Concept2 Forum

Does anyone on the forum now just row for Longevity and if so what does their routine look like?

I haven’t got the appetite or time to chase down my PB’s over 2/5/10k and I’m not sure doing so now would be beneficial to my overall well-being.

I’m more interested in being able to continue to row and put the hammer down occasionally knowing that I’m playing a long game and supplementing the rowing with other functional movement exercises.

Therefore doing predominantly UT1/2 work should be my target?

How many days a week, and for how long are you able to row? UT2, maybe even UT3 is where you probably need to focus judging by your post. A HR monitor will be very useful.

Lucasd48 wrote: ↑

March 12th, 2021, 11:01 am

Does anyone on the forum now just row for Longevity and if so what does their routine look like?

I haven’t got the appetite or time to chase down my PB’s over 2/5/10k and I’m not sure doing so now would be beneficial to my overall well-being.

I’m more interested in being able to continue to row and put the hammer down occasionally knowing that I’m playing a long game and supplementing the rowing with other functional movement exercises.

Therefore doing predominantly UT1/2 work should be my target?

Re Ut 1/2 longevity. Think you should include sprinting in any form. Keep your fast muscle fibers working.
For aerobic fitness ut2 stuff could be enough. Pushing hard is certainly not needed.

Thanks for responding.

I jump on 3/4 times a week nowadays as opposed to the
5/6 previously, and try to make time for weights etc

If I put the hammer down for 10x500 with 1 min rec’ I know that’s going to take me out of UT2 but I figure if I don’t do those kind of
sessions as often as I used to I’ve got a better shot at the longevity goal.

The only thing I’m not sure about is whether my mitochondria
get as much benefit from steady state stuff as they would
from the short sharp stuff.

Lucasd48 wrote: ↑

March 12th, 2021, 1:45 pm

Thanks for responding.

I jump on 3/4 times a week nowadays as opposed to the
5/6 previously, and try to make time for weights etc

If I put the hammer down for 10x500 with 1 min rec’ I know that’s going to take me out of UT2 but I figure if I don’t do those kind of
sessions as often as I used to I’ve got a better shot at the longevity goal.

The only thing I’m not sure about is whether my mitochondria
get as much benefit from steady state stuff as they would
from the short sharp stuff.

Your mitochondria benefit far more from the steady state. The short sharp stuff is a different type of adaptor.

If it's four days a week, I'd do three UT2 and one sprints on one week, and then two UT2, one UT1/AT, and one sprint session.

Therefore doing predominantly UT1/2 work should be my target?

Yes, the only problem is deciding what those levels are. Longevity, just like anything else, demands hard work at low ratings to keep muscle operative, pipes open and heart ready to go; and so sustainable for a complete outing, 30-50 minutes. Currently I'm doing work as in a typical weightloss schedule all at rating 20-22, such as:

Week Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Session 4
Week 1 4 x 6'AT 2 x 22'UT1 5 x 5'AT 4 x 6'AT
Week 2 5 x 6'AT 3 x 18'UT1 5 x 6'AT 5 x 6'AT

You can choose your plan, there's plenty of choice: http://3.8.144.21/training/interactive

The first few weeks in a 2k schedule are endurance work including UT2 and can be repeated for years without continuing to taper.

For control we can use HR, Watts and Rating. All 60-80% of 2k levels, but keep your stroke long, fast and hard at all ratings, so that you don't need to do any specific sprints: that way the stroke is always a sprint, but we get a longer rest time in between.

Yes my primary goal is to generate ATP and I think most
studies conclude that’s best done at UT2.

mitochondria will respond to any exercise, the only way that slower rows are better when done less frequently is that they keep us fresh for faster rows and allow us to row for longer (its the length that matters for this adaption). "Longevity" is a vague goal. o keep heart in better shape some faster rows are required. In addition, overall fitness and muscle mass will drop much faster if no higher intensity training is done. So active longevity may be reduced with a diet solely of long slow. That all assumes that you are fit enough to do harder sessions and it doesn't give you a coronary!

Yes mitochondria is just one part of the longevity jigsaw
and exercise can stimulate ATP in the same way as Intermittent fasting and cold therapy exposure does.

