New Personal Best! Brag About That New Pb!

[Gammmmo]

@marius - I know nothing about the skierg but obviously know you've found your niche with it. How come you are SO good at it? Do you have a really high VO2max? I'd assume it'd be an amazing tool for cross country skiers obviously and some of those have been reported to have Vo2maxes > 90.

[hjs]

@marius - I know nothing about the skierg but obviously know you've found your niche with it. How come you are SO good at it? Do you have a really high VO2max? I'd assume it'd be an amazing tool for cross country skiers obviously and some of those have been reported to have Vo2maxes > 90.

Compared to snow ski is very different, legs don,t do much, on snow does do a lot I think. Row erg comes a lot closer to water rowing.

[hobbit]

Compared to snow ski is very different, legs don,t do much, on snow does do a lot I think. Row erg comes a lot closer to water rowing.

It depends what style of XC skiing you are doing. You are right for skating style, but the classic style (staying in the "tram lines") has completely changed in recent years and the top skiers now rely almost exclusively on their upper body, pushing with both arms at the same time (double poling). Check "Vasalöppet" on Youtube. This 90km race is classic only. The best are home in 4 hours, so 2.5min/km and all arms. Amazing! Maybe Marius did it or similar.

[-marius-]

@gammmmo - I have had back issues before and I do not get any younger so sprints on the rower are not prioritized anymore. If i'm going back to rowing full time then the 2k and 5/6k will be the ones I want to improve.
Not sure why the skierg suits me so well, I guess I find it more fun than the rower and the effort/results reflects that. Would be nice to test VO2 max, but not sure where to do this.
@hjs - Need to keep the guys chasing me, behind me Not sure why I get that feeling sometimes. Got it around the 2 min mark this time and I want to give up. I'm not going at full speed either, so I guess it is just in my head that I want to give up.

Some of the long distance xc skiers(who are double poling without any grip wax) are using the skierg frequently, but they say that it is not a substitute for skiing on snow or roller skis but an addition to their regular training. I also see people are using the skierg to prepare for Vasaloppet for example.
The legs are for sure activated on the skierg(at least with my technique) but totally not in the same degree as on the rower where you really need to drive with your legs.
After a shorter TT(2K and below) I'm usually totally wasted in the legs and not even possible to do a cool down on the rower.

[hjs]

Compared to snow ski is very different, legs don,t do much, on snow does do a lot I think. Row erg comes a lot closer to water rowing.

It depends what style of XC skiing you are doing. You are right for skating style, but the classic style (staying in the "tram lines") has completely changed in recent years and the top skiers now rely almost exclusively on their upper body, pushing with both arms at the same time (double poling). Check "Vasalöppet" on Youtube. This 90km race is classic only. The best are home in 4 hours, so 2.5min/km and all arms. Amazing! Maybe Marius did it or similar.

Still, there is a pushing motion, nomatter what style. On the skierg there is zero. Both styles are ofcourse very different. But I am certainly no skier so don,t know how it really works.

[hjs]

Some of the long distance xc skiers(who are double poling without any grip wax) are using the skierg frequently, but they say that it is not a substitute for skiing on snow or roller skis but an addition to their regular training. I also see people are using the skierg to prepare for Vasaloppet for example.
The legs are for sure activated on the skierg(at least with my technique) but totally not in the same degree as on the rower where you really need to drive with your legs.
After a shorter TT(2K and below) I'm usually totally wasted in the legs and not even possible to do a cool down on the rower.

Still find it difficult to get speed on the Skierg. Certainly can get tired, but not like on the rower. Recovery for rowing sessions is more difficult. Maybe because the spine is not loaded.

The way I see it, on the rower, the legs directly push against the flywheel.
On the skierg, its a squat with bodyweight, you recover from, during the actual pull, the legs can,t really do anything, except bending.

[sdr2017]

The way I see it, on the rower, the legs directly push against the flywheel.
On the skierg, its a squat with bodyweight, you recover from, during the actual pull, the legs can,t really do anything, except bending.

