Rowing Machines Part 3: Programs

One of the greatest things about ergos is that you can use them in almost any type of workout. Want to focus on your cardiovascular fitness? Great, jump on, keep the rating at a medium speed, and go for a long time. Need to build some muscle? Crank up the drag to 10 and try power strokes. Want to do a circuit? Add in a 250 sprint, or 25 stroke burst as one of your stations. See, so many options!

Having said that, I do not recommend making up your own exercise technique such as lying on the seat on your stomach, gripping the handle behind your back and using it for weird squats... yes, I've seen someone try this!

Today I'm going to look at some great tools for developing a rowing program, and then look at some preset programs that are for the keen to very keen.

Image courtesy of photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Please note that even done correctly, rowing can put a lot of strain on your back if you haven't developed the muscles properly, which can lead to back pain and injury. Please build up slowly and don't just jump into a program developed for well trained athletes. 

CONCEPT 2:

One of the first things you should get into if you are at all interested in rowing machines is the Concept 2 website. There is both a UK and a US version to the website. I'm going to be citing from the UK site, but the US is just as good. 

Start by checking out their training guide. They have information on absolutely everything you would want to know. 

Particularly note the preset training guides if you are looking for a system to follow. They offer guides for a range of goals: basic conditioning, 20min and 40min programs, 2,000m race training and marathon training programs. (Yes, people complete and compete in half marathon and marathon length ergos. I've done the distance of a half marathon, but took a 2 min break every half an hour. It is one of my goals for the next few months to do a half marathon without a break).

One thing to note about these programs is that they can look complicated until you have worked out their notation (you might need to rewrite the workouts so you can understand at first) and you need to workout out your heart rate for their bands (Refer to my previous post on Heart Rate Reserve for the list of their bands.)

Here is an example of their 20minute preset workout.

Table 5.3

20 Minute Fitness Programme, 3-5 Sessions per Week
Session	Light Week	Medium Week	Hard Week
Preparation Period
1	1 x 20' UT1 20spm	1 x 20' UT1 22spm	1 x 20' UT1 24spm
2	2 x 8' UT1 22spm	2 x 8' UT1 23spm	2 x 8' UT1 24spm
3	1 x 20' UT1 20spm	1 x 20' UT1 22spm	1 x 20' UT1 24spm
4	2 x 8' UT1 22spm	2 x 8' UT1 23spm	1 x 20' UT1 24spm
5	1 x 20' UT2 18-20spm	1 x 20' UT2 18-20spm	1 x 20' UT218-20spm
Development Period
1	2 x 8' AT 24spm	2 x 8' AT 25spm	2 x 8' AT 26spm
2	1 x 20' UT1 20spm	1 x 20' UT1 22spm	1 x 20' UT1 24spm
3	3 x 5' AT 26spm	3 x 5' AT 27spm	3 x 5' AT 28spm
4	1 x 20' UT1 22spm	1 x 20' UT1 23spm	1 x 20' UT1 24spm
5	1 x 20' UT2 18-20spm	1 x 20' UT2 18-20spm	1 x 20' UT2 18-20spm
Consolidation Period
1	3 x 4' TR 28spm	3 x 4' TR 28spm	3 x 4' TR 30spm
2	6 x 1' AN 32spm	6 x 1' AN 34spm	8 x 1' AN 36spm
3	4 x 2' TR 30spm	5 x 2' TR 32spm	6 x 2' TR 32spm
4	2 x 8' AT 24spm	2 x 8' AT 26spm	2 x 8' AT 28spm
5	1 x 20' UT1 20spm	1 x 20' UT1 22spm	1 x 20' UT1 24spm

Notes for Table 5.3

1. 1 x 20' UT1 20spm means row for 20 minutes in your UT1 heart rate range at 20 strokes per minute.
2. 2 x 8' UT1 20spm means row for eight minutes in your UT1 heart rate range at 20 strokes per minute, with a short rest of three to four minutes, then repeat.
3. 6 x 1' AN 32spm means row one minute intervals in your AN heart rate range, with at least one to two minutes rest between each piece of work, repeat six times.
4. 4 x 2'TR 30spm means row for two minutes in your TR heart rate at 30 strokes per minute with 30 to 90 seconds rest, repeat four times.
5. Sessions 1 to 3 are fairly hard workouts as they are designed for people only completing three training sessions each week. The less training you do each week the harder the individual sessions need to be so that cumulatively you are doing enough work for it to be beneficial. As you complete more sessions per week the training load of the extra sessions can be reduced. Therefore sessions 4 & 5 are lighter workouts. When completing more than three sessions a week we recommend you adjust the sequence of the sessions to give a more balanced mix of light and hard sessions throughout the week.

