Tried the erg for the first time ever; 6:56 2000m

[Butch91]

I had a 2k PB of 6:43.9 in September 2010 - in December of 2012 I rowed 6:20.4 in the Irish Indoor Rowing Champs (Bronze) I've got that down to 6:06.2 in March 2012 - and still chasing the dream of sub6

[NavigationHazard]

And to do it you have followed a brutal training schedule that would shame half the Olympians I know. And eaten your body weight in pies approximately every third day. I don't know how you're holding up on the beer (carbohydrate) front, as I know some prodigious consumers....

[Bob S.]

And to do it you have followed a brutal training schedule that would shame half the Olympians I know. And eaten your body weight in pies approximately every third day. I don't know how you're holding up on the beer (carbohydrate) front, as I know some prodigious consumers....

Maybe he is a reincarnated sumo wrestler.

Bob S.

[rowingrookie]

Screen shot 2012-08-15 at 4.28.17 PM.png

In other words, if you want to cut the pace in half, you have to increase the power by a factor of 8. From a pace of 4:01.0 to a pace of 2:00.5, you have to increase the power from 25 watts to 200 watts. 125 to 1000 for 2:20.9 to 1:10.5.

Note that a 25 watt increase in power for a 1:11.1 pace is only a 0.6 second drop. The same power increase at a 2:06.0 pace would give you a 5.5 second drop – a 22 second improvement in 2k time in contrast to only 2.4 seconds in the first case.

The physics of all this is covered here:

http://www.atm.ox.ac.uk/rowing/physics/

Bob S.

"Thanks" for the chart. I use the word thanks lighty as it is a bit disheartening...but I am also super competitive and hard working, so just knowing people are better than me makes me want to really push myself to beat them. I guess what it comes down to then is 1) how much I end up liking rowing/erging after trying it for awhile, and 2) how good my genetics really are.

A person probably does not realize the work that it takes to improve only slightly in time. I know that I had no concept of what it takes for improvement. For example, earlier this yr I wanted to improve from approx 6:56/1:44 pace to approx 6:40/1:40 pace. That is a decrease in pace of only 3%. But to achieve that requires the expenditure of 350 Watts compared to 311 Watts, a 12.5% increase in wattage. I did finally make it, but it took some pretty intensive effort. I'm sure our OP will find all of this out in due time.

In these forums there is the continual posting by many that goes like this: "I now row at this speed and want to improve to this speed. How can I do this?" Then several people weigh in with advice. And that is the last that the OP is heard from. It sure would be good if the OP would update his or her progress.

As I've said I do a lot of weightlifting, including a lot of power cleans (which seem very useful to rowing IMO), so I feel like I have a lot of power to use, it's just a matter of having the capacity to keep that power up. I guess that's most people's issue, huh?
Once I start erging/rowing, I will try and post updates if you are interested in hearing my progress. The rowing clubs I have contacted are slow to get back to me, so I'm debating just watching youtube videos on technique, video taping myself, and following the pete's plan eventually.

[Carl Watts]

Various peoples signatures are always an ineresting read.

You will generally note they are like a seesaw and either lean towards power or lean towards stamina or endurance, especially when you first start out.

Really I don't know which is better off to start with, I suspect power and then work on your distance rowing and build up the stamina or endurance in your aerobic capacity to maintain your pace. Many people avoid the 500M like the plauge as their time is close to their 2K splits.

Obviously my 500M pace is great but simply cannot maintain anything close to it to enable a sub 6min 2K, however if you much younger and fitter like you and can get down to this and better then your all on for a great 2K.

[Butch91]

And to do it you have followed a brutal training schedule that would shame half the Olympians I know. And eaten your body weight in pies approximately every third day. I don't know how you're holding up on the beer (carbohydrate) front, as I know some prodigious consumers....

It's not that brutal - quite fun mostly - well apart from the sessions where I either puked, collapsed, wish I was dead, wish my coach was dead, wish everyone was dead, puked collapsed and wished eveyone was dead

I don't drink beer no more alhough - my sisters wedding is in Sept and ... oh wait ... challenge series - nuts!

