Concept2 Forum

Hello everyone,

I was talking to my rowing coach the other day, and he said that while I have great technique, that if I developed more power I could be a very competitive rower in our schools varsity boat.

First off, to describe myself. I'm 15 years old, 5"9, 125-130 pounds (it changes a bit...)... My 2k erg score as of now is 8:02, which is decent considering my size and weight.

To be considered competitive at my school, im going to have to pull a faster erg score, meaning I'll be needing some more power...

Does anybody have a training program, or even some quick erg workouts that I could do to help build up some power???

Ideally, I would only want this work out to be 30 mins a day, 3 or 4 times a week...

Thanks for all the help.

Eric D.

Anybody? I'm returning to school soon as my spring break ends, and would like to start this as soon as possible.

Hi! You've obviously got talent if you can pull 2K in 8:02 at your age and size. I'm surprised your coach hasn't given you some specific advice. My main observation is that you're not going to make much progress on 3 or 4 30 minute workouts a week if you're really serious about the sport. If you want to build up power on that limited programme, my advice would be to do 2 sessions of 30 minutes a week at 20 strokes per minute, concentrating on technique and power. Aim at a pace of about 2:20-2:25 per 500 metres and speed up as you make progress. The best thing, however, at your age, would be to find yourself a proper coach. Kind regards and all good wishes for your future rowing.

Thanks. I was thinking that rowing at low SPM's would help... Although its funny... I do my erg tests a 24 SPM's haha...

I have a great coach, he was actually an olympian... But there are fifty or so other rowers in the junior program, and he doesn't really want to single one out to help them, he just doesn't have the time to do that...

If I were you, I would still approach my coach and ask him for advice. Part of being a "great coach" is being able to provide appropriate feedback even in the face of a large squad. He should still be able to give you 5 minutes of his time and suggest appropriate workouts. Alternately get a group of your closest friends on the squad and approach him together and tell him that your group wants to do extra erg work together and if he has any ideas.


That said, what sort of time do you need for your 2K to be competitive with your peers? Is the 3-4 workouts/week you are looking at in addition to other workouts with the team? or is that your complete program?

The key more than any specific workouts is going to be to make sure you are consistent and that you stick to it.

You should read up on suggested 2K plans:
http://www.c2forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=8690

Thanks yehster, once I get back to school I'll try talking to my coach.

My 2k time will have to be 7:57 to be considered competitive.... I'd like to aim for 7:55 or lower just to be safe.

Our coach basis his system off of the average winning times at the St. Catherines high school regatta in Ontario. Last year, the average time for flyweights to win the gold medal was 6:42. My erg time is 8:02, weight adjusted thats 6:46... 4 seconds off "Gold Standard" as we call it. There is also a gold standard for lightweight and heavyweight, but because I'm flyweight I only need to worry about flyweight gold standard.

Right now, were rowing 5 times a week, it may be on the water, or off, depending on the weather. We have three afternoon practices for about an hour and a half, and two morning practices.

The workout I am asking for now would most likely be done on my own, or with a friend if they really wanted to join me and keep me company, or train themselves.

How did you feel after your 8:02? "Pretty Tired", "Completely Wiped Out?" "Falling off the Erg and couldn't get back up?"

It doesn't seem like you are that far off from you goal, and it may simply be an issue of "toughness" during your official erg test. Your body may be capable of a 7:57 right now!

Also how did you pace your piece? Even Splits? Negative Splits? Positive Splits?

Since it sounds like you are doing a fair amount of training with the team, you need to be careful about overtraining. One easy thing to consider would be simply row a 500M piece at "race pace" in addition to your team workout.

What would the 500m at race pace do? I'm liking that, mainly because it doesn't take valuable time out of my schedule that I could be working on homework on.

After the erg test I was feeling somewhere between completely wiped out and pretty tired. For the first few minutes after, I was completely wiped out, did some stretching to cooldown... After I defiantly felt like I could have gone a bit faster.

