The higher spm lower power trade-off

[sharp_rower]

I feel like I've been doing it wrong all along...My 2k tests have typically broken down to 25 spm for the first 1500, then 28 or 29 spm for the final 500. My mentality has been to produce maximal power on each stroke, which explains the relatively low stroke rate. Lately I've been experimenting with higher stroke ratings but with less power applied on each stroke, and it seems that the lower splits are more accessible, even though it doesn't feel any harder...In other words, by increasing stroke rating and reducing power, I'm getting more bang for my buck than I was getting at 25 spm. I haven't done a formal test yet with this approach, so I don't know if I can sustain the higher stroke rating for the whole piece, and whether my ability to get to these lower splits with no real increase in exertion is actually just an illusion...Can stroke rating and power be tweaked to achieve the best possible times with no real change in overall effort?

[OarConsequences]

Of course it can. Think of it this way: How fast of a split do you think you could produce if you pulled 1 stroke per minute? That's an extreme example of course but the point is that stroke rate does play into maximizing your speed. Adjusting your stroke rate to your specific physiology will allow you to shave off time from your 2K. Along with stroke rate you can also play with drag factor (adjusted by changing damper setting) to optimize your output.

[Cyclingman1]

Can stroke rating and power be tweaked to achieve the best possible times with no real change in overall effort?

In a word: Yes. But the optimum SPM is different for everyone. Many WR holders are in the mid to upper 30s for 2K. But then they are unusual athletes. You are a power rower. I would think an increase to say 28-9 SPM for most of the 2K would make a difference. The evidence is in the pace on the monitor. It can quickly be seen how the tradeoff is working: speed versus power.

[Carl Watts]

Yes a higher spm for a given pace is easier but only to a point.

Energy just going up and down the slide is wasted so the higher the spm for a given pace the higher the percentage of the energy you have available is wasted.

Typically the lower distance rows are done at a higher spm or rating but you drop the rating on the longer rows. For eample you really would not want to be trying to do 36spm for a full marathon.

As pointed out the ideal spm and drag factor etc takes time for you to find and will vary from one person to another.

A Heartrate monitor really shows up the difference in rating changes, in particular at low ratings like going from 17 to 18 to 19 to 20 your will see big steps over say a 30min at the same pace. The body is not a machine and the biomechanics must be quite complex.

[jamesg]

Can stroke rating and power be tweaked?

Sure they can, I do it all the time, not that I can boast of any megagalactic results. What you're looking at is stroke work, which is Power/Rating, so easy to see and control. However the range is not that wide; I warm up at work 6-6.5, work at 7-7.5 in long UT2/1 pieces and maybe even 8.5 in AT, TR or AN. I can't go any higher for more than a few strokes and lower seems arms only.

It's very easy to pull a lower Work, say increasing rate by 10% and dropping Work the same %, to get the same power. But not much more than 10%, there's no point in rushing up and down the slide just to pull a shorter stroke at higher rate. You may need to adjust drag, handle force and length too.

There is a theoretical possibility that by pulling hard we could be training ourselves to pull hard; which presumably is what weights are for too. Would routinely pulling less hard cancel that option? A typical workout that goes in the hard pull direction is the 30' rate 20: not usually mentioned as to be avoided. I never heard of a workout with an obligatory minimum rating or a maximum work.

If you want to pull 480 W (6' 2k) you won't have much choice: very hard, very long and very quick too. To pull 480W at rate 36 with a net stroke length of 1.1 m needs an average handle force of 75 kg.

[hjs]

I feel like I've been doing it wrong all along...My 2k tests have typically broken down to 25 spm for the first 1500, then 28 or 29 spm for the final 500. My mentality has been to produce maximal power on each stroke, which explains the relatively low stroke rate. Lately I've been experimenting with higher stroke ratings but with less power applied on each stroke, and it seems that the lower splits are more accessible, even though it doesn't feel any harder...In other words, by increasing stroke rating and reducing power, I'm getting more bang for my buck than I was getting at 25 spm. I haven't done a formal test yet with this approach, so I don't know if I can sustain the higher stroke rating for the whole piece, and whether my ability to get to these lower splits with no real increase in exertion is actually just an illusion...Can stroke rating and power be tweaked to achieve the best possible times with no real change in overall effort?

For a guy your height rating below 30 are always below optimum. Rating to low makes the stroke to strong and that you use to much peakpower. Your stroke should never be 100% power over 2k.

[maestroak]

I think maybe one thing worth mentioning is the damper setting. I'm shorter and much lighter than you, but I experimented with lower stroke ratings for a long time to try to build power. I am not sure how much was real in terms of physical change or maybe it was just mental, but I like to think I trained myself to pull powerful strokes at the lower stroke rating. But doing that I bumped the damper down. After maybe six months of that, I began to rate back up but trying to maintain the power, for me at least, this requires moving the damper setting up. Now when I'm just working out at an easy pace, my rating is fairly high, up about 27 or so. When I just did my 2K race last week, I really had no idea what to do because I had not really experimented, but I knew I needed to go up higher with the damper. I don't know for sure my stroke rate, but I was up over 30 for sure and I know I saw 35-36 on the finishing sprint. May not have been optimal by any stretch but it seemed to work out.

I guess based on your post, I'd say there is no reason your goal should be rating up to pull easier, rate up and pull the same, you have the power, now bring the cardio along with it and watch the improvement.

[hjs]

I think maybe one thing worth mentioning is the damper setting. I'm shorter and much lighter than you, but I experimented with lower stroke ratings for a long time to try to build power. I am not sure how much was real in terms of physical change or maybe it was just mental, but I like to think I trained myself to pull powerful strokes at the lower stroke rating. But doing that I bumped the damper down. After maybe six months of that, I began to rate back up but trying to maintain the power, for me at least, this requires moving the damper setting up. Now when I'm just working out at an easy pace, my rating is fairly high, up about 27 or so. When I just did my 2K race last week, I really had no idea what to do because I had not really experimented, but I knew I needed to go up higher with the damper. I don't know for sure my stroke rate, but I was up over 30 for sure and I know I saw 35-36 on the finishing sprint. May not have been optimal by any stretch but it seemed to work out.

I guess based on your post, I'd say there is no reason your goal should be rating up to pull easier, rate up and pull the same, you have the power, now bring the cardio along with it and watch the improvement.

Impossible, aerobic fitness is not that trainable, if you are relative fit big jumps are over. Of he would keep the same power 30 like he uses at 25, he would need to get 20% more fitness. Beyond the first stayes of ones training such improvements are not possible anymore.

[maestroak]

Fair enough, it was an in articulate response, I shouldn't have mentioned the word cardio. My point was instead of focusing on trying to use less power and make it easier, why not try to keep the power up while rating up. Not necessarily linear, but there are lots of factors in play beyond just aerobic fitness that could lead to improvement. Based on my 2K (with similar SPM) I improved power output by ~18% from a point where I was already in very good aerobic shape. The predominant change for me was rating down for awhile and back up again after developing a more powerful stroke. Give his stats, I'm guessing he has more in the tank whatever the mechanism that is responsible for the improvement.