Most top results on the erg are ste by otw rowers. Does people do lot's of low rate work. rate 18/20, but on top of that they do some race pace and rate work. Percentage wise not that much, but still. So to say that doing lot's of low rate work does set one up for fast times is simply proven wrong.
Rate in itself is not the most important factor, intensity is. And both in high and low rate you can row at high intensity. I do believe some race rate and pace is needed, but even people who only do lowrate work will be able to pull a not far from best race results at higher rates. And also the other way around, if someone always rows at high rates, it will not take him long to also be able to pull decent times at low rates.
Rowing a lot at lower rate is ofcourse harder on the body, that is an aspect that is often not mentioned. In the long run it will be harder.
Rate without pace means not much. No matter how we train, pace is always number one, ones height also makes a big differense. rate 30 is high for a tall man, but not high at all for a small lady.
Someone with a long history in sports has build a good base, his heart and lungs muscle are trained, not specificly for rowing but he is fit to work hard. It does not take much effort to use that present fitness in rowing. If the same person did not have that background it would be totaal different situation. What you build in a lifetime will help you in a lifetime.
Erging is a very age friendly sport, compared to othet sports people can often pull very decent results at higher ages. So extrapolate results back to a younger age is very difficult. A 6.00 age 45 is very good. If someone had the talent to do so, he also could have been very good a other sports. If he was not I think one is overestimating ones potential.
Cyclingman1 wrote:Perhaps some clarification.
First, as far as jumping from other aerobic activities to rowing. I was very competitive in those areas 20 yrs ago, finishing in the top 3 in duathlons across the SE US. I haven't been able to run for the last ten years. And I haven't done a time trail in at least 15 yrs. I would have liked to try rowing when I was 45. I have no doubt that I would have been a 6:00 rower for 2K. I was not constantly injured in those days. Course, anyone can say what might have been, but I'm sticking to my story. Any success I have now in rowing is only somewhat connected to what I did 20 years ago. Most of my success in rowing has been due to intense workouts, low mileage, and rest.
Where cycling came into play in this discussion was the different feel from constant motion versus one broken into pull and recovery, which is accentuated at low SPM. Regarading the feel going from 16 SPM to 32 SPM, no way can one pull at that same level. There is not time to recover. And in fact, I don't think that the VO2 Max is there to go from 16 to 32. That is where Armstrong bested his competition. His cadence was about 10% higher than his competitors with similar push. Training a 16 SPM develops strength. I think it leaves one unequipped to row fast times which requires high VO2 Max.
