Pete Plan for Beginners (BPP)

[RayOfSunshine]

A few years ago, I was new to rowing and followed the BPP. I forced myself to post all my workouts on a BPP thread. It was all about accountability!

I'm now new to the skierg and have had a couple surgeries, so I'm doing the BPP. If you're new (or new again) on the rower or skierg and are looking for some accountability/motivation, please post your workouts here.

Pete Plan for Beginners week 1, workout 1 (BPP 1.1) below



I'm not sure if you can see the pic or not, it's been a couple years.

[Dangerscouse]

A few years ago, I was new to rowing and followed the BPP. I forced myself to post all my workouts on a BPP thread. It was all about accountability!

I'm now new to the skierg and have had a couple surgeries, so I'm doing the BPP. If you're new (or new again) on the rower or skierg and are looking for some accountability/motivation, please post your workouts here.

Pete Plan for Beginners week 1, workout 1 (BPP 1.1) below

https://imgur.com/a/mza1tdl

I'm not sure if you can see the pic or not, it's been a couple years.

Welcome back Ray!

[RayOfSunshine]

Welcome back Ray!

Thanks Stu!

I see the pic didn't post, so here are the results for BPP 1.1 (done on 9/5)
[Mod edit: Yes it did, I fixed the URL.]

Time M Pace S/M

24:54 5000 2:29.4 42

4:58.2 1000 2:29.1 49
4:46.7 2000 2:38.3 43
5:00.3 3000 2:30.1 44
5:01.0 4000 2:30.5 41
4:57.8 5000 2:28.9 34

Still finding my way around the ski. Baseline set.

[Ramblin_Wreck08]

Are non-BPP newbies allowed? Got my RowErg Tues and started with a 10 min beginner row from Dark Horse on YouTube as a way to learn some basic technique. Was about to start the BPP today but decided to give the free Asensei 6 week program a try and loved it. Will probably stick to this plan to figure out my baseline/technique a bit before moving on to the BPP.

Asensei “Meet your Coach”

Time M Pace S/M

15:00 3129 2:24 20

13:00 2629 2:26 20
02:00 500 2:11 24

Also, just have to say I love the C2. Have used another brand at the gym in the past (it’s been a couple years) and can’t believe how smooth the drive is on the C2.

[RayOfSunshine]

Are non-BPP newbies allowed? Got my RowErg Tues and started with a 10 min beginner row from Dark Horse on YouTube as a way to learn some basic technique. Was about to start the BPP today but decided to give the free Asensei 6 week program a try and loved it. Will probably stick to this plan to figure out my baseline/technique a bit before moving on to the BPP.

Asensei “Meet your Coach”

Time M Pace S/M

15:00 3129 2:24 20

13:00 2629 2:26 20
02:00 500 2:11 24

Also, just have to say I love the C2. Have used another brand at the gym in the past (it’s been a couple years) and can’t believe how smooth the drive is on the C2.

Nice work!

Everyone is allowed for sure. If you want to post your workouts here from the other plan, feel free.

Dark Horse has some great videos. I've used those a lot. I love the c2 as well.

[RayOfSunshine]

PPB 1.2: 6x500 2r

Felt pretty good. I know my s/m need to go up, but I'll worry about that once I get form under control.

[Ernits]

For sprinting, the stroke rate is fine. Perhaps even a bit lower would be good to get your watts/stroke up e.g getting a stronger stroke.

Your pacing is a bit off though. Your 5k pace (or the distance piece - in BPP these distance sessions are not meant as a testing of your best time for a ranking piece, but to get in distance at a steady pace) should be a range where you can carry on while speaking in full sentences, but 500m pace is sprinting - no talking pace.

[Ramblin_Wreck08]

Thanks for the welcome, Ray! And thanks for getting this started - I definitely felt a bit more motivated today knowing I was going to post my results.

It turns out the program I started has just 3 free workouts, after which the subscription model kicks in. Not quite ready for that commitment yet after just buying the machine, so decided to switch over to the BPP. Pace felt about right, and had just enough in the tank to push a bit harder on the final 500 once I saw I was right on the 23 min threshold. Otherwise I was just focused on 20 S/M and trying to see if I could maintain a consistent pace.

It looks like you increased your pace by 5 sec from session 1 to session 2. Did that feel about right for moving from a 5k to a 6x500 2r? Just trying to figure out what pace I should target for session 2.

