Train With Xeno

Jamie Pfeffer · Post by **Jamie Pfeffer** » December 28th, 2007, 7:28 pm

Hi, Mark. You've made a great decision.

I started Xeno's program in early September, the day that my surgeon cleared me to row after my last spinal fusion. At the time, I rowed about 4K in 20 minutes (I believe that is accurate; I'll have to check my Row Pro log). Last week, in my 4x20-minute work out, I did 55something for the third piece and around 5625 on the fourth. And when I started his program, I couldn't sit on the erg for 30 minutes. Last week I went 16,550 (or so) for 60 minutes and I held around 1:55 average for a 120-minute piece.

In the September 2K I went 6:51; October was 6:43.3; November was 6:38.1; December is tomorrow.

Xeno is an awesome coach, mentor, and ambassador for the sport. He also makes it a point to become friends wih his athletes. That's probably the best part of having him as your coach. For example, my Model E snapped on a Wednesday night. Xeno called C2 that Thursday morning. My brand new Model E arrived around 3:00 PM on Friday -- not even 48 hours after it broke. It's amazing what happens when you put out the Xeno Signal. Just sound the Alpen Horn and good things happen.

I look forward to reading about your progress.

Best,
Jamie

m.calvin · Post by **m.calvin** » December 29th, 2007, 2:45 pm

Bloody hell

You have come a long way then! That is great progress!
Must say I am looking forward to it! I have been ill over christmas, so havnt had much training! I have been sculling for 9 years now, so im fit, but only pulling 6.58 2k! So ready to attack it now.
I need to be 6.35 for national squad trials. And thats just to be invited

Jamie Pfeffer · Post by **Jamie Pfeffer** » December 29th, 2007, 3:48 pm

You'll make it. Xeno's program will have you flying. In today's 2K test, I went 6:34.5. And I was bang on 165.00lbs.

Keep posting in this forum. We'll push each other.

Best,
Jamie

philrow · Post by **philrow** » December 29th, 2007, 4:04 pm

Awesome work on the 2k, Jamie!

I read on some thread, maybe on the UK forum, about how you avoid 18-22spm and stay around 24spm for long rows because it's easier on your back. You know, I used to do all of my long rows at 24-26spm naturally, I guess just because it was inherently more comfortable. Since I've been on break I've been trying to row long warm-ups and Xeno-like pieces at the prescribed 18-22spm, and find that I'm just unable to do it because it agitates my back, especially combined with the confused erg that I'm always complaining about. I suppose if I keep the spm up, I'll actually be able to complete the prescribed workouts? It's interesting... my back only hurts when I erg (not row...!), dead lift obscene amounts, or squat too much weight without back support.

In any case, I'm planning on having a go at the December 5th workout either Sunday or Monday. It's high spm, so hopefully it'll be ok.

Rowmaniac · Post by **Rowmaniac** » December 29th, 2007, 4:47 pm

Jamie, excellent work on the 2K. Congrats!

I just did my first TR workout on the IP plan. I'm happy. I had 8 x 2' intervals target was 1:50- 2:00 (which meant I wanted 1:50) and I did them all with average 149.8. I am regaining confidence after a few sick days over Christmas. I am starting to see the light, although we have 8 weeks to go.

Looking fwd to meeting you in Boston. Keep up the great work! You are doing great!

Jamie Pfeffer · Post by **Jamie Pfeffer** » December 29th, 2007, 5:34 pm

Thanks very much, guys.

Phil: Please be careful with your back. If you can get a working monitor, cap your drag factor at 130. The last few weeks I've trained at 125-128 and a minimum of 24 strokes per minute. That's helped my back. Also, I know you like to to deadlift, but perhaps you should forego it for a while. This time last year, I was deadlifting 425. But I haven't gone above 200lbs since my last fusion. Now I do sets of 25-30 with 135lbs. It's nowhere near as fun, but it helps my back. I've also given up Romanian/stiff-legged deadlifts. I used to do them at 300lbs no problem. But it wasn't worth how much they hurt my back.
When you come to visit, I'd be happy to lift with you. Until the end of indoor racing season, though, I'm going to do all my strength training on the erg. I'll do 15-20 stroke pieces at a damper of 8.
It is very frustrating, though, how you can't get equipment that's commensurate with your enthousiasm (sp?). It will be great to see how you thrive when you transfer. Some program will be lucky to have you. I sure hope it's GU.

Deb: Congratulations on your 8x2-miute pieces. I always thought 8x500-meter pieces was a brutal workout. But 8x2-minutes sounds ghastly. For me, time-based pieces are harder than distance-based pieces. The latter vests you with an inherent incentive to drive the boat. The harder you go, the sooner the piece ends.
You're definitely on pace to push the big erg you're chasing. I'm confident that I'll see you with a shiny disk dangling from a rippling ribbon.

sammac112 · Post by **sammac112** » December 29th, 2007, 6:15 pm

Hey guys,

I think im going to invest in some of Xeno's DVDs and was wondering if you had any advice?

I am tempted to buy the set of 7 for 95 $, which seems like a good deal, but i really dont think i will use tecnique DVD, or the upper body DVD.

This being said, i am interested in the 19' pyramid, the "new Xeno and Charles Workout great interval", 3 X 6' rate changes, interval workout, and the 100k 200k no problem.

From your experiances, which of these are the best? I am most interested in lowering my 6k and 2k erg times.

Thanks.

tdekoekkoek · Post by **tdekoekkoek** » December 29th, 2007, 6:20 pm

Jamie Pfeffer wrote:Thanks very much, guys.

Phil: Please be careful with your back. If you can get a working monitor, cap your drag factor at 130. The last few weeks I've trained at 125-128 and a minimum of 24 strokes per minute. That's helped my back.

