New to erg training

[garciawork]

Hey all, purchased a C2 rower a couple months ago and have been experimenting and having fun. Of course, like most newbies, I have some questions.

First, drag factor... I am not one to mess around with things too often, and last I checked, with the damper at 5 my DF was around 115, which falls into the recommended range. Is there any reason to play around with it or if I feel comfortable can I just leave it without detriment?

SPM. I keep reading about low (20 SPM) workouts, and I am wondering if these are necessary, or what purpose they serve. Power? I am a cyclist, and have a very high natural cadence (between 100 and 115, had to buy longer cranks to slow myself down), but am the opposite of a sprinter, so on the erg I find myself high 20's, early 30's with my SPM. Keeping it at 20 sounds like it would be hard, but if it is to build power, say by keeping the pace at 2:00 with so few strokes, the idea makes sense. Thoughts?

I have settled into a bit of a routine, although my work schedule is rotating, so next week the rower will be neglected a bit. But I have been warming up with a 5k, then doing a Tabata workout (20s max, 10s rest x 8), followed by a 2k cool down. Should I be adjusting the damper setting higher for the intervals, to add a little resistance? Any other good workout recommendations? I'm in fairly good shape from running and cycling, and now rowing often, but obviously I want to improve. Their is a lot to learn!

Thanks

[bonefixer]

Hey all, purchased a C2 rower a couple months ago and have been experimenting and having fun. Of course, like most newbies, I have some questions.

First, drag factor... I am not one to mess around with things too often, and last I checked, with the damper at 5 my DF was around 115, which falls into the recommended range. Is there any reason to play around with it or if I feel comfortable can I just leave it without detriment?

SPM. I keep reading about low (20 SPM) workouts, and I am wondering if these are necessary, or what purpose they serve. Power? I am a cyclist, and have a very high natural cadence (between 100 and 115, had to buy longer cranks to slow myself down), but am the opposite of a sprinter, so on the erg I find myself high 20's, early 30's with my SPM. Keeping it at 20 sounds like it would be hard, but if it is to build power, say by keeping the pace at 2:00 with so few strokes, the idea makes sense. Thoughts?

I have settled into a bit of a routine, although my work schedule is rotating, so next week the rower will be neglected a bit. But I have been warming up with a 5k, then doing a Tabata workout (20s max, 10s rest x 8), followed by a 2k cool down. Should I be adjusting the damper setting higher for the intervals, to add a little resistance? Any other good workout recommendations? I'm in fairly good shape from running and cycling, and now rowing often, but obviously I want to improve. Their is a lot to learn!

Thanks

I'd leave the drag factor as it is, but check it from time to time - as dust accumulates in the fan it'll decrease with time, so you'll either have to raise the handle a bit or hoover the fan out. Personally I don't vary the drag for different workouts - I do everything at 120 give or take.

The whole idea of low SPM is to develop 'power' per stroke. 200W is 200 Joules per second, or 12000 Joules per minute. If you do that at 20spm each stroke is 600 Joules of work. Do that same stroke at 30 SPM in a race and you're up to 300W. At least I think that's the whole idea of this low rate stuff.

I don't know much about the Tabata workouts - never tried them. I try to mix up my training by doing some low SPM work - 30min R20 for example - some speed endurance work - 10K for example - and some intervals. Training for 2K, which is THE distance, I quite like to do 3K, split up with 1 min rests, at intended 2K pace. I'll do 6x500m 1min rest, then if I manage that at my intended pace, next time I'll do 5x600m 1 min rest, then 4x750, then 3x1000 - Once you can manage the 3x1000 you're probably ready for the 2K at whatever pace you've been working at.

As for warm up, a general principle is the shorter and faster the piece you're planning, the longer the warm up. My standard warm up for longer pieces is 2K. I row 500m easy, then 10 strokes at 2.00, then when I hit 1000 I do 10 at 1.50, then when I hit 1500 I do 10 at 1.40 and then go easy until 2000. For a full on 2K I'll probably do a 4000m Caviston warm up which is similar to mine, but twice as long and includes 1000m of fastish work. For longer pieces I may do little or even no warm up.

[hjs]

For rowing you need a strong enough stroke. You need to be able to pull 200 pretty strong strokes for a 2k. Rowers often practise that by keeping the stroke strong, but lowering the strokes per minute to be able to work aerobicly.