BPP 1.1: 5,000m

Time M Pace S/M

22:54.8 5,000m 2:17.4 19
2:19.9 500m 2:19.9 20
2:17.7 1,000m 2:17.7 19
2:16.8 1,500m 2:16.8 20
2:18.0 2,000m 2:18.0 19
2:19.7 2,500m 2:19.7 19
2:18.2 3,000m 2:18.2 20
2:18.5 3,500m 2:18.5 20
2:18.5 4,000m 2:18.5 20
2:17.3 4,500m 2:17.3 20
2:10.2 5,000m 2:10.2 20

[RayOfSunshine]

For sprinting, the stroke rate is fine. Perhaps even a bit lower would be good to get your watts/stroke up e.g getting a stronger stroke.

Thanks. This is for the SkiErg not the rower. My last rower 5k TT s/m was @ 31s/m [1:54.7 pace]. This was in 2020. In 2019, it was 26s/m. It took me a while to work my way up. Do you ski as well as row?

[RayOfSunshine]

Thanks for the welcome, Ray! And thanks for getting this started - I definitely felt a bit more motivated today knowing I was going to post my results.

It turns out the program I started has just 3 free workouts, after which the subscription model kicks in. Not quite ready for that commitment yet after just buying the machine, so decided to switch over to the BPP. Pace felt about right, and had just enough in the tank to push a bit harder on the final 500 once I saw I was right on the 23 min threshold. Otherwise I was just focused on 20 S/M and trying to see if I could maintain a consistent pace.

It looks like you increased your pace by 5 sec from session 1 to session 2. Did that feel about right for moving from a 5k to a 6x500 2r? Just trying to figure out what pace I should target for session 2.

BPP 1.1: 5,000m

Time M Pace S/M

22:54.8 5,000m 2:17.4 19
2:19.9 500m 2:19.9 20
2:17.7 1,000m 2:17.7 19
2:16.8 1,500m 2:16.8 20
2:18.0 2,000m 2:18.0 19
2:19.7 2,500m 2:19.7 19
2:18.2 3,000m 2:18.2 20
2:18.5 3,500m 2:18.5 20
2:18.5 4,000m 2:18.5 20
2:17.3 4,500m 2:17.3 20
2:10.2 5,000m 2:10.2 20

Nice work. That last 500! Way to empty the tank. I know it's not in the instructions, but I know it feels good.

I'd say the split decrease felt right on the move.

[RayOfSunshine]

PPB 1.3 (repeat of PPB 1.1)

Goal was at or slightly below 2:29.4 focusing on “technique, relaxation, efficiency”. My average s/m dropped from 42 to 33. I need to do some research, but the 33 s/m on the ski feels about right.

[max_ratcliffe]

PPB 1.3 (repeat of PPB 1.1)

Goal was at or slightly below 2:29.4 focusing on “technique, relaxation, efficiency”. My average s/m dropped from 42 to 33. I need to do some research, but the 33 s/m on the ski feels about right.

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I usually aim for something like 1.5x rowerg rate. I've done a fair few wp l4 style pieces with rates 24-27-30-33 (instead of 16-18-20-22) and that seems to work okay. Henry suggested that this is still a bit on the low side and I'm sure that he's right, but it seems a good starting point as well as making the sums easier.

I would need to check but I think my 1k pb on the rower was at about 35spm, and about 51 on the skierg, so there's that 1.5ish again.

[Ramblin_Wreck08]

PPB 1.3 (repeat of PPB 1.1)

Goal was at or slightly below 2:29.4 focusing on “technique, relaxation, efficiency”. My average s/m dropped from 42 to 33. I need to do some research, but the 33 s/m on the ski feels about right.

Incredible consistency! You nailed it!

“Aim to row at that pace consistently through this session, and don’t give in to any temptations to go faster…”

[Ramblin_Wreck08]

Nice work. That last 500! Way to empty the tank. I know it's not in the instructions, but I know it feels good.

I'd say the split decrease felt right on the move.

Thanks! Yes, it felt great getting under that mental barrier.

And thanks for the feedback on the split decrease. I’ll start there and see how it goes! Might be a few days before I’m back on the erg since I play ~2 hrs of basketball on Mon and will use that for my cardio, but looking forward to checking in on your progress in the meantime.

[Dangerscouse]

Thanks! Yes, it felt great getting under that mental barrier.

Sometimes the endorphin boost is worth more than sticking rigidly to the plan. You'll make lots of progress at the start, so I'd highly recommend to learn to love the process more than the result.