Tips/Workouts to lower 2K?

[smoothieking55]

Just a little background info: I'm a Junior in highschool, 6'2 185 lb male, Korean, straight A student 4.0 GPA.
My last 2K split (during the summer) was a 1:43. I realize that most Ivy League's look for rowers with a 6:15 and below split. Is there any approach, training plan, routine, workout, etc. to help lower my split to that level? I have a lot of time to train until applications come in Senior year, so any long term plan works as well.

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

Assuming everything outside of your GPA is as stellar as the GPA you could probably talk to a place like MIT. Their team is going through a bit of a rut and has been having a hard time for a while so I'm sure their 2k "requirement" is a lot more lenient than most Ivies. In fact I am 100% sure that it is so.

Anyway if you already have the GPA and the extracurriculars then your 2k doesn't need to be as great as people with lower GPAs/extracurriculars/SATs. Those people definitely need to be in the sub 6:15 range to have a hope. You could probably squeeze in with a 6:20, maybe even a 6:25.

Anyway - What sort of plan are you currently following?

[Izzzmeister]

Wow, to be young again & do this over!
(Before I start, I'd like to know if it's true that S. Korea considers studying Talmud mandatory. I agree with the conclusion that Talmud study was a great part of the thinking prowess that has helped a disproportionate percentage of Jews be successful, but it's not the "stories" but the complex logic strings and Socratic questioning rather than "spoon-fed", pre-digested knowledge.)

This would be my personal advice, plus where to look for better advice than mine:
1) Grow taller. College coaches consider the ultimate rower to be about 6'5", 190lbs. So, eat nutritiously, sleep 8 hours a night, rest between workouts, and if your genetic height limit hasn't been reached yet, you may still grow.
2) Build your aerobic base. That's where people your age usually blow it, because LSD (long, slow distance) is booooring! But, that's where elite athletes put in their extra time, while "team" and "national" athletes tend to put in more time into "lactate threshold" work that often leads to overtraining. If you can handle the boredom, 2 long & one very long (2 hours plus) rows a week are key.
3) Become a student of rowing, try to develop a smooth, yet precise and powerful stroke. BUY Volker Nolte's "Rowing Faster 2" (if you can't find it, Rowing Faster will work as well), read it a few times. Each row, concentrate on a different piece of your stroke.
4) Don't row hard every day, almost never do 2 workouts a day. The fastest way to burn out is to do hard workouts a few days in a row. You can even work out 6 days a week if you listen to your body, check if your heart rate is high in the morning. If you're rundown (you're dragging, or your heart rate is 5 beats higher than most mornings), it's either a day off or a very light day. (A sample week might look like this: Sun: 6x500m/3:00r. Mon: 60:00 row. Tue:4x2K/10:00r. Wed: 60:00 row. Thu: 10x300m/1:00r, Fri: 2:00:00 row, finishing with 30s sprint. Sat: Rest. Since "very long" also counts as a hard day, your day of rest follows 2 hard days.)
5) Get strong. Very strong. You probably should concentrate on one rowing-like exercise, like heavy deadlifts or kettlebell swings, but hit all parts of your body. (Check the Internet for Terry O'Neill's row-specific curcuit. It's probably on concept2.co.uk, and includes High pull, Press behind neck, Biceps curl, Bent-over rowing, Side bends to right and left, Squat, Bench press, Clean and press, Crunch, Bench pull & Hyper-extensions, all at rowing speeds). Remember, all else being equal, the stronger athlete wins - think Xeno Muller.
6) Google Mike Caviston's Wolverine Plan. First, read it twice. If you don't want to follow it (and you can't follow 3 different programs), at least pick up what he calls "Level 4" work. This will help your timing, power, aerobic base and ability to withstand pain. Make this part of your "aerobic base work". (Remember: Mike set this up for students who had to do everything in one-hour units, so there may be an advantage in it for you.)

Here's reality: No matter what, you'll get way stronger from junior to senior year in high school, so your 1:43 this year will automatically be 1:38 next year. The rest will have to do with how hard you work, how well you rest, and whether you can stay injury-free.
For specific questions (or to answer my Talmud question), just drop me a private message.

[smoothieking55]

ArmandoChavezUNC: That is a good point. I also noticed that your username has University or North Carolina in it, would you recommend that university as well?
Because it's fall season it's mostly 10K's+ on the erg, high rep range light weights at the gym, aiming above 300 reps on different exercises.

Izzzmeister : (Concerning Tamlud being mandatory in S. Korea, I wouldn't personally know because I currently reside in Florida, and my cousins never spoke of it, sorry I couldn't answer your question fully). Thank you this is great advice, it never occurred to me that rowing long pieces actually helps with one's 2K. For Terry O'Niel's circuit program, do you recommend "The Hour of Pain"?
I do have some specific questions to ask, but unfortunately because I'm a new user, I can't reply using private messages.

