We are so excited to be offering our DRIVE Jr. program for rowing athletes online. In order to maximize your performance in the shell, it is essential to supplement your time on the water with dry land training.

This is a full strength and conditioning training program that includes:

  • access through an app on your phone or tablet
  • exercises are described and include video demonstrations of technique
  • ability to send your questions directly to our Strength & Conditioning coach through the app
  • tips on recovery

In line with Long Term Development (LTD) for athletes, it is important that training is developmentally appropriate, so suggested ages for this program are 14 – 22 years old.

Developed by former National Team Rower, Lindsay Lynk (née Forget), a PISE Strength & Conditioning Coach, this program is created specifically to improve your rowing performance with training protocols designed to increase mobility, decrease the risk of acute and chronic injury and improve strength and power. It is designed specifically with distinct phases of training in mind and considers both the performance needs of the athletes as well as areas that commonly need improvement in the body of a rower. Having run for the past 10 years here at the Pacific Institute for Sport Education, we have seen it create not only stronger athletes but also resilient athletes.

Here's what Lindsay has planned for the phases of this program:

General Physical Preparedness – Fall

In this phase, we will move away from sport specific lifting for the most part, work on mobility and prepare the body for the heavier volumes and/or intensity to come throughout the winter and spring. I will give you some great movements to improve or maintain common areas of restriction, introduce or improve fundamental movements that will be foundational throughout the year and prepare the body for the next pre-competitive and competitive seasons. Circuit-style training in this phase is ideal as we can efficiently fit in several movements and lay down some muscle endurance. This is a fun phase to jump into following the competitive summer.

Hypertrophy – Late Fall/Early Winter

In this phase, we will work to build muscle mass. There will be some weeks with heavier volume and weeks with lighter volume but ultimately we are targeting specific muscle groups and working them pretty hard in order to improve work capacity. Some of you will experience muscle growth (which is the definition of hypertrophy) but if you don’t, do not panic! Regardless if you follow the program, your body will adapt well and you will be well prepared for the next phase – strength.

Strength phase – Winter

This is one of my favourite phases since we just get to see how much weight we can lift safely and create benchmarks. We will only be in this phase for 8 weeks so you will want to make the most of it. The exercise selection is simple and there is one main focus – make it heavy! Experienced lifters may be able to perform max testing, which will be very helpful in the future when determining how much weight an athlete is to lift for a given number of reps. This is going to be a lot of fun so get ready!

Mixed Strength & Power – Late Winter/Early Spring

In this phase, we will take all of that hard work that you did in the winter and start to combine it with some speed. Heavy loads do not move very quickly, so now we will add some quickness back in preparation for the spring and summer. You will still get to play with those nice loads you were lifting in January and February while at the same time you’ll get some pop back in those legs. (Spoiler alert: Depending on your experience, you might be looking at some Olympic lifting!)

Peak Power/Variable – Spring/Summer

In this final phase of the competitive season, you will work on explosive movements and keep quite sport specific as you enter the competitive season. We will keep some accessory work in there for the sake of injury prevention, but overall you’ll see a lot of movements similar to those you’ll perform on the water.

Sign up now!

GVYRS Members remember to use your coupon code to receive 50% off Drive Jr.*

*The coupon code will only need to be applied once to receive this discount each month.

This excellent program and direct access to your coach is an incredible value at $99/month and can be cancelled at anytime. Once you sign up, you will see instructions on how to download the app. You can start anytime.

This program was a significant part in my development towards becoming a high performance athlete, and helped me reach my goals at the time of going to the Junior World Rowing Championships two years in a row. It was a highlight of my training week… ~Caileigh