Help with a every other day program

[lt_gustavsen]

Can someone help me with a training program.
A little background. Back in 2004 I bought a concept II rower when I visited USA. (They was not very happy for this on the plane back to Norway but that's one other story). I rowed like crazy the first year until we get our first baby. My pb 2k that year was 6.54.4 and 8012M on 30min. Since then have I used it only a few times each month. I'm 1.94 (6.29 feet) tall and about 92 kg.


Since just before Christmas I have started to be serious on my rower again. My plan is to row every other day. I just row for my fitness. I have found the pete plan (www.machars.net/peteplan.htm) and I like it. His plan has 6 training day and I can not do that.
I wonder will it work if I use his day 1, day 4 and day 6 and in some of the weeks with 4 sessions, one extra endurance interval.

Maybe this is program is to hard and to little joy of rowing in it? Maybe it will be wise to have at least one not to hard 10K in every week and cut the day 4 (in pete's plan) one week and day 6 (in pete's plan) next week? Many questions and bad English, I hope you understand.

I rowed the 8x500m day 1 today, aimed at 1.50.
1.49,9
1.50,1
1.49,8
1.49,9
1.49.7
1.49.9
1.50.1
1.39,3 (my heart rate passed 190 on this, it was very hard for me)
average 1,48.7 and my starting point next time. I'm glad it is 3 weeks to next 8x500m.

Lars

[Bob S.]

I wonder will it work if I use his day 1, day 4 and day 6 and in some of the weeks with 4 sessions, one extra endurance interval.

Maybe this is program is to hard and to little joy of rowing in it? Maybe it will be wise to have at least one not to hard 10K in every week and cut the day 4 (in pete's plan) one week and day 6 (in pete's plan) next week? Many questions and bad English, I hope you understand.

From my point of view, you have chosen the three hardest days of the six. Also, only two of the six are intervals, but you have included both of them in your three day plan. Do you have a particular reason for favoring intervals? It is a very personal thing of course. I don't like the intervals. I am much happier with the long steady state sessions, but if I were doing just three days a week I would try to get more of a balance of steady state and intervals. As has been pointed out to me, the idea of trying to do a personal best 10K each week is rather crazy, but considering it as a weekly speed endurance workout is a reasonable concept. If I were to go to a three day plan, I would do one interval a week, perhaps alternating weekly between speed intervals and endurance intervals. I would include one plain endurance workout each week, probably the 15K. And I would do one speed endurance piece each week, probably varying the distance from week to week to make it more interesting.

Bob S.

[Grover]

Hi Lars,
I too am in the midst of finding a suitable training plan. I am recovering from a back injury, and am engaging once again in slow rows. I hope to get back to some of my former times.

I just had a look at the training program, and man it looks tough and looks for continual improvement. At the end of the day, it really determines what your rowing goals are. But I am a little bit with Bob on this one, rowing close to PB each week seems crazy, and I think you will lose interest rather quick. I can't help you with a training regime, but this one looks tough. Good luck.

Cheers Grover

[lt_gustavsen]

Thanks to both of you. I guess my plan is too hard. Maybe I should just take two steady state rows each week? And compliment with either an interval session or a 10K PB. I mean one week interval and next 10K PB. My plan was to be motivated by the better PB.

Currently a 15K is a to long steady state for me at my current level. But anyway over time will it be wise to have one around 8K and one longer 15K steady state sessions each week?

Bob: I don’t favoring intervals. I just heard that they have a very good training effect. But if the side effect is that I give up, then it’s better that I try something else. As a person I have always been best in longer sports sessions.

I forgot to add, I’m born in 1972.

Thanks
Lars

[toby]

Some tips from a previous post by Mike Caviston on structuring the Wolverine Plan (WP) for as few as 4 workouts per week:

