Concept2 Forum

I feel I should train at higher SPM, but find this very difficult.

I am not unhappy with my training and the resulting progress. My aim is general fitness, to achieve that I run and row.
Rowing consists of three sessions a week:
- 60 minutes, +/- 14 k
- 30 minutes, +/- 7.2 k
- 30 minutes interval (3 * 10 at 2.02 or 6 * 5 at 2.00)

I am a former rower without any talent. Since resuming erging three months ago my 60 minutes went from 13 k to 14.2 k. Yesterday I participated in the Ergohead in Amsterdam. 20 minutes, 5051 meters. I am 54 years old, heavyweight. So I am doing my erg-thing and enjoying it very much.

But... All training schedules call for SPM's at 27 and higher. I have a hard time getting my stroke rate above 22-23. And the damper is at 3. At higher SPM I have trouble breathing, and my muscles ache like anything.

Your opinion please. Should I train at higher SPM or just concentrate on getting better times at whatever SPM I like best?

Your comments please!

If all your training has been at 22-23spm, and all of a sudden you're asked to ramp it up to 27, then yeah, it can be difficult. Also, if you're particular tall, your stroke will presumably be longer, and thus more difficult to rate higher.

Do you do all your workouts at the same rating?

Your "Training" SPM is already too high.

For those distances my rating is 17-18 SPM. Try to work on your power at lower SPM's and this will help you to rate up a few months down the track more easily.

Take as look at this in terms of ratings to aim for a few months down the track after more training and your fitness improves.

http://www.freespiritsrowing.com/conten ... e=hr_bands

Check the actual Drag Factor on the monitor rather than the damper setting.

Thank you for the swift replies!

In answer to your questions: I use the same damper setting for all my sessions. And I have my own (good old) erg, so it's a constant drag factor.

I am 6'3, not very tall.

And my actual SPM is about 17-18 for the long pieces and 21-22 for the intervals.

Looking at the Free Spirits page it looks like I am not doing anything wrong, just that am not yet training at very high intensity. Could that be right?

If you go over 14 km/h at 17-18 on just three sessions a week, I reckon you're doing ok (170W at almost a 10W' stroke characteristic). If you want more variety, or more work, have a look at the Interactive on the uk site, or the Wolverine L4 workouts, especially if you intend to race or even only do the occasional 2k test.

If you're 6'3 (1.9m), then with a "fit" BMI of 23, your weight would be 83kg; so 170W for long periods is just right (>2W/kg).

No training plan requires 27 spm from you, except for short intervals; on the erg, rating is our problem, depending, for any given output power, on height and stroke quality. However, the better your stroke in terms of posture, relaxation, sequence, speed and coordination, and so Work, the easier it will be to rate up and the less you'll need to.The Interactive has lots of nice TR pieces for that: all the way from 2x2' to 3x6' at up to 105% of race Watts.

AndreHilhorst wrote:I feel I should train at higher SPM, but find this very difficult.

I am not unhappy with my training and the resulting progress. My aim is general fitness, to achieve that I run and row.
Rowing consists of three sessions a week:
- 60 minutes, +/- 14 k
- 30 minutes, +/- 7.2 k
- 30 minutes interval (3 * 10 at 2.02 or 6 * 5 at 2.00)

I am a former rower without any talent. Since resuming erging three months ago my 60 minutes went from 13 k to 14.2 k. Yesterday I participated in the Ergohead in Amsterdam. 20 minutes, 5051 meters. I am 54 years old, heavyweight. So I am doing my erg-thing and enjoying it very much.

But... All training schedules call for SPM's at 27 and higher. I have a hard time getting my stroke rate above 22-23. And the damper is at 3. At higher SPM I have trouble breathing, and my muscles ache like anything.

Your opinion please. Should I train at higher SPM or just concentrate on getting better times at whatever SPM I like best?

Your comments please!

Hi Andre,

We proberly races the same heat this weekend.

A few things, how tall are you, If you are very tall, your rate should be on the low side.

If you are not able to rate up, you proberly use to much power per stroke. Going from rate 22 to let's say 26 with the same stroke intensity will mean 18% more energy needed.
And if you really try at rate 22, you simply don,t have that much left.

To train higher rating, short interval work can be very effective. lets say 1 min on/ 1 min off, and don,t look to much at speed but purely focus on spm. If this goes well after a while increese the intervals to 500 meter with 1 min rest.
At the moment you don't do this kind of work, doing this can really help.

Don't change the longer row much spm wise, although you could try to alternate the rate a bit. If you want to rate 22, you could use rate 20/22/24 every 2 minutes and alternate.


ps everybody can rate high, look in gyms, lot's of very unfit people pulling rate 40 easily

Thanks guys (no ladies I believe),
It's comforting, I don't seem to be doing much wrong. I will try slightly higher SPM in the intervals. The same speed at higher SPM is very difficult for me. Higher SPM leads to higher speed, which means that my fitness seems to dictate SPM.

I will take all your comments to heart!

"Oude astmatische dikzak gaat er tegenaan!"

That's funny.