Q & A WITH INOV8 TRAINING ATHLETE AND DARK HORSE ROWING FOUNDER, SHANE FARMER

We caught up with INOV8 Training athlete and The CrossFit Games team athlete, Shane Farmer on the recent changes to The CrossFit Games, what it takes to be a CrossFit athlete and all things rowing!

1. WHEN/WHY DID YOU START YOUR ROWING JOURNEY?

I began rowing as a freshman in college at the University of San Diego because I missed tryouts for baseball. I just happened to be tall and got unexpectedly recruited. 6 months later I realized I was in love with the sport and never looked back.

2. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE PEOPLE MAKE WITH THEIR ROWING TECHNIQUE/MOST COMMON FAULT YOU SEE?

It would probably be not understanding how important the “Catch” position is. That’s the loaded front end of the stroke. Most people have never learned how to achieve the perfect position there and it creates a lot of upstream and downstream issues that are much easier to handle once the “Catch” is shored up.

3. WHEN SIGNING UP TO DARK HORSE ROWING PROGRAMMING, WHAT SHOULD PEOPLE EXPECT?

It’s all about slyly teaching you the movement without feeling like you’re having to do too much learning and instead you’re getting to workout. You get videos to guide you through drills before every workout which subtly endorse the better and better movement, and then each workout holds a specific purpose to make you better at a specific goal. It’s all app-based making it accessible anywhere, anytime, and you can do our workouts on any rowing machine you might have access to.

4. WHAT DO YOU THINK TO THE RECENT CHANGES TO THE CROSSFIT GAMES?

Change is generally a good thing and perhaps injecting some new ideas may help create longer-term feasibility for the Games although it might be hard for people to recognize how at the moment.

5. WINNER OF THE CROSSFIT GAMES 2019 MALE AND FEMALE?

I’m personally biased in hoping to see Tia-Clair Toomey back at the top as she’s one of my athleticism on the men’s side it would be fun to see a Dark Horse come out of the woodwork and surprise the field but I can’t say I have a particular athlete in mind.

6. 5 QUALITIES YOU THINK PEOPLE NEED TO PROCESS TO BE A SUCCESSFUL CROSSFIT ATHLETE?

1. Be a technician. 2. Be a little crazy 3. Be coachable 4. Explore the far reaches of fitness expression (dance, fighting, dance fighting, etc) 5. The ability to grind

7. WHAT IS YOUR GO-TO INOV8 SHOE AND WHY?

I’m a F-LITE 195 guy. They’re so nice and light and there’s nothing cumbersome or bulky about them. I also love to be barefoot as much as possible and this gives me that feeling when I need to have shoes one.

8. YOUR FAVOURITE CROSSFIT ATHLETE?

Sam Dancer. I’ve had the pleasure of being able to spend quite a bit of time with Sam as we’re typically roommates when we travel and coach together and his expression of fitness comes out as one of the most complete I’ve witnessed. He embodies a complete mind, body, and soul connection. So while he’s incredibly strong, his ability to process and interpret what’s necessary to build a complete human is unsurpassed.

9. ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE TO SOMEBODY WHO WANTS TO IMPROVE THEIR ROWING?

Join the Dark Horse Program (darkhorserowing.com) or subscribe to our YouTube channel for all our videos (youtube.com/darkhorserowing)

Keep up to date with our INOV8 blog and watch out for more athlete Q & A’s!