How much can I improve my 2K time in 3 months?

[f2d]

Alright, so I've decided to set some preliminary goals and schedule 2 tests for those goals.

Current time: 7:48 (218 watts)
Test 1 on August 30th: 7:35 or better (238 watts - 9.2% increase)
Test 2 on October 18th: 7:20 or better (263 watts - 10.5% increase)

[markinnb]

I have tried to follow this thread. it took me a second to figure out the Henry is hjs who is now in the Dutch army.
there's a lot of cooks in here. Makes for an interesting dish.
it does appear that it's a mixture of pure rowers "specialists" and those who row as part of an overall routine , structured or catch as catch can.
Perhaps there's a poll in a thread as to the percentage for each of the members. 50- 50?
at the moment, I am in the latter.
I really like how polite & respectful everyone is, it is easily seen when there is a mild disagreement in philosophy.
I have essentially the same concerns as the OP.
what I am taking away is that I have to up my erg training : to the 5 x 10k sessions / week. technique , work on power - it will take me time to get there.
Many people read this thread as there is a lot of information for us.
I see that I may never get to as complete an understanding of this stuff as some of you.
But I will gladly take any info you give out.
thanks.

[f2d]

I have tried to follow this thread. it took me a second to figure out the Henry is hjs who is now in the Dutch army.
there's a lot of cooks in here. Makes for an interesting dish.
it does appear that it's a mixture of pure rowers "specialists" and those who row as part of an overall routine , structured or catch as catch can.
Perhaps there's a poll in a thread as to the percentage for each of the members. 50- 50?
at the moment, I am in the latter.
I really like how polite & respectful everyone is, it is easily seen when there is a mild disagreement in philosophy.
I have essentially the same concerns as the OP.
what I am taking away is that I have to up my erg training : to the 5 x 10k sessions / week. technique , work on power - it will take me time to get there.
Many people read this thread as there is a lot of information for us.
I see that I may never get to as complete an understanding of this stuff as some of you.
But I will gladly take any info you give out.
thanks.

I would say if you just do 5 x 10k sessions it won't get you very far.

There's a lot of components to having a good 2K time
- Good technique
- Endurance, because it is a fairly long distance
- Strength, because rowing in general requires a lot of strength
- Pain tolerance, because you need to tough out a good amount of pain to put in a 100% effort

What I got from the responses is I need to do more quality pieces that target specific things. For example, doing a 5K 20 rating piece to build up a good stroke (both technique and strength), doing interval training to build up strength and the lactate threshold (pain tolerance), and doing long steady pieces to build up endurance. Just rowing a lot of km without some kind of plan behind it won't get results.

[drluvguru]

Hi f2d,

What number was your damper set to when you achieved your best 2k time? Have you experimented with the damper setting in different 2k pieces? Was pulling on the handle with force more or less difficult than maintaining your breath at the end of the piece? Achieving maximum performance in the 2k is a matter of finding the balance that allows you to exhaust your muscles and lungs concurrently at the end of the piece, at least in my humble opinion. Your damper setting and SPM adjustments on different damper settings can help you achieve an immediate boost in your results. Technique is obviously huge as well.

Based on my own experience, you can hack a big chunk off of any time/distance in the first few months with a good amount of intensity. What was your time on your first 2k and approximately how long ago did you row that piece? I row on again off again and am in my on again phase right now, and row mostly 5k pieces 5-7 times a week with an occasional 30 minute or 10k mixed in along with a few 2k tests. I'm 41 years old and 6'5"/186 pounds. Reviewing my historical results, my first 2k is generally clocked at around 8 minutes. In about 8 weeks I get down to about 7 minutes 10 seconds. If you aren't using the online logbook, I recommend it for motivational purposes. I like to see how many spots I can jump up in the online rankings after each piece. It helps me will out those last 500-1000 meters just to beat my previous time, if not by more than one tenth of a second so I can say a set a new personal best for the season. Very exciting!

I saw your 2k goals that you set for yourself. Very admirable and achievable goals. Just get better each and every day and you may be surprised when those targets are in your rear view mirror before you arrive at those dates that you set

Row like a god!

Eric

[G-dub]

I can speak from "in the moment" experience that a commitment to a plan can truly work and takes you into some fun mental and physical territory. And I think a plan can be open ended - it doesn't have to lead to a race or a test. It can just give you something to compare notes with others on and to enable measurement of progress by. It also forces you into finishing a workout and pushing yourself. And the great thing about the site is that everyone respects the effort it takes to go to their personal limit on a machine that doesn't move, regardless of the splits.

[f2d]

I can speak from "in the moment" experience that a commitment to a plan can truly work and takes you into some fun mental and physical territory. And I think a plan can be open ended - it doesn't have to lead to a race or a test. It can just give you something to compare notes with others on and to enable measurement of progress by. It also forces you into finishing a workout and pushing yourself. And the great thing about the site is that everyone respects the effort it takes to go to their personal limit on a machine that doesn't move, regardless of the splits.

Yeah, having a set plan definitely helps.

I quit pieces in the middle a lot less frequently when I have an up front goal rather than just rowing till I don't feel like doing it anymore, because you hit the point where you don't feel like doing it anymore pretty quickly.

[markinnb]

I would say if you just do 5 x 10k sessions it won't get you very far.

There's a lot of components to having a good 2K time. - Good technique. Endurance, because it is a fairly long distance. - Strength, because rowing in general requires a lot of strength. - Pain tolerance, because you need to tough out a good amount of pain to put in a 100% effort
What I got from the responses is I need to do more quality pieces that target specific things. For example, doing a 5K 20 rating piece to build up a good stroke (both technique and strength), doing interval training to build up strength and the lactate threshold (pain tolerance), and doing long steady pieces to build up endurance. Just rowing a lot of km without some kind of plan behind it won't get results.