They also have lots of good information on how to develop your own program. 

However, my favourite feature of their training guide is their interactive training programs. You can chose from 2,000m, Fast Track Fitness or Weight loss. You put in your details, how often you want to train and the results you want, and it will make up a training program for you. Awesome, no? 

The tricky bit is then going to the gym and doing it, but Concept 2 have thought up ways to help with that too! Their online training log is really useful. Not only does it let you record your workouts, you can then see where it ranks against other people in your age group doing the same distance/time etc. On the side bar there are interested things like the work out of the day to give you new ideas. Also, if you want to get really enthused, they have teams you can join, and challenges throughout the year.

The final thing from Concept 2 which I want to point you towards is the forums. There are threads on almost any topic you could want to know about, and if there isn't one already, start it and you will get a great response. 

WOLVERINE PLAN:

For anyone who want to get serious results and are prepared to put in the effort to get them, the Wolverine Plan is for you. It was devised for the University of Michigan's women's crew by Mike Caviston. 

Note that it was designed for athletes, and works on the basis you are going to do 9 workouts a week on the ergo or water and two weight sessions. If you have not worked at that level before, DO NOT START HERE! But, if you are ready for a challenge, and want to get into peak condition, this could be for you. 

The plan is very details and sort of complicated. For an understanding of how the plan developed and its purpose, see the interview with Mike Caviston on row2k. The actual program is a PDF and you can download it from Rathburn.net (among other places, this was just the neatest).

THE PETE PLAN:

9 sessions of rowing a week a bit too much for you? But you still want a very similar plan? Then the Pete Plan is for you!

It was created by Pete Marston who started following the Wolverine Plan but found it had too many sessions and he didn't like the long, slow sessions (especially since most of his sessions he was doing in his lunch hour at the work gym). So he tinkered with it to create something that worked for him. It has since become rather famous. 

The big difference which I want to recommend between the two programs is that the Pete Plan is MUCH easier to understand and use.

It is based on a three week cycle, with six sessions a week. There are three types of sessions: speed intervals, “anaerobic threshold” intervals, and distance or endurance training.

The basic plan is this:

Monday - Speed intervals; 3 weekly rotation between:
8 x 500m, 3:30 rest
4 x 1k, 5min rest
250/500/750/1k/750/500/250 pyramid (1:30 rest per 250m after interval)

Tuesday - Steady distance (8 to 15k)

Wednesday - Steady distance (8 to 15k)

Thursday - Distance intervals; 3 weekly rotation between:
5 x 1500m, 5min rest
4 x 2k, 5min rest
3k/2.5k/2k, 5min rest

Friday - Steady distance (8 to 15k)

Saturday - Hard 10k

Sunday - Rest

He has also created a 'beginner' version with three core sessions and then two optional ones for those looking for something a bit less intense.

The thing a lot of people say against the Pete Plan is that as there are only three weeks, you get used to the work outs pretty soon, and come to loath some of them. It's pretty hard to make yourself go to the gym if you know you are going to be doing a work out you hate. However, that is largely an attitude problem, which you can turn around by seeing those as your own personal challenge to overcome. (And usually it is the workout that you loath the most that is the best for you.) 

For more discussion on the plan, see the Concept 2 forum thread with Peter Marston himself answering questions about the plan.

There are hundreds of different workouts that you can do on your rowing machine, and I hope this has given you just a taste. 

I thought I would finish with a link to this article I found, on why all runners should be rowers! 

Now get out there and try it!

Rowing Machines Part 2: Technique.

Today I thought it would be good to look at some of the basics of technique, and then some common mistakes.



But, instead of me just telling you the motions, I'm going to let Bobby Thatcher do it, partly because he's made a really good YouTube clip covering everything I would want to say and more, and partly because he's an Olympian and I'm not.

Even if you think you're pretty good on an ergo take the 7min and watch this because it's always good to get a refresher.


This video has been made by Concept2 and is useful if you think you might not be doing it correctly. It goes through the majority of the common mistakes, and gives you some drills to fix it.

Also, I'm totally jealous that she gets to ergo on a lake, and I'm stuck in a gym.
If you can move our ergo out into the sunshine, go for it!


I hope these two videos help. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll try my best to answer.

And yes, I do know that I'm being totally lazy, but it's for your best, really it is.

Next time I'll look at some of the programs and different sorts of workouts you can do.

