2nd week of beginner Pete Plan - form feedback request

[row_boat_willie]

Hello all,

I've had my Concept2 since November. I spent the first bit of time just trying to go slow and work on my form. I started the beginner Pete Plan last week looking forward to someday not being embarrassing slow!

This video was part of my warmup for the interval session I did tonight. During a normal 20r session my arms don't come down so much, but I find relaxing them in that manner helps when I want a slow recovery. Also, I swear in my mirror I look like I'm swinging back to 11 at the end of my drive, but sure doesn't look it in the video, so curious if I'm not leaning back enough.

https://youtu.be/RLXbE_xepoc

How am I doing? Thanks all!

[winniewinser]

I'm no expert but it looks decent to me. Your hip sway as you say could be more and perhaps more energy through the stroke (faster back and then slow forward) but I reckon it's a nice start.

[Ombrax]

Hi Jeremy, welcome to the forum.

Like WW, I'm no expert, but I did notice two things:

1) I think you need a bit more swing. I don't know exactly what "hours" on the clock you're doing, but the overall angle doesn't seem to me to be as much as it should be.

2) Perhaps this is because this was a warm-up, but seen as a whole, your stroke appears to be a bit robotic, with the different parts stuck together, and not flowing as smoothly as one might like. Try to eliminate what appear to be short pauses in the overall motion.

Others way more experienced that I will comment, but that's my $0.02

Good Luck : )

[mict450]

You have good sequencing for a newbie. Well done! The biggest thing I see you need to work on is your hip swing. You have relatively short legs & a long torso. As such, you need to maximize your body swing & thereby lengthen your stroke & increase the force you put into the flywheel. Currently you're about a quarter past twelve at the catch & a quarter to twelve at the finish.

Use the pause drill...at the catch to ensure you're rocking over to one o'clock and at the finish to eleven o'clock.

Item #2: Your stroke looks slow & weak. I realize this is a WU, but even then you should still have a little more oomph & snap in the drive. Try adding some power tens during your SS sessions.

There are a few other things but for now if you work on these two things, your should see your splits decrease.

Overall, not bad for some one with less than 3 months of erging. Keep up the good work! All the best to you.

[jamesg]

You're going through the motions OK, but it's a bit mechanical, so relax and let yourself go. A longer swing won't kill you, nor a quicker pull: no doubt when warmed up you'll go for it. In the meantime you're doing well to use rowing technique rather than diving in at the deep end with a killer program.

As you've probably found, there are various ways of knowing what we are doing, in terms of work or power:

- Heart Rate is a traditional proxy; twice our rest rate is enough and could produce some visible sweat if your site is not too cold and dry.
- The C2 erg tells us how much power we are delivering, in Watts. Probably 1.5W to 2W/kg at low ratings for 20-30' a day will keep you fit.
- C2 also tells us about the quality of the stroke: Watts/Rating.

[hjs]

Hello all,

I've had my Concept2 since November. I spent the first bit of time just trying to go slow and work on my form. I started the beginner Pete Plan last week looking forward to someday not being embarrassing slow!

This video was part of my warmup for the interval session I did tonight. During a normal 20r session my arms don't come down so much, but I find relaxing them in that manner helps when I want a slow recovery. Also, I swear in my mirror I look like I'm swinging back to 11 at the end of my drive, but sure doesn't look it in the video, so curious if I'm not leaning back enough.

https://youtu.be/RLXbE_xepoc

How am I doing? Thanks all!

Welcome, think you better can look at a more fermer piece of rowing.
But here goes.

First, feet are to low, the motion should be horizontal, you ankles are below you plane of motion.
Second, the stroke is very short, you limit the motion on both sides. At the catch, you upperbody should close the gap with your legs. You stay almost full up, leaving lots of room unused.
And at the same at the finish, you don’t swing back.

Overall, it looks like you very much overthink the motion, let go, start moving much more freely, start using your hips and back, keep your back strong, but thats not regit straight up.

[Dangerscouse]

Welcome to the forum. I agree with all of the above, and would add that, if it's not a warm up, try and make the recovery to drive ratio 2:1 ie speed up the drive with a good strong push, and make the recovery a bit slower to compensate.

You've got a good grasp of the fundamentals, so increasing your speed won't be far away

[row_boat_willie]

Tons of good info. Thank you all so much.

I agree winniewinser on the hips, I'll work on that.

Ombrax, I thought I was swinging from 11 to 1 on the clock but most everyone agrees I'm not. Glad to know! It looks robotic to me too.

mict450, I like how you described my positioning. That's helpful. I've looked up power 10s, and actually found something in the OTW section about how people do that. Really interesting, sounds helpful.

jamesg, good call, I'll work on trying to relax a bit. I didn't know what power to be looking for, so some good insight there.

hjs, good call on feet, I'll move them up a notch. Unfortunately, that puts me at position 1 so not much higher I can go! As far as my catch position, with my legs being so short, to close my chest to the legs will (I think) put me past the "1 o'clock position". Do you think I should focus more on that rather than my angle? I do see top level athletes closing their chest to the legs, but it seems their legs are as long as I am tall!

Good call Dangerscouse, I forgot about the 2:1 ratio. Lots to learn.

