A Newbie has some questions...

[lapresle]

I’ve searched the forums for answers and I’m not really finding what I’m looking for, so apologies in advance if I’m posing questions that have been asked and answered. I recently had the opportunity to start rowing on an older C2 erg and I really like it; my rower will arrive in a couple of days and I’m trying to get my head around a few concepts.

Drag. It sounds like drag is an arbitrary setting based on feel. Is this correct? My rower will be in my garage which is cool and at 6,500’ elevation. I’ve read that both of these factors affect the drag and I’m confused about how to apply a accuracy setting based on an arbitrary feeling. If I’ve been rowing for years I would imagine I could tell the difference, but at this time in my training it just feels like rowing and I’m not sure what to do with the drag setting.

Watts. When calculating watts using the online calculator, is that an average watt output based on my 500m split? If the calculator spits out 175w for my 500m pace and I rowed 5,000m do I multiply 175w x 10 for a total? What part of the workout does that number represent and what do I do with it?

Damper. From what I can gather, damper settings are based on preference only and have no bearing on performance or times and the only function of the damper is to affect the feel. As I understand it, lower settings equate to rowing a fast, sleek boat. Higher settings are like rowing a barge. Why, if there is no effect on performance, would one want to row a barge vs. a sleeker boat? Some examples reference riding a bike and my first thought was Lance Armstrong vs. Jan Ulrich in the mountains. Lance spins a low gear (lower damper settings) at a high rpm and Ulrich would push a big gear at a low rpm. But the more I read, the more I get the impression it is only a preference like picking a color.

Technique. I’ve been trying to row with good form and I feel like I can tell when I’m using good form and when I’m not. My initial goal was to row for 30:00 and that was all I wanted to do. My SPM is around 25 and during that last couple of minutes I have started to take really hard, aggressive pulls with longer recovery between. Should I try to take fewer pulls, but with more explosive force or just get better at being smooth?

Thanks for any help you’re willing to offer and I’m looking forward to being a part of this community.

Cheers and Happy New Year,
Kevin

[Citroen]

Start here: http://www.c2forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=38 then come back with the questions that aren't answered in that FAQ.

[lapresle]

Citroen,
Thanks for the direction, I read the FAQ's and Godfried's post prior to mine and it prompted my questions because I was stuck on a couple of points. Maybe I'm overthinking it...

Regarding Drag, he says, "...Which drag factor should you be using: 100 - 130 is a good setting for most but opinions on this differ." I guess I'm confused about which drag setting to select, that sounds arbitrary to me and I question whether I have enough time in the saddle to know the difference between two settings.

Regarding Watts, I still have the same questions with regards to what the number stands for. Is it an average based on my 500m pace and do you use it to measure output over the whole workout or is it only for SPI?

Regarding the damper. I'm still not sure what to do with it.

[bobkwan2007]

The damper setting determines the drag on the flywheel. The higher the setting the more air is allowed into the cage which increase the resistance, or drag. The actual drag can be different for the same damper setting depending on the machine and the elevation. You can determine the actual drag by pressing the 'rest' and,..another buttons which escapes my memory at the moment, together.

If you are just starting out, the most important thing is to learn proper technique. It will make your experience more enjoyable and it will allow you to realize your full potential on ther erg.

[bobkwan2007]

Citroen,
Regarding the damper. I'm still not sure what to do with it.

Setting your damper between 2-4 and see how it feels. If you figure out how to display your DF, keep it around 120. It is difficult to practice with good technique with high rating or high drag. Keep both low when focusing on technique.

[Cyclist2]

It sounds like you are doing things just fine. Yes, drag is a personal preference but keep it low for now, until you get your technique down and the muscles used to rowing - don't want any injuries pulling high drag. Yes, the damper controls the drag factor but use the monitor to read the drag and adjust the damper setting based on that, not on it's position (1,2,3,4, etc.), because there are lots of variables. Watts are related to pace. On the C2 site they have a watts calculator with the equations that relate pace to watts: http://www.concept2.com/us/interactive/ ... /watts.asp. The "ergometer" is a power measuring machine, so watts is a measure of that. Once you row for a while you'll learn the watts that go with a particular pace (i.e. 2:00 pace is right around 200 watts). I suggest you just get on it and row. You are obviously "paying attention" and your questions will be answered after a few thousand meters and some experimentation. Have fun with your new machine in 2011 and beyond!

[Bob S.]

When calculating watts using the online calculator, is that an average watt output based on my 500m split? If the calculator spits out 175w for my 500m pace and I rowed 5,000m do I multiply 175w x 10 for a total? What part of the workout does that number represent and what do I do with it?

You have it backwards. The monitor determines the amount of energy delivered to the wheel and calculates the rate of energy production in watts (joules of work done per second). The pace is an arbitrary, fictitious value calculated from the the number of watts. The power in watts is inversely proportional to the cube of the pace, so you have to increase you power in watts by a factor of 8 to cut you 500m time in half. Since the number of watts is a rate, there is no meaning to the concept of total watts. If you multiply the average number of watts by the number of seconds taken to do the whole piece, you would come up with the number of joules of work done in spinning the wheel over that period.

Bob S.

[Bob S.]

Regarding Watts, ------ or is it only for SPI?

SPI is not really useful for much. The original point for defining that term has been lost in a mess of garbage that has been bantered about on this (and the U.K.) forum for many years. You would be best off to ignore it.

Bob S.

