Fitness Advice

[jameswi99]

Hi All,
I wanted to ask for some general advice. I have been rowing on my erg for the past 16 months (Xmas 2014 - big present to myself). To start with I was doing 2 or 3km every couple of days, coming from a fairly mediocre fitness base and also a fairly manic family life (mid-forties, four kids, one dog) but over the past year I have ramped up considerably to the point where I am now rowing pretty much every day (unless physically impossible e.g. on a plane to California all day). I genuinely miss it if I don't have an opportunity and I am days away from joining the Million Meters Club. Every day I do 5km, sometimes in one session with a slightly lower resistance setting and at about 30 SPM, but most days as 500m intervals, medium resistance, 40 second rest periods, 32-34 SPM. My Heart Rate pattern is fairly consistent once I am warmed up - 120 BPM at start of the interval, rising to about 160BPM by the end. It has been great for weight loss - and general self confidence - HOWEVER I seem to have hit a glass ceiling....

5km just about wipes me out and it never seems to be getting any easier. No matter how often I do it, I am completely wiped out by the end and just couldn't consider pushing on and doing 6,7 or 8km. So it feels like, while my general healthiness is improving, my stamina isn't.

Anybody got any pointers as to what that might be, or what I can try to break through that ceiling?

Thanks

James

[Edward4492]

Need more info....age, height, weight, and most importantly how fast are you going. My gut tells me you need to slow down, drop the rate ( 20-24 spm) and just do the longer stuff at whatever pace allows you to do 7500m to 10k. Get us some more detail.

[Carl Watts]

Yes your missing vital information like your weight and height and things like your actual pace for the 5K.

5K is probably too short a distance and you need to move out to 30 to 40 minutes but also get some rest days, I don't recommend rowing 7 days a week, not if your going at a decent pace anyway, you need recovery time.

You sound like your just going too hard out for the 5Km distance every time if you feel you cannot row something longer. Distance is just related to pace so if you can slow it down you can automatically increase the distance. Also ratings over 30 are pretty hard work if your pace is anything over 2:00/500m, try and slow it down.

What did you set the drag factor too on the monitor ? get the right screen and row and it will show you a number.

[jamesg]

slightly lower resistance setting and at about 30 SPM, but most days as 500m intervals, medium resistance, 40 second rest periods, 32-34 SPM.

You probably need to learn to row, and to train: sprinting is not training. For endurance, a daily 5 - 10 k can be done at 20-22 rating and 1.5 to 2.5 W/kg power level: around 150 W if your fit weight is 75kg, height 5'10 - 6'.

Rate 30 is far too high, unless you are pulling near 300W and doing the 5k in 17-18 minutes; but once a day like that would burn anyone out.

The best quality indicators for erging are Watts/Rating (8 to 12 for most people) and Watts/kg - at least 1.5 W/kg in training.

Low feet and low drag (damper zero) will help you learn to row, if needed. The C2 site has a technique video and there are lot of videos of scullers in training, such as:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf84O5cTWY4

[hjs]

Hi All,
I wanted to ask for some general advice. I have been rowing on my erg for the past 16 months (Xmas 2014 - big present to myself). To start with I was doing 2 or 3km every couple of days, coming from a fairly mediocre fitness base and also a fairly manic family life (mid-forties, four kids, one dog) but over the past year I have ramped up considerably to the point where I am now rowing pretty much every day (unless physically impossible e.g. on a plane to California all day). I genuinely miss it if I don't have an opportunity and I am days away from joining the Million Meters Club. Every day I do 5km, sometimes in one session with a slightly lower resistance setting and at about 30 SPM, but most days as 500m intervals, medium resistance, 40 second rest periods, 32-34 SPM. My Heart Rate pattern is fairly consistent once I am warmed up - 120 BPM at start of the interval, rising to about 160BPM by the end. It has been great for weight loss - and general self confidence - HOWEVER I seem to have hit a glass ceiling....

5km just about wipes me out and it never seems to be getting any easier. No matter how often I do it, I am completely wiped out by the end and just couldn't consider pushing on and doing 6,7 or 8km. So it feels like, while my general healthiness is improving, my stamina isn't.

Anybody got any pointers as to what that might be, or what I can try to break through that ceiling?

Thanks

James

You seem to be racing you training, not training. If you can,t get beyond 5k you simply go to fast. Drop your pace 10 seconds and you can do 60 min right away.
Other point, your rating, don,t know your pace, but in training its common to use a strong stroke, for that you need to drop the ratings to around 20/22 ish.

