Pondering the Beginner Pete Plan

[RayOfSunshine]

Did week 16 intervals today and was wondering why I appeared to be suffering more than usual, turns out I was doing 2 instead of 3min rests! Managed to keep pace for first few reps and faster than last one so quite pleased.

I've been on and off the plan due to various reasons since i started in May. Despite that the most noticeable gain I've seen is that I have taken 14seconds off my steady state pace. I've replaced the long rows with 10k,then 60 and now 75min on the erg and i think the increased volume helps a lot for sure.

I've done that on the rests. It's nice when you finally realize it.

Congrats on the SS pace. That's huge improvement. I'm working on getting the volume back up.

[Rowan McSheen]

All workouts in week 12 completed. I approached the 800m intervals with trepidation, these and the 1000m reps are my least favourite sessions. Pleased therefore to have shaved a little off the previous pace. I await the delights of week 13.

Did week 16 intervals today and was wondering why I appeared to be suffering more than usual, turns out I was doing 2 instead of 3min rests! Managed to keep pace for first few reps and faster than last one so quite pleased.

I've been on and off the plan due to various reasons since i started in May. Despite that the most noticeable gain I've seen is that I have taken 14seconds off my steady state pace. I've replaced the long rows with 10k,then 60 and now 75min on the erg and i think the increased volume helps a lot for sure.

I've done that before ... lesson learned. And agreed on the long steady rows. I do mine up to 10k at UT1 pace, beyond at UT2, and often break them down into 15- or 20-minute segments with a minute or so in between. It's all good cardio and calorie burning.

[istro]

Hi friends!

Just yesterday discovered this thread, so registered for the forum to join in on the fun . The many pages were fun to read through, as it reflects partially my journey as well (more on that below).

Stats - 37, male, 175lb.

Fitness background
As a teenager I did martial arts, then in my young adult years I didn't do much exercise. Upon turning 33 I started noticing my weight creep upwards and decided my metabolism wouldn't let me get away with eating whatever/whenever (not much junk food - but a fair bit of sugar) - so in conjunction with minding my diet I decided to also do some exercise - and got into crossfit because it seemed hard (and oh boy, it was hard). I had also heard about crossfit having a bad reputation on form for many basic things (like... pull-ups are brought up a lot), so I went in somewhat hesitantly - hoping to keep my wits about me to not hurt myself. A bit later I switched to a different crossfit gym which had A TON of focus on technique - including rowing technique. They don't let you sign up for regular classes until you do a three-class series of "basics" where you (and potentially up to two other people) have a dedicated coach with you full time just going over techniques of all the common movements. T'was way better all around, though more expensive. This anecdotal evidence suggests that not all crossfit gyms are negligent on technique, though I realize most are. Life became complicated, which made me exercise quite a lot in the first year of getting into crossfit - a total of 113 workouts (exercising is HARD, but not too complicated; life is often COMPLICATED, but rarely very hard - so working the body is a good way to escape the mind). Following year life became easier and my workout frequency dropped by half or so, then in the following year the pandemic shut things down.

This summer I decided to get back into exercising. Watched a copious amount of rowing videos on youtube, got a rower (more on that below), and over the first month, built up to 4k. Then on 9/14 decided to attempt going through BPP, sequentially through all workouts not minding the weeks.

Equipment story

So initially I wasn't 100% sure if I would get myself motivated to get into it for real, so had a notification from craigslist for the search, and grabbed a rower with 2.6 million km and a PM3 monitor.

Since I did indeed get into using the rower, I wanted to upgrade to PM5 to connect my phone - and instead of spending $160 I bought another used rower (with 1.5 million km) with PM5 and just sold the "old" one, effectively upgrading for $35.

Also, scheduled an sculling lesson for December with a local rowing club.

About a week ago got a heart rate monitor as well (refurbished from ebay for $50), and discovered my heart rate creeps up into 170s during my workouts (178 is the highest I've seen so far).

Since I had my craigslist notification going, few days ago a listing for the dynamic model popped up - and I spent a ton of time reading about them. Given it was listed for about $100 less than Model D's are usually listed, decided to go meet the seller and just try it. It felt weird, so I haggled a bit and bought it for $600. It had only 171k km logged on the monitor, I figured even if I don't like it I can sell it again for the same price . Turns out I do like it, so now the model d with the PM5 is for sale, haha.

