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[rtbrouwer]

I hurt my back when I was around 20y old, so I couldn't do max lifts, but my best DL was 18x160kg, squats a bit lower. My favorite exercise was benchpress where I did 192,5kg which was pretty good, especially for a non-steroid-lifter Since I started rowing I hardly do any strength work so I'm a good bit weaker atm for sure.
As you can already do a sub1:25 500m you have plenty of power for all distances. Do you have a lifting background too?

If you want to train strength I would recommend very short rows with plenty of rest between sets. As I have no gym membership and hardly any weights at home I tried workouts like 4x 30''/90''R at R22, or 4x1'/3-4'R at R20, every rep at max, as a DL substitution, it works well but is demanding for the back.

If you're interested in sprint rowing, Shawn Baker posted many of his training in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=111430&p=410424&hil ... ff#p410424

Impressive numbers Martin. I have a very broad sports background. In the period when I was about 15 to 21 I did a lot of martial arts (MMA, JiuJitsu and Kickboxing) and I played rugby. weighed 103kg, did 100m on gras under 13 seconds and benched 130kg and the most beautifull thing is that I played on the flyhalf position. Which basicly ment we had an extra first center in the game. Lot's of big hits to break the line. Eventually the big hits caught up to me and I suffered a herniated disc at C7. That led to nerve damage causing a lot of power loss on my right side. For day to day life everything works fine but my bench is still crappy. At that point I made the switch to cycling and after a couple of years of cycling I ended up competing at an elite level and my weight had dropped to 85kg. 160km courses at 43kph average, that sort of stuff. Then another couple of years later later I became a father, my carreer took off and training was at a low level. Did some crossfit and weightlifting (82kg snatch, 110kg C&J) from time to time, did some running sometimes, but with little or no consistancy and goals.

Now, at 35 years old I was almost back to 100kg again, but this I was basicly fat and unfit. So I decided that needed to change and started training seriously again 6 weeks ago, back to 95kg now. Rowing seems to fit my body very well. The mix between sheer power and aerobic capacity is good for me. Let's see where I end up if I manage to keep this up over a longer period of time.

[MartinSH4321]

I hurt my back when I was around 20y old, so I couldn't do max lifts, but my best DL was 18x160kg, squats a bit lower. My favorite exercise was benchpress where I did 192,5kg which was pretty good, especially for a non-steroid-lifter Since I started rowing I hardly do any strength work so I'm a good bit weaker atm for sure.
As you can already do a sub1:25 500m you have plenty of power for all distances. Do you have a lifting background too?

If you want to train strength I would recommend very short rows with plenty of rest between sets. As I have no gym membership and hardly any weights at home I tried workouts like 4x 30''/90''R at R22, or 4x1'/3-4'R at R20, every rep at max, as a DL substitution, it works well but is demanding for the back.

If you're interested in sprint rowing, Shawn Baker posted many of his training in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=111430&p=410424&hil ... ff#p410424

Impressive numbers Martin. I have a very broad sports background. In the period when I was about 15 to 21 I did a lot of martial arts (MMA, JiuJitsu and Kickboxing) and I played rugby. weighed 103kg, did 100m on gras under 13 seconds and benched 130kg and the most beautifull thing is that I played on the flyhalf position. Which basicly ment we had an extra first center in the game. Lot's of big hits to break the line. Eventually the big hits caught up to me and I suffered a herniated disc at C7. That led to nerve damage causing a lot of power loss on my right side. For day to day life everything works fine but my bench is still crappy. At that point I made the switch to cycling and after a couple of years of cycling I ended up competing at an elite level and my weight had dropped to 85kg. 160km courses at 43kph average, that sort of stuff. Then another couple of years later later I became a father, my carreer took off and training was at a low level. Did some crossfit and weightlifting (82kg snatch, 110kg C&J) from time to time, did some running sometimes, but with little or no consistancy and goals.

Now, at 35 years old I was almost back to 100kg again, but this I was basicly fat and unfit. So I decided that needed to change and started training seriously again 6 weeks ago, back to 95kg now. Rowing seems to fit my body very well. The mix between sheer power and aerobic capacity is good for me. Let's see where I end up if I manage to keep this up over a longer period of time.

Cool, I did JiuJitsu myself from 14-23 and was pretty competitive (won the European Junior Championship when I was 17)
Looks like you have a perfect background to be a great rower, I don't have much knowledge about rugby and cycling but to be at an elite level means you must have a superb aerobic engine. Now your body has to adapt to rowing, but as you're strong too this will be very fast. If you train as much as now I bet you'll beat all my currents PBs (1k and longer) next month, and by the end of the year I guess you're far away (sub17 5k, 30'>8500).

[rtbrouwer]

Cool, I did JiuJitsu myself from 14-23 and was pretty competitive (won the European Junior Championship when I was 17)
Looks like you have a perfect background to be a great rower, I don't have much knowledge about rugby and cycling but to be at an elite level means you must have a superb aerobic engine. Now your body has to adapt to rowing, but as you're strong too this will be very fast. If you train as much as now I bet you'll beat all my currents PBs (1k and longer) next month, and by the end of the year I guess you're far away (sub17 5k, 30'>8500).

Thanks for the confidence but it won't be that easy. In the Netherlands anybody with a competative drive can apply for an Elite licence. I was in way over my head and by far the least talented in the peleton. I was a smart rider and had some top 10 finishes in races but purely because I was in the right breakaway. In the final 3k I always got dropped when the talented guys turned on their engines. I was a very strong sprinter on the bike but the problem was that I never got to the final sprint because I was dropped already haha. Did manage to win some mid-race sprints for points.