When I look at so called Blue Zones around the world where people live active lives into their 90’s and have ventured near a gym it seems that consistent low level movement throughout the day is one part of everyday life. Hence my interest in carrying out
these low intensity sessions on a frequent basis.

There's an ongoing research project funded by the NIH called the 90+ Study which compares an extensive set of health questionnaires filled out in the 1980's with current surviving participants who are now in their 90's. Of the many fascinating observations extrapolated from this ongoing study, the one relevant to this discussion is that the research indicated that an average of 40 minutes each day, not necessarily done all in the same session, and not requiring any specific level of intensity, was a behavior in common among the participants that lived and are living into their 90's but not so much in those that died at younger ages.

I heard about this study on 60 Minutes on cbs. Here's the link to the episode via youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqKfL3z5yM4

hjs wrote: ↑

March 12th, 2021, 1:18 pm

Re Ut 1/2 longevity. Think you should include sprinting in any form. Keep your fast muscle fibers working.
For aerobic fitness ut2 stuff could be enough. Pushing hard is certainly not needed.

+ 1 for mostly long slow with a bit of added high intensity work like some sprints/intervals.

Also, there is value in rest periods where you stop everything. And there is risk in losing conditioning if you stop for too long. Maybe either watch the video or read the studies linked in the description. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZKslA3MMRc

Most important is doing something you like so that you'll have fun and keep doing it.

Tsnor wrote: ↑

March 28th, 2021, 7:43 pm

...
Most important is doing something you like so that you'll have fun and keep doing it.

You're only as young as you think, and my 67 year old body thinks my 25 year old mind is a fool!

pagomichaelh wrote: ↑

March 29th, 2021, 12:09 am

You're only as young as you think, and my 67 year old body thinks my 25 year old mind is a fool!

Ha, ha, ha! Good one, Michael! I resemble that remark.

pagomichaelh wrote: ↑

March 29th, 2021, 12:09 am

Tsnor wrote: ↑

March 28th, 2021, 7:43 pm

...
Most important is doing something you like so that you'll have fun and keep doing it.

You're only as young as you think, and my 67 year old body thinks my 25 year old mind is a fool!

At the age of 63 this is a subject close to my heart.....as I need to protect it!

Here's an article I wrote on training recently, I think it's along the lines you were talking about...

You will get huge benefits from building a good Aerobic Base.

You can jump higher from a platform a foot high than from just the flat of the floor....and rowing without a good aerobic base is rowing from the floor....not the platform...so building and maintaining one is a big help towards you rowing well and achieving good performances.

Adaptation happens on rest days and slow days. That’s when the body has chance to recover and adapt. This is when improvements take place.

Going hard at it every day merely breaks the body down, doesn’t have time to adapt, never heals and you get injured.

If you put ‘’Maffetone Training’’ into Google a lot of good information on this will come up.


Building a good base involves plenty of long (20 - 30 minutes or more) slow rows at 18 to 20 spm to help improve power in the stroke, slide control plus overall technique...and by slow I mean between 55 - 70% of your maximum heart rate.

If for example your maximum is 180 then 70% would be 126 bpm and you’d need to stay under that at all times during the row….if it looks like you’re going over then slow down….don’t worry about the pace it’s the heart rate that’s important.

Over time as you go on with this your pace will improve but your Heart Rate will not go any higher so you can enjoy watching progress.

Your small blood vessels (capillaries) open up and grow more to where they are needed ( areas of highest oxygen demand) to deliver more oxygen to your muscles and carry away waste products, such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid.

Mitochondria (Energy boosters) in the muscles will multiply and you'll improve the body’s efficiency at burning fat for fuel. Your heart will become stronger and more efficient plus you'll have a lot more energy.

If you Google ''benefits of aerobic development'' you'll get a lot of good info. If you do around 80% of your training like this with the remaining 20% faster (such as interval sessions) you’ll have a good chance of improving your rowing over all distances.

Another good source of info is ‘’Polarised Training’’ by Steven Seiler so would suggest a Google search on that too plus plenty of good videos on Youtube about improving your rowing/stroke rate/aerobic development.

https://www.concept2.com/news/rowing-fa ... ing-slower