High Intensity Interval Training Advice?

[old] Strap In · Post by **[old] Strap In** » August 4th, 2005, 11:22 pm

Hi Guys I recently joined a gym across the road from my place of work, so I have somewhere to go and do stretches during my lunchbreak. I train regularly in Kung Fu (4.5 hrs pw) so my commitment to the gym is supplementary to my Kung Fu training (ie I dont want to spend an hour there everyday). Since I paid for the membership though I thought I might as well do some cardio/fat burning training aswell. Since I have had good results with sprint training in the past, and since I dont want to spend a great deal of time in the gym, I thought I might give sprint training a go using the row machine platform. I put together what I think might be an OK program to start with and was hoping you guys might critique it. Until yesterday, I have never jumped on a rower in my life, so go easy on the criticism of my numbers (I am also aerobically out of shape). I've started with 5 minutes of alternating 30 seconds medium intensity, 30 seconds high intensity, with resistance set to 10. I aim to add 1 minute to the total time per week until I make my way up to about 15mins?? and then possibly increase the high/med intensity ratio. I plan to do this mon to fri (since I'll be doing stretches 5x a week). Today I did the 5 min HIIT and rowed 1250ish metres, I was exhausted but not devastated. Comments are welcome and Im open to suggestions as to how to change/completely restructure my program. Thanks in advance dudes. Matt

[old] Citroen · Post by **[old] Citroen** » August 5th, 2005, 8:24 am

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(Strap In @ Aug 5 2005, 04:22 AM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>Hi Guys I recently joined a gym across the road from my place of work, so I have somewhere to go and do stretches during my lunchbreak. I train regularly in Kung Fu (4.5 hrs pw) so my commitment to the gym is supplementary to my Kung Fu training (ie I dont want to spend an hour there everyday). Since I paid for the membership though I thought I might as well do some cardio/fat burning training aswell. Since I have had good results with sprint training in the past, and since I dont want to spend a great deal of time in the gym, I thought I might give sprint training a go using the row machine platform. I put together what I think might be an OK program to start with and was hoping you guys might critique it. Until yesterday, I have never jumped on a rower in my life, so go easy on the criticism of my numbers (I am also aerobically out of shape). I've started with 5 minutes of alternating 30 seconds medium intensity, 30 seconds high intensity, with resistance set to 10. I aim to add 1 minute to the total time per week until I make my way up to about 15mins?? and then possibly increase the high/med intensity ratio. I plan to do this mon to fri (since I'll be doing stretches 5x a week). Today I did the 5 min HIIT and rowed 1250ish metres, I was exhausted but not devastated. Comments are welcome and Im open to suggestions as to how to change/completely restructure my program. Thanks in advance dudes. Matt </td></tr></table> Now that you've discovered the rowing machine you can think about rowing sensibly. Think about pushing the machine away with your feet rather than tugging the chain towards you with the handle. Read this thread: <a href='http://concept2.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=2443' target='_blank'>http://concept2.ipbhost.com/index.php?s ... 443</a> Drop the damper lever to 3. (Check the drag factor - should be 105-115 on a model C). Pull the same 2:00/500m split, but pull steadily for the 5 mins. How much easier is that? The C2 is the best CV machine in your gym. It's isokinetic, the harder you pull, the harder it pulls back against you. You shouldn't be exhausted after 5mins at 2:00 pace. You should be much closer to 1500m in 5 mins. I can pull a 1:57/500m split for 10K. Read the threads on here about technique, stroke rate, SPI and drag factor. There's loads of useful advice on here and on <a href='http://www.concept2.co.uk/forum' target='_blank'>http://www.concept2.co.uk/forum</a>.

