Concept2 Forum

This is my first post here so, take it easy on me.
I have been a lifelong athlete, have done 6 marathons, 2 triathlons, 10 half marathons and ove 200 races of other distances. . I had to switch to rowing because of bad genetics (bad knees run in our family) and needing to have my knee replaced, so my competitve running career ended after some 20 years. The only exercise that provided the same intenstity is rowing. Love the sport. I am 43 years old

I am 510 165 # RHR of 40, Max HR 175. BF in the 10% range.

Question I am researching SPM and for the longest time I was pretty comfortable at 32 SPM but everything I read said that is too fast. I recently dropped it to 28 with more of a focus on rest after the strokes and pulling harder.

I have extremely strong legs and can get good pushes but the effort seems slow, like I want to quickly return and pull hard again.
I have a PB 2k of 758 where my SPM were in the 38 range (done last week)

I am worried that I cannot do the same speed at a lower stroke rate.


So do I continue to concentrate on strong pulls and slow recovery or wha?. I am hoping to get on some water soon and would love to possibly be a part of a crew, but that is a little ways off.

28 SPM seemed ok, and I actually did my best time this year (calendar, not C2) for my distance/time.


Thanks for any and all help

joseph030 wrote:
Question I am researching SPM and for the longest time I was pretty comfortable at 32 SPM but everything I read said that is too fast. I recently dropped it to 28 with more of a focus on rest after the strokes and pulling harder.

I have extremely strong legs and can get good pushes but the effort seems slow, like I want to quickly return and pull hard again.
I have a PB 2k of 758 where my SPM were in the 38 range (done last week)

I am worried that I cannot do the same speed at a lower stroke rate.

So do I continue to concentrate on strong pulls and slow recovery or wha?. I am hoping to get on some water soon and would love to possibly be a part of a crew, but that is a little ways off.

28 SPM seemed ok, and I actually did my best time this year (calendar, not C2) for my distance/time.

First, a slight semantic quibble. In rowing, fast means a high speed through the water or a low pace (time/500m) on an indoor rower. High rates help to produce faster times, but only up to a limit and the limit is dependent on the length of the piece. For a 2k race or time trial, 38spm is higher than many would go, but not at all out of line. In sprinting the last couple of hundred meters many will go higher.

That's for races and time trials - 2k, that is. For 1k and 500m it can be higher. But the bulk of most training plans is distance work at moderate paces and at much lower stroke rates, like 15-25, concentrating on good form and a hard, quick drive, with a relaxed recovery. I have had coaches on the water trying to get us as low as 12spm. Hardly anyone cares much for that, but it is a great way to work on properly keeping the boat set. On the erg, this does not come into effect, but the Wolverine Plan, for one, does call for a lot of 16 and 18spm, as well as carefully controlled rates at varying levels.

Bob S.

So do I continue to concentrate on strong pulls and slow recovery or what?

Length of the stroke.

A long stroke will let you pull say 200W at 20: then when you've done this for a year or so, 300W at 30 will seem fun. As Bob says, we want to go fast (boat speed) but slow (rating). Rowing is all about learning how.

The erg is a piece of engineering, and rowing is a work based sport. In engineering, Work = Length x Force, so clearly if either Work or Force are small, so too is Work. They must both be high to shift your boat.

You're at the right length when your hands hit the chainguard, with shoulders (not bum) well forward. This is done with a slow recovery and with the hands away - swing forward - then slide recovery sequence.

Low drag makes it possible by allowing a fast pull.

It looks like this:
http://www.britishrowing.org/taking-par ... ing-stroke
Picture 1 is the catch position, and we have to be there to pull a long stroke.

There's only one thing to learn in rowing: how to pull a good stroke. It's a sine qua non, and every single stroke must be a good one. Not only does this shift our boat fast, it gets us fit too.

Ok so is your 2K PB at 7:58 or is that an error ? if that is correct and your also rating 38 to acheive this then you need to make some quick changes as your flying up and down the slide and not going anywhere fast.

The Theory behind SPM is not to hard to grasp. It is about power per stroke and doing longer training rows at 16-18spm builds both strength and aerobic capacity when you match this to your UT2 / UT1 HR training band and pace. When your body adapts to the increase in power per stoke, you then rate up at the same power per stroke and your pace increases.

The most common mistake for newbies is an actual drag factor (not damper position) that is to high and a rating (SPM) that is to high. You will find however that after a period of time if you work on both of these they will both come down. The improvements can be quite dramatic depending on your level of fitness.

Unfortunatly the Erg is not the same as a boat when it comes to SPM. It is possible to get what looks like a great time or distance on the Erg on paper but the rating and/or technique is unrealistic for a boat. There is really not enough emphasis on results that also include the SPM as this then provides a far better picture of your actual performance.

Someone with a long distance running background simply lacks strenght. It takes time to build that, the stroke should be 1/3 stroke and 2/3 recovery. You now have a weak stroke and try to compensate via a fast recovery.
Best is to forget the pace for a while and slowly lower your spm, in time you will become stronger and be able to lay down more power per stroke.

From personal experience, however, don't try and lower your rate too fast. Lower ratings (while maintaining the same pace) puts more strain on your muscles. If you up that strain too quickly, you can put some real hurt on your back.

Somebody as fit as yourself should easily be able to do a much better 2k, but right now you are wasting a lot of motion and energy sliding up and down that rail.

Check the drag factor for your machine... start off at 100-120-ish (3 or 4 on a clean machine). If the drag factor is in that range and you just can't get the speed with a rating in the low 20's, post a video here, as there is something likely wrong with your technique that is robbing your strokes of power.

Alright, in the last 5 days, I have dropped my SPM from 30-32 to around 24-28 consistently. I am appreciate all of the insight and advice. I have also dropped some of my YTD best times with every day I have lowered my SPM.

I completely get the concept and understand the quality of quantity approach.

It was awkward at first, but I am focusing much more on the recovery as opposed to the stroke.

I saw this on another thread, and this may give you some better appreciation for lower SPM. You might want to start at a higher rate if that's what you're used to and quit at a higher SPM if you're trying to limit the forces on your knees.

If you want a good "power" workout try the following exercise with the ergo flat on the floor (you only need a medium drag factor, e.g. 120-130):
Do not have a break between segments.
Row for 10 minutes at 24 SPM, using a pace that you could easily maintain for 40 minutes.
Row for 4 minutes at 22 SPM whilst maintaining the same pace as used in the previous step.
Row for 4 minutes at 20 SPM whilst maintaining the same pace.
Row for 4 minutes at 18 SPM whilst maintaining the same pace.
Row for 2 minutes at 16 SPM whilst maintaining the same pace.
Row for 2 minutes at 14 SPM whilst maintaining the same pace.
By the time you get to the lower stroke rates you should be finding it quite hard on the legs. With any low rate/high power exercises you must use good technique (early, strong leg drive and good sequencing of the stroke), and protect your back by ensuring that the core muscles remain powerfully engaged - especially at the catch and the finish. If you are pulling hard with your arms you are doing it wrong - rowing is a pushing sport.