heart rate too low

[stevef]

hi-

-- Background--
i have had my concept2 for about 10 years, and have gone in and out of periods of using it, versus other exercises, for fitness.

i am in a concept2 phase now (have a baby, and it is very convenient, being right in the basement).

i am 50yo, and just returning to fitness. right now i am doing strength training twice a week (medex/nautilus), and rowing 4 times a week.

i row at an even pace for at least 30 min, or sometimes 40. in 30 min, i am at about 6300 meters.

at my age, i expect to take a slow and steady approach to increasing my fitness, and hope to see significant improvement over, say, a year. as i get stronger i will add in interval training.

i have the damper set on 0. i typically hold about 26 strokes per minute.

-- My Question --
i am having trouble raising my heart rate. it only gets to about 130. if i power walk or use an elliptical, i can easily get it up to and maintain it at 150, with highs at 170 (and i don't feel very tired). my resting rate is about 60.

the problem seems to be that on the rower, the limiting factor is not my cardio fitness, but my leg strength.

another factor may be that i really work my body, eg, legs, hard in the strength training, doing single sets of about 15 to failure (slow and in perfect form). so they are pretty tuckered out in the strength department when i am on the rower.

on the elliptical i will hold an rpm of 90-100 (180-200 strides per min).

to me, it seems i would like an even easier damper setting so that i could go at a faster rate, and use less strength each time.

(i am committed to the strength training for many reasons)

any suggestions?

thanks much,
steve

[jamesg]

Low heart rate means low work: 6300/30' is 120W. At 26, this is less than 5 Watt-minutes per stroke. Suggest you lengthen your stroke considerably and/or increase drag to say 120. A reasonable long distance power level might be 2-2.5 W/kg, using fit weight.

At the catch, you need to get to shins vertical, trunk hard against thighs, hands near the chainguard, weight on your feet. Back straight at all times.

The point is that to do work on the erg, and so load the heart, our legs have to be used to full extent, and this can only happen in a long stroke. You can see this by warming up first with arms only, then adding swing, then gradually increasing legs til you reach the chain guard. You'll see rate dropping and power increasing all the way.

The erg and our heart do not measure strength or force, but the work done in each stroke. This work = Length x Force, so both need to be there.

[hjs]

If you can,t get you hart rate up you simply don,t work hard enough.

No matter what dragsetting or rate you are using, if you push the pace. (pace is the amount of work you do, time/500m) you can work hard. So next time simply keep pushing the pace untill your hartrate picks up. Use long full strokes.

If you can do it on an other machine you also can do it on the erg.

[karldiesen]

you should measure your maximum heart rate. Then you can see what percentage (absolute heart rate means nothing!) of it you are doing.

[stevef]

i want to play with the adjustments to my stroke suggested by jamesg before i comment on them. probably tonight...

meanwhile....

you should measure your maximum heart rate. Then you can see what percentage (absolute heart rate means nothing!) of it you are doing.

My calculated THRR is 115 to 143. But, that guideline does not necessarily apply to individuals. In my case, i am very comfortable holding 150 and sprinting to 170, even though those are above the calculated THRR. For my body, they are where I want to be at on the concept2.

The issue is that it is easy for me to get to 150 on an elliptical and hold it comfortably, but at a similar level of perceived difficulty i only get to 130 on the concept2.

as i said above, it seems that muscular fatigue in my legs is the limiting factor, rather than cardio fatigue.

just "working harder" is not the answer. i am working as hard as i am comfortable with on the concept2, but barely breathing hard! my legs are giving all they have, but my heart is just taking it easy.

perhaps it also has to do with the compression of my trunk during the stroke, like it is harder to get a good breath on the concept2.

steve

[tdekoekkoek]

I think some of the advice already given is good. However bear in mind that heart rates will differ from sport to sport. Since you are in a sitting position when rowing, your heart rate will be lower than when running. Also another thing is that don't go necessarily go by charts as to what your heart rate should be. My heart rate too is quite low on the erg even when pulling my PRs.

Cheers,

Trevor

[Bob S.]

perhaps it also has to do with the compression of my trunk during the stroke, like it is harder to get a good breath on the concept2.

steve

Xeno Mueller, Olympic gold and silver medal winner and coach, advocates inhaling during the drive. This is in contrast to the usual weight lifters routine of exhaling during the lift, but in rowing it makes sense because of the very fact that your chest is compressed at the start of the drive. Also, at the end of the drive your elbows are pulled back and your chest would be at maximum expansion. Then as you move your arms forward and bend forward the waist, the chest gets compressed and it is the appropriate time to exhale. Under racing conditions, for short distances at least, many find that they need 2 inhalations per stroke, but for training, one seems to be the most common.

This makes sense to me and I wish that I were able to adapt my own technique to this breathing pattern, but the habits of over seventy years of rowing make it difficult to make such a major change.

Bob S.

[iain]

If you think the issue is tired legs, why not experiment with doing the rowing first. The erg is unlike other CV machines in that there is a significant time when you are doing little work. As a result, the drive requires a greater exertion level than you would do on another cardio machine. While the start of the action should be smooth and continuous, the drive is akin to a squat, accelerating hard throughout the leg drive.

There are also numerous ways to disipate the power so you are not working against resistance. The back should not slump and arms should remain straight through the leg drive. Similarly the legs should not bend until after the arms have finished and the handle returned to arms length.

I suggest you look at the various technical videos or get some knowledgable rower to watch your technique if rowing first doesn't allow you to get your HR up at ratings no higher than before.

- Iain