Concept2 Forum

dist /500 time watt s/m watt/stroke
3000 @ 2:01.1 12:06 197 27 7.3
2500 @ 2:00.2 10.00.8 202 28 7.21
2000 @ 1:58.9 7:55.5 208 29 7.17


There's obviously a correlation between time, power output - watts, and s/m. Question is - to improve my times should I concentrate on increasing the power output or increasing the s/m ? I notice that my power/stroke is around 7.2. Interestingly my fastest split was obtained at the lowest power/stroke level but at the highest s/m. My power/stroke seems pretty feeble when compared to many here on the forum - I frequently see numbers around 9/10

Firstly, increasing power - that will happen automatically as you train (hopefully effectively!) but some people restrict sessions to low stroke rates to build power. I don't personally because of an old injury. Second, if you're not that aerobically trained then increasing stroke rate will be possible as you get fitter. Note also that the length of the stroke will play a role too - either by coming too far forward (I do this alot) or by bringing the handle towards the neck, both will slow the stroke down and is also how I habitually see 10-11 s/m. How much erging have you done and how well aerobically trained are you? It might be that you'll just get better initially by erging more and seeing what happens to your spm or power.

You are, like many of us, not as tall and heavy as some of the big power munchers. You are what you are right now. As Gammmo says, keep working on technique and spending more time on the erg and everything will get better. I personally believe that doing training at moderate to low spm and really working on leg drive and ratio of drive to recovery will set me up better in the long run than rushing up and down the slide will. In the end some of it is finding harmony between power and fitness and fitness will usually be more critical once you get past 500m or so.

well said G-dub.
i go faster with higher SPM yet lower Watt, but i cant hold it for a long time, while when im doing steady state, at low SPM ( 18 ), my power is much much higher but i cant lower my split as much as with higher SPM.

Thanks for the replies/advice.
I've been erging on and off for the last 10years or so but haven't had a consistent run at it. I'm following the Pete Plan - starting week 4 - and have a target 2k of 7:30 (currently at 7:55). To push the power/stoke and s/m thing a bit further, is there a 2k predictor based on on these 2 variables? eg if my s/m = 30 and power/stroke = 8 then 2k time = 7:40 (assuming of course that the s/m and power/stroke can be maintained for the duration)

There are stout believers in those ratios and being consistent with them across the distances. The challenge is the aerobic demands of various distances are different, and / or our aerobic capacity is different, one person to another. For instance, I am grinding my way up the distances trying to stick with a certain W/S ratio. And low and behold it is easier to do it at shorter distances than longer distances for me because a) my strength is not in my endurance capacity compared to say Gammmo (he has lots of courage too) and b) my short square frame is more suited for the shorter distances, compact power and higher ratings. So mine is a bit of a sliding scale! Dean other hand seems to keep his consistent, which to me is amazing. Of course some of us wonder if he truly went all out on 2K or was just happy enough to hit his ratio to prove a point, but that is an ongoing bit of banter.

Newb advice here. But I stopped rowing for a bit in June and have been just doing strength training all summer.
I'm a bit shorter than you at 5'7" and at around 175 lbs. In June I was running at about 2:00/500m at around 20 spm.

I decided to warm up on the rower today before working out and was easily pumping out 1:40-1:50/500m at around 20 spm. The extra leg power made things a lot easier for me. I slowed down since I was doing legs today and didn't want to use all my energy.

The way I see it, if you're already fit and start rowing, strength training probably won't help much. But if you're like me and have been out of shape for a while. Strength training will probably help a lot in getting your erg times down.

I'm going to say try increasing your power.

Increasing the power is infinitely harder than increasing the stroke rate.
So that is where your effort in training should go.

So what is the most effective way to increase power? Weight lifting or SS at low spm?

And I´m not talking about a 16 year old training to be an elite rower. Let us say a 45 year old man trying to do a decent 2K in six months.

Rate capped rowing with focus on power (automatic if you keep a pace at a certain rate) is probably the best. 30r20 (30 minutes at 20 strokes per minute) is the classic
workout.

Weightlifting I would do deadlifts and squats, but here others are more expert.

Marben wrote:So what is the most effective way to increase power? Weight lifting or SS at low spm?

And I´m not talking about a 16 year old training to be an elite rower. Let us say a 45 year old man trying to do a decent 2K in six months.

For 2k low rate work, but if you one is really weak weights would help. But in general not strenght/speed, but power endurance is most peoples week link.
In the last 6/12 weeks a few serious speed sessions per week are needed.