Easy Interval Method (Verheul / Lok) into Rowing/Erging?

[jcross485]

12k steady today; 2 x 6000m (3:00 between). Legs felt a bit heavy again today but overall, the session was pretty solid. Garage is only going to get hotter and stay warm for the next several months; I anticipate heart rate to be a bit higher for a given relative effort. Tomorrow will be a longer day of work so I don't anticipate training, especially with travel, but plan on a bit longer sessions over the weekend and potentially double sessions.

General Stats:
50:48 (2:06.9 / 500)
115 DF
171 watt average
148 HR average

https://imgur.com/a/vehuNFA

[jcross485]

LONG day yesterday. Cliff notes - left my house at 5:00am, got home after midnight, was woken up at 5:30a by my youngest as he was hungry for breakfast.

Had a 7:00a flight to San Diego for work, was planning on working there the majority of the day, and had a 7:00p flight booked to come home.

I finished up my work a bit early and had about an hour and a half to kill before needing to get to the airport; found a small little outdoor gym and got in a bodyweight "strength" session as something is always better than nothing.

Made it to the airport in plenty of time but flight was cancelled and every other flight was booked; earliest I would have made it home was today around 2p. Ended up renting a car one way and driving. With SoCal traffic and a big event in Vegas this weekend, took much longer to get back than I would have liked but made it home.

5:30am this morning - my youngest woke me up because he was hungry and wanted his breakfast. My wife is amazing and ends up taking care of the boys most of the time but on days where I don't see them much because of work, they gravitate towards me. She was also up early with them on Friday so I got up and got their day started. Side note - extremely fortunate they are such good eaters and actually ask for decent foods unlike most 6 and 3 year olds.

General Stats -

60:00
EMOM; :00, 5 pullups, 1:00, 10 pushups, 2:00, 10 band "dislocations"
Total Volume - 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 200 band "dislocations"

[jcross485]

12k today; 2 x 6000m, 2:00 between for water and a shirt change. Temps were a bit more moderate mid-morning when I rowed, low 80's, but humidity was up as we're expecting thunderstorms today. I was expecting a crap session from the lack of sleep but it actually went much better than expected. Going to have a low key rest of the day with family.

General Stats:
50:37 (2:06.5 / 500)
115 DF
173 watt average
149 HR average

https://imgur.com/a/i4l9qqs

[jcross485]

Felt like doing another strength session today as Murph is coming up in a week; will likely alternate endurance and strength days until next Monday, then prioritize the endurance work again.

General Stats:

50:00

Every 2:00 - 1 round of 3 pullups, 3 ab wheel rollouts, 6 walking lunges (per leg) w/ 25lb vest; 25 rounds total

Total Volume - 75 pullups, 75 ab wheel rollouts, 150 lunges (per leg)

[Elizabeth]

I'm not sure if this is useful information for you, but my training log specifically tracks HR during the harder parts of the training session so that coach and I can make sure that it's driving the kinds of training effect that we're looking for out of the session. Yesterday's land/erg session was medium intensity, capped at 85% of HR. The HR that I reported to coach was 84%, which is the highest that I saw; the average taking into account warmup and cooldown was 77%. I think you are looking at average, and it may be giving you a different understanding of intensity.

Good luck with Murph! I've done it once, and it was hard.

[jcross485]

I'm not sure if this is useful information for you, but my training log specifically tracks HR during the harder parts of the training session so that coach and I can make sure that it's driving the kinds of training effect that we're looking for out of the session. Yesterday's land/erg session was medium intensity, capped at 85% of HR. The HR that I reported to coach was 84%, which is the highest that I saw; the average taking into account warmup and cooldown was 77%. I think you are looking at average, and it may be giving you a different understanding of intensity.

Good luck with Murph! I've done it once, and it was hard.

This is very helpful advice! I will start looking at both average and max HR myself as, depending on the session, it can wildly vary. My run sessions definitely have variances in HR as I do have some hills around me and I really don't slow considerably on the uphills; on that note, I really don't push downhill pace either.

I think doing Murph for time is extremely tough regardless of fitness level. Those who don't have a strength background will be challenged by the strength component of trying to do 100 pullups with a weighted vest. Those who do have the strength component tend to push the pace which is painful in its own right.

One think I like about Murph (and especially the partitioned variations) is that its a pretty low barrier of entry way to get full body strength work in. If you are able to find a pull up bar and can complete pullups, it's easy to do a short run, then 1x pullup / 2x pushup / 2x lunge or 1x pullup / 2x pushup / 3x squat, and a short run. You can scale the session session and scale volume to what works for you.

[jcross485]

Weather was beautiful on Monday and could not really bring myself to sit on the erg in the garage so did a 45lb ruck instead.

General Stats:
7.25km
54m elevation gain/loss
1:06:06
9:07/km
108 HR average

https://imgur.com/a/4BYJ7lH

[jcross485]

Another beautiful day today to take advantage of; did a row/run "brick" session. 2 x 6k on the erg (3:00 between for water and shirt change), 3:00 for water and shirt and shoe change, 6.5k run. The row felt real strong overall and the run felt decent given I went out on tired legs and I have not been running much lately.