Thanks for the advice.
this time around, I do interval style training almost exclusively. with a longer row only once per week. to get really good at the erg, it does appear that many believe that multiple longer sessions ( distance ) must be included . and 50- 60k/week seems to be the norm. That volume will take me several months to reach , with everything in line.
at the moment, I am focusing on technique and form throughout. the time and distance will come from this.
I will watch your progress and will cheer you on !

[maestroak]

I'll throw my hat in the ring here with my own anecdotal experience. I started working out in a concerted way about 5 years ago. I had a decent base as I had played lots of team sports and although I carried maybe 40lbs more than I do now, was in reasonable shape and had a solid base of muscle. For the first year and half or so I did mostly elliptical and stair climbers. I worked out 5-6 times a week for 45 minutes average, and I did so fairly intensely. I gradually moved to working out with the erg until it became all that I do. This is still roughly about the same amount of time I spend working out in a given week but I do it all on the erg now. My erg scores including my 2K as well as my overall fitness level has improved dramatically over the time I have only been erging. I don't see any problem with doing any other types of exercise, but at least for me there is no doubt that erging alone has improved my fitness level significantly and I don't see any need to do anything else. I also think that 40-50K a week is plenty particularly when you are not that fit. Of course, I also think the intensity is a significant factor. People have told me they tried the erg and didn't get enough of a workout. I erg for 30 minutes every morning and my entire shirt is soaked through. If you are pushing yourself reasonably hard for 40-50k a week I can't see how you won't have significant gains. I certainly did.

I also don't warm up or cool down. I know, it's terrible, my warm up is the first 500m at like 2:01 before I settle in at 1:58. My cool down is standing under a fan. I'm stubborn and stupid.

-Steve

[Galeere]

I also don't warm up or cool down. I know, it's terrible, my warm up is the first 500m at like 2:01 before I settle in at 1:58. My cool down is standing under a fan. I'm stubborn and stupid.
-Steve

I didn´t do any w/u and c/d for quite a while as well. Just sat on the erg and started erging. When I go for a 5k- HM I still don´t. But come a training plan with sprint intervals I find it recommendable to do both.

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

I also don't warm up or cool down. I know, it's terrible, my warm up is the first 500m at like 2:01 before I settle in at 1:58. My cool down is standing under a fan. I'm stubborn and stupid.

-Steve

Ultimately your body responds to what it's used to - if you never warm up or cool down it'll get used to it and vice-versa. That being said, it's a good idea to do both, especially when doing higher intensities. I warm-up for 5 minutes or so and cool down for 2-4 minutes on the erg then stretch it out afterward.

[Carl Watts]

I never bother warming up, not really needed on longer training rows, some people just start slow for a couple of minutes of the 30 min then speed up, then again with everything at 2:03-2:08 pace these days its hardly a killer for some people.

I do however recommend a cool down, its great for just extra meters and it does appear to stop the body from feeling as sore the next day. Just a 2Km at 2:15 pace and its a competition with others on RowPro to see who can hit 9:00.0 minutes flat.

[hjs]

A warm up and cool are needed if you train a bit seriously. If you just bumble along and have no interest in getting faster etc ofcourse its nit needed.

Just do a heavy deadlift, benchpress, 100 meter sprint, 2k race without a warm up.......

[lindsayh]

I like the 2km @2:15 with 9:00.0 goal on both ends of most sessions of any intensity

[jackarabit]

I like the Eddie Fletcher warmup for 2:08 2k pace for short interval stuff. Near enuf to 20' and usually 3500-3800m in my case. The only time I work at specific stroke rates so maybe I get a miniscule dose of discipline also and kill two birds. Everything else I do 1-3k getting on and getting off. Jack

[f2d]

Hi f2d,

What number was your damper set to when you achieved your best 2k time? Have you experimented with the damper setting in different 2k pieces? Was pulling on the handle with force more or less difficult than maintaining your breath at the end of the piece? Achieving maximum performance in the 2k is a matter of finding the balance that allows you to exhaust your muscles and lungs concurrently at the end of the piece, at least in my humble opinion. Your damper setting and SPM adjustments on different damper settings can help you achieve an immediate boost in your results. Technique is obviously huge as well.

Based on my own experience, you can hack a big chunk off of any time/distance in the first few months with a good amount of intensity. What was your time on your first 2k and approximately how long ago did you row that piece? I row on again off again and am in my on again phase right now, and row mostly 5k pieces 5-7 times a week with an occasional 30 minute or 10k mixed in along with a few 2k tests. I'm 41 years old and 6'5"/186 pounds. Reviewing my historical results, my first 2k is generally clocked at around 8 minutes. In about 8 weeks I get down to about 7 minutes 10 seconds. If you aren't using the online logbook, I recommend it for motivational purposes. I like to see how many spots I can jump up in the online rankings after each piece. It helps me will out those last 500-1000 meters just to beat my previous time, if not by more than one tenth of a second so I can say a set a new personal best for the season. Very exciting!

I saw your 2k goals that you set for yourself. Very admirable and achievable goals. Just get better each and every day and you may be surprised when those targets are in your rear view mirror before you arrive at those dates that you set

Row like a god!

Eric

I generally do 2K at a drag factor of 140. And the one I did last weekend was pretty much my best effort. My whole body hurt like hell and I could barely breathe at the end.

The first one I did was a few years ago, and was well over 8 minutes and nowhere close to a best effort. I only started putting some serious effort into the training a couple months ago though.