If crosstrain for cycling you don,t need a strong stroke, you want fitness in the first place, so using a higher spm is fine. It won,t make you fast on the shorter work though, you simply don,t build enough strenght. Higher spm is easier on the body to, with lower forces on the body.

[jamesg]

The erg is mostly for endurance work. If to start with you stick to slow work at about 2W/kg fit weight (a bit less if old or female), you'll get fit and avoid injury.

Learning to row will help more than somewhat, C2 has technique videos on site.

NB the speed of action on the erg relates directy to cycling or any other cadence, and is the best physiological combination of speed and force to optimise power; the leg part of the stroke takes about 0.3 - 0.4 seconds, same as on a bike. But we wait to take the next one, because using two legs at a time, full length, and then belly, back and arms too makes it very hard work. The boat and the flywheel keep going fast anyway, so there's no hurry to stick the oars in again.

In any case, if you learn to row and you are male and tall you'll be able to pull 200W at 20, cruising, which is fine for endurance; however racing at 35-40 won't be so easy, because we want to see the same amount of work in each stroke at the higher ratings too.

[Edward4492]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned this, scrap the Tabata for now. It's the worst thing you can do in the beginning. Remember when you started cycling? Would you advise a new cyclist to warm up for five minutes, then sprint as hard as possible for 20s, rest 10s, then do it again for eight repeats? Of course not. You would tell them to go out on long easy rides, working on developing their cadence in small gears working up to 90 rpm and working up to two hour rides. There are lots of cyclists that post here (including myself, 10 yr Cat3 road racer). You'll find that your cycling background transfers nicely to the erg (short for ergometer, C2 rower). You have fitness (I assume) and know how to suffer.

So for now, drag at 115 sounds fine. You should be able to do 5k workouts, either straight through or break it up. Start with (5) x 1000m, or (2) x 2500m, then 5000m. Don't get too carried away with the low rate stuff, that comes later. Others will tell you to stay with the higher stroke rates.
The idea is to master the stroke/ motion. Try and keep your rate in the mid 20's. Focus on a good strong leg drive, watch the C2 videos. After a week or two you may want to post a video; you'll get lot's of positive feedback.

When you can do 5k at a steady pace from start to finish, you can start to look at more variety. Doing super fast Tabata style intervals early on will lead to bad habits. Google the "Pete Plan", it's free. After a month of learning how to row the Pete Plan gives a nice mix of distances and is progressive.

Note: Specs? Age, height, weight, etc. Male or female?

Keep us posted.

[lindsayh]

I agree with Edward - Tabata is not the best place to start at all. get the basics right and concentrate on getting stroke right and fitness on the erg. 5km is a good distance to master. Intervals to break it up to start and leave the very sprinty things for a while.

[jackarabit]

You say you currently do a 5K as a warmup. If your schedule won't permit more, I agree that's the bit to keep. If you can devote an hour a day five or six days a week, Pete (Lunchtime) Plan fits into 40 to 60 minutes a day usually. Might also check out Pete Marston Beginner Plan if you can row no more than three days per week.

But first things first: If you have not already done, examine the Concept 2 rowing videos on Utube with a view to building a sound and properly-sequenced rowing stroke. Jack

[Edward4492]

Good catch Jack...I missed the "5k warm up". To the OP, Let's do a short (1k) warm up and optimize the 5k.

[Cyclingman1]

You are beginning - feel free to experiment and mix it up. I would agree that doing short intensive intervals is not good to begin with. The chances for getting hurt go way up. 5K is a good distance to get good at. Maybe a short warmup is needed, but one can warmup other ways with exercises, light weights, etc. Unless one is consciously doing some specific training, the only number that matters in rowing is the pace/500m. Use the SPM that allows you to comfortably maximize that number. I suspect coming from cycling, 20 SPM is going to feel really bad. Nothing in the world wrong with 30 SPM. Yes, you can do some low rate work. You can develop power that way. Also, instead of short intervals, try longer intervals that are not so fast. You can easily incorporate those into a row. Do what is called fartleks. Just add in 10 to 20 hard pulls in a normal row where the pace goes down maybe 5sec/500m. It's all good. Because of your background you will improve rapidly.