Rowing and Sport Science

[LateinEarlyOut]

It is easier to figure out how fast a cyclist would be on an ergometer than the other way around. Part of the reason it takes so long for even talented guys like Lance and many other Tour cyclists and marathon runners to become successful is that they are working on physiological adaptations that take years to develop.

Lactate threshold can continue to improve for many, many years, even after serious training. VO2 does not tend to do that, it tends to improve over the first few years of elite training and then peak. It would even fall over time as has probably happened with Lance over the last few years of the Tour. But with improvement to LT he can still maintain similar results.

But here is the thing, rowing a 2k is not like riding the Tour. Typically the longer the endurance event the older the champions of the events tend to be, basically it takes years to peak when it comes to LT. But for short distance endurance events that is not really the case. Fairly young athletes with little training can achieve very good 2k scores because VO2 and muscle mass are far more important than LT in a 2k.

There are many studies that show that for short distance endurance events, i.e. under 20 minutes, VO2 is a better predictor of performance. For longer distance events, i.e. over 20 minutes, LT tends to coorelate better with performance. This makes a lot of sense if you understand the specificlty princple.

So for a 2k you are producing 110% of power at VO2Max. The ten percent plus a little is made up for by anaerobic metabolism. So you reach VO2 max in the second or third minute of a 2k and then stay at 96-98% of VO2 max for the rest of the test. So for a 2k you are way above event the highest LTs out there, which might run 80-85% of VO2 max.

Whereas during a 6k you will be around 85-90% of VO2 max for much of the test, which is much closer to the Lactate Threshold. That is why LT is better for longer endurance events and VO2 is better for shorter events like a 2k.

From personal experience I know a guy who won Crash-b's twice. He pulled a 6:40 the first day as a walk on in the spring. He had no athletic experience, but was 6'8. After one year he was pulling low 5:50s. After three years of National Team training he was at 5:45. So although all that long distance National Team training may have helped him, he was able to come within about 6 seconds of his best time within his first year of rowing.

Now he is a very motivated guy, but guess what...so is Lance and I would not want to race him on an erg any day!

[PaulS]

From personal experience I know a guy who won Crash-b's twice. He pulled a 6:40 the first day as a walk on in the spring. He had no athletic experience, but was 6'8. After one year he was pulling low 5:50s. After three years of National Team training he was at 5:45. So although all that long distance National Team training may have helped him, he was able to come within about 6 seconds of his best time within his first year of rowing.

Now he is a very motivated guy, but guess what...so is Lance and I would not want to race him on an erg any day!

So how is Jamie getting on these days? I think being a Tubba Player helps with the lung capacity.

You are definitely on track about it being possible to reach about as high as you are going to get on the Erg in a couple Years, and for that matter in a boat, though the boat does take a bit more skill. I placed 4th at the first Ergomania (1983) after only 4 months of becoming involved in rowing, one year later was far faster, but quite near what would be considered to be peak performance. So it would be quite easy to conclude that a year of training would be enough for the rowing physiology requirements, after that the gains (OTW) are going to come from technical issues. The longer race formats, Head Racing (4k-6k), could probably continue to improve for a few years from both a physiological and technical perspective. In fact, the very first winner of CRASH-B's (PS, no relation, but we have met.) is still competing on the water and is quite fast by any standard.

Lance would probably produce a respectable Erg time based on his physiology alone, not much technique is really required, it's not as if it's that huge a penalty for thrashing, just take a look at just about any top 20 at WIRC, there will be plenty of thrashing, though usually the top few have things pretty well sorted.

[RowingScience]

I have had a Lance Armstrong in rowing series of postings on the blog of late. Today Dr. Stephen Seiler was kind enough to respond to an interview request and offers his opinion - interesting reading!

Alan Thomas
Rowing Science Blog
http://daily-erg-workout.blogspot.com

[Carl Henrik]

Alan,

Great job on getting a comment from Dr Stephen Seiler. It adds alot of value to following the topic and your site!