Dropping 2k?

[EricD]

Hey all,

I am a competitive Junior B rower. I am 14 years old, 5'8, 115 pounds (yeah, I know, I should be coxing)... I did an erg test today and pulled 8:27... which I am disappointed with...

I will be attending Brentwood College School next year (they have a huge rowing program, and an excellent team), and I don't want to end up coxing because of my height/weight, and erg score.

Anybody have any idea how I can lower it?

If you have any questions feel free to ask me.

Eric D.

[johnlvs2run]

Skip rowing, and go out for cross country.

[tdekoekkoek]

Hey all,


Anybody have any idea how I can lower it?


Eric D.

Well without knowing much about you, let me throw out a few things:

First of all, be selective about who you receive advice from either on this forum or elsewhere. Secondly just to let you know, there are people such has Steve Tucker who is only 5'8". Granted, he's a lot stockier than you, but nonetheless goes to show that people don't have to fit the exact rower profile. Steve Tucker has been for many years one of the top lightweight scullers in the country.

Now as to some specifics: From coaching that I've done, a lot of people your age need to improve their technique. So spend some time doing some slow rowing in front of a mirror and try to practice your form. Now if you don't know what to look for in your form, get some coaching or look at some videos of the top rowers. Furthermore, you probably need to improve your overall fitness, so again long erging is key. You don't need to do a lot of quick stuff right now if you don't have any racing coming up. And lastly, you need to improve your strength and AT. So to that end, do some weight training and do some hard 15 minute pieces at say 24-26 rating.

It might be good to adopt a plan like the wolverine plan, but I'm just throwing out some general ideas. Once you have built up your endurance, AT and strength, then start throwing in a lot more speed work and intervals and and then retest.

Cheers,

Trevor

[EricD]

Thanks tdekoekkoek.

I'm going to talk to my coach next practice, but I have heard him before say that my technique was good, I just had to "bulk up" a little bit.

Eric D.

[Bob S.]

Hey all,

I am a competitive Junior B rower. I am 14 years old, 5'8, 115 pounds (yeah, I know, I should be coxing)... I did an erg test today and pulled 8:27... which I am disappointed with...

Eric D.

It seems to me that, at 14, what you really need is patience. As I remember, I was about 5'8 at 14. By the time I was 18, I had made it to 6' and picked up another inch by the time I was 21. During my university rowing years my weight hovered around 172 pounds and, even though I had an enormous appetite, I couldn't gain weight. Nevertheless, I was a four year letterman at Berkeley and was a member of a crew that won the varsity race at one of the annual IRA regattas — the major collegiate rowing event in those days.

Give your body a chance to mature so that you can find out what your potential is.

Bob S.

[Englishman116]

Bob, you went to Berkeley?! I'm headed there next year! Did you row for Gladstone? He just left the program to train people for the Olympics at the California Rowing Club. I'm hoping his replacement is just as good of a coach as he was.

And Eric - I was 5'11 120 lbs in 8th grade. I wouldn't worry about it; you'll keep growing for a long time. I would work on your aerobic base because you'll be doing a lot of high-intensity work during the season. Try to get 3 one-hour erg sessions in a week at least, probably at a 2:25 pace.

[PaulS]

Bob, was Gladstone even a twinkle in his daddy's eye when you rowed at Berkeley?

[Nosmo]

Eric,
When I was 14, I was about 115 lbs. When I started rowing as a sophomore in college I was 133. By senior year I was 138 and 5'7".
We weren't a great team, but I had one of the highest erg scores on the team. We never had to worry about the boat average weight with me in it. I was often mistaken for the coxswain.
I did a lot of weight training and got much much stronger but never could put on weight--I was doing too much aerobic work during the season and bike raced in the summer and ran a lot in the winter.
Chances are you will grow more then I did, but you can still be a good rower if you don't. I did well because I was in terrific shape from years of bike racing. I had more endurance then anyone and good aerobic capacity.
If you are small then you will have to rely on fitness and endurance and technique rather then strength.
tdekoekkoek advice is really good. Let me add that consistent work will get you where you want to go. Never get out of shape. Don't burn out, but keep working over the winter and during the summer. This helped me enormously. At the start of the season I was always much fitter then almost everyone else. By the end of the season my seat was well established and most other had caught up. In addition to erg tests, coaches often used seat races to determine boat make up. If you have a lot of endurance you have a bit advantage in seat races. You may not beat bigger guys in a single 1000m piece, but there is no reason you can't beat them after six of seven of them.
One other thing--if you are rowing sweep, do whatever you can to row both sides. Years of rowing one side, especially when young and growing can effect you permanently. You can tell when side most sweep rowers people row on just by looking at them.

[Bob S.]