[Izzzmeister]

I'll repeat my mantra: Don't overtrain! Since you're young, you'll likely ignore this vital piece of advice, so I'm hoping that at least you'll catch it earlier than you would if I didn't repeat it. One bout of overtraining or injury can un-do months of hard work.
So, if you want to do an "Hour of Pain", that's fine IF 1) it REPLACES an endurance rowing session like the 2x5K or 4x2K which are "pain" sessions, 2) it's not within 2 days of a rowing meet, 3) you've built up to it over 6 weeks or more, AND 4) not more than once a week. These are great practice for the sheer hell of a 2K boat race, but they take a lot out of you, and are the primary cause of overtraining, when people try to do 2 or more such "Endurance Sessions" a week. Again, elites don't. (I just took a look for the latest research that shows this, but couldn't find it where I left it. I will need to look again when I have more time.)

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

I did go to UNC. I would definitely recommend it as university, however, if you are looking for a good university to row in I would look at other places with better teams. UNC is up and coming but if you are already pulling a 6:52 and have the potential of significantly improving before college you could definitely look at better established teams.

As far as competitive club teams go at good universities you can look at University of Michigan, University of Virginia, Notre Dame. Those are some rowing CLUB super powers and they are excellent universities.

As for varsity teams you have the Ivies + Cal, Wisco, UW, and basically any other school that goes to IRA.

It really depends on what balance between academics and rowing you want to find (aka are you more interested in a great rowing school or a great academic university with maybe not such a good team).

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

As for workouts, I would do a lot of SS (steady state).

Row for 60-90 minutes at low stroke ratings (16-20). Develop power at the lower rates, then learn to transfer it to the higher rates. This is the system employed by the majority of national teams. Throw in 2 or 3 shorter, high-intensity workouts a week and you are set. This is especially good to do in the fall with head racing season.

Once you get to the spring and it's 2k season you can focus more and more on intervals and shorter pieces. However, SS should always be the backbone of your training program.

[Bob S.]

As for varsity teams you have the Ivies + Cal, Wisco, UW, and basically any other school that goes to IRA.

It really depends on what balance between academics and rowing you want to find (aka are you more interested in a great rowing school or a great academic university with maybe not such a good team).

Stick with that first sentence and the second one takes care of itself - you get both a strong rowing program and top level academics . Beyond that, it depends on your area of academic interest, since departmental quality varies from school to school even at the top level. Of course that is far more important at the graduate level than the undergraduate, but still a consideration.

Bob S.

[smoothieking55]

Izzymeister: Do you recommend I do the Sun: 6x500m/3:00r. Mon: 60:00 row. Tue:4x2K/10:00r. Wed: 60:00 row. Thu: 10x300m/1:00r, Fri: 2:00:00 row, finishing with 30s sprint. Sat: Rest but instead of the 4x2K replace it with the Hour of Pain? And where can I fit in the 4 different Wolverine Plans?

ArmandoChavezUNC: An Ivy League Division 1 team would be great, but I wouldn't mind settling for a grade below, because I also want a university with a good academic program as well as rowing. Can you get any scholarships or financial aid (for rowing) for the aforementioned colleges?

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

Ivies don't really give scholarships or financial aid. The athletic department may help you get in by slightly decreasing the reqs to be accepted but they won't give you any money.

Club teams won't give you any money either, and on top of that you'll most likely have to pay to be part of the team (club teams don't get enough money from their athletic departments or alumni so they need their rowers to contribute to keep the team afloat).

What state do you live in?

[smoothieking55]

ArmandoChavezUNC: I heard somewhere they offer aid in different ways, or just a little bit of financial aid. How much do you have to pay to be on a club team?
Florida. Rowing isn't as big here as it is up North.

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

Interestingly (?) I live in Florida as well.

As far as teams in Florida - club teams are UF and FSU. Jacksonville has a pretty solid team but I believe they are varsity (not 100% sure, though). Definitely a much better team than either UF or FSU.. or both combined. Then FIU has a varsity team that is very, very good. They don't go to IRA because they usually field freshmen in their V8, which used to go against IRA rules, though rules just changed for this coming year to allow frosh in V8's, so they'll probably be going.

So if you are interested in tech stuff you might want to check out FIU.

Anyway dues for club teams probably range from $750 - $1,500 or so, I would imagine. Most teams offer programs such as rent-a-rowers to help you make money toward your dues.

[smoothieking55]

So about 3 1/2 weeks ago I did a 2K test and pulled a 6:38, which I think is a good improvement from my previous 6:42. I've been following Terry O'Neil's circuit weight workout on weekends, 10K's twice a week, mixed in with interval sessions and medium sessions.
However I noticed i'm starting to plateau a bit. My 500m sprints aren't improving. Most of my times are relatively the same. Matter of fact, I feel a little weaker and less motivated than usual, maybe because of the pile up of AP classes work.
Is there anyway to fix this? I also wanted to incorporate the Wolverine Plan Level 4 (which i'm still confused on how one is supposed to progress and which workout to choose/start from) and Pete's plan into my week, but I can't seem to find the time, any suggestions?
Sample Week: Sunday- 8x500m Monday- 10K Teusday- 5x1500m Weds- 10K Thurs- Rest Friday- (erg with the varsity team under coaches specific workout) Sat- Circuit Weight training.

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

I would do a lot more SS and less intervals/short workouts. Especially during the fall.

10k, 12k, 15k, 60 minutes, 90 minutes. Low rating.