Training Technique?

[bloomp]

I guess you could call this a technique to train by, but it's something one of my friends (I actually got him into rowing last semester and he's currently doing better than I am) taught me. It works, so I figured I'd throw it out there.

Pick a split, and tell yourself before and during a piece that you cannot pull higher than it. I didn't believe it at first, but when you actually sit down and focus like that, you will hardly ever break it. I started using it for distance pieces (2x6k, 2x30') and it worked, and today I got to try it on 3x1k and pulled very well.

I think that setting that absolute in your mind makes you less likely to succumb to the pain or exhaustion. Any opinions? Agreement?

[marving2]

I think that focusing can definitely improve consistency and provide a distraction from exhaustion. If it's real pain, it probably shouldn't be ignored, if it's mostly just slight discomfort from the effort/exertion, that is different. There are times that I will focus on a certain split time and try to hold, or a specific s/m. For me, some of my best timed pieces have been eyes closed, listening to music, and just concentrating on technique, peeking every couple minutes to see where pace is at, etc.

[djh]

Pick a split, and tell yourself before and during a piece that you cannot pull higher than it.

I think that setting that absolute in your mind makes you less likely to succumb to the pain or exhaustion. Any opinions? Agreement?

This is exactly the way I operate, and it works quite well for me.

So far I haven't found any need for TV entertainment or an iPod. There's a will-power battle going on!

[bloomp]

I think that focusing can definitely improve consistency and provide a distraction from exhaustion. If it's real pain, it probably shouldn't be ignored, if it's mostly just slight discomfort from the effort/exertion, that is different. There are times that I will focus on a certain split time and try to hold, or a specific s/m. For me, some of my best timed pieces have been eyes closed, listening to music, and just concentrating on technique, peeking every couple minutes to see where pace is at, etc.

Yeah! I've found that if I throw the screen up and just pull for about 30 minutes, I'm pulling a lot harder than I do when I'm watching it.

I'm glad I'm not the only person who loves to focus on the erg rather than distracting themselves! But sometimes (namely hour plus workouts), I just have to have music.

[marving2]

I definitely agree on the need for music during the longer rows.

The only time I've ever put the handle down and stopped rowing in the middle of a piece was one time when my ipod died about 40 minutes into an hour row about a month ago. It ended up working out for the best, I went out and picked up another one that night, came back home and loaded some songs, and then hit a PB (at the time) for 2k.

I tried watching movies during HMs for a while, but I found that my times were better with just music. Plus, some of the movies had subtitles, and I don't think reading and rowing make a good combo.