Weekly training and long terms plans

[max_ratcliffe]

I've moved this to a new topic to avoid hijacking another thread and making it all about me.

Do you have a long term structure to your training, or rock up on any given day and do the workout that you most love (or most fear, for that matter)? Do you fit your training around your life, or your life around your training? How do you look to progress - are you regularly challenging yourself, or do you allow the long term training effects to accrue under the radar and then test only rarely? Do you have a specific goal like a marathon or a fast 2k?

It's not about me, but hey, I'm my own favourite subject, so this thread will in fact, start with me.


My training currently looks like this:

• Tuesday 4x2k.

• Wednesday (steady 12-16k), but TBH, this one often gets missed. No particular justification - more excuses!

• Friday 60' WP L4

• Saturday somewhere between 6k-10k, with 500m "fast" and 500m "slow" segments.

• Sunday 40' WP L4.

I basically try to increase the pace of the Tuesday and Saturday workouts by 1 split per month. The WP L4 workouts progress by 4 strokes per week each unless I think I've over-stroked the w/o. As over-stroking basically ruins the point of doing prescribed rate work, I repeat the same sequence if I haven't pretty much stuck to the right rates and pace.

My immediate goal is to go over 7500m for 30'. So there's no 500m intervals in my plan for now, as they're too short and anaerobic.

There's no weekly variation either, which some might find tedious, but the very lack of variation helps me with my pacing. I spent too much time when I started out at the beginning of 2019 flying and dying during the BPP or PP5k because I didn't know what I was doing.

[MartinSH4321]

I have a very structured plan, but with 2 little kids it's almost impossible to stick to it.

My actual plan looks like this:

Monday: strength training (including very short rowing intervals), WU/CD rowing, sometimes + UT2 work (rowing or bike) or UT1
Tuesday: rest day
Wednesday: 60-90' UT2
Thursday: interval / hard distance / TT
Friday: 60-120' UT2
Saturday: interval / hard distance / TT
Sunday: 45-60' UT2

I hope to get my total training time up a good bit, propably with UT2 work on the bikeerg, in the long run the goal is 10-12h of training.

I also thought about doing 3 weeks like this and then an easier week with only 1 hard training and the rest UT2 work.

@ Max:
Depending on how hard your L4 work is, you propably have too many hard trainings and not enough UT2 work?

edit: I forgot the goals:
Main goal is improving aerobic fitness, second goal to stay as strong as possible.
Some season's goals:
500m - sub 1:20
1k - 3:00
2k - 6:30
5k - 17:30
10k - 36:30
1h - 16k

2k is out of reach I think, 1k is very tough but we'll see, 1h should work

some long term goals (hard to say as a relative newbie, they can change of course):
2k - 6:15
5k - 17:00
30' - 8500
1h - 16500
100m - 14.0

[winniewinser]

Flying and dying on the BPP I can relate to. I started 18 weeks ago and was trying to go at every interval 100% which was a recipe for failure. The plan also encourages you to pace pieces from previous sessions which means you are expected to continue to improve each week and if that doesn't happen it can be discouraging. I think the plan certainly helped me start rowing seriously for the last 5 months and it got me under 7mins for 2km which was my goal at the time.

Current goals, sub 18 5km/Sub 38 10km, the former is more of a reach I think. I have started to tweak BPP weekly sessions to bring in more longer intervals and extend longer UT2/UT1 sessions. I'm not sure if this self made plan will work for me but I'll give it a few more weeks at least. If not I will start looking for alternative plans.

I'd be interested in opinions on subscription training plans....e.g. GrarageAthlete etc. Do they represent value to money? Do you still get personal training plans or are you just buying the same plan that others have bought? I think I probably have a lot more to learn before I would benefit from more intense personalised training plans but you never know.

Longer term I'd like to have a go at racing, even if it's just for the experience as I know that in my age group and weight class I would be crushed by most. I've considered trying to get to LWT but at 6'2" it may be a struggle....but I saw some of the LWT's at BRIC and there were some tall lads there. I need to work on upper body strength so will look to mix in some weight sessions. BRIC '20 may not be possible as I am travelling in NZ most of Nov '20 which would be less than ideal prep. Maybe BRIC '21 or '22 when I sneak into the 50+ age band.

