Novice rower needs training tips

Nessie · Post by **Nessie** » January 14th, 2007, 12:28 am

Hi - I'm a 35 yr old former rugby player with a dodgy knee who has finally found his new sport - indoor rowing! Rowed for the first time 2 months ago and did a 6.47 2000m - went on-line and realised that this an ok time - have now set myself the target of competing at 2008 CRASH-B's - looking to raise some money for my dad's hospice - but have no idea what sort of training I should be doing. Know a bit about conditioning from my rugby days - aerobic/anaerobic/lactate threshold etc - but not sure what type of rowing programme i should be following. Currently doing some interval work - 8-10 sets of 2 mins hard, 1 min recovery and some 30/45min distance rows. I'm sure there are more sophisticated programmes out there - how much weekly distance should i be aiming for, how much speed work etc...any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. many thanks

jbell · Post by **jbell** » January 14th, 2007, 12:52 am

Welcome to the sport. How all are you? There are two pretty popular workout plans on these boards: The pete plan and the Wolverine plan. The Wolverine plan takes a lot of reading and understanding (in my experience) to perform, but works well. The pete plan is pretty straight forward. Basically, you will want to build up your endurance by doing longer stuff.

gregory.cook · Post by **gregory.cook** » January 14th, 2007, 12:58 am

The Wolverine Plan
http://www.concept2.com/forums/wolverine_plan.htm

The Interactive Training Program
http://www.concept2.co.uk/training/interactive.php

The Pete Plan
http://www.concept2.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5409

Nessie · Post by **Nessie** » January 14th, 2007, 10:42 pm

Many thanks - Pete plan seems more straightforward - any suggestions on what type of weight lifting programmes I should be following?

RogerR · Post by **RogerR** » January 14th, 2007, 10:59 pm

If your goal is to improve rowing performance you need to be selective with weight training to avoid (1) wasting time and (2) overtraining in case you row a lot.

Check out the article on strength training for rowing from S. Seiler.

http://home.hia.no/~stephens/

I use basic bodyweight and stretching exercises in conjunction with indoor rowing and the Concept DYNO 1-2 a week.

jamesg · Post by **jamesg** » January 15th, 2007, 9:03 am

N
I can't think of any reason for not learning to row first. It's not as easy as you may think. It's much easier to go fast (not that there's any great need to) by knowing how rather than by brute force, which has it's limits and can cause you injury. By the time you've learnt how, you'll be fit anyway. Once you've learnt how, you can do it for the rest of your life, maybe even afloat.

When I'm tempted to pull too hard (not that it lasts long) I remind myself quickly there's a difference between playing the piano and carrying it up to the sixth floor.

hjs · Post by **hjs** » January 15th, 2007, 10:17 am

jamesg wrote:N
I can't think of any reason for not learning to row first. It's not as easy as you may think. It's much easier to go fast (not that there's any great need to) by knowing how rather than by brute force, which has it's limits and can cause you injury. By the time you've learnt how, you'll be fit anyway. Once you've learnt how, you can do it for the rest of your life, maybe even afloat.

When I'm tempted to pull too hard (not that it lasts long) I remind myself quickly there's a difference between playing the piano and carrying it up to the sixth floor.

Al nice and well James but to get that piano up at the sxth floor you need to do more than just play it

Sure technique is important but erging is not that difficult, it mostly is simple hard work.