[old] remador · Post by **[old] remador** » August 5th, 2005, 9:07 am

Hi, Strap In! Welcome to erging / rowing! You will find that the C2 will provide you with a bigger and stronger heart, larger lungs, increased capillarities that will provide your muscles with oxygen and greater strength. Try to get the C2 training programme at the english website (Citroen gave the link). AM

[old] Alissa · Post by **[old] Alissa** » August 5th, 2005, 9:30 am

Hi Matt. Welcome! You've been getting some great links here, but I thought I'd mention that you are the 2nd person in two days to introduce themselves after their first encounter with a C2 erg in a gym. Although we didn't initially know it was his first encounter, Jagged introduced himself/asked questions <a href='http://concept2.ipbhost.com/index.php?s ... =2462&st=0' target='_blank'>here</a> on Tuesday. It seems to me that you two might have some things in common as you learn the erg. (I'll leave a note for him on that thread about the great links here...) Enjoy! Alissa

[old] Pete Marston · Post by **[old] Pete Marston** » August 6th, 2005, 11:07 am

As you've already been told, drop the damper lever down to a setting of 3 - 5. It is a common misconception that a higher lever position makes it a harder or more effective workout, but it is just that, and not true. It simply changes the dynamics of the stroke. If you want to use the rower to improve your CV condition then start off doing continuous rows, at fairly low stroke rates (20 - 24), and concentrating on rowing with a good, smooth and efficient stroke. Look at the technique section on this website to see how it should be done. How old / tall are you? Pete

[old] Strap In · Post by **[old] Strap In** » August 7th, 2005, 3:10 am

Thanks guys and gals Cheers for the input, I am getting a bit lost however with all these spm's and 2:00/500m splits, can you explain these terms? I am 27 yrs old, 5 11' and 80kgs. Much to my horror that puts my BMI as 'overweight' although it kinda makes me laugh. I have visible abs and in fact to look at me you would call me lean. There is a small amount of fat around my waist however and it is this I would like to get rid of. Thanks for the heads up on trying to use my legs more and reducing the drag, I guess it just seemed way too easy on lower settings. I am however pretty determined to design a high intensity interval training program as opposed to doing long slow cardio for several reasons. Fisrtly, as I said before I do not want to spend a great deal of time in the gym since Ill be there 5 days a week and allready spend a great deal of time martial arts training. There is only so much of my life I can dedicate to fitness and my KF takes precedence. Secondly, I have had good results (fat loss and fitness) with sprint training before (am no longer able to sprint due to shin splints) and would rather have 15 minutes of agony than 1 hr of sweaty boredom. And thirdly, I want to avoid reducing my muscle mass and recruitment of slow twitch fibres as much as possible. So I guess my question is does anybody use their rowers for HIIT style training and if so what type of programs do you guys have? I really appreciate everyones comments and it is refreshing to see that most of the personalities on this board are overwhelmingly positive, thanks again, look forward to your comments. Matt

[old] 15kaday · Post by **[old] 15kaday** » August 7th, 2005, 11:25 am

High intensity workouts would include 4x1k, 8x500m, 2 minutes on two minutes rest and so forth. But I'm still going to recommend something 30 minutes or longer.

[old] PeterWilkinson · Post by **[old] PeterWilkinson** » August 25th, 2005, 5:44 am

Hi Strap In, As someone who is using the rower to supplement your higher priority kung fu training, you must appreciate that many, if not most, of the posters on this forum will be giving the erg the highest priority in their training. If I interpret you correctly, you want to spend 15 minutes or less on the rower because of your other commitments. Most of us would consider 15 minutes to be a decent warmup and not much else. I started rowing as a means of warming up before a weights workout, which was my high priority at the time, and if you just want to use the rower as a warmup for your stretching/weights routine, that's fine. As has been previously stated, I think that you would get more benefit from a steady paced row, improving gradually as you go. In your case, I would just row 15 minutes each time, and log your metres. Then try to improve the distance on each subsequent row. If like me, you find the rowing bug bites you, then you will naturally extend your rowing into the kind of times and distances that the rest of us aspire to. Whatever you use the rower for, I hope you continue to enjoy it.