Lots to ponder and I'm still a newb really. I will say thought that this forum has been a great resource for information and support.

[Dangerscouse]

I'm terrible at following plans, not because I'm too arrogant to think that I know better but I just like to more or less do what I want to do, apart from 10 miles on a Monday morning. Accordingly I'm going to try and follow Pete Plan as it is a very highly regarded plan.

My short / medium term targets:

2k- 6:30, or 6:28 just to beat Keith and make him have to beat me

5k- 17:15 I think this is achievable on a good day in the near future

30 mins- 8500m

10k- sub 36 mins. This is the holy grail for me, far more than a 2k. I have done far too many of these over the years so I need to quieten my chimp on this.

60 mins- 16500m will be tough

HM- beat PB

FM - beat PB

100k - beat PB. Probably more of a longer term target as I'm not sure when I'll dedicate my training to this

@ Alex, I did join Garage Athlete last year and it was good, with lots of progress from a wide variety of rowers but I'm not sure it was value for money imo, but he defo produces results. It is a standard weekly schedule that everyone follows which wasn't what I was hoping for.

I am also loving how fertile this forum is at the moment. There are loads of us really supporting and encouraging everyone to get better and further reinforcing that comparison is the thief of all joy. We are all at different stages of our journeys and it's not about being the best, it's about being the best version of you

[winniewinser]

@ Alex, I did join Garage Athlete last year and it was good, with lots of progress from a wide variety of rowers but I'm not sure it was value for money imo, but he defo produces results. It is a standard weekly schedule that everyone follows which wasn't what I was hoping for.

That's what I was thinking it might be. I guess I would need to look at a local club rather than online club to get more 121 coaching on technique. Joining a club and starting out as a newb amongst what will likely be large OTW rowers is a bit daunting.....not many near me either.

I think I can continue to follow the BPP/PP at the moment and work through the gains that they give. Next level may need more commitment....just like anything in life.

[MartinSH4321]

...

I am also loving how fertile this forum is at the moment. There are loads of us really supporting and encouraging everyone to get better and further reinforcing that comparison is the thief of all joy. We are all at different stages of our journeys and it's not about being the best, it's about being the best version of you

Totally agree! The forum is a great help to stay motivated and very supportive when questions arise. We all still can learn a lot, no matter how experienced we are.
One thing: I think comparison can help sometimes, when you challenge yourself with someone who is on the same level, like Keith and you at middle and longer distances, or Keith and me at the 500m. But it's not wise to compare oneself with someone who is much stronger/faster, I would get very demotivated if I compare my 60' or other longer distances with yours

[KeithT]

Great topic!

First I agree with and love the friendly challenges we give each other here and we all sort of know what others are striving for.

As far as training I am sort of "in the middle" - I am not quite as structured as I would like to be but do try to follow a plan. I train hard but still try to balance some CF and weights into my 6 days a week of training. At times this interferes with my plans and performance. My goals coming into the year were lofty but I thought attainable as I planned on more progression but have found I am doing all I can to maintain with some smaller improvements. So, right now just hope to get some new PBs on a few rows and continue to compete.

A little off topic but one thing I am really struggling with is - I can't slow down! I have stated on here that I have never done a workout with a pace over 2:00. Then any days I plan for an easy row and swear to myself that I will stick to that plan but then end up going faster and pushing it more. Seems really easy to fix but I struggle with this. If I rowed a little more I think it might resolve itself which I may find out as I plan to row more in the coming months with very limited CF/weights.

[dknickerbocker]

I've moved this to a new topic to avoid hijacking another thread and making it all about me.

Do you have a long term structure to your training, or rock up on any given day and do the workout that you most love (or most fear, for that matter)? Do you fit your training around your life, or your life around your training? How do you look to progress - are you regularly challenging yourself, or do you allow the long term training effects to accrue under the radar and then test only rarely? Do you have a specific goal like a marathon or a fast 2k?

