Sprints and Stuff- training/questions 1k and below

[Shawn Baker]

So back to altitude and home gym

Fairly easy work and had some fun training with my 9 year old girl (she basically did a bunch of med ball work)

For me

1 k easy wu row

Jump rope x 100

12" drop push-ups 5 sets of 3

Cambered bar bench press (had my cambered bar x 6 years) and today hit the highest I've ever done with it at 290lbs (so very pleased and continue to see unquestionable evidence of improving strength on this diet)

Dropped down at hit 205lbs x 10 reps fairly easily

500m row- back seems solid so time to start ramping back up the rows- did a fairly easy rate 25 effort and could see I was a little out of practice but still it was fairly decent although target was 1:25.0 at 25spm



Finished out with just a single 10 second airdyne sprint, as I had Emmie doing a few of these- I ended up hitting a new "PR" with this and got 11 calories in the 10 seconds (my previous best was 10- so more objective data that I'm getting stronger yay!

Henry, Droode thanks

[GJS]

Congrats on the press, Shawn.

Time to shift my attention from whatever it was I was doing - watching TV for the most part - to sprinty stuff.
My figures about now:

100m 16.0sec 1:20 r56 (Done today) LP during this of 1:17
250m 1:23.8 r45 Done earlier this month.

A ludicrously ambitious long term goal - 24months? - is to hit 1000watts. Well it's a pretty, round number. That's a c 1:10 LP. So about 30% more power than my current effort.

I'll tackle all the shorter distances but I do like the 250m and a 1:20 for that doesn't seem a wholly unreasonable shortish (<4 months) term goal.

In my favour: I haven't really done any meaningful leg / lower back/ posterior chain work up to this point. Just quite a bit of bodyweight stuff (upper body).

Not in my favour: I refuse to join a gym and have no space for barbells and such so, at least initially, I'll be restricted to stuff that is probably suboptimal. So, no deadlifts and squats but heavy kb swings and Bulgarian split squats (loaded with dbs, kbs, vest etc) and inverted rows.

Some jumping around too. (Not sure it'll warrant the name plyometrics)

And I'll continue with my other bodyweight stuff and likely do some cycling/ the odd steady erg piece.

Glad to receive any suggestions on possible goals or things you think I might try.

[Shawn Baker]

By heavy KB swing I assume you mean at least 100lbs and I would also work some very low rate, high drag very short 30-60 second stuff to develop some sprint specific erg power

[hjs]

By heavy KB swing I assume you mean at least 100lbs and I would also work some very low rate, high drag very short 30-60 second stuff to develop some sprint specific erg power

And dare to eat enough on top.

[hjs]

100m 16.0sec 1:20 r56 (Done today) LP during this of 1:17
250m 1:23.8 r45 Done earlier this month.

A ludicrously ambitious long term goal - 24months? - is to hit 1000watts. Well it's a pretty, round number. That's a c 1:10 LP. So about 30% more power than my current effort.

I'll tackle all the shorter distances but I do like the 250m and a 1:20 for that doesn't seem a wholly unreasonable shortish (<4 months) term goal.

In my favour: I haven't really done any meaningful leg / lower back/ posterior chain work up to this point. Just quite a bit of bodyweight stuff (upper body).

Not in my favour: I refuse to join a gym and have no space for barbells and such so, at least initially, I'll be restricted to stuff that is probably suboptimal. So, no deadlifts and squats but heavy kb swings and Bulgarian split squats (loaded with

Glad to receive any suggestions on possible goals or things you think I might try.

Be creative, think you cant get around lifting stuff. You can,t improve your speed with 30%, simply impossible, getting stronger is. The very fast guys on the erg are either big to begin with or build a very strong body.
Be creative, you can make your own stuff. Wheel borrow? Heavy bags etc.

Already done a 500?

[GJS]

Cheers, guys.

I've been looking around my garden. I do have some very big rocks.

I'm a little torn on the kb size. The higher I go the more I will be losing some of the ballistic character of the movement. Certainly 44kg (97lbs)+ though.

[left coaster]

I'm with Shawn on the short distance work. Getting comfortable blasting 250m helps a lot, it also builds strength.

I also found it helpful to practice my starts with sets of 6-8 100m efforts. I urge caution with technique here though, early on I did tweak my back. I eventually settled on a 1/2 stroke for the first pull from a very braced and lock-in position and then work out to full strokes by the 4th.

