Opinions/critique on my training program

[Sully]

Hi, I've recently set my sights on competing in the English indoor rowing championships in January and have put together this program that I've been following for about 6 weeks now. I'm interested to get some feedback on what you all think and what improvements I can make in order to peak ready for the 31st of January.
The ski-erg sessions are done at home while all the other sessions are done at my local gym.

Mon am: 12 min ski warmup (2 min @ 2:20, 2 min @ 2:00, 2 min @ 2:20, 2 min @ 1:55, 2 min @ 2:20, 2 min @ 1:50), mobility, 10 x 100m sprint w/ 40 sec rest (sub 19 sec)
Mon pm: 5km ski (sub 20 min)
Tues am: 10 min row warmup (2 min @ 2:00, 2 min @ 2:05, 2 min @ 1:55, 2 min @ 2:15, 2 min @ 1:45), mobility, 10km row (sub 40 min, 19-20 spm)
Thurs am: 10 min row warmup (as before), mobility, 3 x 5 reps of bench press, deadlift & med ball slam @ 85% max
Fri am: 10 min row warmup (as before), mobility, 2 x 9 min row w/ 3min rest (2600m+ [around 1:43/500m pace])
Fri pm: 10 x 30 sec ski w/ 90 sec rest (155m+)
Sat am: 12 min ski warmup @ home (as before), 10 min row warmup (as before), mobility, 2 x 5km row w/ 5 min rest (sub 18:40 [around 1:52/500m pace]), 5 x 3 hex bar deadlift @ 90% max

Can anyone also advise me on how I should change my training as the competition approaches, and the sort of volume/distances/intensity I should be doing.
(My current 2km pb is 6:38 although I haven't tested for around 6 months).

Thanks in advance.

Sully

[hjs]

Close to race, there should be work that comes very close to race intensity. I don,t see that much. Think 4x1000 meter, 5x750. 5 and 3.
Everything else should be to prepare you for race intensity stuff. I won,t comment really on your scedule, but to me it doesn,t look like you are preparing for a 2k race.
But, do what works for you and don,t make overly drastic changes in what you have been doing.

[Edward4492]

With six weeks left I would ditch the variety. Great for off-season, year round fitness. But looking at your program i can't tell if you're training for a rowing event or a ski-erg event. Same with the weight lifting. Okay the rest of the year, but now is the time to get specific. At a 6:38 2k, don't know how that stacks up (age, weight, height). But it's certainly a decent time regardless. You obviously know what you're doing. I'll leave it to others to get real specific, but since you asked I'd have you doing something like I'm doing right now:

Twice a week: choose two from the following (12) x 250m 2min r, (10) x 30s/ 60s r, (8) x 500m 3:30 r, (4) x 1000m 5min r
So first week do the 250's and the 1000's, second week do the 30/60's and the 1000's, etc.

Once a week: 30/20r That's a 30 min session at a 20r. These are to be done with hard strokes, it's not meant to be easy.This
is a total guess, but with a 6:38 2k I'd be shooting for 8000m. But again, not enough data.

Once a week: a free rate, very close to PB attempt mid-distance piece. each week do either 4k,5k, or 6k.

Once a week: a long, 15k, fairly easy peice at a 75% HR cap

Any other rowing, do easy meters. Leading up to your event throw in some practice 2k starts. Over a four week period , once each week do a 500m, 750m, 1000m, 1250m. Do these at your target 2k pace. No sprint at the end. So you should feel very fresh at the end of the 500m. By the time you get to the 4th week, by the end of the 1250 you should know if your pace is too hard or if you can go faster. You're only doing one piece each week.

Of course you could go interactive plan, what I'm showing is pretty close to a Pete Plan approach. You'll get other suggestions, the only thing I would personally stand firm on is to drop everything but the erg up to your comp.

Good Luck!

[Sully]

Hi,
Thanks so much for the reply, I'll take on board everything you've suggested. This is my first ever comp so its all new territory for me. My background is that I used to be a professional rugby league player but I retired 3 years ago due to a combination of a torn meniscus in my left knee, patella tendonitus in my right knee, and a career change to become a science teacher. I've always rowed as part of my cv work for rugby but over the past year I've more or less ditched the weights and tried to really focus on rowing, so I'm excited to row competitively. I'm 33 years old, 6'3 and 110kg.

[Cyclingman1]

Well, you've got youth, height, and muscularity on your side. 6:38 is a decent row for a part-time rower for your personal specs. You may notice that I did 6:40 at age 66, so I would say you should be targeting at least 6:20. I wonder about 240 lbs? I don't see good endurance athletes being that heavy. Even with good muscularity, I would expect no more than 210-215 lb. Course, that can't be done overnight.

Yes, the others are correct that your training plan is pretty much terrible. You need to be doing hard, speed intervals around 1', longer intervals, 500-750m, and work like hell to get your 5K down. You've got to have the endurance to row a good 5K if you expect to survive a hard 2K. With only a few weeks to go, the intervals are more important. Skiing and weights are an irrelevancy now and actually are counterproductive.

[Bob S.]

For 110 kg it is 220#, actually - about the same as Paul Buchanan who does quite well at long distance stuff - really long distance, like the Irish 100km record. Paul has also done well at a heavier weight - I believe that he was up as high as 240# at one time.

[Cyclingman1]

Actually 110kg = 242.5084 lb. [453.5 g = 1 lb] Yes, there are exceptions to being heavy and having no endurance. There is a reason that 242.5 lb people are not on Olympic eights.

[Galeere]

Actually 110kg = 242.5084 lb. [453.5 g = 1 lb] Yes, there are exceptions to being heavy and having no endurance. There is a reason that 242.5 lb people are not on Olympic eights.

Too much drag

[Bob S.]

Actually 110kg = 242.5084 lb. [453.5 g = 1 lb] Yes, there are exceptions to being heavy and having no endurance. There is a reason that 242.5 lb people are not on Olympic eights.

Yeah, you're right. I screwed up doing a careless mental calculation - and I do agree that Paul is definitely an exception.

In boats, weight is a different kind of problem; even a very fit heavy rower with plenty of endurance is not welcome in an eight.

[jamesg]

Not having a recent 2k time to refer to is a serious handicap, it's difficult to set a target and from that define a race plan. Without that you'll find yourself sitting on the start line and asking now what do I do?

So suggest a 2k now at around 1:38, cruise rate 30, but without final sprint, and then use the last month of an Interactive 2000 plan
http://indoorsportservices.co.uk/training/interactive

Make sure you put in accurate data.

NB 1:38 at rate 30 means strokes worth about 13 Watt-minutes each (Watts/Rating) which should be well within your technique, length and strength capabilities. Keeping the rating down saves a lot of energy and gives you time to pull a long stroke without excess force; and this helps avoid fade.

[Sully]

***Update***

After taking on board all the advice posted on this thread and starting upon the 2km specific training program advised by Edward4492, I tested my 2km yesterday and posted a 6 second PB with 6:32.9.

[Edward4492]

Nice job, six seconds is a solid improvement when you're already pullin' 6:38. I was kinda hopin' you would do some more research and get some advice from those more experienced than me. But ya asked, it worked.....that's a win! Now you have a template you can work with and take a look at other training methods.

[Galeere]

***Update***

After taking on board all the advice posted on this thread and starting upon the 2km specific training program advised by Edward4492, I tested my 2km yesterday and posted a 6 second PB with 6:32.9.

Splendid improvement and PB, congratulations!