Ranger's training thread

[Flipper21]

Been away and missed the results for Boston. So.. how did Ranger get on and what colour was the medal?

Ranger. How close did you get to 6:16? How did the day go for you?

[ranger]

If skeletal-muscular capacities and technical abilities do not necessarily decline over time, like aerobic capacity, then if older rowers maintain these aspects of their technique at the most effective and efficient level possible, they should be able to row pretty much how they did when they were young. They would only need to reduce the rate a bit here and there as they aged to account for the loss in aerobic capacity.

If you take care of yourself and are physically active in some sort of strenuous way throughout your life, with no significant lapses, the minimal loss in aerobic capacity seems to be 5% per decade after 20.

So, 60s rowers who have maintained their skeletal-muscular capacities and technical abilities could row just like they did when they were 20 but at a rate that is 20% lower.

So, for lightweights, instead of rating 42 spm, as the best lightweights do when they are young, they could rate 34 spm.

Or, for heavyweights, instead of rating 36 spm, as the best heavyweights do when they are young, they could rate 29 spm.

This is the kind of thing that I am aspiring to do.

If the great Danish lightweights pull 12 SPI @ 42 spm when they are 20, 60s lwts who still rowed well should be able to pull 12 SPI @ 34 spm.

12 SPI @ 34 spm is about 6:20 for 2K.

My case might be a bit unsual, too.

It looks as though my aerobic capacity has only declined by 15%.

My maxHR is still 190 bpm.

So, in the ideal case, holding my technique together, I still might be able to pump the rate up to 36 spm in a 2K, even though I am now 60.

36 spm @ 12 SPI is about 6:12 for 2K.

ranger

[ranger]

My "Steamroller" sessions are coming along great.

1:45 @ 23 spm (13 SPI) is getting easier and easier.

I don't know, but it seems to me that I am going to train myself to do it for a FM.

One more thing:

It didn't occur to me until today, but "Steamroller" is also a great thing to listen to during a 500m trial.

If I cut the measure in half, I go along at 46 spm, rather than 23 spm, just what I want to rate for 500m.

Golden Section!

1.6-to-1 ratio

.5 seconds for the drive.

.8 seconds for the recovery.

ranger

[ranger]

Hey.

To test skeletal-muscular fitness, relative to body weight, the first one to post a video doing 50 jackknives, 20 extension press ups, and 25 pull ups gets a gold star.



Should I go first?

ranger

[macroth]

Hey.

To test skeletal-muscular fitness, relative to body weight, the first one to post a video doing 50 jackknives, 20 extension press ups, and 25 pull ups gets a gold star.



Should I go first?

ranger

Go right ahead! I'll assume right now that your failure to maintain form/range of motion standards will be due to your generally being a dishonnest man.

[ranger]

I also like the one-legged squat as a test of quad strength, balance, etc.

Can you do these?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEBol54EjVE

ranger

[ranger]

Go right ahead!

O.K.

But aren't you joining in the fun?

ranger

[macroth]

Gee, I don't know. You declined my invitation to row 1:42@26spm continuously for however long you can even though you claim to do 20+k of it everyday, because you said it would deter from your orderly training. Now you want to challenge others to pistols and pull-ups? Is that part of your FM training? Are you ready to risk your rowing career for a few jacknives?

[ranger]

Is that part of your FM training? Are you ready to risk your rowing career for a few jacknives?

??

Why would doing a few jackknives risk my rowing career?

Don't you do a few hundred pull ups, jackknives, one-legged squats, and extension press ups every day, just to stay tuned up?

If not, why not?

It's good to keep a close check on your skeletal-muscular fitness, especially if you are an older rower.

When I first took up rowing, I did 1000 sit ups and jumped rope for an hour before each of my erg sessions.

I did the same before I raced, just to make sure I was warmed up, and because it was my regular routine.

It takes about an hour to do 1000 sit ups.

So, I did two hours of skeletal-motor work every day before I got on the erg to tune up my technique and aerobic capacity.

I did this every day.

I work out every day.

I don't take rest days.

ranger

[snowleopard]

Why would doing a few jackknives risk my rowing career?

It wouldn't. And neither would showing a free rate sub 1:30 500m.

But only in the flow of my training.

[ranger]

Why would doing a few jackknives risk my rowing career?

It wouldn't. And neither would showing a free rate sub 1:30 500m.

