Skierg stroke rate

[DghSpanishWelsh]

My natural cadence is high 30s, I have to work hard to get it higher. I do wonder whether it's simply a question of coordination, muscle-fibre make up, that sort of thing?

[carldstevens]

I believe stroke rate may also be dependent on drag factor. Just sayin"

[blazs]

Mine is ~39s/m and I'm wondering how to increase it. Could be technique, could be something else.

[blazs]

I watched the guy who set the SkiErg marathon record on YouTube use a cadence between high 40s and low 50s, which is consistent with my natural cadence.

I counted world cup skiers and longer distance ski classics skiers double poling in races and they are using a higher cadence of around 60.

It's possible the lower 'pace' of SkiErg compared to double poling on flat snow is part of this, like something to do with the flywheel mechanics requiring more torque than snow. Uphill double poling requires more torque, but also gravity plays a role that is absent on SkiErg where the flywheel keeps spinning so you don't feel the deceleration.

The guy is one the very best long distance classic skiers on this planet. It is humbling to meet them on snow at their race pace, they pole like there's no tomorrow. I also noticed their poling cadence is very high, in the mid to low 50s.

[MudSweatAndYears]

The insights shared in this thread made me reconsider my SkiErg style. Like many RowErg users who start dabbling into SkiErg territory, I also tend towards what is probably too low stroke rates for the SkiErg. I analysed my SkiErg workouts over the past few months. These workouts are mostly zone 2 steady state trainings, but also include some zone 4 HIIT sessions. So the data contain quite a variety in exercise intensity. I noticed that the power (in Watts) that I generate is roughly proportional to the square of my stroke rate (in spm). So to generate twice as much power I typically have to increase the stroke rate by about 40 %.

I computed for each workout the ratio of the square of the stroke rate divided by the power, and found values scattering around 9 (spm^2/Watt). I recon this is too low a value. Over the last few days I started experimenting with shorter strokes, and in steady-state training managed to up my square-rate-over-power figure to values around 15. This translates into steady-state rpm values in the upper end of the 40's (where before it was typically well below 40).

I wonder: anyone else observing an spm^2/Watts figure that is roughly independent of training intensity? And if so, what is your typical value? Any other insights this triggers?

Some relevant background: I am a 1.80 m, 76 kg male aged 64. I don't ski on snow, and my interest is in improving my SkiErg performance itself.

[Sakly]

I never calculated such stuff, but found that shorter strokes are giving me much less fatigue at higher paces.
I use the skierg nearly only for warmup in the gym, 15min.
In the beginning, I typically rated around 30 at a pace of ~1:57 and it felt taxing for my muscles.
Now I rate around 45 to 48 at a pace ranging from 1:48-1:50, but less (muscular) fatigue. I could go on, as CVS can handle the load very well. I only needed to adapt to the higher breathing rate.