So if I tipped my rower so the back was 30 or 40 degrees down, then the motion would be more similar to a ski-erg? I jest of course, but I am curious about the effect of tilting on the erg. I assume that it is not allowed in the rules for racing, but I have not run across a discussion of how it would change the stroke.

[hjs]

The way I see it, on the rower, the legs directly push against the flywheel.
On the skierg, its a squat with bodyweight, you recover from, during the actual pull, the legs can,t really do anything, except bending.

So if I tipped my rower so the back was 30 or 40 degrees down, then the motion would be more similar to a ski-erg? I jest of course, but I am curious about the effect of tilting on the erg. I assume that it is not allowed in the rules for racing, but I have not run across a discussion of how it would change the stroke.

I have seen guys putting back up or using elastic cords to make the legs work more. Never tried it myself.

[-marius-]

Still find it difficult to get speed on the Skierg.

Getting speed in general or for sprinting? Or rating up? Or all?
Do you have any video of yourself skierging?


30 minute engine building rate capped to 40spm on the skierg(which ended in a PB ) Steady 25 minutes then adding some power on the final 5 minutes. Not done any proper distance training since summer so it was mentally challenging to keep going after 10 minutes Going to add 2-3 30min sessions a week from now to get some better distance fitness..
Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
30:00.0 8,420m 1:46.8 287 1285 40
5:00.0 1,379m 1:48.7 272 1235 40
10:00.0 1,382m 1:48.5 274 1241 40
15:00.0 1,385m 1:48.3 276 1247 40
20:00.0 1,389m 1:47.9 278 1255 40
25:00.0 1,396m 1:47.4 282 1270 40
30:00.0 1,490m 1:40.6 343 1479 40

[hjs]

Still find it difficult to get speed on the Skierg.

Getting speed in general or for sprinting? Or rating up? Or all?
Do you have any video of yourself skierging?


30 minute engine building rate capped to 40spm on the skierg(which ended in a PB ) Steady 25 minutes then adding some power on the final 5 minutes. Not done any proper distance training since summer so it was mentally challenging to keep going after 10 minutes Going to add 2-3 30min sessions a week from now to get some better distance fitness..
Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
30:00.0 8,420m 1:46.8 287 1285 40
5:00.0 1,379m 1:48.7 272 1235 40
10:00.0 1,382m 1:48.5 274 1241 40
15:00.0 1,385m 1:48.3 276 1247 40
20:00.0 1,389m 1:47.9 278 1255 40
25:00.0 1,396m 1:47.4 282 1270 40
30:00.0 1,490m 1:40.6 343 1479 40

Nice start without much aerobic work. No doubt you will crush this also.

No vid. Main trouble is rating up and drag. Last year I did pull a 150.x 60 min. With some training for that, but not overly so. Everything shorter is relative weaker. Bit strange to me.
I have tried to rate up, use a shorter stroke, more drag, but lower drag and lower rating feels much more natural to me.
High rate just makes me tired, high drag feels like pulling my shoulders apart and simply wrong.

On the rower I also don,t like high drag and high rating.

[-marius-]

Nice start without much aerobic work. No doubt you will crush this also.
No vid. Main trouble is rating up and drag. Last year I did pull a 150.x 60 min. With some training for that, but not overly so. Everything shorter is relative weaker. Bit strange to me.
I have tried to rate up, use a shorter stroke, more drag, but lower drag and lower rating feels much more natural to me.
High rate just makes me tired, high drag feels like pulling my shoulders apart and simply wrong.
On the rower I also don,t like high drag and high rating.

I hated high drag in the beginning as well(did everything at around 120) but have adapted to a higher drag pretty good by doing lots of 10x500m intervals where I adjusted the drag higher for each interval.
I have also changed my style a bit on the way, the xc/short stroke style is no longer used. I felt I could not keep continuing to rate up anymore and needed to address that with a longer stroke. Low rate and high drag is killing so still need to rate a bit high to keep it manageable.

[ukaserex]

Fueled by turkey and too much pumpkin pie, I joined some crew-mates for a 5k time trial this morning.
Got a personal best of 17:53.7!