It's not about me, but hey, I'm my own favourite subject, so this thread will in fact, start with me.


My training currently looks like this:

• Tuesday 4x2k.

• Wednesday (steady 12-16k), but TBH, this one often gets missed. No particular justification - more excuses!

• Friday 60' WP L4

• Saturday somewhere between 6k-10k, with 500m "fast" and 500m "slow" segments.

• Sunday 40' WP L4.

I basically try to increase the pace of the Tuesday and Saturday workouts by 1 split per month. The WP L4 workouts progress by 4 strokes per week each unless I think I've over-stroked the w/o. As over-stroking basically ruins the point of doing prescribed rate work, I repeat the same sequence if I haven't pretty much stuck to the right rates and pace.

My immediate goal is to go over 7500m for 30'. So there's no 500m intervals in my plan for now, as they're too short and anaerobic.

There's no weekly variation either, which some might find tedious, but the very lack of variation helps me with my pacing. I spent too much time when I started out at the beginning of 2019 flying and dying during the BPP or PP5k because I didn't know what I was doing.

max, if you do the same training each week, how do you try to achieve progressive overload? just get faster? for the longer, slower pieces, you might find you need to extend or add volume (rather than just speed up) in order to keep getting hte training stress that you want

[MPx]

dble post

[MPx]

Interesting thread. My goals are Fitness and Strength. At this stage I'm about slowing the decline as much as poss. I'm not even vaguely competitive in the "racing" sense but I am pretty competitive with myself against the clock. So I have a standard that I would love to be able to hit each year. 1min 350; 500<1:30; 4min 1200; 2k <7; 5k =18; 30min = 8k; 10k =38:00. I am currently still able to get the first three, haven't made the sub 7 this year but not yet given up hope. In 22 years of owning a C2 (OK only 15 of which have been properly active in the training sense) I've never made the last three so they're looking very much like a pipe dream now!

I've always followed my own plans (but nearly all sessions nicked from others). Currently each Week:
1 x Sprints : 2k TT; 6x500 2r; 10x1min 1r; 8x500 3r; 16x250 90"r.
1 x longer Intervals: 4x1k 3:30r; 3x1500 5r; 3x2k 2r; and I may sub in a 5k or 6k TT some weeks.
2 x Dumbbell sessions: 7 exercises, 3 sets, increasing weight each set (+2.5Kg); decreasing reps 10/8/6. Followed by 8k @ 20 spm peaking in UT1.
1 x Longer piece - typically AWL Pyramid; 8k free rate; 5x2k 2r @ 20 spm or rate pyramid.
1 x competition piece: Sub7 ITC; CTC; IRL; FMMC... or whatever.

I aim to do a session everyday if I'm here (typically around 18:00 before dinner) but life takes priority so days get missed and it usually takes me at least 6 weeks to get through a 5 week cycle. There's nearly always at least two steadier days between each hard session. For the hard sessions each cycle I look at what I did before and try to improve very slightly. For the other pieces I try to hit specific numbers - most often palindromes. Every 3-4 months I give blood and get much slower for a bit so am always needing to build back to where I think I should be!

In some ways it works for me. I enjoy it, and it keeps me motivated. I am reasonably fit. I am strong enough to continue doing stuff around our smallholding which often includes "liftin eavy fings" (which my mum insists is all I'm good for). But clearly it hasn't worked in knocking out those last few time/distance goals. I'm sure my training could be tweaked to get nearer to achieving them, but I really don't want to invest any more time in training (indeed probably need to consider cutting down a bit) so I'm happy enough to continue and just see where it takes me.

[Dangerscouse]

So I have a standard that I would love to be able to hit each year. 1min 350; 500<1:30; 4min 1200; 2k <7; 5k =18; 30min = 8k; 10k =38:00. I am currently still able to get the first three, haven't made the sub 7 this year but not yet given up hope. In 22 years of owning a C2 (OK only 15 of which have been properly active in the training sense) I've never made the last three so they're looking very much like a pipe dream now!

