First Impressions On The Slides

[[old] John Rupp]

I set up the slides for the first time this morning, so this is an experiment in their use.<br /><br />The instructions said to set them up 18.5 inches apart, which I did, then marked the positions with tape. It looked as the erg would have fit 16.5 inches but maybe there is a reason for making the gap longer. Then I lifted the erg into the slots in the farthest positions.<br /><br />I had already run-walked a mile, my first exercise for 10 days which felt great. I felt quite ragged and slow though, especially at the start. The same thing happened on the erg. I started rowing in the 2:30's feeling very tired and wondering how I ever rowed very far at this pace. I stopped in a minute, rested a bit then continued on, stopped again, continued on, this bringing me to 600 meters. Then I did 2 more 200 stretches to bring this to 1000 meters. My overall pace was 2:23 something, though with stretches of 2:15 pace in between.

[[old] John Rupp]

#1- The slides took a little getting used to at the start. I hit the ends once when first starting, but not for awhile after that. Through 800 meters I was trying to hit the ends, taking a longer reach at the front, or the back, but regardless nothing seemed to get it to hit the ends of the slides. Also I noticed the front slot was going within a few inches of the end ever time, but the back slot was quite a ways from the end. I thought this might be because of not leveling the slides before rowing. Then I started the last 200 meter stretch and kept hitting the ends a few times! Yikes. This helped me to realize what was making the difference. <br /><br />Then my friend rowed on them for a bit. She said they felt funny and didn't like them. I noticed the slots were doing the same for her as for me, and also the front bungee was bending but the back one was not. She rowed a few more times and got used to them more.<br /><br />I got a level, some duct tape, scissors, and reverse taped pieces of rubber outsole material to the feet on one end of each slide. It turned out that the slope made a 3/8ths of an inch difference from one end to the other of each slide, or about a 1 inch difference for the length of the slides, this being as the garage slopes downward to the front. Now each slide is level. There is still the forward downward slope of the erg, meaning the front slide is about 5/8 of an inch lower than the back one, but this probably won't matter that much to the action of the bungees.

[[old] John Rupp]

2- I was getting out of breath going steady albeit at 2:23 pace, and wanted to do a bit more, so then I did 4x 60s with 15s rest in between. On these I did ~ 2:05, 2:07, 2:03, 2:02 for a 2:04.4 average. I was still feeling quite tired and sluggish on these, physically, not from rowing, but they helped me to get more of a feel for the slides. <br /><br />It was interesting as I discovered (1) pushing with my legs got the slots closer to the front, (2) bringing my legs in close to my body brought them closer to the back, and (3) these things made more of a difference than anything else. The action of my upper body didn't make that much difference.<br /><br />Also, the slots, being level, were now more even from each end.

[[old] John Rupp]

3- After a short rest, I did another steady 1k to relax. About 1/2 way through I was discovering it was possible to row only with the movement of my legs, with arms just following through, and not moving my upper body at all. <br /><br />This was cool, as I was just moving my legs and rotating my body a bit and, really, it felt "too easy". However this was certainly great practice for making the most of my energy.<br /><br />I ended up averaging 2:08 on this, with the last part getting to 2:02. This was interesting.

[[old] John Rupp]

4- After another short break, I did another set of the 4x 60s with 15s rests, thinking they would be around the same time as the first set. I was keeping my eyes on the slots again and not paying much attention to the monitor, then noticed it was hanging around 1:55. However, that was tiring and the next one was slower.<br /><br />I was still focusing on my legs and the slots though, i.e. pushing the slots to the front with my legs, then bringing the slots to the back by bringing in my legs to my body, which also was effectively bringing the fan back to my reach. <br /><br />These ended up being ~ 1:55, 1:57, 1:54, and 1:53 for a 1:54.4 average.<br /><br />Then I did another 1k at 2:24 pace to warm down.

