Sprint form variance

[benallansmith]

I'd love to hear everyone's opinions on what works best for them with regards to form for shorter distance pieces. This can be distances such as 100m, 500m, 1000m, 1 minute or even the last 100-250 of a longer piece.

I've found that there's very little literature outside of Olympic distance form, and I feel as though it can be very subjective to your body type. I enjoy testing different things out on my interval days to see if there's any measurable effect.

100m: I find this distance the most hilarious and probably the most fun, where I've tried all manner of things. I've attacked it like a max deadlift but found things like weight belt and straps detrimental, due to needing to have the quickest possible recovery/return. Thing that have helped however - foot plates at highest level, squat shoes, weight plates at both ends of machine and under flywheel to prevent flex, max drag factor, shortened stroke (I liken this to a rack pull, where I personally can move more weight than a full deadlift movement) and I think the most important is how highly you can rate. Note: Take care of your back, warm up appropriately before attempting this madness!

500m: I haven't found too much variance from 2k form useful, main changes are simply higher drag factor and rate. The only real difference in form is a slightly shortened length (earlier catch) and a more aggressive recovery to maintain higher rate and help tapping along the heavier flywheel.

1000m: Basically 2k with the same drag and a higher rate. I also initiate a sprint (more aligned to 500m form) a little earlier too.

[MPx]

I think you've found most of them that work for me. The main one missing is short first stroke and very very high rate for first 3 or 4 strokes as a fast start makes such a difference to the result. My erg is tightly wedged between two walls of an alcove with some blocks of Oak so doesn't move at all no matter how wildly I flail about. So
100: Max drag; two holes higher foot pate; max rating; count stokes to ensure going beyond the finish or you tend to stop too early.
1 min: Max drag; one hole higher foot plate, banzai first 10, fast next 20, hang on as best I can...
500: Higher (not max) drag; one hole higher foot plate; fast start; settle to aspirational pace through 300 or so and try not to die too badly over the last third.
1k: Normal drag; one hole higher footplate; fast start; slightly under pace for 250; on pace for 500; hang on as far as poss last 250.

[MartinSH4321]

Big congrats for your 500 PB, nice to see a WR holder here!

You mentioned a lot of important things I also use, I would amend to wear shorts that "stick" good on the seat, at least for 100-500m I sometimes have problems with slipping off the seat (esp. 100m).

To maximise drag Shawn Baker removed the cover of the flywheel and got a drag factor >250 if I remember right, he also used it for longer sprints (up to 1k). You can search for "sprints and stuff" here in the forum where Shawn posted his trainings (including his WR attempts).

Personally, I use max drag for 100-500m and about 150 for 1k (135 for 2k).
Atm I hardly do any strength training and focus on aerobic stuff, but when I work more for sprints I would prefer to do the basic weights stuff (deadlift, squat, barbell row), core training and short intervals.
One thing I currently do from time to time is rate restricted (R22) 30'' sprints with 90''R, normally 4 sets where the first isn't max. Important: take care of your back

Edit: preparation: clean the rail, oil the chain and check the rope that pulls the chain back (when too loose you can lose a bit at the catch as the chain isn't fully tight)

[max_ratcliffe]

I'd love to hear everyone's opinions on what works best for them with regards to form for shorter distance pieces. This can be distances such as 100m, 500m, 1000m, 1 minute or even the last 100-250 of a longer piece.
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I don't sprint at all (dodgy back and feeble athleticism!), but I did just wonder where your absurdly awesome 500m placed you among lightweights...

Not too shabby - top of the world, ma.

And by 4 seconds

[Gammmmo]

but I did just wonder where your absurdly awesome 500m placed you among lightweights...

+1
highly impressive...makes HWT Martin look slow!

(and me....like an "also ran" ). To be serious though, the C2 rankings IMIO are seldom truly world class as so few people really rank times and proper oarsmen tend not to BUT in this case I do think for example the 500m and 1K times for a LWT are genuinely amazing. Chapeau!