Rowing Machines Part 1: The Three Variables - Drag, Rating and Power

As mentioned before, I'm a rower. I have learned to love, then hate, then love my ergo. 

What's an ergo? 

It's the proper name for a rowing machine. It's short for ergometer, which comes from the Greek (just showing that Classics is a useful degree!) ergo = work, meter = measure. 

In Australia we call it ergo for short. In the UK they just call it an erg, which is silly because that isn't a proper word but once it gets stuck in your head it's hard to get it out again. 

Any Americans out there? Know what you call them? (I did go over to Seattle to compete, but can't remember their term for it.)

Anyway, ergos are a great way to work out even if you never want to go in a boat. It uses all your major muscles (legs, core, arms), builds flexibility and teaches you to control your breathing.

However, it does require some actual technique and knowledge. And let me tell you, most gym goers do not have that technique. 

 

There are some original youtube videos out there of people in the gym making a fool of themselves, but it felt mean putting them up. So I've chosen this one as it demonstrates some of the worst moves out there, but the guy is doing it intentionally, I think. So feel free to laugh. 

So, I'm doing a quick series on the rowing machine because it's a great piece of gym equipment... if you use it correctly.

Today I'm going to start with just being able to set up and use the machine. 

There are three basic things you need to know about to use the machine effectively:

- drag/resistance.

- rating/speed.

- power. 

In running you can make a work out harder by going faster and/or going up hills. 

On a rowing machine there are three variables. 

1. There is going faster: driving your legs down faster and moving your hands faster. This increases your rating, which is measured in the number of strokes per minute. 

 

(this screen is at 28 strokes per minute, up in the right hand corner). 

As a general indication here's the rates I use for different types of workouts.

Active recovery/ Cardiovascular work: 18-20spm.

Endurance training: 24-26.

Race training: 28-32. 

Sprinting: as fast as possible with good technique. (In a race you generally try to take off for the first few hundred meters at 44+). 

2. Increasing resistance: using the drag on the machine to make it harder (like increasing the incline).

At the side of the machine you will see the fly wheel with a moveable lever:

 

This increases the feel of resistance when you pull the handle. 1 is the easiest and 10 the hardest. 

This is not a test of how macho you are! You should not do all work out at 10!

Once again it depends on the work that you are doing.  On a treadmill you wouldn't think of doing a longer run at maximum incline, you save that for short hill sprints. So you also shouldn't do long work outs at 10, you vary other aspects instead.

Between 3-4 is the generally recommended basic use, because it should be equivalent to the resistance you get when you are on water. If you are particularly weak, you could use it lower, or if you are focusing on building strength and muscle you could have it a bit higher.

Note: when the flywheel gets dusty or dirty, the drag factor changes. Therefore, if you want to make sure that you are working out at the same drag factor across machines, you can't trust the numbers on the dial. Instead, you need test the drag factor through the monitor.

For the older monitors (PM2) turn on the monitor, wait for the zeros to be displayed and press the READY and REST buttons together. 

On the new PM3/4 monitors, from the Main Menu select 'More Options' and then 'Display Drag Factors'. 

 

Take a few strokes and look at the value displayed. According to Concept 2 (makers of the rowing machines) a brand new machine will have a drag factor of about 90-100 at the 1 damper setting, and about 210-220 at the 10 setting.

Generally, aerobic work should be roughly between 120-135.

3. Along with rating and resistance, rowing also has a third important factor of power. The stronger your leg driver, the hard you pull, the faster your boat will go in the water. 

Rowing is strange in that you can move slowly, but still get a faster speed because you are relying on your strength. Or you can have less strength, but move faster and still have a good speed. Obviously, the best is if you can move fast and put in the power. 

Overall speed is measured by your 'split' (also called other things like pace, etc, but split is what I work with). This is a measure of the amount of time it would take you at your current speed to do 500m. 

You can vary the information given on your screen, but having your split up is usually the best.

 

Your aim is to keep that time/500m as low as possible. And you don't have to move faster up and down the slide in order to do that. Better technique and driving harder with your legs, good body rock and a strong finish with your arms will also drop your split. 

So, your challenge for this coming week:

Row for a minute at a rating of 26 with a drag factor of 125, trying to keep your split constant. 

After a 30 second break, then row at a rating of 20 still with a drag factor of 125 and try to keep the same split by working harder. The stronger you are, the easier it will be to get a good split with a lower rating.

As I'm reasonably strong, but with shocking cardiovascular fitness, I find lower ratings with hard work much easier than trying to row at a higher rating for an extended period of time. 

So trying playing with varying your strength, speed and resistance to see how they all feel.