[achilles123]

Hey guys , I'm kind of in the same boat as rookie here , I'm 17 years old will turn 18 at the end of the month ,I am also a beginner rower and recently logged a 6.59 2000m on the concept 2 ,I'm about to start university and was wondering if you think I could make the team or be competitive with some practice. I'm 5foot11 and weigh 85kg at the moment although I have been as heavy as 91kg while maintaining below 11%bf ,would really appreciate some advice , I'm going to do another 2k at the gym today ,I'll post my time after.

[Nosmo]

Achilles,
That entirely depends on where you go to school. It is likely hopeless at a top rowing school that recruits international athletes with Junior world team experience. Other schools take almost everyone who is interested (I started rowing in college as a 132 lbs lightweight--the coach didn't want me but they needed to fill seats, eventually he was very happy that I did row). Most schools are somewhere in between. Contact the coach at the school you are interested in and find out. You could even send him a video of your erging and ask his advice. He will certainly notice you and your interest. Don't be surprised if he tells you not to erg and to spend the time lifting and running, swimming or bike riding. He may want to teach you proper technique. My advice right now is not too worry too much about the erg time.
Sounds like you have a good build--a little short for the top schools but not bad.

Achilles and Rowing Rookie,
Your head is more important than your natural ability. To be a good on the water rower you have to be willing to think all the time. It is easy to find athletes who can work hard, but it an other thing to find those that are willing to think and really concentrate at the same time. Rowers who can't self correct never get good. How you learn is one of the most important things in rowing. You don't necessarily need to learn very quickly but you must be able to make consistent long term improvement in technique. Some people never do learn "boat feel".
Some people learn technique very fast. It is not unheard of for someone with a strong background to make the national team in sweep rowing after a few years. Sculling takes much longer.
To give you some idea, Several years ago there was a guy in my club who was a sub 6:20 on the erg-- a good 50 seconds faster than I was at the time. He'd been sculling for about 6 months and I could crush him at any distance on the water. He was really powerful but hadn't learned to scull well yet. At a sculling camp a number of years ago there was a kid who was going off to be a navy seal. He had a body like a greek god, yet he couldn't keep up with my wife, who was 30 lbs lighter and over three times his age.

[jonny109]

I'm also relatively new to the erg but I've become quite addicted to it. I first tried a Concept2 Model D at my gym because my friend had bought one and I was curious if I could beat his times. Well I consistently crushed every one of his best times at every distance and I really enjoyed the workout too so I ended up buying a used Model B to get started. That was back in December 2012. After replacing the return cords and upgrading to a PM3 I was totally hooked and just hit 2,000,000 meters on September 4th, 2013. I upgraded to a Model D in March '13.

Earlier in this thread it was mentioned how most people dont' realize how hard it is to shave off just a few seconds. I can totally speak to that, especially for the longer rows like a 10K. To row for almost 40 minutes, breathing hard and near collapse at the end to only better your time by a few seconds, or worse, to just fall short. at 41 years old and 6'4" - 240 lbs, I ranked my first 2k on Jan 26, 2013 and pulled a 7:11.0. I didn't try it again until May 9th and went sub 7 with a time of 6:58.2. Then on my birthday in August I decided to take a crack at 6:50 but had to settle for 6:56.4. Not even 2 seconds improvement with 3 more months of "training". I know I can improve on that even more just by learning how to pace myself and I still don't know where I should be setting the damper. My buddy swears it has to be at 10 but that's a killer! In fact, that's what I pulled my 6:56.4 at. At first I always pulled at 10 but I've since done some reading and I've settled in between 5 and 6 as I normally pull anywhere from 10 to 21K up to 5 times a week.

[Bob S.]

ne My buddy swears it has to be at 10 but that's a killer! In fact, that's what I pulled my 6:56.4 at. At first I always pulled at 10 but I've since done some reading and I've settled in between 5 and 6 as I normally pull anywhere from 10 to 21K up to 5 times a week.

Perhaps your buddy should read this, which was just posted today on another thread.

http://www.concept2.com/news/debunking- ... -intensity

Bob S.

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

Unless you are a national teamer doing very specific workouts, don't ever practice at a 10 damper setting.

I guess I should also say unless that turns out to be a very low drag factor for whatever reason (each erg will have a different drag factor for a given damper setting)