[lapresle]

Bob S: "Since the number of watts is a rate, there is no meaning to the concept of total watts." This makes sense to me, thank you. I get this.
Thanks Mark and Bob Kwan for the encouragement too. I'm really excited to get my indoor rowing machine.

[lapresle]

Thanks to the good people that replied; I appreciate it and it helped me make some sense out of things. I've been rowing/ergging seriously for about three weeks now and really like it. Back in early December I busted 280lbs and decided I needed do something. I started to watch my intake and tried to find some sort of exercise program. That's when a friend brought an extra C2 over and I tried it and was hooked. I'm down to 267 now and I am trying to do things in a smart and thoughtful manner. (smart & thoughtful, neither a strong suit...) Anyhow, I have a couple more questions and would appreciate advice from the more experienced.

I've been focusing on building endurance with daily workouts in the 10k range or 45:00 and I was wondering, when is a good time to incorporate a training plan such as The Pete Plan or Wolverine? I tried to read the Wolverine plan and was wondering if all the <br> is an internet code thing or is it a rowning abbreviation? The Pete Plan is easier to read.

I like to lift weights, would interval days be a good day to incorporate lifting? My thought being intervals in the AM and lift in the PM. Then rest on the recover days or rest days.

I tried a search for L3 and L4 workouts and couldn't find an answer.

What is UT?

Thanks in advance.

[gregsmith01748]

Hi,

So if you want a training plan, you have a bunch of options. If you are rowing to lose weight, I have heard very good things about the interactive weigh loss plan on the UK concept2 site. You plug in parameters about yourself and your goals and it will invent a rowing plan that is tuned to your current fitness level and weigh loss objectives.

The other plans are mainly to improve how fast you can "row" a 2K either to prep for on the water (OTW) racing or On The Erg (OTE) indoor races. This is the main focus of the pete plan and wolverine plan. In addition to these there is also an interactive 2k training plan on the UK website that is used by many. The Pete plan has a variation for training longer distances and a beginner version.

As for your the <br> thing. Most of what you need is in a single document, here: http://www.concept2.com/forums/wolverine_plan.htm

It comes up formatted correctly for me in Chrome. Maybe there is a problem in another browser. I notice the <br> thing when I look at some older forum posts that have been linked in the thread. There is a good description of L3 and L4 workouts in the html document.

If I were you, I'd try one of the UK interactive programs. They are really well documented. Oh and they describe what UT1 means. It's a heart rate band for training and it means intense aerobic. When you setup a program on the UK site, it will give you a personalized table of heart rates and probable splits for the different bands.

Here's mine (sorry for the formatting):
Zone__________________Heart Rate___HRR%____Pace________% of 2k power
UT2 - Aerobic Endurance__135 - 141____65 - 70___2:14 - 2:02__45 - 60
UT1 - Intense Aerobic _____141 - 154___70 - 80___2:02 - 1:56__60 - 70
AT - Threshold___________154 - 161___80 - 85___1:56 - 1:51__70 - 80
TR - Transport___________161 - 174___85 - 95___1:51 - 1:41__80 - 105
AN - Max________________174 - 180___95 - 100__1:41 - 1:38__105 - 115

I found that having a heart rate monitor was very useful. It helped me understand the difference between being a wimp and really hitting the wall, and it also helped me avoid pushing too hard in endurance pieces.

By the way, I got into rowing to lose weight about 18 months and 50 pounds ago. Best decision I have made in a long time.

[Bob S.]

This is the home website for the UK interactive:

http://concept2.co.uk/training/interactive/

Note that there are three possibilities, training for the 2k, a fast track option, and one specifically for weight loss. You can click on the one of your choice to get the details.

Bob S.

[claus hansen]

Hi Kevin
Good suggestions by those experienced rowers (and programs). But I also think You should listen to your body and take into account your athlete background. And You should definitely use a HR watch. I'm a newbie, 40 rows last winter, this is my second season, but allready I've changes my trainingprogram a bit. Last winter I rowed quite a lot of intervals from the start. This winter, so far I've only used three kinds of sessions:

60 minutes, constant pace, ending at threshold.
10 km., ending a bit higher than threshold.
30r20, ending a bit higher than threshold

All focusing on good technique.

After 20 rows I'm think I'm allready a better rower than at the end of last season.

I only do three sessions pr. week. The reason I skip longer rows at lower (endurance) heart rate is because I've allready developed endurance from other sports (running, cycling). If You have not, you should do long sessions at endurance HR.

[claus hansen]

I have to agree with Ranger here, seeing it from the wiewpoint of the total newbie (still incredible low SPI..). The concept of SPI has been very helpful for me, becoming more conscious of what I am doing and what I am trying to achieve. Last winter I realised that my rating was much to high because I applied very little power to the stroke. I believe it to be very useful to focus on raising SPI gradually in longer rows at varing heart rates.

[hjs]

I have to agree with Ranger here, seeing it from the wiewpoint of the total newbie (still incredible low SPI..). The concept of SPI has been very helpful for me, becoming more conscious of what I am doing and what I am trying to achieve. Last winter I realised that my rating was much to high because I applied very little power to the stroke. I believe it to be very useful to focus on raising SPI gradually in longer rows at varing heart rates.

This nothing to do with spi but with poor technique and fitness. You having it backwards.
Fit strong rowers have a high spi.

Using a high spi does not make you strong and fit. Using a good technique and training properly will improve your rowing and make your stroke stronger.