Bob, you went to Berkeley?! I'm headed there next year! Did you row for Gladstone? He just left the program to train people for the Olympics at the California Rowing Club. I'm hoping his replacement is just as good of a coach as he was.

My rowing history is ancient. I rowed for Ebright and with Lemmon.

Incidentally, Ebright, with three Olympic gold medal crews and 4 IRA varsity champs was about 5'4" and about 120 pounds. Solid evidence that a good coach does not have be a top performer at the sport. Another example of that was the basketball coach at Berkeley at about the same time. Nibs Price was about the same size as Ky Ebright, and the following quote from Wiki testifies to his success:

Nibs Price would coach Cal with great success for 30 years from 1924 to 1954, earning a 449-294 total record, many single season winning records, and an additional 3 conference titles in the 1930s and 1940s.

Bob S.

[Bob S.]

Bob, was Gladstone even a twinkle in his daddy's eye when you rowed at Berkeley? :D

Paul,

I don't know his age, but I rowed at UC(B) at various times from 1942 to 1950, with breaks for WWII service and drops out of school.

Bob S.

[EricD]

Thanks everyone.

So I should pretty much take it slow, build up strength, technique, and endurance slowly? My plan now is:

I row 3 times a week for 2 hours on the water. In addition to that, I want to erg, or run, and do a bit of weight training...

Any ideas how I can fit all of that in without burning myself out completely?

[Nosmo]

"Any ideas how I can fit all of that in without burning myself out completely?"

Eric,
You don't want to burn your self out at all. Slow steady progress is what it takes. Mike Caviston recommends not increasing your mileage by more then 3% per week. It may not seem like much but that will double your mileage in 24 weeks.
Not burning out really just requires caution, a long term view, and paying attention to how you feel. Keep a good log so you can see how you are doing over time. You have to worry about both mentally and physically burning out. If I am too tired physically I lose motivation, but not every one is that way. You want a program you can maintain over the long run. If you are tired all the time or find you self getting sick then you are doing too much. Remember you get stronger from resting from training. No rest no improvement. You don't want to push to the point where it interferes with your next workout.
Even if you don't follow the Wolverine Plan, it is really worth reading what Mike Caviston has to say about training and winning: http://www.concept2.com/forums/wolverine_plan.htm

[iain]

14 years is a difficult age. Some people have finished their growth spurt by then others haven't started. I am no expert, but I do know that the body will struggle to build muscle when growing very fast. Training endurance can be done at very modest intensities, endurance training shouldn't hurt and, a minute or 2 after these sessions you should be breathing fairly evenly and feel ready to do it all again. This will allow you to do more intensity on the intervening days. However, it may not be appropriate to do quite as much as some have suggested for the next year or so. Just training consistantly throughout the year will give you an advantage over many of your contemporaries.

Also, not mentioned above but as important, pay attention to your diet. eat a lot of carbohydrates and try not to have a reasonable balance of fats and protein. If you train on empty your body will need to burn itself (loss of muscle) and so you will not achieve your aims.

Finally, many school boats suffer from poor technique. if your technique is good, you would be very valuable in a crew of heavier oarsmen all creating problems that need to be dealt with before the crew can go fast. You may not initially be in the top crew, but your experience will give you the experience which you can utilise when your body grows and strengthens and you will be easier to fit into an established crew as a replacement.

best wishes

Iain

[GlasedDonut]

As some people here have already said who were similar size to you at your age, you need to just wait it out. Luckily, you're starting early compared to a lot of people.

At age 14, I was 5'7" and 110 Lbs. and never rowed. In High school, I rowed 'open water' boats, and my best 2k was an 8:30. However, I decided to try out for the team at my college for some strange reason, and was in the same predicament as you: For an established rowing team, I was way too small to row, so I was accepted as a coxswain 'with option to row'. Well, after two weeks of coxing, I hit a bridge and became a permanent rower, albeit I was 5'10" and 130 Lbs. Well after that first year, I dropped my 2k to a 7:19, and now after my 2nd year, It's down to a 6:56, and my weight is up to 160 Lbs.

So
1)Be patient, as training intensifies, as I'm sure it will as you go to your new school, your times will go down.
and
2)If they make you a coxswain, hit a bridge and they'll make you a rower.

(Don't do number 2 really, I was just a terrible, terrible steerer).

[TomR]

To add weight, you need to eat more calories than you burn. If you are not lactose intolerant, whole milk can be a great food--a good balance of carbohydrates, fat, and sugar.

Young guys doing serious strength training have consumed a gallon (yes, a gallon) of milk a day and added serious mass and strength. While you may not be a candidate for a gallon a day, don't be bashful about guzzling and pounding down the chow, especially if you're working out a bunch.

By the time your parents have figured out why the food bills have gone up so much, you'll be so big, they won't dare mess w/ you.