If I can put in my own 2 cents: I think 130 is way too high, especially if you are having issues with your back. Maybe some heavyweights can row there or higher, but IMO 115-120 is sufficient. I'm a heavyweight and I usually have it at 118 and only need to pull 18-20 spm to row around 1:55. I think most people, especially women and lightweights have their ergs set too high.

All my opinion of course, but I know many of the lightweights on the national team and I don't think most of them are rowing much over 120.

130 is definitely harder than rowing in the water unless you have your blades unusually long.

Cheers,

Trevor

m.calvin · Post by **m.calvin** » December 29th, 2007, 7:11 pm

I do all my ergs at 135 drag, as it is lightweight testing drag!
Makes sense as you have to race at it
I do some strength pieces at 180 sometime around 16spm(bloody hurt)

But Im young without back problems, so I have this to look forward to

philrow · Post by **philrow** » December 29th, 2007, 7:42 pm

tdekoekkoek wrote: I think most people, especially women and lightweights have their ergs set too high.

Oh, are we implying something here, Mr. Heavyweight?

m.calvin wrote:But Im young without back problems

Yea, so was I, about 2 months ago. Sure, I can squat anything, deadlift anything, 28spm at 140 drag forever, row anything, carry anything, sleep on anything, do anything... yeap, that turned out well for me. :-p 18 6'2 165lbs, crippled! Well, not that bad really, not at all.

Jamie, I've decided not to dead lift anything anymore. I even have difficulties with bent-over rows, good-mornings, and anything else that requires me to be bent over close to 90 degrees. For awhile, I wouldn't squat much of anything very frequently. But, I've found that as long as I have a ton of back support through any number of means that I can squat just fine, although I've decided to not start climbing towards 400lbs squat anytime soon and even primarily keep it well below 300lbs and even 200lbs. I miss squating like I used to, but I also miss being able to erg every day for more than a warm-up and cool-down.

I had every intention of "converting" full out to Xeno's training until at least the end of the indoor rowing season too, but given my situation with my back and trash ergs, I've decided to just focus on building strength and muscular endurance by emphasizing almost completely weightlifting over this break. I know many people would thoroughly disagree with this approach, but I know from my personal experiences that I have a long ways to go and a lot of gains to make by just lifting, as I did over the summer. 0 endurance training and 100% strength training, not really even muscular endurance training, lead to a significant decrease in 2k times. That was training just three times a day, through experimentation having never lifted before, and just for fun. Now, although I'm still moving things around, I'm looking at a 5 day split, with a lot of experience and knowledge and a great deal of determination. After just a few weeks back at it, I can feel the gains in strength and endurance. Hopefully with some time off and a few trips to the chiropractor and massager, my back will be up for some high-volume erging. If not, I can do plenty of running, biking, running stairs, swimming, and even cross-country skiing to help supplement what erging I can do. In any event, my 2k time is going down. The end.

m.calvin · Post by **m.calvin** » December 29th, 2007, 7:57 pm

ok, point taken

If you look after technique and flexibility, you wont get back problem!
I mean someone as light as me can work very well with 135 drag, a heavyweight should!
Progressive overload, a little bit at a time!

But when it comes to rowing, lifting is not that important, it helps.
It is more important to push 40kg around for 6min than 100kg for 1min.

Jamie Pfeffer · Post by **Jamie Pfeffer** » December 29th, 2007, 8:02 pm

Sam: The $95 deal is by far the best, The workouts you listed are on different discs (he can package three or four on a disc; the ones you mention are split between the two). Personally, I like the 19-minute pyramid and 3x6-minute pieces best for the workouts. But I use the first 20 minutes of the "100k, 200k" as my warm-up every time that I row -- no exceptions ever.

Trevor: Terry O'Neil writes on the UK site that the UK national team recommends 135 drag factor for "elite" lightweights. Personally, though, I agree with you that 125-130 feels about right for me. But damper is idiosyncratic.

Phil: Try front squats. They are much easier on your back and they better target your quads and glutes. Read the below book. It's the best weightlifting book I've ever read. The author calls front squats "the King of All Exercises." From amazon.com:

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philrow · Post by **philrow** » December 29th, 2007, 8:10 pm

I have been told I have "exemplary" technique by my coaches and have actually been used as an example in demonstrations. I also have learned a 15' stretch, warm-up, 5' stretch, then 5' stretch, cool-down, 15' stretch routine that has increased my flexibility quite a bit. I've also spent the last year progressively-overloading. I guess these things just happen. And, I did work very well with high drag. That's why there didn't appear to be a problem.

I disagree -- for me, at least, lifting does more than just "help." Training at all "helps." If I train hard and long enough, then maybe eventually I'll get to push 100kg for 6 minutes while you're still pushing 40kg

Again, my experience lifting was extremely beneficial -- at least 20 seconds off 2k with no aerobic training. After that lifting and a moderate amount of endurance training over almost 2 months, I totaled, I believe, over 30 seconds off my last 2k.

m.calvin · Post by **m.calvin** » December 29th, 2007, 8:19 pm

Forsure, lifting is essential for building strength, but it doesnt make you move a single.
I lift twice a week to build power, but it doesnt replace sculling or erging.
After all thats whats its all about

Jamie Pfeffer · Post by **Jamie Pfeffer** » December 29th, 2007, 10:40 pm

Saturday:
AM: 2K: 6:34.3 (1:38.57 avg)

PM: (1) 70-minute (strapless): 18,775 meters (1:51.85 avg)
(2) 3x30 seconds on; 1 minute off (maximum rate and pace, damper at 10).