[[old] mpukita]

John:<br /><br />From what I read about your teeth problems, I would venture to say that your body is working overtime fighting the infection, recovering from the minor surgey (ha ha, the only surgery that's minor is surgery done to someone else), and adjusting from being off schedule with rowing. Give the slides some time. Make sure thay are level and square. The only time I have issues with mine is when they are not level or square.<br /><br />Train on them, and time-trail off them. I'm convinced you work harder on them, and are more efficient off them, for faster times.<br /><br />Hope the mouth continues to improve.<br /><br />Regards -- Mark

[[old] John Rupp]

Hi Mark,<br /><br />Thanks much for your comments and suggestions. <br /><br />I will make sure to take my time recovering and getting back into exercise. <br /><br />The slides are quite interesting. I am sure that I would not have been able to do the 1:54 pace on the erg with the same ease this morning. Even more importantly though, is the action of my legs on the slides, which I like. This is much more obvious on the slides than the erg.<br /><br />I think a great training technique would be to alternate sets, doing one set on the slides and then the next set on the erg, so the same action can be carried from one to the other. It would be a hindrance to keep lifting the erg back and forth though, so perhaps working on either the slides or erg, one at a time would be better.

[[old] R S T]

Keep up the feedback on the slides John...<br /><br />...will be interesting to see what kind of erg scores you will achieve when back to full health and training with the slides. I have never tried them but would like the chance some time (space constrained here).<br /><br />Of course...I am sure there will be some debate as to whether the slides themselve were responsible for higher/lower scores..... <br /><br />Cheers<br />RichardT

[[old] John Rupp]

Hi Richard,<br /><br />Yes they are interesting. <br /><br />I am looking forward to finding out those things too.<br /><br />Currently I am moving a car out of the garage to set them up. It would be nice to have more room some day, and have them set up permanently.<br /><br />Cheers.

[[old] John Rupp]

<!--QuoteBegin-mpukita+Oct 16 2005, 06:59 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(mpukita @ Oct 16 2005, 06:59 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Make sure thay are level and square.  The only time I have issues with mine is when they are not level or square.[right] </td></tr></table><br />Mark,<br /><br />How do you make sure they are square?<br /><br />I just eye balled them yesterday, and checked the distance both sides.<br />

[[old] mpukita]

<!--QuoteBegin-John Rupp+Oct 17 2005, 10:56 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(John Rupp @ Oct 17 2005, 10:56 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin-mpukita+Oct 16 2005, 06:59 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(mpukita @ Oct 16 2005, 06:59 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Make sure thay are level and square.  The only time I have issues with mine is when they are not level or square.[right] </td></tr></table><br />Mark,<br /><br />How do you make sure they are square?<br /><br />I just eye balled them yesterday, and checked the distance both sides. <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />John:<br /><br />To be honest, I've cheated recently and have just eyeballed and measured to see if they are as square as I can get them that way. In the past, I used a piece of straight hardwood (checked to be sure it was not warped) to make sure the two slides were in alignment parallel to the erg. I also have a laser construction level, which would be great to use, but I've been too lazy to break it out. It would project a straight line on the floor along which one could align the slides.<br /><br />I find that making sure the slides are parallel is more important than the 18.5" measurement. If they aren't parallel, you tend to get the issues you mentioned -- hitting the end of the slides, etc. -- because they're not working as designed.<br /><br />I do not have floor level problems -- I'm sure that an unlevel floor would be the worst situation, as you'd naturally slide to one end and could do nothing about this, unless you've found a way to counter the effect of gravity. If you have, let me know how, we'll both become rich!<br /><br />The alternating pieces is an interesting idea. Maybe C2 needs to develop a slide "lock" that would lock the erg in place on the slide, although that might put too much torque or pressure on the slides and damage them.<br /><br />-- Mark

[[old] ancho]

Hi John!<br />Hope you have recovered well from your visit to the dentist's (ouch!).<br />Now we are all waiting for your 2k time: 6:57,4 (that's 6% off yor actual time, don't forget to stop right after you finish )<br />Please don't forget to inform us about your progress.<br /><br />Have fun!!

[[old] John Rupp]

Day 2 on slides:<br /><br />5k warm up at 2:24 pace<br />10x 60s with 15s rests at 1:55.6 pace<br />the last 4 were at 1:53.5 pace<br /><br />This is faster than I did a month ago with 20s rests on the erg. <br /><br />However, there are no direct comparisons yet. First is just to get used to exercising again. I'm probably going to row on the erg the next few days and then hop on the slides again after that.

[[old] John Rupp]

Mark,<br /><br />I think there is a way to lock the slides, but don't recall what it is.

[[old] Carl Henrik]

John, <br /><br />How do you feel about the drag around body being less with slides? I get very hot and sweaty from slides and think a fan should be used when using slides.