Concept2 Forum

I want to bring up some infomation which I found on www.letsrun.com regarding training bands and how it relates to the training paces of the UK training guide:<br /><br />First a review of the training bands in the UK guide: these are in increasing intensity:<br /><br />UT2, UT1, AT, TR, AN.<br /><br />For a 6:24 2K rower the paces given are as follows:<br /><br />UT2 = 1:51<br />UT1 = 1:46<br />AT = 1:40<br />TR = 1:36<br />AN =1:33.5<br /><br />which are to be interpreted as bands<br /><br />UT2 = 1:51 or slower <br />UT1 = 1:46 - 1:51<br />AT = 1:40 - 1:46<br />TR = 1:36 - 1:40<br />AN 1:33.5 or faster<br /><br />(if I understand this correctly).<br /><br />Within the bands the pace is dictated by stroke rate, example <br /><br />AT spm = 26 -28<br /><br />presumably 28 spm = 1:40, 26 spm = 1:46 (although this does not seem to work out to a constant SPI).<br /><br /><br />The information on letsrun.com by poster "Tinman":<br /><br /><a href='http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read. ... ead=316105' target='_blank'>http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read. ... 105</a><br /><a href='http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post ... &highlight' target='_blank'>http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post ... ght</a><br /><br />is as follows:<br /><br />The actual AT (they call it LT) is a pace slightly faster than 1 hour max pace (ie. say 1:46 for a 6:24 rower).<br />It is not the optimal pace for raising the AT and it is too slow to affect VO2max. Tinman cites research that suggests<br />that a pace one third of the way between AT and VO2max is twice as effective at raising the AT <br />(same adaptation at half the volume) as the actual AT pace and still has some effect on VO2max.<br /><br />This pace is called the -- CRITICAL VELOCITY (CV) --, is 90% of VO2max and is estimated to be the max pace you can hold for <br />40-45 minutes, ie. in the neighborhood of 10K max pace (depending on your speed) for us. Actually the optimum pace for <br />raising the AT would be 88-90% of VO2max but anything below 90% of VO2max is too slow to affect VO2max.<br /><br />Consequently the critical velocity is the optimum compromise since it is<br /><br />slow enough not to be abusive (ie. admits larger volumes)<br />very effective in raising the AT<br />has some effect on VO2max<br /><br />For example: with a 10K max pace of 1:44 I estimate this velocity to be 1:45 which is at the slower end of<br />the AT band of a 6:24 rower (and 6:24 is a very optimistic estimate of my current 2K speed).<br /><br />At this speed you can do a workout such as 5 times 7 minutes with 3 minutes break which is more volume with shorter <br />breaks than what the training guide suggests for the AT band (where rest = work).<br />Tinman suggests to restrict workouts at critical velocity or above to 7% of volume <br />(which would limit it to only one workout per week for most) but looking at the pace it looks like we can take more than <br />that (at least double that).<br /><br />Elsewhere Tinman writes that he thinks the following paces give the best return on time invested:<br /><br />[1] 40 secs max pace (sprinters only)<br />[2] 7 minute max pace (2K pace or a little slower, TR at the faster end)<br />[3] 40-45 min max pace (critical velocity)<br /><br />If you work out 5 times a week you could do two CV and one fast TR workout <br />and let the rest be UT1 stroke restricted at the slower end. This still gives you 2 rest days a week and lots of <br />separation between fast days. <br /><br />I plan to do this and maybe substitute races for the fast TR workouts ever so often.

Excellent post.<br /><br />Many people seem to assume that AT pace is much faster than it is.<br /><br />10K pace is excellent for raising Lactate / Anaerobic Threshold (@ L 4mmol)<br />5K pace is excellent for developing VO2 max (90-95% of VO2 max)<br />vvo2max (pace of 100% VO2 max) is approx 2K pace<br /><br /><br /><br />

The problem with citing running examples is that strength is not such an issue in running. Consequently the AT in rowing is lower relative to the duration it can be sustained.<br /><br />Examples to support this example include the recommended 5 x 3 mins, 3min rest at 6 min pace for V02 max training since 6 min roughly corresponds to V02 max pace. However runners maybe able to do this session but rowers can't come near it, they can manage more like 4 reps.<br /><br />Paul.

Paul,<br /><br />The recommendation re max Vo2 training (i.e. training at vVO2) is 3 minute reps with 3 minutes recovery until the pace cannot be maintained further. <br /><br />Some runners will be able to achieve more reps than others at the given pace.<br /><br />Same would apply to rowers. <br /><br />It may well be as you suggest that as a rule rowers will manage fewer reps at this pace - but that probably needs to be put to the test to confirm this.<br /><br />Cheers,<br />Alan.

As a rule of thumb if you look at running times the relatively intensity versus duration does not drop as rapidly as it would appear for rowing. i.e. runners appear to be able to maintain higher paces for longer so there is less of a power dropoff over time compared with rowing. If you agree with this then it certainly makes sense to say that rowing AT pace is arrived at a pace much less than that associated with running, i.e. 40 min rather than 60 min (arbitrary values used there).<br /><br />I have no means or inclination to test this theory scientifically but this is my conclusion based on my own observations. As an engineer I try to draw conclusions from what I see. It is highly irrelevent to my training to really know what my AT pace is anyway. I know what speed I can do what distances at and the corresponding HR. I base my aerobic training around HR this way and work on percentages of 2k power to predict my current fitness levels. This is quite accurate for me.<br /><br />Paul.