sees. How many times do non rowers think it's an arm sport? But ultimately it's just a natural movement that's completing all the work your legs and core have already done. Then you reverse that movement on the way back up the slide. Your arms released first, leading your body, then finally your legs. Repeat to infinity and you've got it down. Just remember, legs, then body, then arms. Arms, then body, then legs. And repeat. In rowing and in life, sequence matters. It starts with your legs, your foundation. Your foundation is your values, your core beliefs. That's where your true power lives. Then comes your core, translating those beliefs into daily action through commitment, discipline, consistency. Only then can the finish come naturally, with all that power from your foundation and your effort. The finish is the visible part. The titles, the achievements, the milestones the world can see. But those outcomes are just the echo of the work beneath the surface. In rowing, at the back end of the stroke, when you're coming up the slide, if you release your legs before your arms, you end up hitting your knees. It's the same in life. If you chase the titles before building the foundation, everything wobbles. Because as Malcolm X said, a man who stands for nothing will fall for anything. Real progress on the water and in life comes from sequence. Build your base, move with intention, then finish strong. [00:02:10] Speaker B: Welcome back. I'm Alisha Kushman and this is the Gather. [00:02:13] Speaker A: We are here again today, gathered together [00:02:15] Speaker B: with my favorite people. Our topic today is the body sequence. Pretty hard to describe in words. So I think I'm gonna post a video on Instagram to kind of show that body sequence so you can kind of visualize it. But to kick us off today, I want to talk about something kind of funny. To me, when I go into a gym, any gym, and I see somebody on an erg, I, like, have to tell myself not to look. Like, nine times out of ten, if I look, I'm like, oh, my gosh, they're gonna get hurt. Or I just want to go, like, help them out. Have you guys experienced this? Do you guys have that same experience? [00:02:50] Speaker C: What's the common mistake that they do? What do they do wrong? [00:02:54] Speaker B: The thing that I notice more often than anything is having to put their arms over their knees because they're not doing. Recover the recovery. [00:03:03] Speaker A: Right. [00:03:03] Speaker B: And they're moving their legs before they actually are fully set with their arms and. Or I see the, like, arms over your kn. Knees a lot. [00:03:10] Speaker D: Or they're pulling with their arms or pulling, and they need to be. [00:03:14] Speaker C: Yeah, I see. [00:03:15] Speaker D: Instead of using their legs to pull themselves back, they push out their legs, and then they pull their arms in, and you're gonna mess up your bag with that. [00:03:25] Speaker B: Yep. [00:03:26] Speaker E: I did used to notice it sometimes at row house. I haven't been to row house in a good long time, but sometimes I'd be there. Not to say that my stroke performance or form was perfect, but was better than this one lady that was next to me one time. And I remember, like, she just wasn't getting the results because I could see her splits and her everything. And I just wanted to be like. Like, you could be so much more efficient and be getting more out of your machine than you are because you're not pulling efficiently. [00:03:50] Speaker D: Wait, are you checking out somebody else's [00:03:51] Speaker B: splits at row house who are rowing next to you? [00:03:54] Speaker E: Well, I couldn't help it. [00:03:55] Speaker B: Ever do something like that, [00:03:59] Speaker E: but. So I remember feeling like you almost feel bad. Like, you know, you could get more out of the stroke if you were just, you know, maybe being more efficient and doing it correctly. But I also feel like if I didn't have an erg in my office and did it in a gym, that I might be the person that other people are looking at going, oh, my God, do you see how she's doing that? [00:04:18] Speaker C: So what are the social dynamics of walking up to someone and telling them how they should be erging, oh, yeah, no, don't do it. [00:04:25] Speaker D: I wouldn't do it. [00:04:26] Speaker E: Yeah, I wouldn't do it either. But it's kind of like the question of, like, if you have. If someone has lettuce in their teeth, would. Is it nicer to tell them or not tell them, like, lettuce? I might tell someone. Or lint or I've tucked people's tag into the back of their sweaters before [00:04:39] Speaker C: you told Them first. [00:04:40] Speaker E: Yeah, I told them first. I was like, if you want, I could tuck this back in for you. [00:04:43] Speaker B: Okay. [00:04:44] Speaker D: You're reminding me of that TV commercial where it says, don't be your parents, where they're chucking. [00:04:48] Speaker E: I love those. [00:04:49] Speaker C: I love those. [00:04:50] Speaker B: That's such a good one. [00:04:52] Speaker E: I'm so that person. But at a gym, it's different, you know, because I think so much of our Persona is built up or wrapped up in working out and our body image and stuff. So I think I'd feel a little bit shyer about correcting someone's form if I even had the authority to do that. [00:05:07] Speaker B: I would never do it. Yeah, I would never do it. And, like, if somebody were to come. Actually, I think somebody did come up to me on the NERG once, and I was doing the pick drill, and they were like, that's not right. And I was like, yes, it is. [00:05:18] Speaker E: Can you explain the pick drill? [00:05:20] Speaker B: Okay, so the pick drill is something we do on my club. We do it to warm up and cool down. And it's basically you do just arms only, and then you do just arms and body, and then you do arms, body, half slide, and then you do full slide. And it's just kind of a way to remind yourself of that body sequence. [00:05:37] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. [00:05:38] Speaker B: And it also helps you to do it in the reverse direction. You can isolate your legs, too. So there's a lot of different ways you can do the pick drill by, like, sort of isolating the various parts of your body sequence on the erg. And it's really important to, like, remember the body sequence and get some of the, like, isolation down. So I. We do the pick drill every morning at the beginning of the workout as a warmup, and we do it as a cool down when we get back. But if you're not a rower, you might not know that. Hey, I'm only using my arms because this is actually a warmup, not because I don't know what I'm doing. Right. [00:06:10] Speaker E: Someone just thought you were just, just, Just sitting there just for fun. For fun. [00:06:13] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. [00:06:14] Speaker B: Using my arms. [00:06:15] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:06:15] Speaker B: And I did not appreciate him stopping me. [00:06:18] Speaker C: No, I wouldn't. I would think not. [00:06:19] Speaker B: Also, I'm like, a little bit of a feminist. And I was like, what? [00:06:23] Speaker E: Don't mansplain this. [00:06:26] Speaker C: A little bit of a feminist. [00:06:28] Speaker E: Sorry, Ed. [00:06:29] Speaker B: I'm a little more than a little bit of a feminist. [00:06:34] Speaker C: That is good. [00:06:35] Speaker B: Do you see it, though, Ed? Do you see it? Like, would you. Do you walk into the gym and be like, oh, that's do you see it wrong? [00:06:41] Speaker C: Well, I mean, honestly, I don't look that closely where I go the. I don't want to throw Planet Fitness under the bus because I feel like [00:06:48] Speaker B: we did it before. [00:06:49] Speaker E: No. [00:06:49] Speaker C: So, I mean, it's a wonderful place. That's where I go. [00:06:52] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:06:52] Speaker C: It's a perfect economic point for me. And, you know, but I think the ergs are so bad there that [00:07:00] Speaker E: I [00:07:00] Speaker C: feel, I think, like, how could you not have bad form on those? [00:07:03] Speaker B: But true facts. [00:07:04] Speaker E: But I have a question, actually, like, that this reminds me of. I mean, I still feel like it's. Is it better to be erging badly than not at all? Like, I guess if there's a risk of injury, but if someone's like not erging in perfect form at Planet Fitness, but they're getting some calories burned and [00:07:19] Speaker D: yeah, they're doing their body, they're moving [00:07:21] Speaker E: their body, it seems like. I think that's another reason why I wouldn't say anything is at least someone's getting out there, you know, Especially if I'm walking by with my ice cream cone while they're like, inside the gym trying to do something. Like, who am I to. To say anything, Kim, if you walked [00:07:33] Speaker D: into a gym from outside watching someone erg, that's another level I know exactly. [00:07:43] Speaker B: With ice cream, too. [00:07:44] Speaker E: Yeah, exactly. [00:07:46] Speaker B: Look at you doing it wrong. [00:07:51] Speaker A: Yeah, I do. [00:07:52] Speaker B: I think it's better to be booming than not. I just, I worry I have lower back issues and so I worry about people hurting their lower back. I think that's my big thing. If you see somebody who's like legit going to get injured. [00:08:04] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:08:04] Speaker B: I don't know that I would still say anything, but. [00:08:07] Speaker E: So