Progress in BPP:

Numbers and averages keep me motivated - so I was working towards having 52 workouts done (that would make my annual average once a week ), how many meters per day have I rowed on average, how many meters per workout on average... Things like that. I have a spreadsheet that keeps track of things like that... Then also working on things like "how many days can I row in a sequence without taking a day off?".

Today I'll do the first workout of Week 12 of BPP. That's my 2nd 10k ever, first time on the dynamic rower. That means if I hustle and not skip too many days, I might be done with (the first of possibly many ) full row-through of the BPP structure sometime in January. My birthday is at the end of January, so my tentative goal is to get through it before then, haha.

Question about heart rate and "steady state" sessions:

I find myself comfortable at stroke rates in low 20s, and since I like numbers I usually look at a similar session from the past and try to match the previous pace. Since getting the heart rate monitor I've kept an eye on my heart rate too, though didn't really know what to make of it. I'm lazy and haven't been doing much warm-up, just a dozen squats and pushups, so I start the sessions somewhere in 80-90bpm - and then over the course of the session it just climbs up into 160s-170s.

Reading this thread, I've realized I might be going much too fast on these long sessions. It feels like quite a workout, trying to go as fast as possible to do sustained for the distance... Are there any dangers I should be aware of in keeping the heart rate so high for extended periods of time? Would there be benefits that I'm just completely missing out on?

Here's the 25min row (first time on the dynamic rower, actually) demonstrating pretty much my typical heart rate graph - https://log.concept2.com/profile/1744461/log/69285594

PS:
How do I make my log public? I've seen other folks link to theirs, but if I go to mine - https://log.concept2.com/profile/1744461/log - without being logged in it shows "access denied".

[aegis]

Good to know I'm not the only one making mistakes with the rest time. The limiting factor now is actually time, i would like to do more steady state but it's difficult.

[mitchel674]

Hi friends!

Just yesterday discovered this thread, so registered for the forum to join in on the fun . The many pages were fun to read through, as it reflects partially my journey as well (more on that below).

Stats - 37, male, 175lb.

Fitness background
As a teenager I did martial arts, then in my young adult years I didn't do much exercise. Upon turning 33 I started noticing my weight creep upwards and decided my metabolism wouldn't let me get away with eating whatever/whenever (not much junk food - but a fair bit of sugar) - so in conjunction with minding my diet I decided to also do some exercise - and got into crossfit because it seemed hard (and oh boy, it was hard). I had also heard about crossfit having a bad reputation on form for many basic things (like... pull-ups are brought up a lot), so I went in somewhat hesitantly - hoping to keep my wits about me to not hurt myself. A bit later I switched to a different crossfit gym which had A TON of focus on technique - including rowing technique. They don't let you sign up for regular classes until you do a three-class series of "basics" where you (and potentially up to two other people) have a dedicated coach with you full time just going over techniques of all the common movements. T'was way better all around, though more expensive. This anecdotal evidence suggests that not all crossfit gyms are negligent on technique, though I realize most are. Life became complicated, which made me exercise quite a lot in the first year of getting into crossfit - a total of 113 workouts (exercising is HARD, but not too complicated; life is often COMPLICATED, but rarely very hard - so working the body is a good way to escape the mind). Following year life became easier and my workout frequency dropped by half or so, then in the following year the pandemic shut things down.

This summer I decided to get back into exercising. Watched a copious amount of rowing videos on youtube, got a rower (more on that below), and over the first month, built up to 4k. Then on 9/14 decided to attempt going through BPP, sequentially through all workouts not minding the weeks.

Equipment story

So initially I wasn't 100% sure if I would get myself motivated to get into it for real, so had a notification from craigslist for the search, and grabbed a rower with 2.6 million km and a PM3 monitor.

Since I did indeed get into using the rower, I wanted to upgrade to PM5 to connect my phone - and instead of spending $160 I bought another used rower (with 1.5 million km) with PM5 and just sold the "old" one, effectively upgrading for $35.

Also, scheduled an sculling lesson for December with a local rowing club.

About a week ago got a heart rate monitor as well (refurbished from ebay for $50), and discovered my heart rate creeps up into 170s during my workouts (178 is the highest I've seen so far).

Since I had my craigslist notification going, few days ago a listing for the dynamic model popped up - and I spent a ton of time reading about them. Given it was listed for about $100 less than Model D's are usually listed, decided to go meet the seller and just try it. It felt weird, so I haggled a bit and bought it for $600. It had only 171k km logged on the monitor, I figured even if I don't like it I can sell it again for the same price . Turns out I do like it, so now the model d with the PM5 is for sale, haha.