In general, go slower, row at a pace where you breathing stays calm, and certainly drop your rating a lot. Rowing strapless would help you a lot, this will force you to drop the rating and use a stronger stroke.

For a time trial or interval work its ofcourse fine to use a free rate.

[jameswi99]

Thanks to all of you for your comprehensive and quick responses. So the common theme is I am going at this too hard. I think that is probably a character thing - I just find it tough not to go at things 100% all of the time. I will take a few more break days and make a concerted effort to do a few sessions at 22-24spm and feed back the result on this in the near future.

Thanks all for the advice

[Edward4492]

James......fill in the missing data! Guys like Henry, Carl, and Jamesg can really help with specifics. Age, height, weight, and most importantly how fast are you doing these 5k's. Total time, 500m pace. Heart rate would be a bonus, but not necessary.

[jameswi99]

Thanks Edward, sorry I was a little worried that I would be exposing just how crap my fitness is, but I guess I need to take the opportunity to get some decent advice if I want to improve.

Ok - 5'11"
82kg
46 years old
500m time is 1:55 best
Average 500m time is 2:05 when doing 10 intervals with 40 second rests
5km non stop takes me between 25-26min
In both cases my heart rate gets up to about 165-170 for much of the time.

[hjs]

Thanks Edward, sorry I was a little worried that I would be exposing just how crap my fitness is, but I guess I need to take the opportunity to get some decent advice if I want to improve.

Ok - 5'11"
82kg
46 years old
500m time is 1:55 best
Average 500m time is 2:05 when doing 10 intervals with 40 second rests
5km non stop takes me between 25-26min
In both cases my heart rate gets up to about 165-170 for much of the time.

You almost certainly have a wrong technique, the what I like to call, "gym stroke" this is not finishing the stroke, you break your knees before you fully pulled in the handle. This results in going up and down rapidly with putting much energy in the chain. Start erging with the feet not strapped in and using a much slower strokerate. You need to build a stronger stroke.

[jameswi99]

Thanks HJS, that sounds very very possible. I will give it a go (no straps) and feed back.

Cheers

James

[hjs]

Thanks HJS, that sounds very very possible. I will give it a go (no straps) and feed back.

Cheers

James

James, 95% sure, I see it all the time in the gym. Give it a serious go, it takes some time often. I myself row 90% of my meters strapless.

[jameswi99]

There is a fair chance you are right - given that I am doing this in my spare bedroom where I have had no-one to analyse my stroke/technique, I have probably developed some very bad habits. I will try some slower straps off stuff tomorrow and see how it feels.

Really appreciate the advice

J

[Edward4492]

No need to worry about your fitness James....these guys are here to help. Look at the technique videos. Probably the best technique you'll see (in a boat, not on the erg) is the Zak Purchase video (just google it). It emphasizes the nice slow, easy recovery with a solid leg drive. As Henry says, time for some low rate (20-22) with a three count, 1-2 as you slide forward and 3 you drive back with the legs. And don't be afraid to go slower on the long stuff. I do my long rows at a 2:12 pace. No reason to be afraid of backing off to a 2:20 pace (or whatever works). My personal preference is to row strapped in, but most of the more experienced ergers here do their long stuff un-strapped. You'll get it.

[jameswi99]

Thanks Edward,

Really appreciate the supportive words.

I will definitely post some feedback from my next row (probably Monday) and will work my way through some of the videos first.

Cheers

J

[e-Clair]

I'm not very experienced, but I'll give advice anyway. Based on your 5k, try rowing your longer pieces at 2:40 pace or slower, with rate at most 20. This will keep you within UT2, aim for one breath per stroke. You'll want a clearly longer stroke than what you're experiencing now at rate 30. Try inhaling during the drive, so you will be fully exhaled at the beginning of the drive and the handle will be well forward, to get a feel for what a truly long stroke is like. Concentrate first on practicing a good recovery sequence, arms first, legs last, so that you're only feeling pressure against your feet just before the drive. For the drive, focus first on applying arms last. When you feel your recovery sequence is pretty good, focus on perfecting the beginning of the drive. Basically that means making sure that your hips don't hinge/unhinge at the very beginning of the drive. This should mean a moderate amount of hip flexor stiffness at the beginning of the drive so that the seat and the handle move together (you might think in terms of keeping your lower back stiff, but you'll end up sensing the stiffness near your groin). As your form and fitness improve, adjust the pace for your long sessions, using your 5k or 2k time. Figure UT2 as 45% to 60% of the power of your 2k best pace. You can find pace/Watt converters online.