But only in the flow of my training.

True.

But it would also do nothing for my training.

It would just satisfy the curiosity of an asshole like you.

So why bother?

ranger

[macroth]

How do pistols fit in the flow of your training, yet posting how long you can row 1:42@26 (your standard, everyday rowing, right?) doesn't?
I assumed that anything that distracted you from preparing for your first FM trial in 8 years would be a no-no.

[ranger]

How about this for an odd suggestion?

When you row, you don't exert force, generate power, and do work with your lungs.

Rowing is a complexly coordinated, rhythmized, integrated, timed, sequenced, and leveraged full-body exercise.

So, rowing is primarily skeletal-muscular, not aerobic.

ranger

[ranger]

How do pistols fit in the flow of your training

I already answered that.

How do they not?

If your skeletal-motor fitness is not tip-top, your rowing is crippled.

Your aerobic capacity doesn't matter.

Why?

You can't use it to exert force, generate power, and do effective and efficient work, when you are rowing.

You don't row with your lungs.

It does you no good whatsoever to do a lot of eye-popping anaerobic intervals at 40 spm pulling 8 SPI (1:43 pace).

That's just a stupid waste of time.

The emphasis of your training is misplaced.

You should be jumping rope, doing jackknives and sit ups, hoisting some pull ups, etc., until you have the body you need to take advantage of your aerobic capacity when you are rowing.

And then there is this (amazingly hopeful) thing:

If you work at it, your technical and skeletal-motor capacities do not decline with age--at all--as your aerobic capacities do.

For the older rower, then, if you are interested in rowing to the limits of your potential, nothing at all should be done with aerobic capacity until your skeletal-muscular system is in the same shape it was when you were 20.

For the older rower, gains in skeletal-muscular fitness (and technique) are both easier to achieve and easier to maintain than gains in aerobic capacity.

In fact, this should be a sobering fact:

After a _very_ short while, for the aging rower, gains in aerobic capacity are impossible.

No matter what you do, losses in aerobic capacity are inevitable.

I see that Peter Dreissigacker is now pulling up over 6:50.

Yikes.

He's a big heavyweight.

Ten years ago, when he was 50, he pulled close to 6:20.

2011 C.R.A.S.H.-B. Sprints World Indoor Rowing Championships

Event: Veteran Men (Age 55-59)

1 Krum Steve Spectrum Athletic Club 06:31.1 56
2 Updegrave Walter Palm Beach Rowing Association 06:31.3 58
3 Cattell Tom Maine Rowing Association 06:38.3 56
4 Foss Tore Skullerud Sport Senter 06:49.2 59
5 Martin Rick Unaffiliated 06:51.0 55
6 Wendler Phil Unaffiliated 06:51.2 57
7 Dreissigacker Peter Concept2 06:53.5 59
8 Ehrsam Fred Riverside Boat Club 06:54.0 55
9 Wagener David DA Coaches 06:55.4 56
10 Lonski Michael Greenwich Crew

ranger

P.S. Now that he is approaching 60, Tore Foss is pulling 6:50! When he was 50, he pulled 6:10.

[mikvan52]

Now that he is approaching 60, Tore Foss is pulling 6:50! When he was 50, he pulled 6:10.

Now that he is approaching 61, Richard Cureton is pulling 7:02! When he was 52, he pulled 6:28.

Wow, Rich is one year older than Foss: Amazing accomplishment.

<><>><><><><><>
Also:

Overheard on the floor of the Agannis Arena in Boston yesterday:

One Crash-b official queried: "Why is that seat empty? Isn't Richard Cureton coming?"
To which the other replied: "He has a predictable habit of not showing up."

I could have told them that he will never show up again, knowing the psycho.~makeup of this dude, but why diminish the drama and fun.
I will bring a potted plant two years from now and put it on his empty seat (when I'm 60) to commemorate the dearth of ranger WIRC perf's.

<><><><><><><><><><><
By the way: I stood behind the erg of Tore-Arne Simonsen aka "The Viking" and saw him dismantle his competition in the 60-64 lwts.... From his breathing pattern and the force of his leg drive, I saw that he had a whole lot left at the end of his hammer-winning piece Competitiors beware!
ranger had better consider staying sequestered in his basement lair in Ann Arbor every February from here on out.

I have heard numerous reports that Roy (Brook) will be back too.
IOW: No more hammers for ranger!