[old] bmoore · Post by **[old] bmoore** » August 25th, 2005, 12:12 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(Strap In @ Aug 7 2005, 03:10 AM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>Thanks guys and gals Cheers for the input, I am getting a bit lost however with all these spm's and 2:00/500m splits, can you explain these terms? I am 27 yrs old, 5 11' and 80kgs. Much to my horror that puts my BMI as 'overweight' although it kinda makes me laugh. I have visible abs and in fact to look at me you would call me lean. There is a small amount of fat around my waist however and it is this I would like to get rid of. Thanks for the heads up on trying to use my legs more and reducing the drag, I guess it just seemed way too easy on lower settings. I am however pretty determined to design a high intensity interval training program as opposed to doing long slow cardio for several reasons. Fisrtly, as I said before I do not want to spend a great deal of time in the gym since Ill be there 5 days a week and allready spend a great deal of time martial arts training. There is only so much of my life I can dedicate to fitness and my KF takes precedence. Secondly, I have had good results (fat loss and fitness) with sprint training before (am no longer able to sprint due to shin splints) and would rather have 15 minutes of agony than 1 hr of sweaty boredom. And thirdly, I want to avoid reducing my muscle mass and recruitment of slow twitch fibres as much as possible. So I guess my question is does anybody use their rowers for HIIT style training and if so what type of programs do you guys have? I really appreciate everyones comments and it is refreshing to see that most of the personalities on this board are overwhelmingly positive, thanks again, look forward to your comments. Matt </td></tr></table> BMI is pretty funny for athletes. My doctor even used it after talking about my training. I use a Tanita scale and track body fat. Anyway, here's the basic variables for the erg using an automobile analogy: Pace. This is your speedometer. It's time per 500 meters. Rate. This is your tachometer. It strokes per minute. Power. This is your "gear". It's meters per stroke. This one needs to be calculated and isn't so obvious, but it's basically your feel of how much your exerting yourself. There's a protocol out there of 10 meters per stroke, which you would achieve by pulling every 10 meters, or whenever you see the zeros go by on the meter. Your "engine" is your heart which you can monitor by feel or with a monotor. In a car, different engines can handle loads differently. If you overwork an undersized engine, the temperature will increase. (Think uphill in the desert with the AC on). Your heartrate will give you the same type of feedback. Rate and power combine to give you pace. A 2:00 pace can be achieved with the following combinations: 20 Strokes Per Minute (SPM) & 12.5 Meters Per Stroke (MPS) 22 SPM & 11.4 MPS 25 SPM & 10.0 MPS 27 SPM & 9.3 MPS 30 SPM & 8.3 MPS The lower rates need a higher strength to keep the same pace. You'll have to pull harder at 20 SPM than 25 SPM if you're maintaining the 2:00 pace. I limit this post to helping to define and explain a bit of the variables and leave the training rationale for other posts. I hope this clarifies the terminology for you.

[old] Sleepy_Floyd · Post by **[old] Sleepy_Floyd** » August 25th, 2005, 2:56 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(bmoore @ Aug 25 2005, 12:12 PM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>BMI is pretty funny for athletes. My doctor even used it after talking about my training. I use a Tanita scale and track body fat. Anyway, here's the basic variables for the erg using an automobile analogy: Pace. This is your speedometer. It's time per 500 meters. Rate. This is your tachometer. It strokes per minute. Power. This is your "gear". It's meters per stroke. This one needs to be calculated and isn't so obvious, but it's basically your feel of how much your exerting yourself. There's a protocol out there of 10 meters per stroke, which you would achieve by pulling every 10 meters, or whenever you see the zeros go by on the meter. Your "engine" is your heart which you can monitor by feel or with a monotor. In a car, different engines can handle loads differently. If you overwork an undersized engine, the temperature will increase. (Think uphill in the desert with the AC on). Your heartrate will give you the same type of feedback. Rate and power combine to give you pace. A 2:00 pace can be achieved with the following combinations: 20 Strokes Per Minute (SPM) & 12.5 Meters Per Stroke (MPS) 22 SPM & 11.4 MPS 25 SPM & 10.0 MPS 27 SPM & 9.3 MPS 30 SPM & 8.3 MPS The lower rates need a higher strength to keep the same pace. You'll have to pull harder at 20 SPM than 25 SPM if you're maintaining the 2:00 pace. I limit this post to helping to define and explain a bit of the variables and leave the training rationale for other posts. I hope this clarifies the terminology for you. </td></tr></table> Thanks Bill.. as a relative newbie around here, this information helped me a lot.. It gets confusing with all you veterans spouting out terms and abbreviations that us newbies arent familiar with.. I had been able to figure out most of them, but wasnt sure what "Pace" was, or more correctly what distance it was being measured at.. anyway.. thanks again... -george

