I have been rowing for almost a year (currently at 1.5 million meters) after years of running but using this as my primary form of exercise. I try to get in around 7K a day. I also play racquetball twice a week and will start biking to work again once the weather changes about 26 miles round trip. I also do pushups and weight training twice a week for about 20 minutes after I am done rowing. I use an elliptical to warm up for the erg and also in between sets which vary from 500m to full 10k at times. I try to mix up my erg workout with different sets. I will probably cut back on rowing in the spring when I can get out on my bike on the weekends. I have also been sucked into the pace issue and at times try to not look at my pace but I usually fail and try to keep all my pieces under 2:00 minute pace. When I get serious I try to break my 2k PB of 7:19.3 which I did in November but recently have started to wimp out around 1K probably because I was pulling 1:45 for the first 1k and have been starting to fear the 3rd 500. I didn’t have this problem when I started since I knew nothing about pace and really was just oblivious to pace and pain.
Note: I started using the erg after recovering from surgery and have been truly amazed at the work out you can get from this machine
What besides the erg is part of your exercise plan?
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raymond.botha
- Paddler
- Posts: 22
- Joined: December 23rd, 2008, 8:06 am
- Location: Johannesburg South Africa
Montan'
Yes, and I sympathize, being 44 myself, I find physical deterioration difficult to stomach. I suppose I also feel I've not yet hit my peak, thats my mind talking, my body is not comfortable with the workload though.
I remember when I used to cycle I was terrified of being overtaken. I always rode alone but had this fear following me. The worse thing was seeing someone in the distance that I was catching got me into a state of fight or flight. I was already on the limit of my pace and unsure whether the person I was catching was just cruising ...
How I conquer my own fears of not performing at my peak each time is to take each session in isolation. I always start off these days as If I'm warming up. I notice that by halfway their is no holding back and my body is determined to empty itself by the end. Like a horse going home, the return leg is always quicker. But the body seems to know how much it has left and calculated by how much it has done in the first half it knows how to get home, sometimes only just.
I find this relaxed approach at the beginning rids me of a lot of mental pressure as when I left home on my bike when younger I was flat out from start to end. It also allows my body to set a pace that suits its potential on the day as apposed to trying to force it to an expected pace.
I think maybe its wisdom of age combined with lessons learned while running which I'm new to. Make a mistake with your running pace and you really pay for it.
I've committed myself to a regular training schedule since I noticed the side effects of to much booze and dangerous living at the age of 21. I've had to make friends with my body to sustain this goal and am glad it has stuck with me.
I feel the key is to let the body have its own self expression and let the mind set the boundaries without getting in the way of the process.
Hope you find a good balance that allows you to enjoy the gift our bodies are to us.
Ray
Yes, and I sympathize, being 44 myself, I find physical deterioration difficult to stomach. I suppose I also feel I've not yet hit my peak, thats my mind talking, my body is not comfortable with the workload though.
I remember when I used to cycle I was terrified of being overtaken. I always rode alone but had this fear following me. The worse thing was seeing someone in the distance that I was catching got me into a state of fight or flight. I was already on the limit of my pace and unsure whether the person I was catching was just cruising ...
How I conquer my own fears of not performing at my peak each time is to take each session in isolation. I always start off these days as If I'm warming up. I notice that by halfway their is no holding back and my body is determined to empty itself by the end. Like a horse going home, the return leg is always quicker. But the body seems to know how much it has left and calculated by how much it has done in the first half it knows how to get home, sometimes only just.
I find this relaxed approach at the beginning rids me of a lot of mental pressure as when I left home on my bike when younger I was flat out from start to end. It also allows my body to set a pace that suits its potential on the day as apposed to trying to force it to an expected pace.
I think maybe its wisdom of age combined with lessons learned while running which I'm new to. Make a mistake with your running pace and you really pay for it.
I've committed myself to a regular training schedule since I noticed the side effects of to much booze and dangerous living at the age of 21. I've had to make friends with my body to sustain this goal and am glad it has stuck with me.
I feel the key is to let the body have its own self expression and let the mind set the boundaries without getting in the way of the process.
Hope you find a good balance that allows you to enjoy the gift our bodies are to us.
Ray
Well said Ray. I am still enjoying the PB's I achieve almost every day. I put some of it down to the fact that I was in such lousy shape to begin with that I build muscle every training day. I also think that daily time improvements on my splits comes from changing up my workouts and also because I really try to leave nothing in the tank when I am done with each workout.raymond.botha wrote:Hope you find a good balance that allows you to enjoy the gift our bodies are to us.
Ray
I also think that it is really important to do some power muscle building each workout since the type II muscle system is a "use it or lose it" system that selectively atrophies.
I have lost several inches since early January and was able to wear a pair of jeans that I have not been able to wear comfortably for literally ages this past weekend. That, my friend, is truly motivating
Neil
Check out my sports physical therapy blog at srcpt.com/blog
[img]http://www.c2ctc.com/sigs/img1240191361.png[/img]
[img]http://www.c2ctc.com/sigs/img1240191361.png[/img]
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raymond.botha
- Paddler
- Posts: 22
- Joined: December 23rd, 2008, 8:06 am
- Location: Johannesburg South Africa
You know Neil what you say is so important to sustaining ones goals. If we are clear as to what we are trying to achieve, we will remain committed even in the face of disappointment.
What helps me and has been very difficult to learn is to do it at the bodies pace / time table. I'm your typical over-trainer. Its not easy for me to train with the express understanding that this is not my last training session ever, but that its a progression.
