[Ian Finlay]

Staying healthy is not hard, even with tons of school work on your desk. This is a very good topic Nicole, because many people do not realise that they just gained a lot more weight than they thought.

Personally balancing working out, school and socializing is easy because I make my workouts my social times. Go with a friend or friends(more than 3 people gets a bit crowded unless its a class). A friend told me about these guys who can deadlift ridiculous amounts of weight because whenever their friends went drinking or partying, they went to the gym and did deadlifts.

Another good way to manage time is go to the gym early, or join a sports team. This gives you a routine. Why not a sports team that trains early? The McMaster Rowing team trains and finishes before most people wake up. They take people for their novice team who have never rowed before to train and race. Plus rowing is one of the most intense workouts ever, burning as much fuel as (from what I have been told) playing 2 back to back basketball games in a 7 minute race! Personally I have lost close to 20lbs in a season, and have lost much more overall due to rowing. Tryouts(fitness testing) is usually welcome week so keep an eye out or email the teams president. Tryouts aren't hard, you just need to have a bit of fitness and you are good.

[Jellybeanz]

Originally Posted by Ian Finlay

Another good way to manage time is go to the gym early, or join a sports team. This gives you a routine. Why not a sports team that trains early? The McMaster Rowing team trains and finishes before most people wake up. They take people for their novice team who have never rowed before to train and race. Plus rowing is one of the most intense workouts ever, burning as much fuel as (from what I have been told) playing 2 back to back basketball games in a 7 minute race! Personally I have lost close to 20lbs in a season, and have lost much more overall due to rowing. Tryouts(fitness testing) is usually welcome week so keep an eye out or email the teams president. Tryouts aren't hard, you just need to have a bit of fitness and you are good.

Did you compete on the competitive or novice squad? I was planning on trying out for the novice team because I've never rowed before and it looks fun! How early are the training sessions? *cringes* haha

[Ian Finlay]

Originally Posted by Jellybeanz

Did you compete on the competitive or novice squad? I was planning on trying out for the novice team because I've never rowed before and it looks fun! How early are the training sessions? *cringes* haha

I started in novice, and have been rowing competetive in the Varsity Team and the Club team in Hamilton called the Leander Boat Club. Seriously come try out, no one who rows novice has rowed before, we teach you and race at all the races the varsity and jv boats race at except for Canadians. Mac has has novice rowers go on to row with the National development team. We have one athlete rowing on the National team right now who will most likely be going to the next olympics. The practices are at 5:30-6ish starts but are well worth it. I know I am ready to go for a day full of classes after practice. The season is sept-october(only 8ish weeks long) so the mornings aren't that bad. And then the winter you train in groups whenever you can all meet. Great exercise, and you get to meet some cool people, so I highly suggest you try out!

[Jellybeanz]

Thank you so much for the info! What kind of things do you do at the try-outs? I'm in decent shape, so I'm not too worried.

[Ian Finlay]

Originally Posted by Jellybeanz

Thank you so much for the info! What kind of things do you do at the try-outs? I'm in decent shape, so I'm not too worried.

Nothing too hard. Sit you on a rowing machine to see how well you can do 1000m usually. It's different every year.

[tatski-p]

Where do you guys practice? How long does practice last?