I think fair, but challanging goals for me are:
2k 6:45
5k <18 min
6k < 22 min
10k <37:30
HM <1:24:00

But who knows. Only time will tell.....

[jackarabit]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUQk3YLAn9k

Of tangential interest to those who commented on Chris Cooper’s lamentable form, this vid from 2016 WIRC, senior masters men 40-49, submitted for your perusal in T h e T w i l i g h t Z o n e. At 6:22, three gentlemen in the back row stage left are roller coasting the handle to clear their rising knees.

[Huopaaja]

Hey all, I did not notice this topic until just now. I got an erg last month and been lurking on the forum since then. I sort of already presented myself on the main training forum, but here’s a link to my training log if anyone’s interested
https://log.concept2.com/profile/973347
I’m training broadly on the pete plan, but intend to throw in the spring series, some longer rows and more road cycling and rollerskiing once the weather improves up here in Finland. I also usually lift weights once or twice a week, mostly focusing on the upper body and midsection to help my doublepoling.
I’m supposed to do a 30k outdoor sculling race in June in a traditional wood boat (as part of a multisport endurance race series), so hopefully there will be some on-the-water training too, if these covid restrictions clear out in time.

[MartinSH4321]

Hey all, I did not notice this topic until just now. I got an erg last month and been lurking on the forum since then. I sort of already presented myself on the main training forum, but here’s a link to my training log if anyone’s interested
https://log.concept2.com/profile/973347
I’m training broadly on the pete plan, but intend to throw in the spring series, some longer rows and more road cycling and rollerskiing once the weather improves up here in Finland. I also usually lift weights once or twice a week, mostly focusing on the upper body and midsection to help my doublepoling.
I’m supposed to do a 30k outdoor sculling race in June in a traditional wood boat (as part of a multisport endurance race series), so hopefully there will be some on-the-water training too, if these covid restrictions clear out in time.

Hi Ilkka and welcome to our FF thread!
Looks like you have great preconditions for rowing, that's a great 30' PB and you're number 1 in our spring series boat

[Huopaaja]

Thanks! It was my longest TT row so far, so the goal was to play it safe and get a hard workout but avoid burning out. Even so, the last kilometer felt a little dizzy and uncomfortable, so I don’t think I left too much in the tank.

[lindsayh]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUQk3YLAn9k
Of tangential interest to those who commented on Chris Cooper’s lamentable form, this vid from 2016 WIRC, senior masters men 40-49, submitted for your perusal in T h e T w i l i g h t Z o n e. At 6:22, three gentlemen in the back row stage left are roller coasting the handle to clear their rising knees.

That is a very instructive video Jack. Look at the massive power and technique of Benton (in the GBR kit) and also the slow stroking Andy Benko (erg 6 black singlet) who was getting close to 50y and resetting all the WRs. To Benton's right is Cesar Morales not using his arms well at all and to his left in the grey T is Luke Wollenschlager with a very poor technique that gets worse as he tires. The reason Benton keeps looking over to him in the middle of the race is that LW headed off at well under 1:30 pace and GB couldn't work out what he was doing. GB rowed him down of course as LW's technique completely failed. The guys in the back are collapsing as well and breaking all the rules.
Wollenschlager eventually got a WIRC gold in spite of his technique and a 1k WR as well

[jackarabit]

Benko has that little pause at finish like a polite cat that just lapped up the cream! Benton had a long career after taking down Nik Fleming in the ‘05 Cambridge (UK) event. Never looked at Wollenschlager but looking now. Towing himself back to the catch with quads well b4 hands away after that almost Danish handle to collarbone finish.

[ivan141]

Took another swing at the 30 minutes this evening (mantra: PR or ER).
Managed to nibble 1.5s/500m off my previous avg split finishing with 7894 meters (1:54).
I was quite chuffed with the distance right after I finished, but now those 6 missing meters are a bummer.
But no more for me this week, I am spent.

[rtbrouwer]

Took another swing at the 30 minutes this evening (mantra: PR or ER).
Managed to nibble 1.5s/500m off my previous avg split finishing with 7894 meters (1:54).
I was quite chuffed with the distance right after I finished, but now those 6 missing meters are a bummer.
But no more for me this week, I am spent.

Well done! Seems you really got the most out of it! And you just gave our first boat a bump

[DavidA]

Took another swing at the 30 minutes this evening (mantra: PR or ER).
Managed to nibble 1.5s/500m off my previous avg split finishing with 7894 meters (1:54).
I was quite chuffed with the distance right after I finished, but now those 6 missing meters are a bummer.
But no more for me this week, I am spent.

Congratulations!
It is a such an interesting thing about certain numbers for many of us. 7900 m is much, much better than just 6 m more than 7894 m.

David

[MartinSH4321]

Took another swing at the 30 minutes this evening (mantra: PR or ER).
Managed to nibble 1.5s/500m off my previous avg split finishing with 7894 meters (1:54).
I was quite chuffed with the distance right after I finished, but now those 6 missing meters are a bummer.
But no more for me this week, I am spent.

Well done Ivan, that's a big improvement! Next time you'll get those extra 6m

[lindsayh]

Dave Terry has joined up with the team I think (it was very slow) so can you check to see if his 30' is on your list now (7422m)

[Yankeerunner]

7150m for me this morning. Not close to my SB, and way behind Terry (Whoa! Great piece!), but better than last Monday when I tried it and bailed out due to exhaustion. I'd done 36 fairly hard days in a row and it caught up to me. During the week my OTW coach sends workouts by email and I go as hard as I can to impress him and keep my spot in the boat when the boathouse reopens. Since I'm the oldest and lightest weight rower in the crew I know my seat is not assured. A precarious situation. I was tired today too, but determined to get a score for the FF.