Short and overweight - realistic goals?

[Phobos]

Hey guys,

I´m new here.
I learnt rowing at university and did some - really only recreational - rowing 1-2 times per week for the last 3 years, so I should at least have the basic technique.
However due to a job change my days on water are even more limited to prob. once or twice a month.

For christmas I finally got myself a Concept2, and since then I´ve been trying to row as much as possible.

The problem is - I´m quite short, 1m75, and overweight since basically forever. At 90kg it´s not dramatic, but still too much and my beer belly is in the way and needs to go.
However, I have a hard time setting realistic goals that I can work up to. You guys are all way taller, lighter, fitter and thus much faster than I am

I´m trying to follow the Beginner Pete´s Plan so far, however I´ve been doing a few longer distances cause I found the e.g. 7km too short for the pace I could keep up - but too long for a faster pace oO.

So far, I´ve rowed a bit more than 180k since 23.12.2019, between 4 and 6 days a week. Still haven´t found the perfect drag factor. The longest was 90 minutes, but that was at a horrible 2:29 pace...


For comparison, here´s one of the first trainings on 25.12.19:
Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
23:17.5 5,000m 2:19.7 128 741 20 (don´t know why there´s no heart rate here?)

and here´s the last two:
Steady, on 2.2.2020
Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
1:00:00.0 13,352m 2:14.8 143 791 23 151

Interval, 3m rest, on 3.2.2020
Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
24:28.8 6,000m 2:02.4 191 956 28 164
6:00.9 1,500m 2:00.3 201 991 29 161
6:11.2 1,500m 2:03.7 185 935 27 162
6:12.9 1,500m 2:04.3 182 927 28 165
6:03.7 1,500m 2:01.2 196 976 29 166


So, I know it´s even harder for you to judge from a distance, but I recon you´ve got a lot more experience than I do - what´s a realistic goal to expect at the end of BPP? What pace/distance should I aim at?

Any input appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Phobos]

So, and here´s todays workout:

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
25:00.0 5,852m 2:08.1 166 872 25 159
5:00.0 1,174m 2:07.7 168 877 27 150
10:00.0 1,172m 2:07.9 167 874 25 158
15:00.0 1,162m 2:09.0 163 859 23 159
20:00.0 1,162m 2:09.0 163 859 24 161
25:00.0 1,183m 2:06.7 172 890 26 167

I`m quite pleased with that one as I could up the pace to 1:59 for the final minute and still feel pretty good/not destroyed at all.
Although I`m short I seem to be more at home at lower stroke rates? Not sure yet.

[winniewinser]

Hi and welcome aboard.

I've just completed 24 weeks on the BPP and dropped my 2km from 7:23 to 6:58.5. I also managed to get my 5km down to 18:36. It does work but everyone is different so results will be different.

For weight loss I read that long slow sessions will burn more fat and if you feel comfortable going for longer on the BPP pieces then do so. The intervals will get progressively harder so bare that in mind and don't think that it's all too easy too fast.

Stick with the plan and it does work.

So, and here´s todays workout:

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
25:00.0 5,852m 2:08.1 166 872 25 159
5:00.0 1,174m 2:07.7 168 877 27 150
10:00.0 1,172m 2:07.9 167 874 25 158
15:00.0 1,162m 2:09.0 163 859 23 159
20:00.0 1,162m 2:09.0 163 859 24 161
25:00.0 1,183m 2:06.7 172 890 26 167

I`m quite pleased with that one as I could up the pace to 1:59 for the final minute and still feel pretty good/not destroyed at all.
Although I`m short I seem to be more at home at lower stroke rates? Not sure yet.

This looks pretty solid.
Gainz will come quickly at the start and take time to enjoy them

Good luck!

[Dangerscouse]

I would not focus on goals at the moment, as if it's too ambitious and you fall short, it will be too damaging.

For the foreseeable future just focus on enjoying the training and getting faster as and when you are capable of doing it. No need to add pressure at this stage, there's plenty of time for that when you get better and really consolidate your fitness and love for rowing.

As Alex says BPP does work so stick with it and reassess in a few months or so

[ampire]

The problem is - I´m quite short, 1m75, and overweight since basically forever. At 90kg it´s not dramatic, but still too much and my beer belly is in the way and needs to go.
However, I have a hard time setting realistic goals that I can work up to. You guys are all way taller, lighter, fitter and thus much faster than I am

The O'Donovans were doing quite well and they are short with Gary O'Donovan at 175 cm and Paul O'Donovan at 177CM.

