Daily Erging during School Year

[kblanchard]

Hi,
I'm an incoming junior in high school. This year I'll have a lot on my plate, including 2nd-year varsity rowing, student council, and several AP/honors classes. Time management is key. Although I am a decent rower on the water, my erg scores are only average--I want to make them above average. I was told by the parent of a girl who's now on the U-23 team that she erged for about 20 minutes on her off days during spring and fall . This is doable for me, but it seems almost too short. If I erg 20 minutes per night on my off days(every other day), will my score actually improve or will the workouts just keep me fit? Also, what can I do on my off days to improve my score but still have time for other things?
Thanks!

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

Off days from team training or off days from school? I'm unclear as to what you mean.

I can tell you when I rowed in college (recently) I would do 10-15k extra on the erg on top of the regular team practices.

Of course this was after having erged/trained for some time so my body could handle it and recover. You probably wouldn't handle that sort of mileage very well. But 20 minutes sounds a bit short. Ultimately it's not the time but the exertion during that time.

I'd shoot for 6-10k extra at a rate around 16-20. 17-20 seconds above your 2k PR split.

[kblanchard]

I meant off-training days. Thanks for the suggestion, it's a good idea and specific!