Newb rowing to improve fitness.

[Markus79]

Hi folks,

I've recently started rowing to improve (my terrible) cv fitness and would really appreciate some advice regarding training methods for my goal.

About me - 38 yr old, 6'4" (all torso with relatively stubby legs), 90kg - lift weights so fairly strong, but have always been really good at neglecting cardio vascular exercise.

I've been using the erg for about 2 months. For my first session I struggled to complete 500m!

I'm currently rowing 3 times a week after lifting weights, which is unlikely to change for now. performance improving slightly every week. From my log this week.

Mon - 5k - 23:00.2 - 2:18 - around 21/22 spm
Wed- 5k - 23:47.2 - 2:16 - around 21/22 spm
Friday 30 minute row - 6,199m - 2:25 around 19/20spm

Damper level 5 or 6, aiming for a drag factor of around 120-130

I'm slow but I "think" my form is OK for an unfit beginner, but can obviously be improved greatly with time and practice.

My question is, should I just continue rowing for distance/time and trying to up my pace session by session, or should I add some sort of interval training to my week?

Many thanks!

[JMac]

Hi Markus,

I've also just started rowing (bought my erg about a month ago). I would recommend Pete plan or the beginner version of Pete plan.

Being a complete novice at rowing, I'm finding the mix of interval and endurance sessions really good.

[danielcccook]

^ Bingo. Follow the beginner petes plan. Its based on 3-5 workouts a week. Keep lifting and follow that. Just be mindful of your form if your doing it after strength training, as since you are new to the rower your form is likely not going to stay consistent, and your body will already be tired after lifting. The rower is a fantastic cardio machine, however if you use incorrect form (just like weight training) you leave yourself vulnerable to injury. Maybe continue low-moderate steady state workouts until you are certain you can maintain form at higher intensities.

[jamesg]

Endurance (= CV fitness) comes from distance and overall quantity of work. So shortening to do intervals will not help. For a year, suggest you concentrate on distance and technique.

Your stroke quality can be seen easily: it is the ratio Watts/Rating. At your height and age, ratio 10 will be high enough to get you fit, but will need some work on technique. Your current ratio is 6, which can be improved using correct posture and sequences to increase stroke length, so that the legs can do their bit.

Standard rowing technique can be seen in the C2 video.

[Anth_F]

Welcome, rowing is a very addictive hobby from my own personal experience

The concept2 (workouts of the day) could be a very good idea for you to start out with. A nice mix from short, medium, to long, workout sessions for you to choose with lots of variety from day to day. Start out on mediums for you i think... simple as that really. But yes, longer SS sessions are crucial for gaining solid CV fitness.

Also, you should take a little time to browse the "what training have you done today thread" Take notes of what training sessions the experienced rowers are doing, and you can consider implementing those. Not the times/paces etc (forget that) just the actual type of sessions they are doing. You will also naturally get faster in the early phases anyway.

Best of luck, and have fun

Here is a link to the C2 workouts of the day

http://www.concept2.co.uk/indoor-rowers/training/wod

[Markus79]

Thanks for all the input folks!

I'll continue with the steady state workouts for a while working on technique and trying to build a base level of fitness, before looking at the Pete Plan and C2 WODs down the line.

It is surprisingly addictive actually, and the bonus is that nobody at the gym seems to spend longer than 2 minutes on the rowers meaning there's never much of a wait!

[Oarsome Fitness]

At this stage the biggest thing is getting into a habit and in my view you want to have a bit of variety (but not too much) and ensure you are able to see progress.

One mistake a lot of people make is trying to do a 2k test every week - which is a terrible approach. Find a few workouts that you like and repeat them through the course of a plan. Things like 2 varieties of long erg e.g. 30 mins r20 and 2-3 x 20m r18. and then 2 varieties of intervals e.g. 6 x 500m or 10 x 250m.

Seeing progress is what makes rowing addictive, and nothing builds speed more than getting the distance done.

Enjoy!

[Markus79]

Thanks Simon,

That makes a lot of sense!

I tried the 2k test once a week thing myself, and quickly discovered that it's totally pointless at my current level of fitness.

[lwtguy]

Thanks Simon,

That makes a lot of sense!

I tried the 2k test once a week thing myself, and quickly discovered that it's totally pointless at my current level of fitness.

Definitely don't do a full test once a week. Do those sparingly. The best way to gauge improvement in fitness is to do a certain workout once a week and try to improve your time each week. When things start to get stale, pick a new workout!

For me, I did 3x15 minutes with 5 minutes of rest at r22. Every Monday morning at the same time. For about 8 weeks I tried to get more and more distance out of each 15 minute interval. Eventually I hit a plateau, and then changed up the workout.