[old] WiZlon · Post by **[old] WiZlon** » September 22nd, 2005, 6:27 am

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(Strap In @ Aug 7 2005, 03:10 AM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>I am however pretty determined to design a high intensity interval training program as opposed to doing long slow cardio for several reasons. </td></tr></table> I understand your reasons, and they mirror mine to a very large degree (burn fat, preserve muscle). Here's my Interval Training workout, which I share in the hopes that it can help you design yours: 5 min warmup Followed by 8 successive intervals: 400m all-out, followed by 90 secs. rest or active recovery; repeat 5 min cool-down My times for my most recent workout (yesterday) are 77 - 95 secs / set. Not impressive, I assure you. I went way too hard on the first set, probably. I have only recently started interval rowing, as I too have had to drop running sprints for now (hamstring injury, which I hope is going to go away). I do 400m as the times are not a million miles away from the 400m dash sprint training I used to do (just under 70 secs and up for multiple 800m dashes - I'm an old, slow guy). You can use distances of 100m upwards (and vary intensity from 100% all-out downwards), as you see fit. My goal is to firstly get 8 rowing sprints completed each less than 90 seconds (with no more than 90 secs rest in between), which I should be able to do fairly easily; then I'll add additional sprints (keeping the 90 second rule), with a long term goal of doing 15 sets. This will take a while! Given I too am new to interval rowing, I am optimistic that I'll achieve 8 sets at less than 90 secs. / set within a short time. We'll see.

Now, a 90 secs rest is about right for me (I'm 45 years old and "quite fit", but not an athlete) - that's one of your key variables of course: for fat loss, keep the rest DOWN; for strength and strength-endurance, take it UP. (My goal is fat loss, but right now until I bust 90 secs for all rowing sprints, I will keep it at 90 secs rest, so this is as low as I will go). I have a Heart Rate monitor (buy one!) and use this in my workouts, too; I take my HR up as high in interval rowing as I did during 400m dash sprint training. Your other variables: # intervals, rowing distance and tempo (80%, 90% 100% effort - same as for running "sprinting" - depends on the distance of course. I aim for 90%+ effort, and know that I'll start to fade a little over 400m during my rows). You can also vary the resistance setting, but I think that's not a major factor: Like some other replies, I also don't advocate a resistance setting of 10 - mine is set to 5: for me, this is not a strength-training tool, it's a muscle-preserving, stamina-building, fat-burning tool; so I don't need high resistance. I use the Barbell to build strength - but maybe this is different for a martial arts guy? That being said, if you want type IIA fibre training, you probably want LOW resistance and go for maximum speed (will require high-force for rapid changing of direction, which might be better for your sport?). If you want to get sophisticated, you can also design an interval build-up training program, by firstly doing shorter distance sprints, and increasing the number of sets; then reducing the number of sets but increasing the distance, then finally increasing the number of sets again until you get to your desired goal. I hope this has given you some ideas? Good luck! WiZlon

[old] Strap In · Post by **[old] Strap In** » September 22nd, 2005, 6:26 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(WiZlon @ Sep 22 2005, 11:27 PM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'> I understand your reasons, and they mirror mine to a very large degree (burn fat, preserve muscle). Here's my Interval Training workout, which I share in the hopes that it can help you design yours: </td></tr></table> Thanks for that WiZIon Here is the program that I have settled into with really good results so far. I also have dropped the resistance to 5. Dont quote me on the spm and distance values I dont pay a lot of attention to them so they are off the top of my head. 5 minute warmup on rower Dynamic Stretches 10 minutes of 1 minute low intensity (~28 spm) 1 minute high intensity (~36 spm) Dynamic stretches Static stretches/PNF This program seems to be working well for me when I started I was about 80kgs and now I am 76-77kg. This is the lightest I have been in about 5 years, and my fitness has increased significantly also. Unfortunately I havent been able to get into the gym every weekday like Id hoped but am probably averaging about 3 times per week, in addition to my KF training. Thanks for the advice guys, I might have a play with dropping the resistance a little more for increased speed like you suggested WizIon. Any comments on how to make my program better are much appreciated, although Im sure everyone will tell me just to row for 45 minutes instead...