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Elite Rowing Group (ERG)

rocoach — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 22:46:35 +0000

March 2012

The new ERG tank tops and tee shirts have arrived. They look great! Quantities are limited, so place your order now! Only $20 for each item. Click on the links below to view pdf images of the designs.

END OF FALL REVIEW OF THE LONG BEACH ERG — 2011

News

Coach Scott Charette and the fours, pairs and scullers of the UCLA men’s team joined us for practice on Saturday December 10 and stayed to compete at the next day’s Bay series race. Many of the UCLA men rowed with us last summer and we look forward to seeing them again in 2012.

Big “thank you’s” to Madison and Mackenzi’s parents, Ginny Kerst and Patti Sherman, who provided refreshments for the LBRA contingent at NARF and again at the Christmas regatta.

Madison organized a coxed octuple scull that represented LBRA in the Naples Boat Parade on the night of Saturday 17th. December.

Several members of the group recently returned from the 2nd Annual ERG Ski & Abs Camp in Park City Utah.

We will host the Stanford University Women’s Lightweight team when Coach Al Acosta brings the reigning two-time national champions to LBRA for their winter camp in the new year. Expect to see a couple of Cardinal eights and a four around the boathouse Wednesday January 4 through Saturday January 7th.

Jasmine McGill, Jill McGill and Mackenzi Sherman have been invited to attend the Junior National Team High Performance Sculling Camp to be held in Oakland, January 6–8. Along with other top scullers from around the country they will do a 2k erg test, a 6k erg test and a 2k time trial in singles and do some rowing in doubles. This is the first step towards selection for the 2012 Junior National Team.

Sherri, Rachel and Lissa (and Emily and the Undine/Potomac contingent) are training to compete in the two National Selection Regattas to be held in Chula Vista March 15 — 17 and April 9 — 12.

New Faces

Lissa Krawczyk is the first of the Potomac rowers to join us this winter. She is staying with her grandmother in PV while she recovers from injuries suffered in a cycling accident soon after she competed in Pan Am Trials this past summer. The addition of Lissa to the team gives us 3 out of the 4 finalists in the 2011 Pan Am Trials WL1x .

Ron Harvey has joined ERG as he embarks on his journey towards returning to the podium at the 2012 London Paralympic Games next August.

Joining us for the Winter break

Stesha Carle — Silver medal W4x 2011 World Championships. Training for London 2012 Olympic Games with women’s national team based in New Jersey.

Scott Charette — Head coach, UCLA men’s team.

Meryl Engler - Rows at Syracuse U. coached by Justin Moore.

Roberto Gorostiza — Rows at UC San Diego.

Heather Hargreaves — Rows at UC Berkeley under coach Dave O’Neill. Former member LBJC.

Esther Lofgren — World Champion W8+ 2011. Training for London 2012 Olympic Games with women’s national team based in New Jersey.

Liz Trond — Coach Connecticut Rowing Club junior women. Head coach US Women’s Junior National Team (sweep).

Alex Twist — Lightweight sculler and assistant coach at the Seattle Rowing Center.

Brea Wiley - Rows at UC Berkeley under coach Dave O’Neill. Former member LBJC. Rowed for LBRA 2011 Canadian Henley.

Joining us in January

Emily Driessigacker - rowed at Dartmouth U. 4th place W4x 2010 U-23 World Championships. Training for selection to London 2012 Olympic Games. Emily should be here with her mother later this week. I am currently finalizing housing for Emily.

Potomac BC - Coach Reilly Dampeer brings two men’s and 2 women’s doubles to join us as they prepare to compete in the Olympic selection regattas.

We will also be joined by a lightweight men’s double and a women’s double from the Undine Barge Club in Philadelphia — both these boats are comprised of current and former members of the US national team. Another Undine rower, Kate McFetridge (a former USC rower) has contacted me and may soon be joining us too. Kate recently finished 7th. in the Championship Single at the Head of The Charles.

Current Athlete Roster — regulars

Derrick Diego — Lightweight, rowed at UC Irvine under coach Scott Charette. Training for Club Nationals/Canadian Henley/U-23s.

Ron Harvey - 4th place A1x 2011 World Championships. Training for London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Madison Kerst — Coxswain and coaches’ assistant. Former LBJC varsity coxswain. Training for selection to 2012 JNT. Junior at LB Poly HS.

Sherri Kline — Lightweight. World Champion 1999WL4x. 2nd. place WL1x 2011 Pan Am Trials. Training for selection to London 2012 Olympic Games.

