Rojabo Training

[bgutting]

Ha! Well, hopefully others will speak about their experiences with the program as well, or give it a shot in the first place. I've been trying to analyze the numbers and figure out how they concocted the index and what determines how many points a workout earns, but largely to no avail. The reality is, most coaches I know take data points, plug them into a pretty basic formula, and then base things off of that--for instance, there are numerous assumptions about what your 20min PR means for your 2K time, and where your peak power should be, or what you should pull for 60min. And so on. Many of these proportions are pretty accurate within a few seconds, I've discovered, too. I just really like Rojabo's specificity. No idea how the Danes put this into practice when working in team boats, however. My guess is they do something different in those instances, or, the athletes are in pretty similar shape (you see lots of Danish lightweights with RIDICULOUS erg scores!).

So, based on your actual vs. potential max, I'm guessing you're hitting somewhere between 260 and 280 for your 28spm. That's a lot of watts to hold onto, at that rating, for that length of time. If you were feeling "pretty good" for the first couple minutes of the 28, then yes, I agree that you probably could have gone longer! I tend to start hating the test a minute into the 26spm, grit it out until I hit 28, and then start looking for (and blocking out) excuses to stop. We'll see how it goes Monday. Lately I've been on the water and the workouts are infinitely more enjoyable in something that floats and moves than on an impassive machine, to say the least. I have two regattas in the first two weeks of April, in which I'll race a 1x, 2x, and 4x. And possibly a 4+ for one of the events.

I'm still curious about the role of strength training, and specifically, at what point an athlete is "strong enough" for the sport. I can lift more weight on my squat, deadlift, and clean than most lightweight rowers I know, but I'm not remotely convinced that being able to deadlift 425lbs gets me more hull speed than being able to deadlift 385#. Same with squats. So my inclination is to worry less about maximal strength and just maintain what I've got. CrossFit athletes love using the erg for general conditioning, and while many of them are impressively strong and can do brutal workouts with blazing speed, they lack the aerobic power & capacity to turn really fast erg scores (few CF heavyweights do better than a 6:30, and that's in their physical prime).

Also, in regards to power efficiency. I retested that the other day and found that I'm slightly lower on the 20 and 22, the same at 24, and slightly higher at 26 and 28. This test, while not strenuous, is the trickiest to do right--anyone picked up the program would be well advised to spend some time figuring out their standard stroke, because it's awfully tempting to pull too hard OR not hard enough.

[sander]

My "power guide" looks like this:

spm Power
20 199
22 219
24 239
26 257
28 277
30 296

You're right about the thinking for excuses. I tried to counter that by thinking that "every stroke is a point" on the rojabo index. This is not entirely correct, but roughly so and enough to keep me me motivated.

Today's training was a 20min/4+10min/3+5min in spm: 20/24/26. I liked that training. It's a workout that motivates me a lot. After 20spm and 24spm I was very curious to see if I could hold the 26spm at 1:49 and I could. It hurted a lot in the last minute but it was fine.

[sander]

Lately I've been on the water and the workouts are infinitely more enjoyable in something that floats and moves than on an impassive machine, to say the least. I have two regattas in the first two weeks of April, in which I'll race a 1x, 2x, and 4x. And possibly a 4+ for one of the events.

Still in winter mode here. I spent the weekend cross country skiing! Our double is in winter repairs (nothing serious) and my single is waiting patiently in the boat house. I would love to start rowing on the water again ... The only thing that makes erging bearable is to turn it into a number game or pseudo science ...

[sander]

I tend to start hating the test a minute into the 26spm, grit it out until I hit 28, and then start looking for (and blocking out) excuses to stop. We'll see how it goes Monday.

How did it go?

[bgutting]

It went pretty well, all things considered. I was on a new power guide (relatively), and I tapped out with 3:40 remaining for the 28spm @ 303 watts. My index is at 310, and my "actual max" is listed at 6:36, with a potential of 6:15. LONG WAY to go, in other words.

Nearly all workouts now are on the water, in either a double or a quad. They're still challenging!

[sander]

It went pretty well, all things considered. I was on a new power guide (relatively), and I tapped out with 3:40 remaining for the 28spm @ 303 watts. My index is at 310, and my "actual max" is listed at 6:36, with a potential of 6:15. LONG WAY to go, in other words.

Nearly all workouts now are on the water, in either a double or a quad. They're still challenging!

On Saturday, I did my first workout on the water of this season, 2x15min/4 at 20spm in the single. Strong wind and pretty high waves. How do you combine rojabo training with rowing in teams? Do all follow the same schedule?

[ThatMoos3Guy]

Anyone still using Rojabo? If so how are they liking it as a long term training plan?

[NavigationHazard]

I'm not using it any more (doing more OTW stuff than erging lately), but I won BIRC last year with it as the main center of my erg training. If I wasn't breaking in a new 1x this summer I'd be on it, happily.

[TomR]

I've just started using the Rojabo program.

I've allowed myself to lose a fair bit of fitness--resting hr up to 57 from sub-45--and I thought I'd give this program a try. It appears to require generally higher intensity but fewer meters than other programs I've used (like the interactive program on the UK site).

I'll do some lifting as a complement, mostly to maintain overall physical balance. The max strength requirements of a top rower are not huge, if you trust the material in "Rowing Faster." At my age (65), I'm not going to chase strength. All I'd likely catch would be aches and pain.

As for Crossfit, forget that. It produces all kinds of injuries, and I think a rower would get far more value by rowing more, or including a sensible strength regimen, or simply recovering, rather than flopping around with Crossfit's goofy programming.

[bgutting]

That's ultimately what I concluded with CrossFit, as well. It's only good for boosting CrossFit performance in the long run.

[Ruderer]

Hey everyone,

Question about the Rojabo testing. I understand there is a power test and an endurance test. Are these done on the same day? Within a couple of minutes? I'm not sure what the gap between the two is supposed to be/if it matters. Sorry if this appears on Rojabo itself, I'm trying to understand the tests before I sign up so I can quickly get to the training portion.

Also, I would like to double check that I understand the tests.

Power test:

1 min at 20, 1 min at 20, 1 min 22, 1 min 14, 1 min 26, 1 min 28

Record watts at each interval

Endurance test:

4 mins at 20, 4 mins at 22, 4 mins at 24, 4 mins at 26, 4 mins at 28, 4 mins at 30, 4 mins at 32, 4 mins at 34, 4 mins at 36

Row as long as possible, watts calculated from power test

Thanks,

Ruderer