Compete against yourself not against others. If you focus only on personal "shortcomings" that are entirely out of your control, you will lose the mental game. Anything over 500M has a really strong mental component when it comes to holding splits and its possible to do phenomenal things if you put your mind to it. It doesn't really matter in the end if you can't be the absolute best in the world, instead a more realistic target is to be better than your past self.

For goals you could try something achievable at first like 7:30 2K, sub 20Min 5KM, 7500M in 30Min. Pursue large amounts of steady state mileage per week to get there. Large amounts of steady state has the side benefit of using a lot of calories and using fat as an energy source.

[jamesg]

The goal is to get fit and stay fit using methods that cause no damage. Your numbers say you're well on the way if not already there. There's ever just one choice, to be or not to be. So we keep making the effort to be, on pain of not being.

What you might want now is weight loss; I find even 5kg too much is a pain to carry around all day every day. Long term it can only cause problems, not least in joints and discs.

So since you're off to a very good start, keep at it. We win this war every day. Going back twenty years, the erg has served me very well; I could have added to rowing some body weight work and plenty of stretching, (each 2 days a week?), if only to maintain variety.

[lancecampeau]

I'm 183cm @ 108kg and rowing with a beer belly, while not ideal, hasn't been too much of a problem... You'll just need to adjust the position of your legs and arms accordingly while improving technique and building up meters.

[Phobos]

What you might want now is weight loss; I find even 5kg too much is a pain to carry around all day every day. Long term it can only cause problems, not least in joints and discs.

That´s def the plan, 10kg finally have to go.
Fortunately I´ve never had problems with joints so far and I carry the weight quite well.


The thing is, I NEED a goal I can work towards, and it has to be realistic.
I need to see a progress in the beginning, dunno, it´s necessary for my motivation.


You think 60min @2:00 is realistic for the end of BPP? So, 15km in an hour? Is that too ambitious?

[ampire]

What you might want now is weight loss; I find even 5kg too much is a pain to carry around all day every day. Long term it can only cause problems, not least in joints and discs.

That´s def the plan, 10kg finally have to go.
Fortunately I´ve never had problems with joints so far and I carry the weight quite well.


The thing is, I NEED a goal I can work towards, and it has to be realistic.
I need to see a progress in the beginning, dunno, it´s necessary for my motivation.


You think 60min @2:00 is realistic for the end of BPP? So, 15km in an hour? Is that too ambitious?

For only a 6 month program, I think it might be overly ambitious. Why not target a stepping stone to it like 2:05 or even 2:10 first. Does it really matter? If you put in 6 months of training you will be fitter than you were. How much fitter is impossible to predict but you will be faster than you were.

[Slothful1]

Hi Phobos

Some find a virtual team helps keep things interesting. There are a few open ones on the forum, or involved in the monthly Cross Team Challenge. I'm biased towards the Forum Flyers, but the others are good too.

Cheers
Dave

[nates]

I'm 183cm @ 108kg and rowing with a beer belly, while not ideal, hasn't been too much of a problem... You'll just need to adjust the position of your legs and arms accordingly while improving technique and building up meters.

You only have me beat by a few pounds and inches (178/94.3) - while I'm just starting out, every time I thought the reason I couldn't do something was my gut, I was wrong. Weak core, tight muscles yes. The gut itself is seldom the limitation.

[Phobos]

For only a 6 month program, I think it might be overly ambitious. Why not target a stepping stone to it like 2:05 or even 2:10 first. Does it really matter? If you put in 6 months of training you will be fitter than you were. How much fitter is impossible to predict but you will be faster than you were.

You might be right that it's not realistic...

Yesterday's goal was 8km according to BPP and I set myself a pace of <2:10.
In the end I did it in 2:09, but that was really, really nasty.
Wasn't the best day probably, quite late, hungry and not feeling 100%, but the last 1000m or so were hell. Almost couldn't finish/keep up the pace

[ampire]

Maybe set the goal of 2:10 for an hour then. Thats still a good pace. That would be 13846 meters in 60 mins. Or 2:12 which would be 13636 in 60 mins.

[Phobos]

I already did 2:14 last week, so 2:10 might not be ambitious enough
Think I might aim at 2:05 for 60m/ 14,4k, seems like a decent goal

[Phobos]

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
1:00:00.0 13,493m 2:13.4 147 807 23 152
That's from today.
Last 2 minutes I went for a nasty, nasty, nasty sprint (for me) at 1:55 - which, after almost an hour, was hell.
Still missed the 13,5km by just 7 meters/1 goddamn stroke. Damn it.

Is it OK if I use this here as some kind of training journal? I somehow need to share my efforts/achievements with someone, and there's no one in my family or friends who rows and could appreciate it