Aging & Drag Factor

[adccl8z]

Hi all
I am interested in others experience and thoughts on adjusting drag factor as your years advance.
Have you steadfastly kept it the same, over decades? Did you feel compelled to adjust it, specifically to compensate for the effects of aging?

I've kept it (pretty much) the same for ~20yrs, but might be time to adjust.

[Carl Watts]

Mine trended down over the years, eventually falling into the recommended 110 to 130 band.

For an all out sprint like 100M or 500M you need something higher but pretty much everything else is a lighter pull.

[nick rockliff]

DF 123 for me last 20 years

[Dangerscouse]

I've had different DFs but it wasn't an especially conscious decision. It was around 115 for my ultra distances but it's around 120-125 in the past five years

[DavidA]

I have kept it about the same as long as I can remember.

David

[mromero680]

I haven't changed drag factor in years. About 125-130 if I remember right.

[jamesg]

I vary DF with strength, since I want a stroke to take about 0.6 seconds. So have moved down from 130 at age 62 to 85DF at age 83. My length and force according to ergdata are now 1.18m and 350 to 380N, pull speed 1.8m/s.

At rate 20, so 3s per stroke, 0.6s gives a comfortable 4:1 rest:pull time ratio.

But no doubt using a higher drag would force me to pull harder in order to get good ratios, which might be good training. Or not.

[MPx]

How old is old? I think there's a difference for James 62>83 than say me 40>66 - the inevitable muscle/power loss appears to ramp up post 70. But some on here seem to think they are one of the oldies when still in their 40s!

Like many others in the all-the-gear-no-idea camp, my early days were all very high DF, but about 15 years ago I adjusted to 140-145 and have kept it there ever since except for the ultra sprints. I know that's still too high for many, but it suits me. Not really stuck at lower numbers for long enough to make the adjustment...but I've found the few sessions I've done at lower DF very hard work - not least the large team 100k which was done in the 120s IIRC - but counter intuitively was actually a series of ultra sprints where I would have performed better on much higher DF!

[JaapvanE]

I vary DF with strength, since I want a stroke to take about 0.6 seconds. So have moved down from 130 at age 62 to 85DF at age 83. My length and force according to ergdata are now 1.18m and 350 to 380N, pull speed 1.8m/s.

First of all, I hope to pull these numbers when I reach 83 (30 years to go). Quite impressive.

You basically fixed the SPM and ratio, and corrected the drag to get there. But a 0.6 sec drive is quite fast (at least for me, I normally am around 0.70 to 0.75 sec). Why not reduce that time as well? As people get older, I can imagine the explosiveness of the muscles also fades? So is it doable to maintain that fast drive?

[Dangerscouse]

How old is old? I think there's a difference for James 62>83 than say me 40>66 - the inevitable muscle/power loss appears to ramp up post 70. But some on here seem to think they are one of the oldies when still in their 40s!

Hahaha, guilty as charged! To be fair to me though, ageing is a relative concept so it doesn't have to be old age, and using a span of 30 to 49 can still be relevant as there's definitely relevant changes that are happening

[MPx]

... using a span of 30 to 49 can still be relevant as there's definitely relevant changes that are happening

Of course you're right Stu! Thinking it through, in my head I simply hadn't allowed for how well trained people are. I recalled being fitter and stronger in my 50s than I was in my 40s - not training smart in my 40s allowed for a further improvement later, evidenced by the timing of my PBs. Those further gains aren't available to people like, say, you and Keith and Nick who were smarter from the off (or much earlier) so really I guess you would notice the aging effect in a purer form. But back on the OP question, its not affected your use of DF has it?

[jamesg]

So is it doable to maintain that fast drive?

To get a training effect with reduced strength, the fast drive must be maintained. That's why the erg has variable drag, so that anyone can use it.

[Dangerscouse]

But back on the OP question, its not affected your use of DF has it?

In a purely ignorant manner it has. I never knew about drag factor until about 13 years ago, so it was always (stupidly) rowed at 10 in the gym.

Since 2015 drag has dropped from 130 to 110 back up to 125ish. I'm not sure it's been affected by age though, possibly as I've only really been dedicated and structured in my training since 2016, so I've seen all of my improvements in that timeframe. Prior to that it was very patchy and very ignorant rowing.

[nick rockliff]

But back on the OP question, its not affected your use of DF has it?

In a purely ignorant manner it has. I never knew about drag factor until about 13 years ago, so it was always (stupidly) rowed at 10 in the gym.

Since 2015 drag has dropped from 130 to 110 back up to 125ish. I'm not sure it's been affected by age though, possibly as I've only really been dedicated and structured in my training since 2016, so I've seen all of my improvements in that timeframe. Prior to that it was very patchy and very ignorant rowing.

Same for me when I started, knew nothing about DF. I started on two very tired Cs at the local gym. Just put it on 10 which needed a piece of cardboard between the cage and lever to keep it from dropping to 1. It's only when I started on the UK forum that people were talking about DF. You needed to press and hold two buttons on the PM2 to display DF. Both on 10 had a DF of 80! I asked the gym manager to take a look and the next time I went both were on 180 at 10. This is were I settled on 123, still needed the cardboard though

[KeithT]

Hi all
I am interested in others experience and thoughts on adjusting drag factor as your years advance.
Have you steadfastly kept it the same, over decades? Did you feel compelled to adjust it, specifically to compensate for the effects of aging?

I've kept it (pretty much) the same for ~20yrs, but might be time to adjust.

I have been on the same DF of 130 since I learned what DF was all about. Now, I don't have the decades of experience like others but have lots of meters, competitions and experiments under my belt. I know by the weights I lift and some ERG scores I am not as strong as I was just a few years ago but I still feel comfortable at the 13o DF. I will go higher for all out sprint type rows but not lower. I have tried lower for longer rows and I simply don't like it, so age hasn't impacted my DF....yet.