Newbie - Pete Plan

[Ballgame]

I just purchased a C2 and can't wait to get going. Here's a little background about me. I am 33 years old, a former college and professional baseball player, a husband and father of 2 kids under 3 and pretty much just plain fat now. I am 6' and currently weigh about 215 pounds. Ideally, I'd like to get down to 175-180 pounds. I have rowed on a C2 previously as part of a training regimen (about 18 months ago) but mostly just did 500 meter rows as part of the interval component to the workout. PB 500 was a 1:31.

My main priority is weight loss. I plan to lift weights each week in conjunction with rowing. I estimate 2-3 days of lifting per week, all dumbbell and primarily high rep, circuit training. I am interested in a good training plan and it appears the Pete Plan would be a good place to start - actually the 24-week "beginner" Pete Plan.

I am interested in people's thoughts about lifting weights in conjunction with this training plan? Also, is the Pete Plan a good plan for weight loss? Finally, would it be a good investment to utilize RowPro in conjunction with the Pete Plan.

Thanks for bearing with my simplistic questions and for taking pity on a newbie.

[FordScrote]

Hello,

I too am a newbie rower - aged 33, a husband and father of 2 kids under 3 and only slightly lighter than you. I just started rowing a few weeks ago.

I'll leave to others more experienced to offer advice on the training stuff but I've been using RowPro (I'm actually using one of the training plans available in the software) and I find it excellent. If a bit of competition helps spur you on, then it's great. You can row against pace boats, other people and best of all, your own previous rows. You obviously just need your C2 to be near your pc or have a laptop.

gl with it.

Gareth

[Nosmo]

The Pete Plan is a good plan and very simple so it is very good for beginners as well as those rowing for a while. However since you just got your C2 you main focus right now should be good technique. The absolute best thing you can do is video tape yourself and post it on YouTube then post a message here asking for a critique. Do this as soon as you feel your technique has changed. At least once a week at first. It is much easier to correct bad technique before it gets ingrained (Believe me I speak from experience).

Aside: the Pete Plan is actually based on the Wolverine Plan, and there are aspects of it that the designer of the Wolverine Plan really disagrees with, but won't matter for you since your primary purpose is weight loss and fitness. But if you are really interested, it is worth wading through all the info on the Wolverine plan.

[Ballgame]

It seems like the Pete Plan is more focused on training for a 2k. Is this correct? Perhaps a better approach for me would be to begin with an 18-week interactive weight loss program on the UK site or a RowPro program as Gareth suggested. Hopefully, I will have achieved a solid amount of weight loss by the end of the 18 weeks and will have a base for beginning the Pete Plan (or Wolverine Plan). Thoughts?

Also, I will make sure to videotape myself and get feedback about my technique. Thanks for the suggestion.

[bloomp]

By training for a 2k, you'll end up doing a lot of work that will help you lose weight. The intervals especially, with the burst/sprint type work. If you use the UK site, you'll start off getting a good cardio base, and then you'll go onto the tough stuff.

I'm mixing the UK plan and the Wolverine plan now for 5k/6k training then I'm gonna gonna focus on dropping my 2k time to 7:00 or so. But definitely just try out different pieces to see what feels best, and focus on technique most first!

[ridgehiker]

Ballgame, congrats on picking up a C2, having it readily avaiable is a huge plus given your busy family situation.

Do you have a heart rate monitor? Consider one if you don't as they help a lot in seeing your progress improve.

[Ballgame]

I do have a Polar heartrate monitor and I bought the heart rate transmitter to go with the PM3. I definitely plan to use it to target my heart rate range throughout my workouts.

[iain]

Pete's plans are designed to fit in around an hour and be progressive so that you can see your improvement. If beating your old times provide s interest and motivation then this is an advantage over the weight loss plan. the most important thing to lose weight is to control your eating and do regular exercise. It is much more important to choose a plan that you can stick to than the nature of the plan. Long rows can be sustained for longer and allow the maximum calries to be expended in the time available. however, the quicker rows raise the metabolism for a period after the session (measured as long as 37 hours later in one study) and are better at raising the overall metabolic rate.

Pleas note that the higher intensity rows may lead to increased fluid retention initially, so you may see body shape improvements ahead of net weight loss.

Regards

Iain

[Ballgame]

If I decide to do Pete's plan, would it be recommended to do the 24-week "beginner" plan (3 core sessions, 2 additional optional sessions) before trying to jump into the full-blown plan? Or would it be feasible to try the regular, 6-day plan. My sense is that it might be advisable to try the beginner plan and reduce the risk of burnout/injury. Thoughts?

[iain]

If I decide to do Pete's plan, would it be recommended to do the 24-week "beginner" plan (3 core sessions, 2 additional optional sessions) before trying to jump into the full-blown plan? Or would it be feasible to try the regular, 6-day plan. My sense is that it might be advisable to try the beginner plan and reduce the risk of burnout/injury. Thoughts?

I would say that this would depend upon your fitness level. PBP (and the 5k Beginners plan at the bottom of Pete's 5k plan) are designed to increase the length of sessions more slowly. 1:31 500m is very creditable, but a better test would be 5k+. If you can do 5k at <20S/500m pace slower than your 500m, and you can comfortably complete a 10k, then you will be fine with the PP. If >24S &/or you struggle to complete 10k at a modest pace, this suggests that you need to build up your fitness which might make the beginners plans more appropriate.

The intensity of the PP can be varied. You can do the 6 sessions over 2 weeks so tht you have less intense sessions. In addition, if you start the intervals at the recommended paces (the pce you could complete them at without rests), and only do the final reps faster, it will be many weeks before the intervals become very intense. the hard intervals don't have to be PB attempts, just significantly quicker than the steady state. So these don't have to be as intense either. Finally, the SS rows can be varied from 8k up and should be at a pace that you could complete again after a few minutes rest if you had to. So there are other options if you don't want the PP to be as intense.

- Iain

[lightweight8]

I think you've been back into rowing about a month based on your initial post. How are things going? I've been back for about 6-7 weeks now and am improving all the time. I just started the Pete Plan this week...I would definitely suggest that beginning rowers start with the begining plan! There is no way I would have been able to do the 8x500m my first week!

[Ballgame]

I have been rowing about a month and am also doing the Beginner workout. It's going well and it is neat to see how my strength/endurance is improving even as the length of the rows increases. My main focus has been on my form and efficiency. I don't think I could have jumped into the full-blown plan right away either. I also bought RowPro which has been an awesome training tool. Getting my C2 was one of the best decisions I've made in a while.