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
By far the most common question I get regarding the WP is something like, "Okay, I think I understand all this Level 1-2-3-4 business. But how the heck do I put it together into a weekly program? The Plan says something about 9 workouts a week, and I ain't doing that! So what gives?" Hey, the 9 per week is an ideal we've never really achieved at Michigan. Our team generally does 8 per week in season (that means during the fall and spring outdoor seasons, and includes 2 erg sessions along with 6 H2O workouts) and 6 erg sessions per week in the winter. I myself usually do 11 workouts per week for about half the year, and 7-9 per week the other half. At the lower end of the spectrum, I could see people making gains on 4 workouts per week. The first thing you need to do is decide how many workouts a week you will realistically commit to. A general rule is to always include a Level 1 workout and usually a Level 2, and then to supplement them with as much Level 3 & 4 as is practical or you are willing to do. Do them in roughly a ratio of twice as much Level 4 as Level 3. This refers to total meters more so than number of workouts. Now, bearing in mind the format can be flexible and these aren't carved in stone, here are some examples of possible plans using 4-8 session per week:

4 Workouts/Week: Day 1: Level 1 OR Level 2 (alternate each week)
Day 2: Level 4 (40')
Day 3: Level 3 (12K)
Day 4: Level 4 (60')
• Alternate the Level 1 or 2 workouts until about 4 weeks before your big race. Then, while keeping Level 1, replace the Level 3 or one of the Level 4s with Level 2.
• You might occasionally use an interval format rather than a continuous format for Level 3 or 4 (see the Wolverine Plan for details).

5 Workouts/Week: Day 1: Level 1
Day 2: Level 4 (40')
Day 3: Level 2
Day 4: Level 4 (60')
Day 5: Level 3 (12K)

6 Workouts/Week: Day 1: Level 1
Day 2: Level 4 (40')
Day3: Level 2
Day 4: Level 4 (4 x 10')
Day 5: Level 3 (15K)
Day 6: Level 4 (60')

7 Workouts/Week: Day 1, AM: Level 4 (40') Day 1, PM: Level 3 (10 x 3')
Day 2: Level 1
Day 3: Level 4 (2 x 40')
Day 4: Level 2
Day 5: Level 4 (4 x 10')
Day 6: Level 3 (12K)

8 Workouts/Week: Day 1, AM: Level 4 (40') Day 1, PM: Level 3 (12 x 3')
Day 2: Level 1
Day 3, AM: Level 4 (40') Day 3, PM: Level 4 (60')
Day 4: Level 2
Day 5: Level 4 (4 x 10')
Day 6: Level 3 (15K)
• If doing more than one Level 3 or more than 2 Level 4s per week, do one using the interval format on a regular basis.
• The amounts listed for Level 3 & 4 may need to be built gradually over several weeks.

So the general idea is to separate the high-intensity workouts with slower, more continuous workouts. It is possible to work hard on a daily basis within the framework of each type of workout by alternating workouts of different type. Level 1 doesn't have to be at the beginning of the week (I personally do mine in the middle of the week), but it's a good place if you need some extra recovery to be well rested and ready to perform at a high level. You may also periodically want to do time trials (such as a 95%-effort 2K or an all-out 6K) in place of the workout scheduled for the end of the week, and doing Level 1 early in the week allows you to recover without compromising your training. (Alternately, you may want to do a time trial at the beginning of the week, in place of the Level 1 workout, but I prefer not to go that route.)

A REGULAR FORMAT OR SCHEDULE IS KEY
It is very important to develop a schedule you are comfortable with and then stick to it as closely as possible over the duration of your training cycle. I don't think that the exact order of workouts is a crucial factor but keeping the workouts in the same order on a weekly basis is necessary to allow consistent and reproducible improvement. Occasionally something will come up and you will have to use your best judgement about what alterations to make, but do your best to keep your schedule as consistent as possible. I don't have a hard and fast rule about which workout(s) to toss if you know you can't complete an entire week, but a couple general rules would be: 1) drop Level 1 if you are far away from competition and drop Level 3 if you are close to competition; and 2) all other things being equal, the workout you struggle with most is the last one you should drop. One of our biggest challenges at Michigan (and I imagine for all college crews) is to maintain a consistent schedule despite multiple variables like competitions and the associated travel, seasonal changes, facility availability, exams, class schedules, holidays etc.

[Grover]

G'day again Lars. Not sure if you have seen this one already, but check it out. I am keen to give it a go. It's a 2000m interactive training program designed to get any fitness level to a peak 2K time.

www.concept2.co.uk/training/interactive.php

Cheers

Grover

[lt_gustavsen]

Thanks again to toby and grover for more information.
I will try to find room this weekend to read the entire Wolverine Plan.
I guess the point is to have a plan and follow it.

Lars