Progress in BPP:

Numbers and averages keep me motivated - so I was working towards having 52 workouts done (that would make my annual average once a week ), how many meters per day have I rowed on average, how many meters per workout on average... Things like that. I have a spreadsheet that keeps track of things like that... Then also working on things like "how many days can I row in a sequence without taking a day off?".

Today I'll do the first workout of Week 12 of BPP. That's my 2nd 10k ever, first time on the dynamic rower. That means if I hustle and not skip too many days, I might be done with (the first of possibly many ) full row-through of the BPP structure sometime in January. My birthday is at the end of January, so my tentative goal is to get through it before then, haha.

Question about heart rate and "steady state" sessions:

I find myself comfortable at stroke rates in low 20s, and since I like numbers I usually look at a similar session from the past and try to match the previous pace. Since getting the heart rate monitor I've kept an eye on my heart rate too, though didn't really know what to make of it. I'm lazy and haven't been doing much warm-up, just a dozen squats and pushups, so I start the sessions somewhere in 80-90bpm - and then over the course of the session it just climbs up into 160s-170s.

Reading this thread, I've realized I might be going much too fast on these long sessions. It feels like quite a workout, trying to go as fast as possible to do sustained for the distance... Are there any dangers I should be aware of in keeping the heart rate so high for extended periods of time? Would there be benefits that I'm just completely missing out on?

Here's the 25min row (first time on the dynamic rower, actually) demonstrating pretty much my typical heart rate graph - https://log.concept2.com/profile/1744461/log/69285594

PS:
How do I make my log public? I've seen other folks link to theirs, but if I go to mine - https://log.concept2.com/profile/1744461/log - without being logged in it shows "access denied".

Welcome to the forum and the BPP thread! Also congrats on the dynamic find!

I was able to see your logbook entry. Pretty nice 25minute row. You do get your heart rate up there, but that's to be expected with the pace you set on that piece.

As far as the BPP, you need to set your intention before you start each daily workout. Read what Pete has to say about each session and have that goal in your mind as you set out. Resist the temptation to go too hard on the longer pieces. Think about technique, efficiency and relaxation. That is the BPP mantra. Pete doesn't talk about heart rate, but those longer rows should be done at a more relaxed pace than your 2:01 if you want to get the benefit of a steady state workout.

Keep posting your sessions so we can get a feel for where you stand. This will allow you to get some better advice as you progress through the plan.

[RayOfSunshine]

Hi friends!

Just yesterday discovered this thread, so registered for the forum to join in on the fun . The many pages were fun to read through, as it reflects partially my journey as well (more on that below).

Stats - 37, male, 175lb.
of January, so my tentative goal is to get through it before then, haha.

Question about heart rate and "steady state" sessions:

I find myself comfortable at stroke rates in low 20s, and since I like numbers I usually look at a similar session from the past and try to match the previous pace. Since getting the heart rate monitor I've kept an eye on my heart rate too, though didn't really know what to make of it. I'm lazy and haven't been doing much warm-up, just a dozen squats and pushups, so I start the sessions somewhere in 80-90bpm - and then over the course of the session it just climbs up into 160s-170s.

Reading this thread, I've realized I might be going much too fast on these long sessions. It feels like quite a workout, trying to go as fast as possible to do sustained for the distance... Are there any dangers I should be aware of in keeping the heart rate so high for extended periods of time? Would there be benefits that I'm just completely missing out on?

Here's the 25min row (first time on the dynamic rower, actually) demonstrating pretty much my typical heart rate graph - https://log.concept2.com/profile/1744461/log/69285594

PS:
How do I make my log public? I've seen other folks link to theirs, but if I go to mine - https://log.concept2.com/profile/1744461/log - without being logged in it shows "access denied".

Welcome! As far as HR goes for my long slow steady rows (1 hour rows) that I do in between my BPP on SkiErg, I keep mine at 60% HRR (139). The link below shows the calculation and states "For aerobic training, take 50–75% of your HRR and add it to your RHR". My Max HR is 189, Resting HR is 64.

https://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/ ... rate-range

However, I just looked at a recent steady state piece from the BPP and it goes up to about 70%-75% of HRR. See pic below

[thaloun]

Week 20 done. Target for 8x500 was 1:55.3, final pace 1:53.8, final split 1:51.4. Unfortunately something got messed up in the upload to the logbook so I had to grab it over usb from the utility, which doesn't have the nice pace/hr graphs and I've lost the rates except for an interval average.

