Complete Newbie - Advice Required

[gizzardman]

Hi All,

I'm just about to start the 24 week PetePlan Beginner training programme having recently joined a gym and enjoying the Rowing Machine (i'm sure i'll refer to it as an ERG soon enough!). A bit about myself, I'm 41 Male, 5'11" and 95kg. Not fit/not unfit carrying a bit too much weight which i plan to eradicate within the next 4-6 months.
I've attached a couple of pics form my 1st day of the plan (5000m) and wondered if someone could be kind enough to take a look and see my results. I don't want to be under/over working and not doing things right. I realise technique seems to be a massive parrt of Rowing so soon i would like some feedback on my technique (lack of).
I had the machine set at number 4 on the resistance setting.

Many Thanks,

Wesley

[Bob S.]

Hi All,

I've attached a couple of pics form my 1st day of the plan (5000m) and wondered if someone could be kind enough to take a look and see my results. I don't want to be under/over working and not doing things right. I realise technique seems to be a massive parrt of Rowing so soon i would like some feedback on my technique (lack of).
I had the machine set at number 4 on the resistance setting.

Many Thanks,

Wesley

They just show up as "This photo is currently unavailable"

However, I thought that a comment about the setting might be worth posting. It is not really a resistance setting, but a damper setting that controls the amount of air flow out of the cage. The person using the machine determines the amount of resistance. If you give the handle a light pull, the wheel will spin no matter what the damper setting, but the resistance will be light. At a high damper setting the wheel will just lose speed more quickly than it would at a low damper setting.

Another factor to bring up here is that the damper setting is not the only thing that controls the effect of air flow. It is dependent on the density of the air, so it varies with the temperature and atmospheric pressure, but, more important than that, it depends on the cleanliness of the machine. Dirt in the cage (for models later than the model B ) acts as an additional damper and has the same effect of lowering the damper setting. Club machines can get dirty enough that even on a damper setting of 10 (i.e. fully open) the air flow is reduced to the point that it would be with a very low setting. With the reduced air flow, there is less drag on the fan and it loses its rotational speed more slowly. To eliminate the variations due to changes in air density and the cleanliness of different machines, the monitor can display the Drag Factor (DF), a number that shows the actual effect of the drag of air slowing the wheel. Here are a couple of sites that get more information about Drag Factors, especially the way that you can find out the DF on the PM 2, 3, or 4:

UK drag factor site:

http://concept2.co.uk/training/guide/damper_lever
(Note that there is one error there. The lowest damper setting is not 1, it can be moved to one mark below that to an unlabelled zero.)

Understanding Drag Factor:

http://www.concept2.com/us/training/adv ... factor.asp

There is another useful site for those new to the C2 ergs. It covers a lot of the arcane jargon used in the erging community - a bit dated, but still valid:

The decoder:

http://www.c2forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=38


Bob S.

[gizzardman]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the feedback i'll take a look at the links you sent and when i find soemone to film my rowing technique i'll post a link. Hopefully the screenshots will be embedded now.

All the best

[Bob S.]

For your gender, age, and size, a time of 22:40 for a 5000m training piece is quite reasonable. Not for a time trial, but I assume that this was strictly a training session.

Bob S.

[gizzardman]

It was Day One of the Pete Plan for Beginners so i wasn't going 'hell for leather' but not too slow either. I read that for someone starting out a rpm should be between 20-25? I also did this after a 45minute TRX/Kettlebell session was a bit worn out anyway. That's one thing that i can't work out what to do - ERG before or after workout? I suppose either way has it's upsides/downsides.
I do Day Two tomorrow which is 6 x 500m with 2 minute rests. What time should i be looking at for this to begin with.

Once again thanks for your imput.I realise a lot of these questions must seem incredibly boring and basic to most on here!

Wes

[Spin]

Hi GM,

I'm almost 43 and my times are similar to yours (22.25 for 5000 m) but I'm a lightweight at only 66 kg and I was going about as hard as I thought I could manage for 5k.

More importantly, I am over in England and have just started the PP too at week 1 (I'm doing the 24 week one). I asked for some advice from the UK C2 forum & thought I'd look on this one as well. If you like I'll post my results to you and we can compare and contrast. My first 6 x 500 splits averaged 2.02 and I think being a lwt here does not help as my power output for sprints is not going to improve unless I bulk up a bit. I know I'll get a lot faster in these first months (or I certainly hope so) but I can't see a <20 min 5 k at the end of week two coming along as Pete suggests we might expect, can you?

Time will tell. Good luck

Later,

Spin

[Nosmo]

That's one thing that i can't work out what to do - ERG before or after workout? I suppose either way has it's upsides/downsides.

Do what ever is most important for your goals first.