Coming back to rowing after a hiatus, but with much better fitness

[Big J]

Probably have to use a medium rate (28?) to keep the forces "low", while limiting inertial erg losses, but get enough Oxygen in 2 breaths per stroke.

A 21k in 70 minutes a is 5m/s and 350W. 350/28 = 12.5 W-min per stroke.

A nice test might be a 5k, to be done at that rate and speed, so 16:40 time (=1k seconds). In the Rankings this year there are 15 entries faster than 17 minutes 5k.

I will do that. Wednesday, all being well, I'll test myself on the C2 at the gym in our village and see how 16:40 feels.

[Big J]

Most rower / cyclists find that watts on rower are significantly lower but the proportion varies a lot with some reporting a 30% decrease. In addition looking at the decrease in power over time, rowing drops off faster so 71 min is going to be significantly below "threshold" power. On erg you have to generate the power in 1/3 or so of the time rather than continuously on the bike so peak power is much higher than the average displayed. I assume the faster power drop off is because we are forced to use fast twitch fibres more often to generate those powers. That said, some report higher proportions of cycling power.

Good luck on your quest.

It will certainly be interesting to see. Cardiovascular fitness was always my limiting factor before. I didn't get sore, or any buildup of lactate, nor did my breathing really become laboured. It would just get to a point with my HR that I felt that I was at the top of my range. I am hoping that this issue has been fixed.

I mentioned in the previous post the visit from Alex Dowsett. We were chatting about rowing and he said that a few years ago he tried a C2 for the first time in a gym whilst in the off-season. He saw a couple of guys rowing and asked about it, not quite letting on that he was a pro-cyclist. They kindly offered advice and he settled into a 2k.

The chap instructing him immediately suggested that he was going off a little bit rapidly and that to sustain it for 2k that he ought to slow down. He didn't. The chap rowing alongside stopped to watch the effort.

In the end he did 5:56, at which point the guy asked him what level he cycled at. Alex replied "world tour".

I reckon that the taller and more powerful cyclists (I am nowhere near as fast as AD obviously, but I more or less match him for power output at 25kg heavier) should always be fairly fast at rowing.

[ahooton]

That’s phenomenal!

I’m looking forward to seeing how you get on! Good luck mate.

[hikeplusrow]

FTP 410 watts. Kudos.

Thank you!

I've only recently gotten an accurate measure of that, with a week in Norway and some very long climbs. I put out more power on hills than on the flat, but I'm working on the latter.

I've only started doing threshold work in the last few months really, since starting a time trial race series here. I am a much better short burst hill climber than FTP rider.

Hoping to get it up to 450w before I'm 45 (5 years). Should be doable as it's going up fairly quickly at the moment and it would only be 4.5w/kg for me

450w would be a tremendous achievement. I'll be cheering you on from afar!!!

[alex9026]

I don't deadlift so much now, but can do 5 reps at about 140-145kg. I don't do heavy singles anymore as it's not worth the risk. When I was younger and stupider (and 131kg) I deadlifted 260kg.

If gravel riding is your thing, I'm pretty heavily involved with the cycle tourism side of things here. The Glorious Gravel Sweden tour is of my creation (we did three weeks this year with 65 cyclists from the UK) and I work alongside the council here to promote gravel riding. We also have a cabin we can offer, as well as numerous other houses that we rent. We had ex-pro cyclist Alex Dowsett here for a week in May to experience it all and this is the video he made of his visit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp6bBbuVTp8&t=1s

That 260kg is a big ol' deadlift...

Going off script here here but wow, had a browse at the website and that event in Sweden looks fantastic. Shall check out the Alex Dowsett (at his peak definitely one of the most likeable characters in the pro peloton) video over the weekend. I have ridden the Dirty Reiver (200+km in Kielder Forest) twice and a 3 day stage race in the Brecon Beacons, which is a similar set up to what you offer, which was brilliant. I jumped on the scene at its early inception, not really participated much in recent years, but I'm probably only a pedal stroke away from getting hooked again...

Best of luck with your objective here, will be following with interest.

[dabatey]

Very powerful FTP. Just checked indieVelo and most of the high performers are circa 350. Most are a bit lighter though.

Surely as a big powerful guy 2K should be your target!!! That's where the kudos are.

[iain]

Probably have to use a medium rate (28?) to keep the forces "low", while limiting inertial erg losses, but get enough Oxygen in 2 breaths per stroke.

A 21k in 70 minutes a is 5m/s and 350W. 350/28 = 12.5 W-min per stroke.

A nice test might be a 5k, to be done at that rate and speed, so 16:40 time (=1k seconds). In the Rankings this year there are 15 entries faster than 17 minutes 5k.

I will do that. Wednesday, all being well, I'll test myself on the C2 at the gym in our village and see how 16:40 feels.

How different distances compare does vary, but 3S/500M per doubling would be typical for an endurance athlete from 5 - 10k. 10k to HM has a lower drop off, but limited data to suggest an amount, but I would expect >1S, so to do HM at 1:41, would require a 5k at 1:37 or so. 3S/500m is a huge chunk, but 1:40 would certainly be an impressive and encouraging starting point.

