Strokes Per Minute

[old] John Hendrie · Post by **[old] John Hendrie** » January 31st, 2005, 11:29 am

I am confused by SPM. I see many references in this forum where the very serious ergomaniacs are citing rates in the low 20 spm. However, this past Saturday I competed in the GSIRC which provided the opportunity to watch hundreds of rowers ranging from old geezers like me to young juniors. Three of the unaffiliated actually qualified for the CRASH B (all in the 50 and 60 year old brackets). A large number of the competitors were affiliated with college teams and/or rowing clubs and were undoubtedly coached by qualified personnel. ALL of those rowers were stroking in the 28-32 SPM range. My question is - do you train at slow SPM and compete at higher rates? Thanx, john

[old] Kudos · Post by **[old] Kudos** » January 31st, 2005, 11:51 am

training for rowing encompasses a variety of different workouts and ratings across a very wide range of distances, durations, intensities, and stroke ratings. The more you read these boards (esp the "what training have you done" post) the more you'll see just how diverse the training is. The reason why people row those ratings for those races is that it is the pace that gets through that particular distance the fastest for them. You can't go as hard as you do for 2k pace all the time if you are going to be putting in 100,000+ meters a week training.

[old] PaulS · Post by **[old] PaulS** » January 31st, 2005, 12:05 pm

Please, let's stop this nonsense about particular rates being magic, apparently it's a source of needless confusion. First a simple answer to your question: Yes. Now for the longer version: Training will be done at a variety of rates and paces, some lower than you will race at and some higher. Training is done in a fashion to overload the bodies systems so that they will adapt and become more effective in accomplishing the task at hand. I saw some pretty amazing things at a Ergomania on Saturday, there were some guys starting their 2k at a SR=22 and staying there for quite some time before finally picking it up a bit. This was not a normal thing to do, but at least one of these was an athlete that was a Water rower. The other thing seen is of course the wide variety of styles, Rowers and Ergers, use in an effort to score better on the Erg. Of course the Ergers don't know any better, but the Rowers have got to know they are doing things that do not translate into anything remotely possible in a boat, nonetheless they do it anyway. You can only input power to the flywheel on the drive, if that input is held constant, the only way to quicken the pace is to spend less time on the recovery and increase the rate, if you decrease the Rate, the pace will be slower. OTOH, you can pull the same sort of drives that you would in a race, but at a much lower rate (and Pace) to get a particular training effect that you are after. The low rate training helps to build strength and power for those that need that aspect of their stroke worked on, the exaggerated ratio allows for more hard strokes to be taken consecutively since the waste products produce by hard muscle contraction will have a bit more time to be eliminated. Ooops, long enough...

[old] H33 · Post by **[old] H33** » February 3rd, 2005, 2:27 am

These spm figures seem to be very low or I must be doing something bizarre. I do 37 spm over 5,000 meters and 40 spm or higher for 2,000 meters.

[old] David Speed · Post by **[old] David Speed** » February 3rd, 2005, 8:31 am

Not wishing to be rude, but I'd go for the bizarre option I have seen people at comps average that sort of spm, but it is the exception rather than the rule. As a 'shorty' I tend to aim to get my average rating up to about 36spm for a 2k piece. Above that, I'm into short burst sprint territory. But, as with all things on this board, that only applies to me personally. If the higher rating works efficiently for you, then go with it . Always interesting to watch differing styles, though

[old] jamesg · Post by **[old] jamesg** » February 3rd, 2005, 9:45 am

H33 The end justifies the means, and if you want to get a WR, 40 is maybe what's needed. Not sufficient on its own tho, you'll also have to pull some very long and hard strokes, as a little maths will demonstrate. So it's an idea to pull long and hard in training too, albeit at lower ratings. I've found it takes some getting used to.

[old] gorow9 · Post by **[old] gorow9** » February 3rd, 2005, 12:09 pm

Wow... I couldn't do 40 spm if I tried... I tend to row in slower powerful strokes- never higher than 28 spm, is that bad? I do my 2k at 24 spm and it's 7.51 min. I think the reasoning behind the slower spm is tenique? To focus on pulling right and then to be able to keep good tenique with a higher spm later or something? ~sara

[old] jamesg · Post by **[old] jamesg** » February 3rd, 2005, 1:55 pm

Right, 90-95% of training is at paddle rating, 18-24. Anything higher is strictly for racing imho and to be avoided.

[old] dadams · Post by **[old] dadams** » February 3rd, 2005, 4:02 pm

I personally have never seen a WR set with a SR lower than 32. Just an observation. Dwayne

[old] blue87 · Post by **[old] blue87** » February 3rd, 2005, 4:04 pm

I find it easier at a lower spm. I had to do my 2k at rate 24 max for the GB juinior trials and got 6:44 and i found it much easier than the ergo i had to do at rate 28 max. Martin Haymes. Weight 80kgs Height 6 ft 2 (just cos everyone else is doing it!)

[old] blue87 · Post by **[old] blue87** » February 3rd, 2005, 4:05 pm

and how do u get a photo in the thingy megig!

[old] blue87 · Post by **[old] blue87** » February 3rd, 2005, 4:08 pm

but strength training is done at lower rates at around 20 where power is the essence and on a high setting. Depends on what race ur training for and the time of season.

[old] peterb · Post by **[old] peterb** » February 3rd, 2005, 4:16 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(blue87 @ Feb 3 2005, 03:05 PM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>and how do u get a photo in the thingy megig! </td></tr></table> Martin, Go to My Controls located on the top right hand side of the Forum Tool Bar. You will be transfered to your user profile settings. Next scroll down to Change Personal Photo on the left hand side of the screen. Click and add your photo I did it last night. Have Fun!!!! peterb PS - You can add your name, age, weight, best times or whatever in the user signature. that way you don't have to type it in each time.