Technique Breakthrough

[mjhatten]

I rowed two 40-minute steady state personal bests so far this week. It felt like I was kind of in the zone because my technique was cleaner.

1. I was rowing a tad slower -- 25 - 26 SPM
2. I was focused on a better catch -- bringing my hands up smoothly during recovery to the top of the chain wheel; getting my arms fully straight, getting a "soft" catch where I matched the wheel speed instead of jerking the handle.
3. I Practiced "loose arms" during my drive so the only stresses I felt were the push of my legs, my locked core, and the pull on my shoulders. I kept my arms fully extended so I maximized my drive length and avoided losses due to elbows straightening.
4. I listened to the chain for the sound of a strong but smooth pull.

It felt good and I am pleased with the results. I'll stick with this for a month or so until it's more instinctive and then work on my next challenge -- getting a more defined lever as I transition from drive to finish.

[Dangerscouse]

I rowed two 40-minute steady state personal bests so far this week. It felt like I was kind of in the zone because my technique was cleaner.

1. I was rowing a tad slower -- 25 - 26 SPM
2. I was focused on a better catch -- bringing my hands up smoothly during recovery to the top of the chain wheel; getting my arms fully straight, getting a "soft" catch where I matched the wheel speed instead of jerking the handle.
3. I Practiced "loose arms" during my drive so the only stresses I felt were the push of my legs, my locked core, and the pull on my shoulders. I kept my arms fully extended so I maximized my drive length and avoided losses due to elbows straightening.
4. I listened to the chain for the sound of a strong but smooth pull.

It felt good and I am pleased with the results. I'll stick with this for a month or so until it's more instinctive and then work on my next challenge -- getting a more defined lever as I transition from drive to finish.

It can be like riding a bike. It just suddenly clicks and you engage in the stroke and the fluidity of the motion.

It's a great moment when it happens as you'll probably get some 'free' pace due to the technical efficiency.

[jamesg]

two 40-minute steady state personal bests - rowing a tad slower -- 25 - 26 SPM

So decidedly each stroke contained more Work. Well done.

Just how much can be seen dividing Power in Watts by Rating (spm). This gives the Work done in Watt-minutes. 1Joule is 1Ws, so 60 times smaller.

Most of us are in the Work range 15 (very high) to 6 (me on a good day). This metric is what governs rowing and is simple and cheap to use, since Power and Rating are already shown by both PM and Ergdata.

NB: Work = Force x Length.