Best practices

Start of the class

Before the start of the class check in with everyone. Ask if they have any injuries and check their set-up on the machine. Make sure to help first-timers with the placement of their feet. The straps should be on the widest part of the feet. Furthermore, make sure to check everyone starts at low resistance (1 for inexperienced rowers, 2-3 for experienced rowers) to lower the risk of injuries.

At the beginning of each workout, explain what participants will see on the Studio screen. On the left is the current exercise, below that is the exercise coming up and below that is the remaining time of the current exercise. At the bottom of the screen, a timeline shows the structure of the workout. Orange segments represent technique and warm-up, red segments represent more intense rowing and blue segments represent exercises on the mat. The bottom right shows the remaining time of the workout.

Optionally, you can explain the focus of this workout and quickly walk through the timeline. What are the highlights? What part are you as a trainer looking forward to in particular?

Giving guidance during the workout

Communication

We recommend giving clear and short cues during the workout. Participants are focused on the workout, possibly tired and with a high heart rate, so long full sentences will quickly pass them by. Be as concise as possible.

Timing

The segments that make up a workout are often short. It is therefore important to transition from one exercise to another in a timely manner. The Studio screen helps with this, but the screen alone is not enough.

As a trainer, you must guide and encourage the participants to switch exercises at the right time. This works best by always anticipating what is to come. When the end of a segment is near, briefly mention the next exercise. Count down the seconds to the transition and after that, repeat which exercise just started.

If you wait to announce the next exercise until it has already begun, participants might miss the first few seconds of it, sometimes leaving too little time. Also, explaining the next exercise in detail while the previous one is still ongoing, does not work as well in practice because it distracts too much from the current exercise.

Adapting the workout

Progressions & regressions

Once participants perform a ground exercise, you give a progression and a regression. This way you make sure the exercise is doable for everyone, but also challenging.

Deviating from the exercise on the studio screen

(…)

Motivation

During the workout, you have different ways to motivate the class. You can use the data on the studio screen or coach someone personally using their participant screen. You can also use your voice to build up the energy and motivate the participants for the intensive parts of a workout.