Drag setting vs. performance and pain

jbell · Post by **jbell** » December 26th, 2006, 5:36 pm

The only time I could see a drag factor of 160+ for 2k/6k would be if you were 6'8" since getting a fast stroke rate would be very hard to accomplish. Somewhere in the old forums, I believe someone said Xeno did his 2k's at a DF of 160ish.

JimR · Post by **JimR** » December 26th, 2006, 6:15 pm

I believe PaulS knows the name of someone that always uses 200+ ... but they are really huge and experienced.

Which I point out because when you read what others do with an erg you have to consider the specifics ... or else you may not get the expected results.

JimR

tdebert · Post by **tdebert** » December 26th, 2006, 7:47 pm

Thanks folks. I appreciate all of the replies.

I'm convinced I need to lower the drag factor at least down to about 140-150 or maybe even lower and work on refining my technique. I'm very competitive, even when it's only me who knows my results, so it will take a little swallowing of the ego at first. Just like in weight lifting, sometimes you need to put aside the ego to correct the technique and avoid injuries. In the long run, you stay healthy, stay in the game, and keep progressing, which is much better than throwing caution to the wind and having to quit due to injury. If this were the Olympics, it might be different, but unfortunately that's not in the cards.

Thanks again for all of the helpful posts.

PaulS · Post by **PaulS** » December 26th, 2006, 8:22 pm

JimR wrote:I believe PaulS knows the name of someone that always uses 200+ ... but they are really huge and experienced.

Which I point out because when you read what others do with an erg you have to consider the specifics ... or else you may not get the expected results.

JimR

Jurgen Schwab ("germananswer" around the forums) uses a DF over 200 for his racing and does quite well, though Matthias Siejkowski uses 165 (IIRC) and it's tough to argue with his results, Pavel Shurmei was in the 155 range and not exactly a wilting flower on the Erg either.

The problem as I see it with the high DF's is that they don't prepare you to move quickly from the catch, something that I think is quite important if you also row in boats. As far as the danger to the back, the slower moving flywheel will increase the magnitude of shock loading at the catch, but that could also be controlled by the effort and speed which the person ingrains as a habit. i.e. if you are used to the low DF then the high DF feels very sluggish if trying to maintain the same pace and SR.

Moving to a lower DF can be done at any time, but increasing the DF should be done gradually so the body can adapt and reduce the risk of injury along the way.

LJWagner · Post by **LJWagner** » December 27th, 2006, 11:21 am

If the back always hurts after a high drag session, also give it some more time to heal. Do much lighter workouts for a week or two, and use ice packs a bit when it does hurt. Be sure to warm up well before you row, especially your back.

The low back takes more time to heal than other areas. The injury may also be affecting your performance at better drag settings.