Respiratory training/ endurance

[marven101]

hi
Iam a high school rower in 11th grade. I'm about 145 pounds , and i row a 2K of about 7:28(pB). My goal is to improve my 2K time in order to keep my place in the boat. i plan to work throughout the summer to keep and shape and get into better shape. I've tried many things to increase endurance and not be out of breath as much near the end of my 2K's but they dont seem to help past a certain point. I was wodering if anybody had any suggestions that could help. besides running my as off, which i do plunty. Anybody have experience with thouse respiratory devices that you breath through to increase lung capacity? you think its worth giving one a try?
thanks for any help you can give.
AR

[pduck]

Have you ever seen Olympic rowers at the end of one of their races? This is a sport that will leave you totally wiped out at the end. I wouldn't waste money on any devices. Hard, consistant work will get you to your goal.

Running doesn't seem to correlate too well to erging performance. Weight training will help with your power, and AT training can help with your endurance. Just continue with your rowing and you will get better, but you will always be out of breath at the end of a 2K race.

[Bob S.]

Just continue with your rowing and you will get better, but you will always be out of breath at the end of a 2K race.

That's a rather broad generalization. I have rarely had that "empty tank" experience. Tired, yes, but out of breath? No way.

Bob S.

[RowtheRockies]

Bob,

You are being sarcastic correct?

Rich

[almostflipped]

1) How often do you train?
2) What do you do for training?
3) How long does each session last?
4) Do you have asthma?
5) Do you lift?
6) Do you train in the off-season?

[hjs]

Just continue with your rowing and you will get better, but you will always be out of breath at the end of a 2K race.

That's a rather broad generalization. I have rarely had that "empty tank" experience. Tired, yes, but out of breath? No way.

Bob S.

You keep forgetting your age Bob . You don,t go 100% and that's very wise but That's not the way a young man rows.

[Bob S.]

Just continue with your rowing and you will get better, but you will always be out of breath at the end of a 2K race.

That's a rather broad generalization. I have rarely had that "empty tank" experience. Tired, yes, but out of breath? No way.

Bob S.

You keep forgetting your age Bob :D . You don,t go 100% and that's very wise but That's not the way a young man rows.

hjs

I agree with your concept, but I was not forgetting that my age makes a lot of difference - as well as concern about my valve repacement. What I was objecting to was pduck's use of "always."

As for younger rowers, I distinctly remember one of the open class 2005 C-B winners calmly continuing to row after her 2k was complete - sensibly slowing down gradually to a cool down mode.

Obviously I had no experience on the erg when I was young, since I was about 50 when they were invented and over 65 when I first learned about them. I do remember that in our college eights we were expected to have enough energy left to get the boat back to the boathouse - which was sometimes as far as the race itself - and then lift it out, wash it and put it away. In more recent OTW racing, it has been common practice for the coxswain to give the command "Paddle" at the end of a race rather than calling for a cessation of the rowing.

RowtheRockies,

No, this time I was not using sarcasm, although I am addicted to it. I was objecting to the use of such a broad generalization when I feel that there are a lot of exceptions to it. In my own case, it is probably a matter of a C-V system that is in better condition than my joints and muscles.

Bob S.

[Neb154]

I go all out in my OTW pieces at practice and races in general and although we do paddle it out, just to either get out of the way or cool down a little; don't confuse paddling with not being out of breath and rowing fine. Most of the time, paddling at the end of a piece is a haphazard escapade of flying oars at a stroke rate of about 10.

The way I see it, if you can still row fine after a race, you did not go hard enough during the race. Sure you will be able to drag the boat back to the dock and get it out of the water, but you better be wiped at the end of that race none the less.

[pduck]

Wow, I didn't think I was making that much of a controversial statement!

Most of my background is in competitve running rather than erging, but I'm sure they aren't too different as far as what we are talking about. It's typical for a championship runner to take a "victory lap" after winning a race, even the middle and long distance runners. Even though they are able to do so doesn't mean that they weren't dying over the last few laps of their race. Back when I was racing (mile and 5K) my lungs would be screaming and my legs would feel like rubber towards the end of a race, but within about 30-60 seconds after crossing the finish line, I would be feeling normal again. When I coached cross country, I would see a number of runners at each race leave the finishing shoot on all fours. The better conditioned athletes would be just as tired, but would recover more quickly.

I don't know if it's true or not, but I heard that the sport of rowing or erging has the highest percentage of participants throwing up after their race. The times that I've tried 2K time trials would lead me to believe that this might be true. In any event, I think if you do an exercise as intense as erging all out for 6-8 minutes, you should feel totally wiped out.

Now I can see how the longer distances such as 10K - marathons would not leave you terribly winded. That is because those are primarily aerobic events as opposed to anaerobic. In a faster race, like the 2K, you will be accumulating more lactic acid than you can metabolize. Your muscles will be using more oxygen than you can take in through breathing, so your body breaks down muscle glycogen in an attempt to provide the energy to row at that pace. And you get out of breath.

I'd be interested in hearing how other rowers (people who are more experienced and competitive than I am) feel at the end of a race.

[Bob S.]

I guess that I have never really learned how to empty the tank. The only times I have come close to having the feelings that have been described have been after some interval sessions. Maybe Xeno was right when he said that I was 100% aerobic. Maybe that new valve acts like a governor, putting a limit on my output, but I don't remember it being any different in previous years. I don't remember experiencing lactate pain from rowing, although I have occasionally felt it after weight lifting.

Bob S.

[ancho]

...

I'd be interested in hearing how other rowers (people who are more experienced and competitive than I am) feel at the end of a race.

There are different phases: At 500 m you think you have started too fast, and will not be able to finish, and it would be better to stop. At 1000 m you think you are at half race, and you still have the same distance to go. At 1500 m, your legs and lungs burn so much, that you don't think anything. At 1750, you try to squeeze the last bits out of you, without forgetting to breathe. At the finish, you feel nearly dead, and asking yourself why the hell you are doing this.
All these feelings havent't changed too much for me since I was 15. They also depend very much on the race result.

[polaco]

There is a sentence that sumarize what you feel in a race:


ROW, ROW UNTIL YOU SEE GOD, AND THEN SPRINT!!!!

[hjs]

hjs

I agree with your concept, but I was not forgetting that my age makes a lot of difference - as well as concern about my valve repacement. What I was objecting to was pduck's use of "always."

As for younger rowers, I distinctly remember one of the open class 2005 C-B winners calmly continuing to row after her 2k was complete - sensibly slowing down gradually to a cool down mode.

Obviously I had no experience on the erg when I was young, since I was about 50 when they were invented and over 65 when I first learned about them. I do remember that in our college eights we were expected to have enough energy left to get the boat back to the boathouse - which was sometimes as far as the race itself - and then lift it out, wash it and put it away. In more recent OTW racing, it has been common practice for the coxswain to give the command "Paddle" at the end of a race rather than calling for a cessation of the rowing.

RowtheRockies,

Bob S.

True Bob and I don,t think you should go at full 100 % often. I personally only do it on the 2 k. For me it makes a big differance If I just not go all the way. If i do that I am fine after a few minutes But If I really go the full 100% It can take up to 15/20 minutes before I become A little human again .
I think it also has to do with your build. People who have lots of red (slow) muscle fibers don,t reach such high lactaat levels as the more sprintlike build ones.

[ivanans]

I think, if you really want to go better, you just have to go your maximum (if you haven't been doing that until now), and that means be out of breath at the end. The first few pulls go your max, the first 500 m little faster than your planned average split, and the last 300 m go your max again.