What is a Meataxe rower? (Not a meathead)

People keep telling me they'd never heard the word Meataxe used to describe a rower, and they didn't realise it was rowing slang. It wasn't, until I made it up when I started @meataxe_rowing on Instagram. Here's what it means, who it's for and where to start.

What does Meataxe mean in rowing?

I wanted the word to describe a certain type of person. Someone who gives it their all, who is fully committed, who loves the sport and lives and breathes it, and who has a good portion of meatiness to them. What they don't have is that natural boat-moving skill, the kind where you're meant to feel the rhythm right in your loins.

A Meataxe is often strong but slow. They work hard, they've got a pretty good 2k, and the natural boat movers still beat them on the water.

I count myself as one. If I score myself out of ten, I'm a seven or an eight physically, but technically I'm a six or a seven, which is why I'm a Meataxe. I still won Olympic gold in the Kiwi eight in Tokyo.

"Yes, we've got a bit of meatiness to us, but we're sharp still. We just need language that we can understand, and so that's where the idea of Meataxe came from. We have a sharp edge."

Why Meataxe and not meathead?

My first thought was Meathead Rowing. But meathead is wrong, because a meathead implies that you're stupid, and we're not stupid. We may lack a bit of that natural boat feel. We may not be able to talk like the one in your crew who goes on about the resonance of the boat and feeling it in your loins. I don't know what that means.

"I remember one guy told me we need to be like a dolphin going through the Pacific."

My reaction was, bro, speak like a human to me please. That's the point of the word. A Meataxe has a sharp edge and wants to get better, and needs it explained in plain language.

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The Meataxe spectrum

I like to think of Meataxe as one long, wide spectrum, and everyone in rowing is on it somewhere.

"On one end of the spectrum you have somebody like Hamish Bond, who is the least bit Meataxe you could ever imagine."

Everyone else sits somewhere behind him, all the way to the other end. Think about the sport we're doing. Rowing is a basic, old-school, Neanderthal sport. We're pulling on an oar and trying to go fast backwards. We're all Meataxes to some degree.

This site is built to help the people at the Meataxe end of the spectrum, but it's for everyone at the same time.

Is a Meataxe the same as a heavyweight rower?

Not quite. Generally Meataxes are pretty heavy, and sometimes what a Meataxe suffers is a lack of control of all that mass. Learning to control your mass in the boat is going to make you faster. That's why I tell Meataxes to do the first four to six kilometres of every row feet out. We did it in the Kiwi eight every single day, and it smooths out your rowing.

But Meataxe isn't a weight class. It describes a type of rower: plenty of meatiness and commitment, not much natural boat feel.

Why the boat movers should be worried

The boat movers in your team are actually a bit scared of you. They know that Meataxe works pretty hard, is pretty strong and has a pretty good 2k. Their comeback is, "Oh, but I beat him on the water."

"Yeah, you beat him on the water. Now how long do you think that's going to last? You're a little bit scared of that Meataxe, aren't you?"

A lot of boat movers are worried that the Meataxe in their crew, or the one they're racing, will work it out and all of a sudden put that power down to the water. Rowing is a sport of momentum. When the big rowers in your crew start putting their power down, that's when you win races. I'd love to help you beat those boat movers.

Who is Meataxe Rowing for?

Meataxe Rowing is for Meataxes first: strong, committed rowers who aren't naturals. That covers masters and club rowers, juniors and their parents, and uni crews, plus the coaches and crews around them. If you've got a Meataxe in your crew, you're in the same boat.

I lean towards the eight, because that's the boat I won in. Everything here comes from my videos, written up properly, in language you can actually understand.

Where to start

Pick the one that sounds most like you.

• Your erg is good but the boat doesn't go: how a big, powerful rower should use their power in a crew boat and hang off your lats, the tip Eric Murray gave me.
• You're sick of being told to feel the boat: the best rowing technique is whatever makes the boat fast and three drills we kept coming back to in the Kiwi eight.
• You've got a 2k coming up: my exact 2k erg warm-up, the two erg sessions I did before every big 2k and my 2k erg scores by age.
• Nerves get the better of you: how to get your head right before a race or a 2k and what Mahé Drysdale taught me about self-belief.
• You row in an eight: what each seat in a rowing eight does and the 6 x 2k session that was the Kiwi eight's proving ground.