Why am I so slow at a low DF?

[Alissa]

1) It's mostly due to the length of the stroke (you are only using your legs after all) which will severely limit the wattage you can attain. As you get stronger and better, the wattage goes up, but this drill is not about max wattage. It's about learning how to connect at maybe 70% pressure (enough to feel the connection and that's all). You can do a few strokes at a higher pressure to test that you hold the connection as speed increases, however this is not a max wattage drill.

Another thing that drill is for is to help you learn how to blend the various elements of the stroke. You can feel exactly where you need to add in the back (to keep the stroke going). (There's a distinct "clunk" felt when the legs have added all they're going to add to the stroke.) When you can finally add the back swing, it's a distinct relief! But then you discover when the arms need to be added, because, again, you can feel the quite abrupt end of the backswing's contribution to the stroke.

HTH,

Alissa

[luckylindy]

That way your form and rating could always be the same, but the amount of work to maintain that form would vary greatly.

I'm confused by what you are saying in this post. Are you suggesting that for a 90' piece you use 90 DF but for a 10k you use 200 DF? Or are you saying you would use 90 DF for SS and 200 DF for intervals?

I was thinking you'd use 90 DF for long slow distance, this way you can have a fast drive without using a lot of power. Then for things like hard intervals, or for time trials, you could increase the DF. This way the stroke is basically the same, but you're expending more power when you go faster.

The reason for this thought: I was doing a 40' piece today at a DF of 130 or so. This was my second day on the UK interactive plan. However, in order to get my pace within the prescribed bands, I had to go so slow that my drive wasn't really a drive at all. If the DF was low enough, it would seem like I could maintain a fast drive on long pieces without actually expending too much energy (which would also mean I'd be going slower).

[goblin]

To train your legs to fire faster, I would suggest actually doing some of your work each week on an even lower drag factor (like 110).

This got me thinking - would it make sense to always train with the same form/speed, but vary the DF? For example, for long slow rows, set the DF at 90 or so, while for shorter work set it closer to 200? That way your form and rating could always be the same, but the amount of work to maintain that form would vary greatly.

I think you could experiment with the drag factors, but I would not recommend such a polarization of extremes.
I feel like a good practical range for varying your drag factor relative to your workouts is 110 - 160.
If you go too high on the drag, you are putting tremendous strain on the cartilage in your ribs and back. If you go too low on the drag, you are putting alot of strain on your lower back as you lay back - similar to doing sculler situps each stroke, as you don't have the resistance of the flywheel to help stabilize you into the finish.

[hjs]

I think you could experiment with the drag factors, but I would not recommend such a polarization of extremes.
I feel like a good practical range for varying your drag factor relative to your workouts is 110 - 160.
If you go too high on the drag, you are putting tremendous strain on the cartilage in your ribs and back. If you go too low on the drag, you are putting alot of strain on your lower back as you lay back - similar to doing sculler situps each stroke, as you don't have the resistance of the flywheel to help stabilize you into the finish.

Is this so? I doubt that. If you use a normnasl basepace training, not go flat out drag is not that much of an injuree risk, it's about the max pieces that give you a risk. A high drag gives a your time to pull against a heavy resistance, low drag and injuree I don,t see. Even at low drag you have plenty of resistance to pull against at the end of the stroke, if not than you don,t stop yourself enough and should try to row strapless for while to learn absorbe al energy at the end of the stroke.
Drags below 100 are indeed very low, and drags about 140/50 are only needed for the real sprinters.

[claus hansen]

Thank You Sheehc, that makes sense.

I feel I'm well connected, so I'll just erg on. Have to get back doing my 30r20 at 110 DF, I believe it is the way for me to get better.