one of the reasons I like irking versus some other kinds of exercise that I've tried over the years is that I love how low impact it is. Like, when you do it right, I feel like it actually is protective of. Of my back. Like, I feel like my back is more protected than it would be like running or some other exercise. Again, I keep using that as if I've ever done that. But, you know, it can be very protective. I love how low impact rowing on the machine can be. [00:08:29] Speaker D: And I do think it's interesting because if you do row correctly, you won't feel the twinges. And when you row incorrectly on the erg, you will find. [00:08:37] Speaker E: Exactly. And so it's a cue. [00:08:39] Speaker D: Yeah. And I have definitely had times where I'm like, I am not doing this right. My back hurts way too much. What am I doing. And then you have to slow down and go back to whether it's a pig drill or just kind of breaking it down into those pieces and saying, okay, let's start this over again and make sure I'm actually getting this form. Because you do feel it. You feel it when you're not doing it right. [00:08:59] Speaker B: You know, it's funny because this actually just happened to me this year. So when winter conditioning was starting, do you remember, I think I showed you the video. I was like, my lower back hurt. Last winter conditioning, I was out. I like legit got injured. And this year I was like, I don't want it. I started to feel a little tweak in my lower back. And I asked one of the women who does winter conditioning with me to videotape me. And she did it in slow mo. And it was so helpful because you feel it. I mean, I work a lot, so I feel like I've got the body sequence down. But even with me, there was just a little moment at the, at the catch, which is the very start of the stroke, where I was kind of lurching forward and rolling my lower back. So I was at the 11 o' clock position. And then I would kind of lunge forward a little bit. And that's exactly. It was just that tiny little movement. It was just a tiny little bit off that I couldn't see. I couldn't. I certainly didn't feel it when I was doing it. And you can't see it with your kind of naked eye, but it was just a tiny little movement at the front that was causing my back issues. [00:09:49] Speaker A: Wow. [00:09:50] Speaker B: And so it's helpful to kind of have somebody video you and see, like, are you really. Are you opening early? It doesn't feel like you're opening early, but you might be. So it is helpful to kind of get a video, especially a slow mo video, to see if you're getting that [00:10:02] Speaker D: body sequence right, not only for injury, but I know that Mira was looking at, my daughter was looking at the physics of rowing and the power that goes into the stroke. And there are obviously studies, and I'm sure there are machines now that on the er, you can measure the power in each part of that body sequence. And it's fascinating how little, little changes like you just mentioned can add incredible amounts of power to that stroke. Little, little tiny changes. And they do. And you, you get, you know, a video recording and it's a. Not even a 10 degree change in your body position during the drive that can add the watts to your to your stroke. It's. It's really fascinating. [00:10:51] Speaker B: It really is cool. I don't know if you guys remember when we were on we're that there was an erg episode where we were talking about the different kinds of ergs. [00:10:57] Speaker E: Oh yeah. [00:10:58] Speaker B: And I mentioned the peloton erg with this video technology that tells you and it will tell you if you've like pulled with your arms or if you've like opened early. And I really genuinely want to try it because if you don't have somebody to video you having like this real time feedback of like, hey, you opened your body early, don't do it on the next stroke. And like a little flag on the monitor, it tells you like what part has gone wrong. [00:11:19] Speaker E: That's amazing. [00:11:20] Speaker B: So I feel like that would be so helpful for tech. [00:11:23] Speaker D: And I think we've talked about winter conditioning. I think it's really important too to understand why winter conditioning is so important. Because each individual rower can focus on those strengths during that body movement that they wouldn't necessarily be able to focus on in the boat during spring. I mean, they can focus on it, but it's not individualized enough because they've still got to keep up with the other rowers in the boat. So on an Erg, they can be very specific about what they can change and focus on to make that power happen. So that's one of the benefits of winter conditioning. [00:11:58] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:11:58] Speaker