Reducing the drag to speed up the legs

[Bob S.]

Careful about that slippery slope, Paul. We have the ignore function available now. Sure, it is a crutch, but it helps in the clutch.

Bob

[GeorgeD]

Before a lack of motivation kicked in I put in about 15min at my 30min pace of around 1:50 at 24spm. The difference being a drop in drag from 130 down to 105, and as a consequence it necessitated a quicker drive (which gives a longer recovery). Now I accept that the change in 'duration' for each of these is probably not at all significant, but am I right in saying that the lower drag means a 'higher' peak force needs to be generated

Is this higher peak force what felt hard, as the rate and pace were as I said the same as before.

What would be the advantage of persevering till this drag felt comfortable, on an erg with no plans to transfer the skill to a boat.

George

[PaulS]

it is POWER being represented, not Force

Hi Paul,

I see what you mean. The vertical axis is has the label power, but the discussion says the more sequential stroke produces a more triangular force curve and the more simultaneous stroke produces a more rectangular force curve.

I don't remember where I saw it, but once I saw a discussion where the author showed the forces contributed by the legs, body swing, and arms independently and how they added to a more triangular force curve for the sequential stroke and more rectangular force curve for the more integrated stroke, which is consistent with the discussion in the source quoted.

Byron

Yep, he sure does say force, and all the tables in the rest of the article are dealing with force, once of the reasons I had big problems with it when reading it whe it was published.

Try this one for a more up to date explanation. And IMO, is more accurately presenting the information.

My personal view on the best technique WRT on the water rowing is a combination of the Grinko and Rosenberg styles, both are sequential, but there is no reason to ignore the large trunk component (as with the G) or the even larger leg comonent (as with R).

George,
Learning to be quicker with the legs is always a good thing, though with the "Ergcentric" desires you will at some point trend back up the DF scale to produce the most PM3 stimulating profile you can. Still the legs are the major contributors and the quicker they can come into play, the better. Remember to keep the sequencing correct however. Yes, you do have to produce a higher peak force for a given pace due to the shorter duration of the drive.

Bob,
Yes sir. I will very likely never use the ignore button, every once in a while something does need to be said, I'm attempting to choose wisely when those times are.