I had hoped for 17:30, but an unplanned 5k run yesterday morning didn't quite allow my legs enough recovery to do this row at full strength. Still, I consider this a very creditable effort. #22 in the world for my age & weight class, for whatever that's worth.

When I see how few people are actually ranked, I wonder if it's that rowing via Concept2 isn't that popular, or is it that many just don't bother ranking themselves because they didn't rank high? Anyways, I won't read much into it, as comparing one's self to others is a quick path to low self-esteem - there's always someone faster with more money and better looks.

Still, proud of my effort. I worked plenty hard during this row. It was only slightly chili this morning, around 45 degrees fahrenheit, but for Southern Alabama (Mobile) that's pretty cold for us. My nose started to run 2500 meters in - I desperately wanted to grab my towel and just blow my nose, but that would have cost me precious seconds, and likely grossed out everyone in the room. So, I just let it drip. So grateful the lights were low, so we could all row without people seeing the obvious discomfort on our faces.

[Dangerscouse]

Fueled by turkey and too much pumpkin pie, I joined some crew-mates for a 5k time trial this morning.
Got a personal best of 17:53.7!

I had hoped for 17:30, but an unplanned 5k run yesterday morning didn't quite allow my legs enough recovery to do this row at full strength. Still, I consider this a very creditable effort. #22 in the world for my age & weight class, for whatever that's worth.

When I see how few people are actually ranked, I wonder if it's that rowing via Concept2 isn't that popular, or is it that many just don't bother ranking themselves because they didn't rank high? Anyways, I won't read much into it, as comparing one's self to others is a quick path to low self-esteem - there's always someone faster with more money and better looks.

Still, proud of my effort. I worked plenty hard during this row. It was only slightly chili this morning, around 45 degrees fahrenheit, but for Southern Alabama (Mobile) that's pretty cold for us. My nose started to run 2500 meters in - I desperately wanted to grab my towel and just blow my nose, but that would have cost me precious seconds, and likely grossed out everyone in the room. So, I just let it drip. So grateful the lights were low, so we could all row without people seeing the obvious discomfort on our faces.

That is a very creditable effort and you should be proud. Don't underestimate the increase in effort it takes to go from 17:53 to 17:30. You're in a zone where the easy gains have gone and going faster will be painful.

It's achievable, as you sound like you are capable, but those 23 seconds will feel more like 46 seconds!!

Imo people aren't inclined to rank their times if they aren't comparably good as there's a tendency for people to be too competitive and compare too much.

[ukaserex]

I'm slowly learning that there are diminishing returns as I row more and more. A shame. Still, I find as I get older, I enjoy this "work" so much more than I ever did when I was younger, when it was much easier physically. Youth ever wasted on the youth, I suppose.

That said, I absolutely believe I can get 17:30. It will certainly be trying, and I may collapse a lung in the process (figuratively), but I know I will do it the next time I row a 5k for time. Will likely repeat the effort at the end of January.

I had some distractions with a nose that began to run mid-row. That might have actually helped me to distract from the discomfort in my legs, but I do think I could have done better without it.

Still, I thank you for that insight. I need to remember to temper my enthusiasm with a more realistic perspective. Sometimes the glass isn't half-full or half-empty, it's just simply too large.

[hjs]

I'm slowly learning that there are diminishing returns as I row more and more. A shame. Still, I find as I get older, I enjoy this "work" so much more than I ever did when I was younger, when it was much easier physically. Youth ever wasted on the youth, I suppose.

That said, I absolutely believe I can get 17:30. It will certainly be trying, and I may collapse a lung in the process (figuratively), but I know I will do it the next time I row a 5k for time. Will likely repeat the effort at the end of January.

I had some distractions with a nose that began to run mid-row. That might have actually helped me to distract from the discomfort in my legs, but I do think I could have done better without it.

Still, I thank you for that insight. I need to remember to temper my enthusiasm with a more realistic perspective. Sometimes the glass isn't half-full or half-empty, it's just simply too large.

Your training should tell you more or less what you can do. Also, to really pb, you need to be sharp. On your base fitness its very well possible to build a peak. Specific sessions aimed at 5k pace and rating will build this.