That erg test I tried to hold 2:03 consistently, then if I had some more gas in the end then I could drop it.

I rowed at 24-26 SPM in the first 1500, then in the last 500m I think I was at 28 possibly... It's been a while since I've done that...

Splits were between 2:00 and 2:05 for the first 1500, it only came to 2:05 for one or two strokes before I would drop it again.

In the last 500m I think I was pulling a 1:58 consistently, it was probably a bit lower.

I did that erg test at least a month ago, so I don't really remember much of it...

EricD wrote:I do my erg tests a 24 SPM's

..

Most people do their competitive 2Ks at a much faster rate than 24 SPM - usually at over 30 SPM. I'm sure you could improve your performance considerably by learning to row effectively at a faster rate - even with your current level of fitness and strength. As yehster says, you've probably got 7:57 inside you right now. You would benefit greatly from having some personal coaching. Your enthusiasm does you credit, and I'm sure your current coach would be more than happy to invest a little time in you to help you maximise your potential.

Thanks William,

I find though that if I row at higher rates (on ergs), that I tend to burn out quicker... The recovery of 24 SPM's is nice because I guess it lets me rest a bit before pulling again.

I'll be sure to experiment one afternoon on the erg at different rates and see how each feels.

In order to drop that time you're gonna have to up your stroke rating. You don't have a lot of weight to pull with so you'll need to make up for it with a stroke rating of atleast around 28. You definitely can do it, what do you guys race at? Try practicing a higher rating, like for 500m intervals. Gradually increase the distance till you're up to 2k or farther. Could also try some very short distance work with a high damper setting, I've heard some people say that's increased their power a lot. Good luck!

Thanks ThatMoos3Guy,

Our lightweight crew normally race at 34 SPM on the water, the heavyweights at 30-32 because they can pull harder...

I was thinking of using a higher damper setting to train and build up power. Would it be better to do short intervals such as 4 X 500m pieces race pace, or to do time intervals, trying to hold a certain split (something along the lines of 2:10)

EricD wrote:I find though that if I row at higher rates (on ergs), that I tend to burn out quicker... The recovery of 24 SPM's is nice because I guess it lets me rest a bit before pulling again.

Hi Eric. I'm beginning to get the impression that you're being held back by being a little overcautious. The 2K is a tough event and the second half shouldn't be too comfortable! Your basic strength must be pretty good if you can do 8:02 at 24 SPM. By my reckoning that should be worth about 7:50 or better at 28 SPM. Whilst you're right not to "fly and die" by going off too fast, my advice is to live a little dangerously and set off next time at 1:59 at 26 SPM and try to hold it as long as possible - you may very well surprise yourself.

EricD wrote:Thanks ThatMoos3Guy,

Our lightweight crew normally race at 34 SPM on the water, the heavyweights at 30-32 because they can pull harder...

I was thinking of using a higher damper setting to train and build up power. Would it be better to do short intervals such as 4 X 500m pieces race pace, or to do time intervals, trying to hold a certain split (something along the lines of 2:10)

If you guys race on the water at 34 then you definitely can bring up the slide for your tests. This might be uncomfortable at first, but as you get used to it I bet your time will drop a lot.

Short intervals would definitely be better with the higher drag. I would try to focus on 500m and less, low rating and beastly pull. Don't go too long cause you want to stay fresh for each piece and don't want to let up on strength during them.

Another option would be to throw in some minor weight training, but only if you have a coach or someone who can show you the correct form for lifts.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone,

I'm returning to school tonight, so I'll be able to talk to my coach in the next few days.

Right now, as you guys said short intervals are better, im thinking that I'll be doing:

1k/2k warm-up---4X500m pieces at 20SPM but highest pressure---1k/2k cooldown

And I'll be doing that 2-3 times a week on top of our regular rowing practices.

That should take me 15-20 minutes at the most.


What do you guys think?