At 62, hitting those first three standards is really impressive. You should be proud of them

[MPx]

Cheers Stu! I am indeed happy enough with them. I've always preferred sprints (like a really slow Martin!) and struggle to make myself do longer pieces. So partly self selecting / self defeating on getting to grips with the longer stuff. I remain in a certain amount of awe of those of you who can basically saw away all day if you want to at not much slower than my sprint pace. Inspirational for keeping me trying though.

[max_ratcliffe]

I have a very structured plan, but with 2 little kids it's almost impossible to stick to it.

@ Max:
Depending on how hard your L4 work is, you propably have too many hard trainings and not enough UT2 work?

Good spot Martin. I don't really feel I do enough volume to really benefit from UT2 work. This is more or less in line with the concept2 Indoor Rowing Training Guide where UT2 only comes in for plans of 5 workouts and above a week. That said, my schedule isn't 4xUT1, but much more like 2xUT1 and 2xAT, which would be pre-competition (and I'm certainly not getting ready for any sort of peak). Mentally it's quite hard being on point for every workout, so perhaps I would be better off switching the Sunday 40' L4 to something longer and slower.

<>
max, if you do the same training each week, how do you try to achieve progressive overload? just get faster? for the longer, slower pieces, you might find you need to extend or add volume (rather than just speed up) in order to keep getting hte training stress that you want

Thanks DK,
I hadn't really thought about how I increase the volume on the slower pieces. As the L4 workouts are timed pieces, the volume eventually does increase, but only by virtue of getting slightly faster. This is probably something I need to look at with some extra volume over the xmas break (not so much if it's going to be 40oC, though!).

For the shorter workouts, I have the following progressions:

Tuesday 4x2k intervals. Each week go 1 split faster on the final interval, then intervals 3 & 4, and so on (so that the average comes down by 0.25s/500m per week). Also decrease rest time by 10" each week. So there's a double progression built in there (rest will be 4'30" this week, down from 6' at the start of this scheme).

Saturday faster piece. Starting at 6k, I add 1k per week until I get to 10k. Then I increase the pace by 1 split and return to 6k. Rinse and repeat. The 6k end of the scheme is fairly comfortable and the 10k end is pretty tough. Funnily, 9k is probably harder than 10k as the 10k has the extra motivation of a possible PB.

[Erik A]

currently my workout plans are pretty much on the fly but i seem to be sticking to the following
Monday warm up on the bike then my rowing session. usually 6 or 8 x 5 min 2r. added in some leg specific weights usually low weight high reps. then cool down on the bike.
wednesday and friday are the same.
hitting the low end of the row session at this stage until i get my health issues if not sorted then under control
i had some goals that i may or may not achieve now given my heart issues.
1. sub 7 min by oct 2020
2. back to all workouts under the 2min split
3. Hm
4. FM
6 compete at the Aussie indoor rowing champs in Oct 2020 (hence the sub 7min by then)
7. compete in the NZ indoor rowing champs in Nov 2020

as an aside i recently joined a program called my virtual mission which is similar to the concept online log but you have a task to achieve and you can make these tasks yourself. i have set up a challenge to row the length of the north Island of NZ. just under 1100 km. or you can join in other peoples tasks/challenges and add kms as a group or individually. it appears that there may be a cost involved but havent hit this yet.

[frio]

My training plan is currently split between weights workouts and cardio on the erg/Wattbike. I broke my ankle 4 years ago and piled on weight due to a lot of inactivity, still got a couple of issues with my ankle and that precludes weight bearing cardio for the short-term.

Weights:
Monday - leg day plus HIIT
Wednesday - full body weights plus HIIT
Friday - upper body plus HIIT

Cardio:
Thursday: 10k erg
Saturday: 3 x 2k 4R
Sunday: 5k erg

I've got a weight loss target to hit by the 20th December so with the agreement of my PT, so for the last two weeks I've been doing a very slow 10k row on the days of my rowing. It's hard but results are accelerating.

I'm having the best part of 3 weeks off over Christmas, apart from long walks and body weight exercises.

Long term goals
Sub 40 min 10k
Sub 7min 2k
Hit between 100k and 105kg by June 2020