General Stats (row):
51:00 (2:07.5 / 500)
115 DF
169 watt average
149 HR average

General Stats (run):
6.5km
43m elevation gain/loss
34:24
5:18/km
152 HR average

https://imgur.com/a/3x4Dj0B

[jcross485]

Was a bit of a hectic week with work and normal family stuff, but was able to get a lot of training in to prepare for Monday's Murph, then back to a rowing and strength emphasis. I'll keep the overview pretty high level.

5/24 - 8.25km ruck w/ 45lbs (+/- 40m, 1:13:15; 8:53/km pace, 116bpm HR)

5/25 - 50:00 strength work; 5 pullups, 5 dips, 5 "dislocations"; 20 rounds (100 reps each)

5/26 - 11.75km run (+/- 93m, 1:02:50; 5:21/km pace, 155 bpm HR)

5/27 - 5km ruck w/ 45lbs (+/- 42m, 49:40, 9:56/km pace, 97bpm HR) / 50:00 strength work; 3 pullups, 6 pushups, 6 lunges w/ 25lbs, 20 rounds (60/120/120 reps each)

[jcross485]

12k today; 2 x 6k, 3:00 between. Started session around 11am after getting home from church; garage was warm and I haven't been on the erg the last few days so HR crept a bit more than I would have wanted. Overall, good session without feeling like I depleted the tank as tomorrow will be a tough one.

General Stats:
50:59 (2:07.4 / 500)
113 DF
169 watt average
150 HR average

[jcross485]

5/29/2023

"Murph" complete with a slight modification.

22lb (10kg) vest

1 mile run

20 rounds - 5 dead hang pullups, 10 pushups w/ handles (feet elevated), 10 walking lunges (per leg)
***Total Volume - 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 200 lunges per leg***

1 mile run

58:15

Smoked!

[Sakly]

5/29/2023

"Murph" complete with a slight modification.

22lb (10kg) vest

1 mile run

20 rounds - 5 dead hang pullups, 10 pushups w/ handles (feet elevated), 10 walking lunges (per leg)
***Total Volume - 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 200 lunges per leg***

1 mile run

58:15

Smoked!

Nice work!

[jcross485]

Nice work!

Thank you!

I am definitely feeling it today; I've been doing these movements for a while now, most of the time with no added weight and similar volume or with even more weight but considerably less volume (as well as without pushing pace), but the combination of moderate weight, high volume, and pushing pace, DOMS is rough.

I will likely do a lower intensity session today where I focus on moving, getting HR up to Z1, and recovering so I can start a push into the next block or focus.

[Sakly]

Nice work!

Thank you!

I am definitely feeling it today; I've been doing these movements for a while now, most of the time with no added weight and similar volume or with even more weight but considerably less volume (as well as without pushing pace), but the combination of moderate weight, high volume, and pushing pace, DOMS is rough.

I will likely do a lower intensity session today where I focus on moving, getting HR up to Z1, and recovering so I can start a push into the next block or focus.

I would really wonder, when you would feel nothing today

Never did Murph yet, but I also work mainly with bodyweight stuff and also really high amount of reps from time to time. I also like to use weights for big lifts, deadlift, squat, press. And then sometimes pop up stupid ideas like 50kg squats for 15min timecap or 80x80kg. But that's not the typical training of course

[jcross485]

I would really wonder, when you would feel nothing today

Never did Murph yet, but I also work mainly with bodyweight stuff and also really high amount of reps from time to time. I also like to use weights for big lifts, deadlift, squat, press. And then sometimes pop up stupid ideas like 50kg squats for 15min timecap or 80x80kg. But that's not the typical training of course

I think you are taking the right approach! Heavy weights to build max strength, higher volumes of bodyweight work that doesn't beat you up as much for hypertrophy and some muscular endurance, and then cardio specific things like rowing and whatnot.

I spent a lot of time lifting pretty darn heavy through my 20's and into my early 30's after playing college sports; luckily, I have a pretty good strength "base" that hasn't really left. Some of the numbers I am very proud of but at the end of the day, I was able to squat and pull (especially) good numbers but that was it. I lost my movement and capacity for my sport which was sad.

I am 100% not as strong as I was a few years ago when all I cared about was strength and walking up the one level of stairs in my house was "cardio" but I am still capable of decent strength numbers while having a much, much better all around level of fitness - and I got back to the ability to be on court for my sport for multiple hours with good movement again.

Over time, I've wanted to become more well rounded - significantly stronger than average, significantly more cardiovascular capacity than average, significantly better body composition than average, etc. It all really hit me last year when we put my son in T-Ball and I coached; I had a bunch of the dads (late 20's to early 40's) wanting to volunteer to help but having a list of ailments as to why they couldn't. Even though my kids are 6 and 3, I want to be the dad they can rely on through their early and teenage years to not just be present but to participate as well.