[Big J]

I got to the gym today to test myself on the Concept 2.

A bit disappointed that they were PM3 displays, so I wasn't able to connect my HR strap and was flying blind, so to speak.

Additionally, there was no cooling in the gym at all. I did my 2000m warmup and got 500m into my first attempt before genuinely overheating. I had to call my wife to bring our large cooling fan, which worked well.

The short of it is that I did 16:44.2 for the 5000m. I was able to up the pace a bit at the end, but it was a tough effort. I felt it in my arms more than anywhere, implying poor technique. It was cardiovascularly challenging too. I would have loved to have seen my heart rate.

This gives me a good start point to get work to sponsor me though. Having not touched a rower for three years and then to get (what is apparently) the 11th fastest 5k globally shows some promise. I just need to figure out which record to have a pop at!

I can't get the photo to upload here but here is the link to the post on the C2 group on Facebook. Sorry for the slightly blurry photo. I genuinely couldn't hold the phone still afterwards.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Concept ... 133984037/

[Dangerscouse]

Sorry for the slightly blurry photo. I genuinely couldn't hold the phone still afterwards.

Hahaha, glad to see that you're at least comparable to me in some ways!! That's a superb result for anyone, nevermind with your lack of erging experience.

[winniewinser]

I got to the gym today to test myself on the Concept 2.

A bit disappointed that they were PM3 displays, so I wasn't able to connect my HR strap and was flying blind, so to speak.

Additionally, there was no cooling in the gym at all. I did my 2000m warmup and got 500m into my first attempt before genuinely overheating. I had to call my wife to bring our large cooling fan, which worked well.

The short of it is that I did 16:44.2 for the 5000m. I was able to up the pace a bit at the end, but it was a tough effort. I felt it in my arms more than anywhere, implying poor technique. It was cardiovascularly challenging too. I would have loved to have seen my heart rate.

This gives me a good start point to get work to sponsor me though. Having not touched a rower for three years and then to get (what is apparently) the 11th fastest 5k globally shows some promise. I just need to figure out which record to have a pop at!

I can't get the photo to upload here but here is the link to the post on the C2 group on Facebook. Sorry for the slightly blurry photo. I genuinely couldn't hold the phone still afterwards.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Concept ... 133984037/

Good grief!!! ....that's a fantastic time

[Sakly]

The short of it is that I did 16:44.2 for the 5000m.

Wow.
I'm absolutely sure, I couldn't hold anything after that, if I ever reach that level at all

[Tobias Stoehr]

Targeting Luke's WR is a lofty goal. But your 5k after no rowing at all is amazing. There will be gains to be made just from erging regularly. A 5k of 1:35 pace is a similar level as the HM WR, just for your reference.
Get your 5k to that level and you can attempt to break the HM WR (and 10k, and 30 Min, and 60 Min).

[Tandstad]

Targeting Luke's WR is a lofty goal. But your 5k after no rowing at all is amazing. There will be gains to be made just from erging regularly. A 5k of 1:35 pace is a similar level as the HM WR, just for your reference.
Get your 5k to that level and you can attempt to break the HM WR (and 10k, and 30 Min, and 60 Min).

Luke is very fascinating to me, and I assume he is to quite a few erger around. What makes that man able to do all these insane sessions? I know very little about the man, besides having watched his WR's on youtube. He is faster in the 60 minutes than a lot of great ergers, I think both Jason Marshall and Cameron Buchan have not broken 18k yet(Luke has 17994 from what I can see)? I assume he is not taller than Cam, and I would assume Jason is able to put more power into the erg for a long time. I am also not a PT so not an expert in this field, but from what I can see Luke's technique is perhaps not the most stream lined/perfected? Is he just able to withstand huge amounts of lactic acid?

[hikeplusrow]

I got to the gym today to test myself on the Concept 2.

A bit disappointed that they were PM3 displays, so I wasn't able to connect my HR strap and was flying blind, so to speak.

Additionally, there was no cooling in the gym at all. I did my 2000m warmup and got 500m into my first attempt before genuinely overheating. I had to call my wife to bring our large cooling fan, which worked well.

The short of it is that I did 16:44.2 for the 5000m. I was able to up the pace a bit at the end, but it was a tough effort. I felt it in my arms more than anywhere, implying poor technique. It was cardiovascularly challenging too. I would have loved to have seen my heart rate.

This gives me a good start point to get work to sponsor me though. Having not touched a rower for three years and then to get (what is apparently) the 11th fastest 5k globally shows some promise. I just need to figure out which record to have a pop at!

I can't get the photo to upload here but here is the link to the post on the C2 group on Facebook. Sorry for the slightly blurry photo. I genuinely couldn't hold the phone still afterwards.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Concept ... 133984037/

I nearly spat my coffee out when you casually mentioned the time That's talent right there. Great job!

[Big J]

Hahaha, glad to see that you're at least comparable to me in some ways!! That's a superb result for anyone, nevermind with your lack of erging experience.

Many thanks! I was really quite broken after the effort. Just not used to it any more and it hits a lot of muscles that aren't accustomed to heavy endurance work.