[MartinSH4321]

but I did just wonder where your absurdly awesome 500m placed you among lightweights...

+1
highly impressive...makes HWT Martin look slow!

(and me....like an "also ran" ). To be serious though, the C2 rankings IMIO are seldom truly world class as so few people really rank times and proper oarsmen tend not to BUT in this case I do think for example the 500m and 1K times for a LWT are genuinely amazing. Chapeau!

Have a look at the world records, not the C2 rankings for 2020, you'll find a Benjamin Smith with 1:19.5 to be the fastest 500m LWT
https://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/ ... weight=Lwt

I've no problem to be slower then the fastest LWT ever

[Gammmmo]

but I did just wonder where your absurdly awesome 500m placed you among lightweights...

+1
highly impressive...makes HWT Martin look slow!

(and me....like an "also ran" ). To be serious though, the C2 rankings IMIO are seldom truly world class as so few people really rank times and proper oarsmen tend not to BUT in this case I do think for example the 500m and 1K times for a LWT are genuinely amazing. Chapeau!

Have a look at the world records, not the C2 rankings for 2020, you'll find a Benjamin Smith with 1:19.5 to be the fastest 500m LWT

I've no problem to be slower then the fastest LWT ever

Esteemed company...cool.
Think the most drag I've EVER used for sprint effort has been 150 so maybe some low hanging fruit to pick if my back holds...

[Eric308]

The last time I tired a 100m I fell off the seat strapped in, and some older lady had to come unstrap me so I could stand up. Embarrassing. I do somewhere in the high teens if I recall correctly...pretty crappy. It's all in the start.

[KeithT]

I usually just up the drag and SPM for shorter stuff but I never use max drag as it doesn't work well for me. I can go faster at high but not max drag. I use more drag (150 compared to 130) for the 1K as well. Martin uses more adjustments and he is faster on short sprints so I think there is merit to other changes. Also, while we don't want to Fly and Die it works at times for rows up to 500M.

[Gammmmo]

The last time I tired a 100m I fell off the seat strapped in, and some older lady had to come unstrap me so I could stand up. Embarrassing. I do somewhere in the high teens if I recall correctly...pretty crappy. It's all in the start.

You need to get on the creatine, bro.

[Eric308]

The last time I tired a 100m I fell off the seat strapped in, and some older lady had to come unstrap me so I could stand up. Embarrassing. I do somewhere in the high teens if I recall correctly...pretty crappy. It's all in the start.

You need to get on the creatine, bro.

Dude...I'll be 74 next week. Oh, I knew you'd say that.

[benallansmith]

The last time I tired a 100m I fell off the seat strapped in, and some older lady had to come unstrap me so I could stand up. Embarrassing. I do somewhere in the high teens if I recall correctly...pretty crappy. It's all in the start.

How did you manage to rig up your seat strap? I've also found it good to get consistent 100m times, rather than slipping every 5th interval. My solution is just a thick and flat ocky strap that seems to be the perfect length, but it's annoying to attach.

Also to add to the fail stories, when I was attempting a new 100m PB, on my third attempt, I snapped the chain on the second stroke. I've actually got video of it somewhere, I'll have to dig it up. It flung me back so hard the video looks sped up and luckily I didn't do any damage - I was actually flying out to USA the next day so it would have been an absolute nightmare 13 hr flight if my back was stuffed. My guess was there was a weak link in the chain (probably a good reminder to check the chain links every now and again) since it broke about 30cm down the chain link and I wasn't pulling anything too crazy, lowest I was seeing was 1:05, and I imagine the big boys get there or below quite often.

[Eric308]

"How did you manage to rig up your seat strap? I've also found it good to get consistent 100m times, rather than slipping every 5th interval. My solution is just a thick and flat ocky strap that seems to be the perfect length, but it's annoying to attach."

Sorry, I meant the foot straps. Never even heard of a seat strap.