Concept2 Forum

I'm a freshman in high school interested in joining an extremely successful rowing program. I've been to almost every outing and session we've had so far; freshman can't row fall crew for my school. I'm about 5'11'' and weigh in between 197 - 205. I know that's a lot, but I am blessed enough to carry my weight well. Even so, my fourth day at rowing a few months ago, the V8 coach called me over and told me that I could easily be in the Freshman 8+ - first reaction: YES, YES, YESS - if I lost weight - second reaction: I am never wearing spandex without shorts... ever. I currently play both varsity and JV basketball, so training sessions at the boathouse are usually hard to get to. Luckily, I pestered my dad into letting me set up my only Christmas present this year, a Model E (I'm still in awe). I've been cutting back on my intake a lot, and have limited my diet soda consumption a LOT, LOT. Tryouts for crew begin in mid-January, but the coaches let winter sports players begin by the end of their season. Also, I have rotator-cuff tendonitis. With my weight and my shoulder being my major disadvantages, I want to work on both for the next month or so. I've been struggling with my weight my whole life, and dropped about 30 lbs. in 2005. I realize that my weight will always be higher than everyone else's, and I'm fine with that; however, there have been about eight girls over 5'9'' and probably between 135 - 155 coming to erg sessions. I have a good natural stroke, but my shoulder has kept me from doing upper body exercises recently, and I can feel the soreness in my lats impairing my posture. When I show up at the boathouse in February, I want to blow everyone away. I'm one of the few girls with an erg and home and I plan to exploit that as much as I can! I need to increase my endurance because I've been playing basketball my whole life, and I'm far too used to the on again/off again pace. "There aren't any timeouts on the water," said the V8 coach. I want to have a secure spot in the Freshman 8+, a boat that has won gold at Nationals for the past few years, and beat out all those weak skinny girls!
I was wondering if anyone could think of any good workouts that could:
1) Improve my stroke (we're focusing on slide control now, rowing at about 16 spm)
2) ENCREASING MY ENDURANCE
3) Bringing down my scores: the most they'll probably have the freshman do is a 2k, and they'll expect about 8:45 - 9:20 out of us -- I want 8:15.
4) Keeping pressure off my shoulder (this is a huge predicament as you can see)

Mountrower,

First of all, I'm glad you've taken the first step to rowing fitness: ERGING!


The erg is going to be your best friend and your worst enemy. You're going to love it, hate it, want to throw it down a flight of stairs, and make sweet love to it.

I'm a college novice woman, 5'5, 195 pounds. I started the season at 217 and lost all of it through erging.

Do long workouts (pyramids, 2x10k's 3x6k's) at a mid intenisty. That's how I've lost most of my weight, and I swear by it. A lot of people say that long steady state erging is "useless" but it really builds up your endurance.

Be sure to push the envelope occasionally and do a 20 minute engine test or a 2k sprint, just to get used to the feel of it all.

I've dropped 7 seconds off my PR (I'm down to a 2:17 average 500m split)

It's a great world you're getting into. If you ever want to chat about teh difficulties of rowing and weight, I'd love to. It's been a hard road, but I love it, and I woudln't trade it for the world.

G'luck

-Becky

Mountrower, your hunger for rowing is refreshing. I hope you can maintain that attitude throughout your high school and college rowing career.

Here are a few comments that are only my opinion:

1) Improve my stroke (we're focusing on slide control now, rowing at about 16 spm)

Improving your stroke will only come from coaching. You can also get technique videos for this. 16 spm is extremely low for any piece. I recommend 22-24spm for swing pieces (long pieces at 60-75% pressure) and taking your spm higher from there.

2) INCREASING MY ENDURANCE

Do long swing pieces - 30 min, 10k, 1 hour+. Make sure you aren't taking these too easy. I think it is ok to "fly and die" on these every once in awhile just to make sure you really know your limits although many people would probably debate this statement.

3) Bringing down my scores: the most they'll probably have the freshman do is a 2k, and they'll expect about 8:45 - 9:20 out of us -- I want 8:15.

To bring down your 2k score you will need to improve both aerobic and anaerobic threashold. My favorite anaerobic workout is 4x500m with 1 min rest @ ~4 splits below your expected 2k.

4) Keeping pressure off my shoulder (this is a huge predicament as you can see)

You should probably talk to a sports trainer or doctor about this. If the proper rowing techniques causes you lots of pain or has the potential to injure you further you may be looking for another sport.

Just to say that I will be having surgery on my right shoulder in February due to rotary cuff damage, etc. but erging does not bother my shoulders.