We interviewed Power House Rowing Club coach Martyn O'Leary about why he believes glutes are an important and often under utilised asset in rowing. In this article he gives some great tips for on and offwater to improve your drive and connection via glute activation.

When and how did you discover the importance of glute activation in rowing?

I took a break from competitive rowing and started my coaching journey. Thrown straight into the deep end I was made Head Coach at St John’s Hamilton College. My first couple of years was a lot of experimenting, coaching both novices and seniors I played around with ideas I thought would help the boys row well. Hastening the journey to rowing fast was the most important thing to me. The fundamental turning point for me in my coaching was when I realized what looks tidy is not necessarily fast.

That got me to delve deeper to realize what was too obvious all along. It was this simple, directing attention toward the drive and connection ended up being fundamental to boat speed.

Two crews are racing, both are even except for two differences. One crew is advanced technically in their posture, immaculate blade work skills, and the timing of each body part coming forward is perfect, but they have no drive or connection. The other boat’s technique appears terrible, but they have a strong connection and drive. Which boat wins?

Coincidentally, it was around this time that Karl Manson (Robbie Manson’s brother) was working at Hamilton Girls High School out of the same boat shed. We spent a lot of time bouncing ideas off each other, I had recently had this realization and decided to run it past him. His view was similar to mine.

Karl said, “Connection and drive are all I work on with my girls, I’ve never focussed on anything else. Blade work, timing, and posture all develop naturally alongside this focus. One part of the connection that most people don’t put too much attention to that solves a lot of core issues is using the glutes. Most rowers don’t activate this muscle which is arguably one of the strongest muscles available to a rower during the drive. That is why I start by teaching my girls how to activate their glutes. I work on getting them to feel the connection in their glutes and repeatedly do exercises off the water to solidify their muscle-mind connection."

Karl taught me this lesson. He put a huge emphasis on glute activation. When we were having our best races during our time in the Men’s New Zealand Double, we were just relaxed and connected using the glutes to drive the boat. If you get it right, it is such an effortless experience.

Karl Manson had a lot of success with this coaching style and focus so I decided to partly adopt the same strategy.

At first, I tried it in my own rowing. To put it simply, it was my own missing link, my rowing became faster and effortless.

I was inspired to implement it in my next novice coaching season, and we had massive success at the Maadi Cup winning medals across the boats with lots of top 6 finishes. We didn’t have big guys either and they were competitive mainly for their effortless technique. Ex-rowers and coaches would complement these crews on how good their technique looked.

Leading to the moral of the story. I didn’t focus at all on what they looked like. I focussed on getting them relaxed and connected during the drive. Everything else fell into place.

How will activating our glutes improve how we row?

The glutes drive the legs. It’s a stronger muscle, so by activating it you will be able to generate more power. On top of this, you will be able to better connect with the water throughout the front part of the drive just like the start of a deadlift. The legs move the bar moves.

Similarly, to rowing, as you drive, the boat and handle should also be moving. The glutes enable you to be connected to the speed of the water, creating a natural sense of timing in the drive off the front end.

Contracting the glutes also has an indirect effect on the rest of your body. Try to tense your shoulders and glutes? How uncomfortable does it feel?  Working on glute activation naturally allows you to be more relaxed in the upper body, supporting you to better hang, and conserve valuable energy.

What should we do to ensure we activate our glutes effectively when rowing?

Off-the-water exercises. Glute activation drills. Basic squeeze and relax, feel free to use your hands and place them on your butt. It will help to better feel the squeeze and contraction. If you would like to do more, jump on YouTube and search for glute activation drills. This is an example of a drill from Dark Horse Rowing. There are many more available.

How will it feel when we get it right?

Your upper body will feel loose, and your glutes will feel tense. You hold this tension low as you push. You may also feel yourself lifted slightly on your seat as you activate them!

Is there a wrong way to activate your glutes? How do we avoid this?

There is only one way to activate them. The only thing we should avoid is not activating them prior to the push. Activate and then push. The timing of the activation is what’s important.

What off water training can we do to help with glute activation?

Jump on the erg, throw the screen down, and make a concentrated effort to simply focus on activation. If you want to focus more effort on the glutes, work off the first quarter of the front end. Once it becomes natural let me know.