Anyways, I had a big epiphany after watching some Travis Gardner videos. I've reduced the drag factor way back. Especially for steady state. Basically I want to aim for the same leg drive and effectively the same stroke intensity for every workout. Varying stroke rate down to 18 for steady state and upwards for faster paces doesn't actually let me hit the paces I want with the stroke I want and I was compromising the stroke (too fast for ss, namely), so I will be fiddling with the df a lot more. Basically a strong stroke with the right shaped power curve is an efficient stroke and I should concentrate on that.

I also noticed that while it's pretty good at relaxed paces the power curve on the sprints looked pretty compromised. Disappointingly compromised. With a strong rise, a flat period, then the rest of the rise and fall. I guess that means it's in the transition from legs to trunk movement. Anyways something to really focus on and fix asap.

[aegis]

Welcome! As far as HR goes for my long slow steady rows (1 hour rows) that I do in between my BPP on SkiErg, I keep mine at 60% HRR (139). The link below shows the calculation and states "For aerobic training, take 50–75% of your HRR and add it to your RHR". My Max HR is 189, Resting HR is 64.

https://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/ ... rate-range

However, I just looked at a recent steady state piece from the BPP and it goes up to about 70%-75% of HRR. See pic below

Your stroke rates seems pretty high, have you tried going down to 18-22 spm while keeping the same pace? Sometimes i do that with straps off to focus on texhnique as well, it helped me get rid of leaning too far back.

I also use HRR but stay within 60-70%, some days there might be some HR drift and i will usually back off a little.

[Sakly]

Welcome! As far as HR goes for my long slow steady rows (1 hour rows) that I do in between my BPP on SkiErg, I keep mine at 60% HRR (139). The link below shows the calculation and states "For aerobic training, take 50–75% of your HRR and add it to your RHR". My Max HR is 189, Resting HR is 64.

https://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/ ... rate-range

However, I just looked at a recent steady state piece from the BPP and it goes up to about 70%-75% of HRR. See pic below

Your stroke rates seems pretty high, have you tried going down to 18-22 spm while keeping the same pace? Sometimes i do that with straps off to focus on texhnique as well, it helped me get rid of leaning too far back.

I also use HRR but stay within 60-70%, some days there might be some HR drift and i will usually back off a little.

I think this is showing a session on a Skierg as written.

[aegis]

Opps my bad. For the skierg, is that a normal range of spm though?

[Sakly]

Opps my bad. For the skierg, is that a normal range of spm though?

From what I see from others it seems to be a factor of ~1.7 in spm for same effort on a skierg.
I never used one, so no idea if this is true

[RayOfSunshine]

Opps my bad. For the skierg, is that a normal range of spm though?

I've seen a few different opinions.. 30-40 from C2, dark horse says 35-45 (I think), folks on FB (haven't been on in a few years) said 40+ for SS. I've actually been working on increasing mine. Getting used to the higher SPM and 1:1 drive:recovery is more difficult for me mentally than physically. I feel like I should be going slower when I should really be going faster. It's the faster recovery that makes the stroke so much faster.

https://www.concept2.com/service/monito ... 0and%2040.

[aegis]

I've never try skierg although there is one in my office gym, maybe I'll watch a few how to videos then give it a go one of these days.

[RayOfSunshine]

I've never try skierg although there is one in my office gym, maybe I'll watch a few how to videos then give it a go one of these days.

The Ski was awkward for me at first. It's gotten a lot better since starting the BPP. I'm enjoying my sessions and it's a lot more work on the legs than I expected. After reading a few more articles and watching a couple more videos, I feel better about my SPM.
https://www.zoarfitness.com/movements/skierg/
"Here are some general recommendations for stroke rates based on duration and power output, assuming each is a max effort time trial…

0-400m = 50-70+ SPM
400-750m = 44-54 SPM
750-2000m = 38-50 SPM
2000-5000m = 33-46 SPM
5000-10000 = 30-42 SPM
10000+ = 28-35 SPM
"

[RayOfSunshine]

Solid week on the ski. In addition, I put in 46k on the rower (including my longest row, 16k @ 2:30 pace). I was fine until the last 1500 when my butt started to hurt. I don't know how they do those ultra rows. I might do my 1st rowing HM on Thanksgiving.