Then just work the other end to build endurance -- 2 and 5k's are plenty long enough if you're aiming to hit a 500m PB. I broke 1:30 without ever touching a weight -- I think that if one wants to row fast, they should just spend time rowing. I don't take anything too seriously though and care more about longevity than flashy abs and pecs.

[Anth_F]

Getting comfortable blasting 250m helps a lot, it also builds strength.

I also found it helpful to practice my starts with sets of 6-8 100m efforts. I urge caution with technique here though, early on I did tweak my back. I eventually settled on a 1/2 stroke for the first pull from a very braced and lock-in position and then work out to full strokes by the 4th.

Like the idea of blasting 250's. Best to do a good warm up session and stretches before doing sprints. And do some hyper-extensions to get the lower back nicely warmed up.

The 1/2 stroke does work very well for setting off. I used to do full strokes setting off on them sprints and strained intercostal muscle (painful ) Was completely out of action for 3+ weeks.

[Shawn Baker]

Another rate restricted 500m- targeting 1:25.0 at 25 spm - timing still a little off- but still pretty comfortable from an effort perspective (fairly pleased as when I was ramping up for my last 500m PRs I was hitting this time at 28spm)

Finished with 176lb KB swings x 10/hanging leg raises x 10- repeated 10 times for total of 100 reps of each

[GJS]

I also found it helpful to practice my starts with sets of 6-8 100m efforts. I urge caution with technique here though, early on I did tweak my back. I eventually settled on a 1/2 stroke for the first pull from a very braced and lock-in position and then work out to full strokes by the 4th.

Cheers, LC.
Mindful of my back these capped intervals were done not from a dead stop but from a gently spinning wheel. Quite pleased with my ability to manage the stroke rate. Df 165

[Shawn Baker]

So 1 k easy wu row then another rate capped 500- targeting 1:22.5 at 27 spm- this was fairly comfortable, but as per usual when I change rate timing needs some work- will have another go tomorrow- it appears the gym strength I gained in recent months in the gym is directly translated to better power on the erg as I compare today to what I was doing last spring at a similar rate (1:25 at 28spm for 500m) - hopefully this will hold up and result in a better free rate (36-40) 500m row over next few weeks

Training again with my daughter (so much fun seeing her athleticism develop)

50lb med ball floor to ceiling throws 5 x5

Ring pull ups 5 sets of 6 reps

20lb med ball overhead to ground slams x 20/ 100 jump ropes x 3 sets

Today's workout was fueled by 2 ribeye steaks

Gary-solid work!!

[GJS]

Cheers, Shawn.
I have zero work capacity but would like to do some hardish erg work most days.
My work can be fairly physical and as I'm introducing additional strength moves into my routine managing intensity is an issue.

High rate work at v. low drag is not hugely taxing for the muscles and should help with proficiency at high rates.

This was at 80df. I targeted 45 spm, not pace. This is all pretty new but the absence of overwhelming muscular exertion certainly provides more scope to think about what you are doing during the stroke. Skill work, if you like. Nonetheless it was still pretty hard and additional intervals would have been doable but ugly. A little more rest next time. I would like to push the length of these too.

[Shawn Baker]

Another 500m- target 1:22.5 at 27- close enough at 26spm- will move up to 30 spm next

405lb deadlift/42" box jump combo- did it for 20 sets with about 75 seconds between sets

Finished up with so backflip training drills

[GJS]

2 x 325m 4min rest Df 80 1.32.7 r45

Disappointing. Hopeful that the long rest would allow 4 or 5 intervals. Not to be. My legs were gone after the first 150 metres of the second interval. Hard day at work, 5hrs sleep yadda yadda

Decided to lift my mood by going for a 100m record. Legs still burning. I am much admired for my sagacity

4x 100m efforts. 3 at 16.1-16.2. (200df). Came off the back of the seat on the other ( A danger I'm always flirting with).

[Shawn Baker]

Above picture is what I was doing last May- 500m at 35spm and going 120.7





This was today's result- so nearly same time but quite a bit lower stroke rate- also I'm at high Altitude here versus sea level last year- so overall a very nice trend- the efforts are starting to get hard enough that it starts to impact a little bit my workout that tends to follow- if I wasn't prioritizing the row at the moment I would not do it at the front end of workout

Followed row after about 10 minute rest with some cambered bar bench press to just 255lbs, then down to 225lbs for relatively easy 8 reps (fairly happy)

Then did just 1 set of ring chin ups and got a fairly comfortable 10 reps (which again is quite good for me)

Did some jump rope and a few tuck jumps and then some more backflip training drills