Concept2 Forum

hi,

i've been rowing competively for 3 years now and im 16 years old. Atm,
im 176cm tall, and weigh in at 62kg. IM currently placed in my 2nd 8 crew.

My 2km score is 7.31, which compared with my other crew members isnt that good. I want to be able to get around 7. Seeing as im getting pretty bad ergos, im starting to wonder if i need to put on some weight. I've been training for the past 6 weeks on weights and fitness, but it doesnt seem to improve my ergo scores.

SO should i continue what im doing? or do i need to take supplements to gain muscle?

cheers

The best way to improve your erg score is to erg as much as possible. The training is as specific as possible. You get good at the task by concentrating on the task.

Now that we got you on the rowing machine as much as possible. What do you do once you're there?

As much high quality work as possible. Every workout should start with a warmup - if you want to do junk meters that's the time to do it. But remember the warmup should have some good hard strokes thrown in too.

The goal is to get to a 7:00 2k. To get there think about lots of volume, increasing in intensity in a stepwise manner, with incremental improvements along the way. There are many ways to get there and many of us forumites have our own methods to training. If you read through the old posts on this forum you can learn about some of them.

To do a good 2k, you need a good aerobic capacity. Approximately 80% of the energy for a good 2k comes from the aerobic system. So you get more bang for your buck with concentrating on aerobic training. Aerobic training is most effective in a training zone from 60% to 80% of your max effort intensity. 60% work can be done as long uninterupted sessions and 80% work can be done as long intervals. How to define training intensity is , in my opinion, best done by converting to watts.

Right now your 100% effort should be considered a 7:31 2k which is a 1:52.5/500m pace which is I believe around a 245 w intensity. You're shooting for a 7:00 2k which is a 303w.

Your training intensity should be done at present in (245 X 60%)w to (245 X 80%)w range and slowly working your way up to (303 X 60%)w to (303 X 80%)w.

Which means you should be training in the 147w to 196w range and working towards the 182w to 242w range.

I really wish you well. There 's nothing more effective than hard work and perseverence.

Some studies do show improvements in weight training for rowers, but it has to be the right kind of training. Depending on your level of rowing fitness, you can focus on a different strategy, either high volume or high intensity. In one study, novice rowers improved with high volume lifting, while experienced rowers improved with high intensity lifting. Also, the type of lifting you do can make a difference. The traditional regimen for rowing was a mixture of clean, squats, and deadlifts, although this might be passe.

As the prior poster said though, the best training for rowing is rowing itself, although the type of training you're engaged in, as well as your physical characteristics, will dictate your success. Studies of successful rowers show many necessarily opt for lower-intensity volume work, approximately 60 to 80%, and maybe more, while the rest is focused on higher quality work, i.e., speed work.

As for supplementation, some have been shown to be successful, although I would urge caution. One study I remember showed leucine to be effective, and some others might show creatine to be effective, as well as not, so one needs to ignore all the hype and go with science. Look at repeated results from well-controlled studies.