Can you see anything that I need to change in this data?

[milansanremo]

Week 3 @ 63 yr old....... never rowed before.
You guys chose a very cool sport.... I'm liking this (more and more).
I still don't have the breathing right... it's very different than anything I've done.

https://log.concept2.com/share/2503523/97155665

[Ombrax]

Looks fine to me - you appear to be in good shape, and are doing very well for a relative newbie. Of course there's room for improvement, but that would be the case even if you had done the 5k at a 1:45 pace (lung-busting for all but the very best at our age).

Regarding the breathing patterns, I think you already know the "standard" way to do it on moderate to hard efforts: two breaths per stroke, exhale on the drive, in then out on the recovery, then one in just before the drive. What have you been doing?

What happens if you totally stop thinking about it? Lets say you start a workout at a very slow pace, say, 2:45 - 3:00 / 500m. You do that for about 1000m, but don't think about breathing - just let your body do whatever it wants to do. At that pace everything's so easy you don't have to conciously do anything other than go through the motions of the stroke - muscle memory should take care of the details. At that point you're almost certainly doing 1 breath per stroke, and as they say for weightlifting (and rowing too) you exhale on the effort, inhale on the recovery. You then very slowly start to increase your pace, but concentrate only on the pace (or something else) but don't think about your breathing. Eventually you'll get to say, 2:10 or 2:15. At that point most people would have switched from 1 breath per stroke to 2. Did you? If so, when do you do what?

Bottom line, perhaps you're over-thinking this. However, if your body really wants to do something different from the standard breathing pattern, well, maybe that's what works for you. So far, regarding just the numbers, you're doing well, and will improve with time.

Good Luck

[milansanremo]

Thanks for your advice!
I'll follow your suggestions regarding breathing. Perhaps you are right as far as "me overthinking it".
1:45 /7 flat 2k pace seems unthinkable right now but I'll keep plugging away.

[Dangerscouse]

Thanks for your advice!
I'll follow your suggestions regarding breathing. Perhaps you are right as far as "me overthinking it".
1:45 /7 flat 2k pace seems unthinkable right now but I'll keep plugging away.

I always say that breathing is important, but it also needs to be natural, especially if you're a mouth, rather than nasal breather.

You might want to read about diaphragm breathing if you don't know about it already, and there's some info on
YouTube for breathing by James Nestor that might be useful. I've not watched it, but i did read his book, which is good.

[p_b82]

I'm a diaphragm - mouth breather when exercising, and one thing I will mention is that is worth getting yourself into a rhythm on the harder efforts and trying to "bake in" the sequence you will breath on the stroke. Otherwise you can find yourself getting a stitch - as I still can do if I get it wrong.

Personally for me, on a 1:1 breathing:stroke ratio I inhale during the drive (start last 3/4) and exhale during recovery - I find the opposite squashes everything and it's not as effective/comfortable.
at a medium effort I switch to 3:2 - that extra breath comes in on the recovery
and finally under hard work it's 2:1.

the rate and stroke Wmin can play a part for me as to whether I switch the breathing patterns, as 1:1 is always ideal for me so i tend to hold onto that until I "have" to switch, but now I don't consciously do it, it just occurs when needed.

[Dangerscouse]

Just for the avoidance of doubt, I think you'll always be mouth breathing for the harder sessions, and nasal breathing is more important in a general sense, and for low intensity sessions, either for as long as possible or having a combination of the two.

[Nomark]

Looks very good to me. Consistent splits, consistent stroke until the end where I assume you went for it a bit. You must be pretty fit to get that time after 3 weeks.

What training are you doing? A plan or 5k every few days?

[Tsnor]

https://log.concept2.com/share/2503523/97155665

Play with your stroke rate. 20-22 spm is fine. You might find some free power at 24 or even 26 strokes/min. Nice 5K.

If you like to optimize training consider a heart rate monitor.

[milansanremo]

Nothing to say except for "Awesome"! in taking the time and initiative to respond.
You're a great community and I'm honored to be a
part of it now.
I've made some changes to try and make this transition more effective. I have an office in my home and have moved the C2 into an adjacent area.
This week I started a new routine of an AM 5k working on technique. An additional PM workout consists of a higher tempo workout of 5k or more with a few hard efforts mixed in.
I want to pencil in a workout learned from you guys of 4x 1000m weekly shortly.

Thanks Again

[Dangerscouse]

Nothing to say except for "Awesome"! in taking the time and initiative to respond.
You're a great community and I'm honored to be a
part of it now.

Tbh John, rowing / erging is such an esoteric sport that we all need to be pulling together and if you take an interest in improving, we'll always be willing to help.

I assume that cycling has something similar doesn't it?

[milansanremo]

Again... your interest is commendable...thank you !
Of course, cycling has many resources such as this.
I'll elaborate on this subject at a later date if you remind me.
For now, I will say that after being involved in competitive cycling for roughly 40 years, it seems to attract a more egocentric population. Take that however you would like.

[Dangerscouse]

For now, I will say that after being involved in competitive cycling for roughly 40 years, it seems to attract a more egocentric population. Take that however you would like.

Hahaha, we have some of that too, but thankfully they are definitely in the minority and don't spend time on the forum.

To be fair, it could be due to us being amateurs, and the added complication of professionalism could, I assume, quite easily be a big difference in how people behave. A dog eat dog type of scenario.

[p_b82]

If you spend time on the faceache groups and reddit, you'll find plenty of the more toxic attitudes being shown up.

I think luckily for us, forums are a (dying) medium that attracts those that are looking for useful engagement not bragging/belittling... in my experience

[iain]

Nothing to say except for "Awesome"! in taking the time and initiative to respond.
You're a great community and I'm honored to be a
part of it now.
I've made some changes to try and make this transition more effective. I have an office in my home and have moved the C2 into an adjacent area.
This week I started a new routine of an AM 5k working on technique. An additional PM workout consists of a higher tempo workout of 5k or more with a few hard efforts mixed in.
I want to pencil in a workout learned from you guys of 4x 1000m weekly shortly.

Thanks Again

Apologies but I can't remember your stats. But you only get fitter when resting and the commonest error amongst amateur athletes is training too hard on the "easier" sessions and thereby compromising the harder ones. 4x1k is a really tough session when done close to full on. To do it justice you will need an easier day (or rest day) immediately before and you will also need to take it easier on the day after. Also doing weekly will need to be with a controlled incremental improvement or you may find it too hard to beat the previous times and have to slow down / stop early (bad habit). SO I would say that every 2 - 3 weeks works better for most people. 5 x 750 makes a good alternative if you want a hard short interval session each week. I find it is about 1S/500m quicker when done with 3' rest re 4' rest for 1ks.

[milansanremo]

If you spend time on the faceache groups and reddit, you'll find plenty of the more toxic attitudes being shown up.

I think luckily for us, forums are a (dying) medium that attracts those that are looking for useful engagement not bragging/belittling... in my experience

HaHa....I debated but took the plunge.
I'm not on FB..X.. Reddit.. or any other time waster.
But now that I'm here... I'm officially on social media...lol