Again, thank you everyone.

[hjs]

Tons of good info. Thank you all so much.

I agree winniewinser on the hips, I'll work on that.

Ombrax, I thought I was swinging from 11 to 1 on the clock but most everyone agrees I'm not. Glad to know! It looks robotic to me too.

mict450, I like how you described my positioning. That's helpful. I've looked up power 10s, and actually found something in the OTW section about how people do that. Really interesting, sounds helpful.

jamesg, good call, I'll work on trying to relax a bit. I didn't know what power to be looking for, so some good insight there.

hjs, good call on feet, I'll move them up a notch. Unfortunately, that puts me at position 1 so not much higher I can go! As far as my catch position, with my legs being so short, to close my chest to the legs will (I think) put me past the "1 o'clock position". Do you think I should focus more on that rather than my angle? I do see top level athletes closing their chest to the legs, but it seems their legs are as long as I am tall!

Good call Dangerscouse, I forgot about the 2:1 ratio. Lots to learn.

Again, thank you everyone.

Re, the 1 Oclock position is not to be taken exactly, its about the rocking over and back.
You being shorter does not alter much, rowers should always aim to close the gap between legs and chest. and the 1 Oclock is about your lowerback. The upperback should be more relax, you now keep that to much upright, let that round in a natural fasion.

Re feet high, maybe shoes help a bit?

[AndyWicks]

Welcome, I’m by no mean an expect, probably more the other end of spectrum. I know there are some negatives above here, but that’s what you get when you post a vid. I’m 99% sure that those are not meant in a negative way so definitely don’t let any of it get you down. I think there are way more positives than negatives in your stroke. Let’s be honest, if anyone of us posted a vid we would all be able to spot negatives! Take what everyone is saying as something to work on.

One thing I have notice which hasn’t been mentioned, I’m not sure if it is a good/bad/doesn’t matter (it’s just different to how I row) but you seem to hold the very outside of the handle and move your hands/fingers a lot.

On the first point, how you hold the handle will mean using different muscles on the pull. Personally I use a narrow grip as this is more likely to engage lats more which are bigger, stronger muscles. Wide grip is more likely to use smaller muscles in back. The last phase of the pull is not as important as the leg drive so it may not make much difference, but may be worth doing a bit of experimenting. As some have said, more of a lean and a narrower grip will engage lats more and may help connect legs to back and have a stronger pull, MAY!

With the the fingers/hands moving, I do this, not sure if it’s good or bad, be interesting to see others opinions on this.

Like I said, do some experimenting, as you are new it is more likely to tweak your technique now than 6-12 months down the line. Good luck

[LouTheWizard]

Welcome to the forum Jeremy. I'm a fellow newbie that also started at the end of November, so no constructive feedback from me that wasn't already stated above!
Don't worry about being embarrassingly slow...kind of comes with the territory of being a beginner (unless you are big J or btlifter...those guys must be freaks of nature). I'm pretty sure I have about the slowest times of anyone sharing in the training thread consistently, but what's cool about this forum is everyone is very supportive no matter what level you are at. It's not about how you compare to others, but the goals you set for yourself and enjoying the journey towards achieving them.

Best of luck!

[mict450]

I'm pretty sure I have about the slowest times of anyone sharing in the training thread consistently.....

Holy cow!!! I clicked on the link in your profile & you are flipping slow!!! Couldn't believe someone else was in my same time zone!!! Oh.....wait a minute.....your link took me to my own training page. Never mind....

[Dalos]

Welcome to the forum Jeremy. I'm a fellow newbie that also started at the end of November, so no constructive feedback from me that wasn't already stated above!
Don't worry about being embarrassingly slow...kind of comes with the territory of being a beginner (unless you are big J or btlifter...those guys must be freaks of nature). I'm pretty sure I have about the slowest times of anyone sharing in the training thread consistently, but what's cool about this forum is everyone is very supportive no matter what level you are at. It's not about how you compare to others, but the goals you set for yourself and enjoying the journey towards achieving them.

Best of luck!

If it makes you feel any better (and the OP for that matter), I'm younger (36) and considerably slower than you as well!

Really is great how supportive everyone is though having read through these forums, may try my hand an at form thread myself as well before I form bad habits.

I previously had the impression of rowers as a fairly competitive bunch that would have had little time for late beginners, couldn't have been more wrong.

[Dangerscouse]

Speed is relative, but effort is far more important imo. Someone can be comparably slow, but if they are trying hard they will always get support and encouragement from me.

Rowing is a very esoteric hobby / sport, and most people use the rower as a warm up. If you've found your way to this forum, and you're dedicated enough to post, you've passed the entrance exam to our club.

[hjs]

Speed is relative, but effort is far more important imo. Someone can be comparably slow, but if they are trying hard they will always get support and encouragement from me.

Rowing is a very esoteric hobby / sport, and most people use the rower as a warm up. If you've found your way to this forum, and you're dedicated enough to post, you've passed the entrance exam to our club.

Speed is relative, but speed needs effort, rowing is mostly hard work, its labour, a good stroke shows that labour, the vid. showed a very carefull stroke, so its difficult to say much. Op should get the “labour” part in and see how that looks for a more realistic view.