rsieminski wrote:As I read through this a lot of this thread, I have learned some, but still have a few questions:
Do you have a link to a place where someone could read up on this method of training, and it's principals?
absolutely, here ya go, enjoy!
Ranger's stages of training
(1) Row effectively/foundational rowing (at low rates, middle distances, and high stroking power). Don't race your training!
(2) Row efficiently/hard distance rowing/pre-sharpening (at low stroking powers, long distances, and up to 30 spm). Don't race your training!
(3) Sharpening (at high rates, middling stroking powers, and short distances, 2 month's at most). Now it's time to race your training!. Get out the clock and bust it to the max!
(4) Race (at middling rates, middling stroking powers, and middling distances).
Notes:
- "Dont race your training" means: dont record the time it took to complete a distance, regardless of the rate or pace of that session, as the very act of recording the time/distace transforms a stage 1 or 2 session, into a stage 3 "sharpening" session.
- A person can only start #3 when they are within 12 seconds of their target race goal.
Rangers belief system:
1) Focus on indicidual strokes only:
- the best way to train is to focus on individual strokes. This is done by looking at the force curve, and the SPI (information that is derived from rate/pace for that one particular stroke only).
- Only "good" strokes should be taken in training, a "good" stroke is one pulled with a good force curve, at a certain SPI. Good lightweights pull 13SPI, heavy weights 16SPI.
Here are the SPM/pace combinations allowed for LW (13SPI)
20SPM - 1:50/500m
22SPM - 1:47/500m
24SPM - 1:44/500m
26SPM - 1:41/500m
28SPM - 1:38/500m
30SPM - 1:36/500m
2)On reporting what is done in training:
- Recording the time it takes to cover any distance, at any level of effort, is considered "racing your training", aka "sharpening" and is detremental to your training.
- ranger has "done" something and is free to "report" that thing as "done" in a post on training, when he feels he "can do" that thing. Actually doing the thing (in a quantifiable way) is not neccessary, and may even be detremental as it can interrupt the flow of training.
- a typical ranger training session may involve stretches of rowing at 24SPM - 1:44/500m (which would be 13SPI), with rest periods interspersed, for a total of 10k in perhaps 40 minutes which would be an averge of 2:00/500m. However, since only the "good strokes", i.e. "rowing well" count, Ranger is free to report this session as "10k at 13SPI, which is 24SPM - 1:44/500m, 28 seconds under world record 10k pace!, Nice!, there's that 7 seconds again!"
3) Regarding Weight:
- a person's weight is "at" a certain value, if at some point in the day, that person can weigh him/her self, and it's that value.
- if a person weighs in as a lightweight once during the course of a year, all of his times the remainder of the year qualify as LW times, regardless of what the actual weight was when the piece was done (after all, fat doesnt make you go faster)