Training Question

[old] travisshue · Post by **[old] travisshue** » October 8th, 2004, 10:45 pm

Have any of you tried setting a particular wattage/pace for a particular piece example: 500m in 1:30 (target=480W for 90sec). Then row at the target pace for as long as you can, until you can row that pace for the desired time?

[old] GeorgeD · Post by **[old] GeorgeD** » October 9th, 2004, 1:21 am

Hi, I am doing some of my training at a target SPI (wattage/spm) for my 'goal' 2k, but what you are suggesting would I think be a less than efficient training method. For your body to adapt and 'survive' takes a balanced approach to training where 'recovery' is included. I think there is always a time in preparation where you want to be doing sessions at 'race' pace or quicker .... but not every session. The 500m is not a good indication of where you are as an erger/rower. My PB is 1:23.7 which I guess is reasonably quick, but it not done with ideal technique and requires limited if any aerobic endurance (hence not indicative of the weaknesses I have), so it is a 'power' distance and should be treated as such ... you just go as hard as you can and hold on thru the pain and lactic build up till the monitor says 'ZERO'. If you want to have a go at something shorter than a 2k (which is just dam painful) then the 1000m is a nice balance that includes both an anerobic component but also requires you to pace yourself and have some endurance ability. Give it a go and have some fun - George

[old] travisshue · Post by **[old] travisshue** » October 9th, 2004, 4:50 am

The 500m was only the example I used. I am referring to any distance. Another example 2k in 7:20. Suppose you can hold 1:50 pace for 4 minutes in the first session, then just try to increase the time each time you go at that particular pace until you can hold it for 7:20.

[old] NavigationHazard · Post by **[old] NavigationHazard** » October 9th, 2004, 7:09 am

If your goal is simply to build up to some target time for an arbitrary distance, your method will work. Essentially your point is that you won't be able to row (say) a 21097 m half marathon at 1:52/500 pace unless or until you can row 16000 m at the same pace (= 60 mins); rowing 16000 m at 1:52/500 pace isn't going to happen until after you can pull a 10k similarly; etc. Whether it's necessarily the most efficient method for reaching your target is another question. Before I go any further, let me say categorically that all of us are different temperamentally and physiologically. If it works for you and you're happy with the results, erg on happily. But I would suggest some alternatives. Crudely, erg results for a given distance can be thought of as a function of speed (how fast can you pull) tempered by endurance (how long can you pull). My suspicion is that you'll find you improve fastest by building your baseline endurance first and then adding speed. Row farther than your target distance at slower than your desired pace to build up your endurance. Combine that with pulling shorter distances at faster than your target pace to build up speed. And when you're ready -- or on erg-test day, whichever comes first -- put them together and go for your goal. But as I say, all of us are different....