Concept2 Forum

Hi,

This week I decided that 1:55 will be my new 2:00. I was motivated to do this because I need to increase my weightloss and looking for it to translate to lower splits on my 2k, 5k, and 30min pieces after my body gets used to the new pace.

The default row up until this time has been to sit down on the erg turn on the tube and do either 40 or 80 minutes at 2:00. I am hoping that in a month or so pulling an hour at 1:55 will be as effortless as an hour at 2:00 is now. Does anyone have any advice on increasing the pace like that?

Thanks!!!

jcastro20111 wrote:Hi,

This week I decided that 1:55 will be my new 2:00. I was motivated to do this because I need to increase my weightloss and looking for it to translate to lower splits on my 2k, 5k, and 30min pieces after my body gets used to the new pace.

The default row up until this time has been to sit down on the erg turn on the tube and do either 40 or 80 minutes at 2:00. I am hoping that in a month or so pulling an hour at 1:55 will be as effortless as an hour at 2:00 is now. Does anyone have any advice on increasing the pace like that?

Thanks!!!

You would be going from 202.5 watts to 230.1 watts. That is a 13.6% increase in power . Are you sure that you want to take that big a jump?

Bob S.

Just because 1:55 and 2:00 are nice round numbers does not mean they're magic.

I say spend some time at 1:57, 2:02, 1:52 along with 1:55 and 2:00 and the 1:55s will feel effortless in no time.

Have you tried using a HR monitor? I've found that psychologically effortless is much different than physically effortless. I'll often feel a workout is effortless even though my heart is in an AT band ... and when I do this for too long I seem to hurt myself.

In most aerobic sports, pushing too hard on base building aerobic work is far more detrimental than going a little too slow. I'm assuming rowing is no different (experts, please correct me if there is evidence to the contrary).

Your weight loss training should be HR based and not pace based. Find out your max HR and resting HR and train in the right band. You may find that 1:55 is what you need looking at your signature, then again you may be surprised how slow your going to acheive the HR desired and it may be closer to 1:58.

If I can sustain a 1:55 pace for 1-2hrs/day 6x/week, wouldn't that be better for weight-loss than a 1:58 pace for the same amount of time, even if the 1:58 pace was at my ideal HR?

What I have found, and I don't know if others see it too, is that I have "grooves", where the stroke rate and breathing match up well with a particular split. Basically, if I breath twice per stroke, and I stroke at 22, then I am in a groove at about a 2:00 split. If I slow down to 20, then the groove seems to be around 2:02.

I think it's related to respiration rate, but I have no evidence to back that up.

Of course my heart rate is higher with faster splits, but I think the difference is that my HR reaches a stable plateau if the breathing is in balance.

Does this sound wacko?

jcastro20111 wrote:If I can sustain a 1:55 pace for 1-2hrs/day 6x/week, wouldn't that be better for weight-loss than a 1:58 pace for the same amount of time, even if the 1:58 pace was at my ideal HR?

Not much, if you a few minutes longer on the lower pace you burn the same amount of energy. If you want to loose weight the best way is to watch you eating a bit better, next to your training.

As far as weight loss, would agree with other folks on using HR training for optimum weight loss.. But, if we're honest w/ourselves (and BELIEVE me, I have a lot of personal experience with this ).. the real solution for weight loss is limiting intake, not so much crafting the optimal workout..

As far as going faster, my personal observation is that you may be spending to much time doing the same long steady thing.. Your body will really react positively to constantly challenging it in different ways, intervals, etc.
Have you tried one of the training plans that are out there? Pete Plan, C2 Interactive, Wolverine?

Best of all, get RowPro and train online with a bunch of us folks!! Nothing better than friendly competition to get the best out of your workout.. you sure dont have to worry about coming in last with those times of yours, plus, I'm always there...

Free eval copy at: http://www.digitalrowing.com/Downloads/index.htm

I just recently purchased rowpro based on the the recommendation I got from a buddy and the demo I saw up at the B's. Right now I have it running on a dell mini. I need to alter the setup of my gym to be able to use it more effectively. I currently move a chair by the erg and place the computer on top of it.