I experienced something quite unexpected once when training with a friend of mine just starting out on the erg. As I stayed with him (online rowpro) I noticed how much less effort I was expending each session as I held back on my effort to keep him company. I found the body remembers its last workout and gets used to that effort. The result was that my heart beat wanted to stay low even when I increased my pace dramatically. Not what I expected. Before my HR would be like a racing motor any indication of effort would bring about a fast increase regardless of how strenuous, as when I trained slower it would remain low regardless of effort up to extremis.
That was an interesting lesson which challenged me as I only ever trained and was convinced that all out efforts where the only valuable ones. The body is not as simple a mechanism as I'd anticipated. I noticed also often from my gyming days that its difficult to predict performance on feelings. Often when I felt my best my workouts where no less than frustrating and other times when I felt lousy and out of sync that they produced best efforts !
I read somewhere that performance is more aligned with nerve pathway "improvements" than muscular hypertrophy. This is in line with my own experience as coming off a lay-off my first session is as predicted - BUT the second session is a HUGE improvement in performance terms !
I guess this is part of what keeps me busy as I train is listening to all these signals that our body feeds us during a session. I'm fascinated and often surprised at how little I know about its workings.
Good to meet someone with similar insights
.
Ray
What helps me and has been very difficult to learn is to do it at the bodies pace / time table. I'm your typical over-trainer. Its not easy for me to train with the express understanding that this is not my last training session ever, but that its a progression.
I experienced something quite unexpected once when training with a friend of mine just starting out on the erg. As I stayed with him (online rowpro) I noticed how much less effort I was expending each session as I held back on my effort to keep him company. I found the body remembers its last workout and gets used to that effort. The result was that my heart beat wanted to stay low even when I increased my pace dramatically. Not what I expected. Before my HR would be like a racing motor any indication of effort would bring about a fast increase regardless of how strenuous, as when I trained slower it would remain low regardless of effort up to extremis.
That was an interesting lesson which challenged me as I only ever trained and was convinced that all out efforts where the only valuable ones. The body is not as simple a mechanism as I'd anticipated. I noticed also often from my gyming days that its difficult to predict performance on feelings. Often when I felt my best my workouts where no less than frustrating and other times when I felt lousy and out of sync that they produced best efforts !
I read somewhere that performance is more aligned with nerve pathway "improvements" than muscular hypertrophy. This is in line with my own experience as coming off a lay-off my first session is as predicted - BUT the second session is a HUGE improvement in performance terms !
I guess this is part of what keeps me busy as I train is listening to all these signals that our body feeds us during a session. I'm fascinated and often surprised at how little I know about its workings.
Good to meet someone with similar insights
.Ray
All mixed up
I erg, run, use an elliptical and weight train, primarily with Nautilus. I'm 60 years old and used to be a pretty competitive runner. Now my knees and hips won't take 10 mile training runs on a daily basis so I mix things up. There's an old maxim in weightlifting about muscle confusion - do different routines in different ways on the same muscle groups to keep getting stronger. I think that philosophy can extend to workouts in general. I'd be bored with just erging, but it fits into a mixed up workout routine very nicely. What seems to work for me is variety - knees that hurt from running hurt less after erging. Back and shoulders seem stronger on the weights after a hard row the night before. Don't know if that helps you but it works for me.
Shawn Bryan
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johnlvs2run
- Half Marathon Poster
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- Joined: March 16th, 2006, 1:13 pm
- Location: California Central Coast
- Contact:
Sbryan, why do you think the knees don't take running as well any more?
Personally I feel it's the soft foam and gimmicks they use in modern running shoes.
Personally I feel it's the soft foam and gimmicks they use in modern running shoes.
bikeerg 75 5'8" 155# - 18.5 - 51.9 - 568 - 1:52.7 - 8:03.8 - 20:13.1 - 14620 - 40:58.7 - 28855 - 1:23:48.0
rowerg 56-58 5'8.5" 143# - 1:39.6 - 3:35.6 - 7:24.0 - 18:57.4 - 22:49.9 - 7793 - 38:44.7 - 1:22:48.9 - 2:58:46.2
rowerg 56-58 5'8.5" 143# - 1:39.6 - 3:35.6 - 7:24.0 - 18:57.4 - 22:49.9 - 7793 - 38:44.7 - 1:22:48.9 - 2:58:46.2
These are areas I aspire to work in. Although time, $$ and energy constraints don't always allow me to get em all in. But having the right formula is half the battle and I have them on my mind to not neglect.
Weight / strength training
Aerobics / HIIT
Nutrition
Balance / equilibrium training
Yoga / flexibility training
Speed training applied by body
Speed training applied by mechanical means
Height / altitude training
Pressure / depth training
Centrifugal training
Jump / Height / Plyometrics training
Breath Holding training
Ambidextrous training
Inversion training
Timing and Coordination training
Agility training
Stability training
Cold training
Mind training
Mind relaxation / meditation (zazen)
Proper Sleep...(yep I have to train in sleep too! The way modern man and woman live has lost all connection with natural sleep cycles set forth by nature. A diver summed up his sleep training as well as mine - "I plan my sleep and sleep my plan.")
Weight / strength training
Aerobics / HIIT
Nutrition
Balance / equilibrium training
Yoga / flexibility training
Speed training applied by body
Speed training applied by mechanical means
Height / altitude training
Pressure / depth training
Centrifugal training
Jump / Height / Plyometrics training
Breath Holding training
Ambidextrous training
Inversion training
Timing and Coordination training
Agility training
Stability training
Cold training
Mind training
Mind relaxation / meditation (zazen)
Proper Sleep...(yep I have to train in sleep too! The way modern man and woman live has lost all connection with natural sleep cycles set forth by nature. A diver summed up his sleep training as well as mine - "I plan my sleep and sleep my plan.")