quick qustion ( help a begginer enjoy rowing)

[Jaber]

Hi all , i discovered rowing one month ago.
We have a huge gym in our University (UC Davis ,California) ,most students are into weight lifting and neglecting those concept 2 rowers hidden in a corner ,which is quite sad.
Anyway, i read carefully the concept2 pdfs, watched the video...started...liked it. I can do 5k in 25min with 25spm.I was pretty happy with that till one day i saw the guy that was using the rower before me i was amazed ! 1.40min/500m with 23spm... i tried to get to 2.00min/500m with 23spm by giving a vigorous kick during the drive step and then a sharp and hard push with my arms at the end. It's was very good ..but i wasn't breathing correctly and heart beat got high so it made me get tired fast.
Should i practice the 2min/500min or focus more on the endurance till i get enough power and master the technique?

[hjs]

If you can bencpress 50 kg and see someone else bench an 100 would you put 75 on the bar or just try to improve more slowly?

In the beginning its best to focus on getting a good stroke, you will rapidly improve you current pace (pace/500)

[Dimitar Ivanov]

Congrats on your new finding Jaber
I have one idea for you Next time when u see that guy ask him for advice about technique. He can give you a few good advices there (especially if he is in the sport quite a while).

Keep good pace and dont push too hard yourself in the beginning - be careful for your lower back.

Also u can take some videos shooting yourself while rowing and upload clips here. Some guys in the forum uses this for advices.

Have a nice rowing

[tswickard]

Jaber,

I recently made the same discovery as you - the only vacant peice of equipemt in the gym was the rower. And I love it. My first 5000m time was similar to yours at 25 minutes.

I decided to use the beginners Pete Plan, and in just a few weeks have cut over a minute off of my 5000 time.

http://thepeteplan.wordpress.com/beginner-training

[Jaber]

All right i will start following this program,i will probably skip the first week ( since that's what i basically do) i wont focus on my time , i will follow my own pace.
I usually run for 40 to one hour before starting to row ...is that too bad?

[brianh]

I usually run for 40 to one hour before starting to row ...is that too bad?

If you run before you row, your rowing will probably suffer in proportion to how strenuous your run is. If you row before you run, same thing in reverse. Getting tired will do that to you. Prioritize, and do the one you want to see faster improvement in first, or just shuffle it up and realize your performance will probably be notably better or worse depending on the day's order.

By the way, a very good thing to know is that the pace does not increase linearly with effort. 5k in 25 minutes is 103.7 watts, and a 2 minute 500m split is 202.5 watts--95% more power for 20% more speed. A 1:40 split is 350 watts. Don't look at performance like that and feel bad about your own, just respect the fitness and the effort and then do your own thing. Numbers from here, if you like numbers: http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/t ... calculator

When I was starting up, just watching my power curve and try to hold a consistent pace gave me some pretty rapid gains. Just getting your technique smoothed out and getting used to producing power from the right places will effectively give you "free" speed, because you'll get more out of the effort you're expending.

[Jaber]

Yeah thanks for the tips,
I actually improved my time by 10 seconds when i ran after rowing

[Bob S.]

Yeah thanks for the tips,
I actually improved my time by 10 seconds when i ran after rowing

If it was done as an easy run, it likely served as a good warm up.

Bob S.

[Jaber]

Hey guys i think i'm progressing now i can do 7k in 30 minutes with an avg of 24spm and an avg of 2.10min/500m
ahaha i was proud of myself ...there is still a lot to do