D: One of the big benefits of winter conditioning. [00:12:00] Speaker B: Absolutely. Because the body sequence sounds so simple, it's so foundational to being able to put power down safely on the water. And it sounds so simple, but there's so many things that can go wrong when you're on the water. Legs, body, arms is like the last thing that you have brain power to think about on the water. Because you've got oars, you've got other people, you've got like the stability of the boat. There's just way too much to like really be able to focus on that body sequence as much. You've got to really nail it before you really. Before you get in the boat. [00:12:27] Speaker C: I never thought about that. That's interesting. So you've got to be. Yeah, because you're reacting to. Because I was going to ask you what's the difference between the body sequence in a boat versus on the erg, other than what visibly I could see, which is when they're sweeping, you're, you know, you're. You're sort of twisting what looks like just the upper part of your body. I don't know if that's right. But it seems like the upper part is moving differently. But yeah, the balance in the boat and all those things are kind of, I would imagine you have different muscles, even sort of stabilizing yourself in that process, which you wouldn't have in the Erg stroke. [00:13:01] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, definitely. Yeah. It's still the same body sequence, though. And that's the thing, like we were talking about it in the Erg episode. Like the Erg can't get everything right, but it's still the same, like legs first, then body, then arms. [00:13:15] Speaker C: You know, this is going to be. I don't know if this is a dumb connection. Here we go. But, you know, I, I teach and one of the things that I used to teach all the, you know, you teach writing, you can't help but have writing as part of anything that you do because you have to be able to present arguments and you have to be able to create a case. And you know, there's elements, you know, there's the standard five paragraph essay, you know, that kind of thing, which is what you have to start with. And it has all these elements and there's a, an order to it at all and a kind of simplicity to what you're saying. So when you, you talk about the stroke or things like that, you know, the pieces, there's a certain simplicity, but then you realize how many millions of variations and just, you know, you can, you can lose an audience really quickly if you skip a step or if you little tweaks make a giant difference in how this happens. Obviously, Kim is the writer in the group, and so all of that. But the, but even in, you know, preparing lectures or public speaking or any of these things, it's reminding me mostly maybe just because of the academics, but the, the structure of arguments and how hard it is and how, how little things and how much attention you have to pay to the sequencing so that you don't lose an audience, so that you make the most compelling case. I don't know. That was a random connection. No, I know. [00:14:31] Speaker D: I think that's, I think it's applicable to almost anything. [00:14:34] Speaker A: Right. [00:14:35] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:14:35] Speaker D: I mean, you know, my life as a lobbyist, I'm not going to go up to the Hill and try to pass a bill that I haven't gone through the process of socializing and educating. And so, you know, it really, it does sound simple, you know, body sequence, but it's, it's applicable to almost everything we do to make sure that we're following the process to get the best outcome and with the most power through each one of those steps that you have to take to actually reach that goal. So, no, I think it's a. It's. It's most definitely. [00:15:04] Speaker C: But what's neat is then that connection between. So the erg is where you practice. Right. And it's kind of like the textbook version of doing everything. Then you get on the water and all of the life variables come in. [00:15:15] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. [00:15:16] Speaker C: And then you got to adjust it and you've got to learn how to kind of pivot in moments and. And make it relevant to that audience or to this other audience or to that person or whatever. And that's hard to do. [00:15:28] Speaker E: Yeah. But the foundations are so essential. Just to riff on what you were saying about writing, I teach graduate level writing, and we always talk about, like, you need to know the basic rules of writing so that you can break those rules, because interesting writing comes from those little variations, those little moments when you break the rules. And of course, you can't break the rules in a rowing race, you know, to