Is This A Good Erg Time For My Age?

[AlexR]

Hello,
I just joined Rowing this year. I am a 15 year old Novice boy (freshman in high school), 6'1, and 152 lbs. I did my 5k erg test today and was wondering if this is a good score for my age as a high school freshman who hopes to continue throughout high school. I pulled a 157.8 average split and finished at 19:38. Thanks!

[hjs]

See the rankings of concept2. Gives you an idea.

[Bob S.]

At this point of the season, that would put you at 6th place out of 15 m lwt 15 yo. Not bad. At your height, 152 pounds is quite slim. With a lot of light exercise, you will probably fill out a lot more and improve your times. Avoid real heavy weights. At 15, your bones are still growing and heavy weights can reduce that growth.

Bob S.

[Rob]

At this point of the season, that would put you at 6th place out of 15 m lwt 15 yo. Not bad. At your height, 152 pounds is quite slim. With a lot of light exercise, you will probably fill out a lot more and improve your times. Avoid real heavy weights. At 15, your bones are still growing and heavy weights can reduce that growth.

Bob S.

Heavy weights as a teenager won't stunt growth (a common belief based on successful weight lifters typically being short but correlation != causation).

However, since you are growing/have grown rapidly your tendons and joints are more susceptible to injury than someone fully grown. Don't push your progress too fast: let your tendons gradually catch up to the increased loads and pay close attention to any pain or discomfort and stop/back off immediately: don't exercise through it to avoid permanent damage.