I'm a new rower since September and have accumulated about 200K meters. I generally row about 6-7K a day @ ~25 spm, with 5.5 drag.
I took the month of December off, but I'm back at it again...
How long should I work on my base prior to moving on to bigger and better things? And am I working on my base the correct way?
I'm generally trying to lose weight, but would also like to improve my speed to the point that I'm competitive.
I thinking about beginning with the 3 week weight loss program described on the C2 site and then moving on to the 3 week fitness program, and then the 3 week competive program...
Would the Wolverine program or Pete program work better for me?
Stuart
45 yr / 87.5 kg (shoting for 72 kg)
Building Base
Stuart--
If you ultimately want to get competitive, I don't think you need to go through a progression of short plans. You can just pick a training plan and start. You'll get fitter (and trimmer) as you go. You'll also "build your base" as you go along.
How highly structured would you like the plan to be? The Wolverine Plan is perhaps the most intricate, because of Level 4 rows, but Mike Caviston has written a lot of excellent stuff about it which you can find in the Forum archives.
The Pete Plan is a simplified version of the WP. It uses WP intervals but the longer rows are not done as prescribed by Mike for Level 4 rows.
The Interactive Plan on the UK site has plans that run up to 26 weeks. You can pick your level of fitness and the number of times a week you wish to row, to get a plan suited to you.
My guess is that any of the plans will enable you to improve your performance if you stick w/ it, so pick an approach that appeals to you. The results will follow.
Personally, I have devised various roll-your-own plans until this year, when I have followed the 26-week IP plan, which is a good program.
If you are serious about being competitive, I think you'll find yourself doing rows longer than 6 or 7k, and you'll row at a variety of stroke rates. You might want to try lowering the damper setting. Most people seem to row w/ the drag factor somewhere between 115-130 (Damper 3ish).
Have fun.
If you ultimately want to get competitive, I don't think you need to go through a progression of short plans. You can just pick a training plan and start. You'll get fitter (and trimmer) as you go. You'll also "build your base" as you go along.
How highly structured would you like the plan to be? The Wolverine Plan is perhaps the most intricate, because of Level 4 rows, but Mike Caviston has written a lot of excellent stuff about it which you can find in the Forum archives.
The Pete Plan is a simplified version of the WP. It uses WP intervals but the longer rows are not done as prescribed by Mike for Level 4 rows.
The Interactive Plan on the UK site has plans that run up to 26 weeks. You can pick your level of fitness and the number of times a week you wish to row, to get a plan suited to you.
My guess is that any of the plans will enable you to improve your performance if you stick w/ it, so pick an approach that appeals to you. The results will follow.
Personally, I have devised various roll-your-own plans until this year, when I have followed the 26-week IP plan, which is a good program.
If you are serious about being competitive, I think you'll find yourself doing rows longer than 6 or 7k, and you'll row at a variety of stroke rates. You might want to try lowering the damper setting. Most people seem to row w/ the drag factor somewhere between 115-130 (Damper 3ish).
Have fun.
Base
Thanks Tom,
I looked at both plans and I think that I will eventually use one of them, perhaps a 26 week plan off the UK site.
For now, I just rowing for meters trying to get my base in shape- like I would if I was running.
I plan on starting a training plan in a month or so.
Thanks again for the advise!
I looked at both plans and I think that I will eventually use one of them, perhaps a 26 week plan off the UK site.
For now, I just rowing for meters trying to get my base in shape- like I would if I was running.
I plan on starting a training plan in a month or so.
Thanks again for the advise!