a certain extent, but that's where those little variables come in. And I remember that at various times I've given talks about my job, like, at career fairs, at elementary schools. And like, they're little kids and they can. They just think of, like, the jobs being like, I want to be a doctor or fireman. You know, sometimes I talked about what a writer does, and I bring in Legos, and I say, like, okay, you have the basic building blocks of a story or of a sentence. And like, the yellow Legos are the noun and the red Legos are the verb. And I said, you build, everyone build the same little foundation. They'll all build a little stack of the Legos, and then they get the random Legos that they get to build on it. I said, that's where you build your story, and that's where the creativity comes in. But you got to start with the foundational Legos. And that's what that reminded me of. And so whether it's fifth graders or grad school or college or life, you know that that foundation is really essential. [00:16:38] Speaker C: That's funny. I didn't know you, but when I taught writing, or because we would do our. Our methods class, I did a LEGO one as well. [00:16:46] Speaker E: We were so meant to be friends. [00:16:49] Speaker C: Mine were all the pieces, the different studies that you have that you're trying to pull together into your lit review and all that kind of stuff, but [00:16:56] Speaker E: the nerds of a feather section. [00:16:59] Speaker B: But it's the same with so many things I'm thinking about music. Right. Like, you got to know your scales. [00:17:03] Speaker E: That's right. Exactly. Right. [00:17:05] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. [00:17:06] Speaker E: And then that way you don't have to think about it when. [00:17:08] Speaker B: When. [00:17:08] Speaker E: When the time comes when you're under that test, you know, or whatever reason, like, you're not thinking about the skills when you have to go perform in front of the audience. [00:17:15] Speaker B: Right. You've got to have your foundation. [00:17:17] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:17:17] Speaker B: I wasn't even thinking about this. When we were writing the intro. It was like, oh, there's so many different sequencing really does matter. How do you identify it? As you guys were talking about writing? I have a friend who wrote a book and is now in the sort of query letter process and has done some short story sort of submissions as part of this. And there are certain circumstances in life where you feel like you have a foundation, but you can't necessarily apply it because you don't have the right sequencing, you don't have the right nuance. And how do you kind of learn those things if you have no exposure to it? Like, how do you. How do you identify those sequences that you may not. That may not be obvious to you that are so critical? [00:17:55] Speaker E: That comes back to practice. So, you know, so being a writer, like, taking this metaphor even further, like, you know, I pitch stories to editors and they don't always get accepted. And sometimes they do, but that's where the practice comes in. And it's kind of again, like, you know, you start a race, like, you don't know if you're gonna win that race or not. All you can rely on is the best you have at the moment. Like, if I've built my foundation, I've built my story. I hope this is the race that I win. But you may not win. You know, maybe you have to tweak something, and the next time you enter the race, then that will hit and you'll win and have to keep going for it. [00:18:27] Speaker B: Yeah, it's like adjusting to just life's nuances. Like we were just talking about. [00:18:31] Speaker E: Exactly. [00:18:32] Speaker C: I remember talking about or hearing you talk about how when your kids went from high school and then into college, that the way that they were doing their strokes in college were different than what they were doing in high school. That there was a slight pause in this other place and just how. How the. How the basics of the sequence actually are. They're almost riffed on to create personalities of teams. Would that be right? I mean, are there. [00:18:58] Speaker B: Oh, definitely. [00:18:58] Speaker D: Oh, yes. [00:18:59] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. [00:19:00] Speaker C: So you can watch. I mean, you can watch a team and say, oh, well, that person was probably coached by this people or they grew up in that sort of. Yeah, they have these personalities. [00:19:08] Speaker D: Coaches have different styles. Teams have different styles. Definitely. [00:19:12] Speaker B: Countries have different. [00:19:13] Speaker D: Countries have different styles. Yes. [00:19:15] Speaker E: So interesting. [00:19:16] Speaker