S5E25: No Water? No Problem. Rower and Trainer Cassi Niemann Thrives in Albuquerque

Like many athletes sidelined by injury, Cassi Niemann turned to rowing to see what her body could handle. After walking on as a freshman, she found strength in the community her Georgia Tech crew provided.

Cassi never could have known then that her trajectory was about to drastically change. Nearly 30 years later, Cassi’s resume is packed with coaching experience and training certs. She's the lead UCanRow2 Master Rowing Instructor with Concept2. She’s also a competitive power lifter and the owner of CASstrong, where she blends rowing with her expertise as a strength coach.

Cassi not only helps indoor rowers improve their skills and confidence on the machine, but also trains other coaches to effectively integrate rowing into a variety of fitness settings. 

We got to talk to Cassi about indoor rowing, lifting, and creating sustainable training habits for health, confidence, and community. 

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Want a training program that combines strength and rowing?
Check out BarbellMedicine.com and use code CASSI10 for a discount.

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QUICK LOOK

00:00 - Intro 
01:38 - Rowing Week: 1-10
02:42 - The Huddle
03:20 - The Hot Seat Q&A
04:53 - Rowing origin story: walking on at Georgia Tech brought community and a focus for success as a student athlete
09:45 - First coaching gig: Georgia Tech novices
12:30 - Developing a coaching style, influences
16:13 - Transition from collegiate rowing to masters rowing
18:18 - Bootcamps, powerlifting, and CrossFit
21:37 - UCanRow2 training verification, coaching other coaches, and talking about indoor rowing without talking about rowing on the water
29:18 - Setting yourself up for winter fitness success with: BAM (bare ass minimum), RAD (really awesome day), auto-regulation
33:58 - Barbell Medicine rowing + strength training program
39:29 - Cassi’s “original domino piece” - the thing that's gonna catapult someone into making more changes with just one change
42:15 - Outro

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To see photos of Cassi, and get links to the people, clubs, and events mentioned in this episode, check out the show notes on our website.

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This episode was made possible in part by Breakwater Realty, RowSource, and our Patrons.

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Steady State Podcast is written, produced, hosted, and edited by Rachel Freedman and Tara Morgan. Tara provides additional audio engineering and is our sponsor coordinator. Rachel manages the website, social media, and e-newsletter. Our theme music is by Jonas Hipper.

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