Best metrics from ErgData to monitor for performance improvement?
Posted: June 8th, 2022, 9:29 pm
BLUF: I am trying to improve power output and bump up my top level stroke rate. What metrics should I monitor on ErgData during my workouts to hone the power generated per stroke and to improve stroke rate?
I have recently moved from just hopping on my erg and doing whatever workout comes to mind in the moment to making a more deliberate effort to improve my performance. I've always been conscious of the most basic elements of good form, (leg -->back-->arms in the drive, reverse that for recovery, keep recovery controlled and slower than drive, etc etc etc), but in a nearly ten year on again off again relationship with my erg I had not spent nearly enough time refining the finer points of my technique, and so I always plateaued, only making minimal improvements in time that I'd attribute to general muscle and cardiovascular fitness.
That changed a couple of weeks ago when I decided to set a goal of a sub-7 2K by the end of the season (my 2K PR was 7:30.7 set back in 2012 attained with excessive effort due to sloppy technique, and my season best is 7:58.3 after just getting back on the erg May 1 after a near total hiatus of two years; there were no notable PRs set during the intervening periods when I got back on the erg). I realized there were several points I needed to refine to generate more power in my stroke while also improving my stroke rate (going all out I can only maintain a rate of about 28spm and still maintain control).
In the last two weeks I've fixed my form and technique to a great degree - I found I was ending up too far forward at the catch, almost hunched over trying to get the handle as far forward as possible, and too far back in the finish. I use ErgData to supplement my PM5, and had the right-hand boxes set to stroke length and something else, and having stroke length was contributing to poor form. I also found I was super slow in the drive after doing a couple of sessions with the force curve showing a much more gradual increase in force than I see in a lot of example displays (eyeballing it, it looked like a 30deg slope going into the drive when "normal" slopes are a steeper incline); that's fine for the slower steady states I was doing in the UT2 range, but does not work for pursuing faster pace on short distances.
So, what metrics from ErgData should I be monitoring to help me in my pursuit of more power generation (first priority) and improved stroke rate (my focus once I've done a month or so focused on maximizing explosive force of each stroke)? I have my PM5 set to pace and my ErgData primary display set to watts, and recently shifted my right-hand display boxes to peak force and drive speed. Are these the best metrics to be loosely monitoring to improve performance in the ways I describe above, or are there more apt metrics for this? And does it sound like my focus is in the right place at this point in my training?
Mostly as an aside, I'll mention that I am starting the Pete Plan in order to provide structure to my training program. I like the balance of steady state and interval work.
I have recently moved from just hopping on my erg and doing whatever workout comes to mind in the moment to making a more deliberate effort to improve my performance. I've always been conscious of the most basic elements of good form, (leg -->back-->arms in the drive, reverse that for recovery, keep recovery controlled and slower than drive, etc etc etc), but in a nearly ten year on again off again relationship with my erg I had not spent nearly enough time refining the finer points of my technique, and so I always plateaued, only making minimal improvements in time that I'd attribute to general muscle and cardiovascular fitness.
That changed a couple of weeks ago when I decided to set a goal of a sub-7 2K by the end of the season (my 2K PR was 7:30.7 set back in 2012 attained with excessive effort due to sloppy technique, and my season best is 7:58.3 after just getting back on the erg May 1 after a near total hiatus of two years; there were no notable PRs set during the intervening periods when I got back on the erg). I realized there were several points I needed to refine to generate more power in my stroke while also improving my stroke rate (going all out I can only maintain a rate of about 28spm and still maintain control).
In the last two weeks I've fixed my form and technique to a great degree - I found I was ending up too far forward at the catch, almost hunched over trying to get the handle as far forward as possible, and too far back in the finish. I use ErgData to supplement my PM5, and had the right-hand boxes set to stroke length and something else, and having stroke length was contributing to poor form. I also found I was super slow in the drive after doing a couple of sessions with the force curve showing a much more gradual increase in force than I see in a lot of example displays (eyeballing it, it looked like a 30deg slope going into the drive when "normal" slopes are a steeper incline); that's fine for the slower steady states I was doing in the UT2 range, but does not work for pursuing faster pace on short distances.
So, what metrics from ErgData should I be monitoring to help me in my pursuit of more power generation (first priority) and improved stroke rate (my focus once I've done a month or so focused on maximizing explosive force of each stroke)? I have my PM5 set to pace and my ErgData primary display set to watts, and recently shifted my right-hand display boxes to peak force and drive speed. Are these the best metrics to be loosely monitoring to improve performance in the ways I describe above, or are there more apt metrics for this? And does it sound like my focus is in the right place at this point in my training?
Mostly as an aside, I'll mention that I am starting the Pete Plan in order to provide structure to my training program. I like the balance of steady state and interval work.