B: Yeah, I had no idea. There is so much nuance to it when you get on the water. So like Derek was telling me, like, there's just a slightly different catch angle. Like, hey, you want to get the length at the finish or you want to get the length at the catch? Like, some people want more length at the finish, some people want more length to catch. And you're like, whoa, I didn't even think about that. Like the focus and mental fortitude you have to, have to have built so much foundation in rowing to clear out so much noise when you're on the water. To be able to like identify my catch angle is just a little bit off of what my coach wants me to do. Yeah, it's like mind blowing to me because there's so much going on on the water to be able to like be at the level where you can, you have built so much of the foundation. [00:20:03] Speaker C: Yeah. But it's another example of why, you know, doing this, this sport, or probably any sport but this one. Think about what it did for the kids and what it does. I mean, because we're talking about that, but that, that sense of repetition and building that base and having to have that routine down and then to be able to adjust on the fly. But that how everything, you know, there's a certain expertise that comes and experience comes into play. And what looks effortless on the water and masks the nuances and what looks like masks all the hard work. You know, anything that you've really worked for and done well at least looks effortless at the end. Like, you read a book and you think, oh, I could have put those words together. You realize, no, you actually can't. You can't do that. This is really hard. [00:20:52] Speaker D: Right. [00:20:53] Speaker B: I could totally be the CEO of that company today. [00:20:56] Speaker D: I can paint that. [00:20:58] Speaker E: Yeah, exactly. Right. I think that ambition is good. Right. [00:21:02] Speaker D: You need both. [00:21:02] Speaker E: I think you need to have those strong foundation, but still have those dreams also. And it's good probably to envision yourself crossing every finish line in first place. And as long as you're not, you know, too over proud about it, you know. But I think it's nice to balance that, like to understand that you have to put the work in, but then, you know, also reach high for those big goals. [00:21:24] Speaker C: Well, at this point, I'd like to send A little note out to our dear listeners who are. Who are sticking with us as we are. We're working on our repetition and figuring out how to do a podcast. We are making this happen. [00:21:38] Speaker B: So, yes, seriously, thank you guys for listening to it. [00:21:41] Speaker E: Thank you. I love it. [00:21:46] Speaker B: That's a good call out. [00:21:49] Speaker C: So I feel like this is the time in our show when we. We switch to this. This time it's Jessica. [00:21:55] Speaker D: Trivia. Are we ready for trivia? Okay, so this is Kim ready. [00:22:01] Speaker E: That's what we need to know. Here we go. [00:22:04] Speaker D: Okay, so in the 2010 film The Social Network, which iconic 1980s rowing movie is referenced during a scene where the Winklevoss twins are competing in the Henley Royal Regatta? [00:22:20] Speaker B: 80s rowing movie? [00:22:21] Speaker D: Yes. [00:22:21] Speaker E: Is it Oxford Blues? Of course. Oh, my God, yes. [00:22:29] Speaker B: I was so excited. I was like, I know the Social Network. [00:22:31] Speaker E: I know the Lucas. I know. [00:22:33] Speaker B: I know Henley. I've got this one. [00:22:35] Speaker E: I'm gonna go play the lottery. So has anyone seen Oxford Blues? [00:22:40] Speaker C: No. [00:22:41] Speaker E: It is. Sorry, Rob Lowe. It is a terrible movie. It is a terrible movie that involves rowing where a very young Rob Lowe plays, like, kind of a callow youth, and he's chasing after some rich British lady, and he somehow gets into Oxford and somehow walks onto the rowing team. And then there's this big race at the end, and he steals a boat. And it is. Yeah, I don't actually remember. I have seen this movie, and I actually think I love Rob Lowe. He's a great actor. Like, unless he was really Young, in [00:23:18] Speaker D: the 80s, he was Rob Lowe. [00:23:20] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:23:20] Speaker E: I mean, so. But I didn't know. [00:23:23] Speaker B: What does that mean? [00:23:24] Speaker E: Like, well, he was Roblox. [00:23:25] Speaker D: He was cute. [00:23:27] Speaker E: Like, okay, yeah, so it didn't matter. Like, it didn't matter if the movie was bad. [00:23:31] Speaker D: He was Rob Lowe. [00:23:32] Speaker B: Mean, it's so funny. So thanks for listening, guys. Don't hit pause. We'll see you on the other side of the Splash. [00:23:39] Speaker E: Thanks, you guys. [00:23:41] Speaker B: Bye.