Drag Pyramids?

[hjs]

re drag,


i use drag 110 roughly, and row sub 6.30 age 40 plus at 6.1 200 pounds. Drag is not a big point, a fast rower is fast on every drag, a slow one slow on every drag.

strokelenght, I said on on longer distances, I said shorter strokes, this in context to the middle distances. I don,t mean really short/sprint stroke, you always should use a good stroke, just going up and down the rail giving not much power is nver usefull.
This thread is going way to far, erging is relative simple, be fit and strong and you will do well. Train for that, the rest comes next, not the other way around.

[Hansink]

Bob S. said,

In my opinion, you are much too concerned about drag factor.

hjs said,

This thread is going way to far

Fair enough. I have no more questions on the subject. I'll continue to do some experimenting on my own but I won't worry that the drag is the most critical factor in my performance. Thanks.

[Hansink]

I know this thread is dead but I’d like to add, for the record, a couple of things.

First, I see now that I was wrong when I thought I was seeing high damper settings for 2k races at the Crash-B in youtube videos.

Second, I’d like to share how I have been finding a better drag factor. I have been doing 1600m tests at different drags (different days) while targeting the same pace each time (1:39.0) and rating (34) and I have monitored how my heart rate climbed and what was the max hr at the end. My thinking is that while holding pace and rating constant, the drag that gives me the lowest heart rate at 1600 meters will allow me to enter the last 400m with the most strength. I have learned at what heart rate I start to lose power (and form). (I chose 1:39 because that is my intended pace at my first, upcoming indoor competition.)

So far, I have been nudging my drag factor downward.

PS I don’t mean to resurrect this thread, just give it a little closure (in my mind).

Thanks all.

[Bob S.]

I know this thread is dead but I’d like to add, for the record, a couple of things.

First, I see now that I was wrong when I thought I was seeing high damper settings for 2k races at the Crash-B in youtube videos.

Second, I’d like to share how I have been finding a better drag factor. I have been doing 1600m tests at different drags (different days) while targeting the same pace each time (1:39.0) and rating (34) and I have monitored how my heart rate climbed and what was the max hr at the end. My thinking is that while holding pace and rating constant, the drag that gives me the lowest heart rate at 1600 meters will allow me to enter the last 400m with the most strength. I have learned at what heart rate I start to lose power (and form). (I chose 1:39 because that is my intended pace at my first, upcoming indoor competition.)

So far, I have been nudging my drag factor downward.

PS I don’t mean to resurrect this thread, just give it a little closure (in my mind).

Thanks all.

Thanks for bringing it up to date. I think that you have made a wise decision. It is a slow and tedious process, but it looks to me that you have worked out the best way to determine the optimal Df for you. And good luck at that competition.

Bob S.

[Alissa]

I realize this thread is winding down, but thought I'd add that Xeno Muller used to include drag pyramids (I suppose more accurately called damper pyramids, since we did them by moving the damper from the bottom to the top in increments then back down again) in some of the workouts he led at the Iron Oarsman.

I recall thinking that it was interesting...which was enough to make it worth doing.

Alissa