Lissa Krawczyk - Lightweight. 2nd. place WL1x 2011 Pan Am Trials. Training for selection to London 2012 Olympic Games.

Dan McGill — Coach.

Jasmine McGill — Silver medal WL2x 2011 Youth National Championships, silver medal WJ2x Club Nationals. Recruited to row next year at Tulsa U.

Jill McGill — Silver medal WL2x 2011 Youth National Championships, silver medal WJ2x Club Nationals. 2nd J1x Head of Charles. High school freshman.

Guillermo Ordones — Lightweight. Learned to row in his native Chile. Training for Club Nationals.

Laura Pomatto — Lightweight. Recently graduated from USC. Won 4+ 2011 San Diego Crew Classic. Training for Club Nationals/Canadian Henley.

Mackenzi Sherman — 4th. place W4x 2011 World Junior Championships. Training for 2012 World Junior Championships. Recruited to row at LMU next year.

Ian Simpson — Coach.

Nic Smith — Lightweight. Rowed at UCLA for Scott Charette. Attended 2011 Penn AC U-23 Camp. Training for Club Nationals/Canadian Henley/U-23s.

Rachel Stortvedt — Lightweight. Rowed at UC Irvine. 4th. place WL1x 2011 Pan Am Trials. Training for selection to London 2012 Olympic Games.

Michelle Voelker — Since rowing with coach Steve Guentz at CSULB, Michelle has been a competitive triathletes, participating in several ironman competitions.

Will Young — Rowed at UCLA. Also studied at Carnegie — Mellon. Training for Club Nationals/Canadian Henley/U-23s.

Current Athlete Roster — Affiliated Masters

Helen Frykman

Tom Whinfrey

Fritz Theyer

Rob Glidden

Monica Downer

Kim Bishop

Mary Perrot

Bill Bater

Fall Racing Highlights (ERG regulars results)

Head of The Charles Oct. 22 & 23

WClub 1x — 12th. Jill McGill

WClub 1x - 15th. Jasmine McGill

WChamp 2x — 6th. Rachel Stortvedt & Sherri Kline

WChamp 1x — 25th. Mackenzi Sherman

Head of The American Oct. 29 (Five wins)

WHS2x — 1st. Jasmine & Jill McGill

ML1x — 1st. Derrick Diego

M2x — 1st. Will Young & Guillermo Ordones

WL1x — 1st. Jasmine McGill

WHS1x — 1st. Jill McGill

Newport Autumn Rowing Festival Nov. 6 (Five wins)

M1x — 3rd. Nic Smith

ML1x — 2nd. Derrick Diego

W1x — 1st. Sherri Kline

WL1x — 1st. Rachel Stortvedt

WL1x - 3rd. Laura Pomatto

WJ1x — 1st. Mackenzi Sherman

WJ1x - 3rd. Jasmine McGill

WJ1x - 4th. Jill McGill

M2x — 1st. Nic Smith & Griffin Lowe

W2x — 1st. Sherri Kline & Rachel Stortvedt

W2x - 2nd. Jasmine & Jill McGill

Christmas Regatta Dec. 4 (Ten wins)

WL1x — 1st. Jasmine McGill

WJ1xA — 1st. Jill McGill

WJ1xB — 1st. Mackenzi Sherman

WJ1xC — 1st Sara Clark (LBRA summer racer)

MM1x — 1st. Bill Bater

MML1x — 1st. Rob Glidden

WJ4x — 1st. Jasmine McGill, Madison Kerst, Mackenzi Sherman, Jill McGill

MM2– — 1st. Fritz Theyer & Rob Glidden

W2x — 1st. Laura Pomatto & Mackenzi Sherman

M2x — 2nd. Will Young & Guillermo Ordones

WJ2x — 1st. Jasmine & Jill McGill

Mx2x — 1st. Dan & Jill McGill

Mx2x - 2nd. Derrick Diego & Andrea Arriola

Mx2x - 3rd. Mackenzi Sherman & Will Young

Mx2x - 4th. Laura Pomatto & Guillermo Ordones

Mx2x - 5th. Jasmine McGill & Bill Bater

Bay Series Dec. 11 — Relative position vs. world’s best time for boat-class

1. WL2x Sherri & Rachel

2. WJ1x Mackenzi

3. MA1x Ron Harvey

4. WJ1x Jasmine

5. WJ1x Jill

9. WL1x Lissa

11. M1x Nic

13. M2x Roberto & Derrick

14. WL1x Laura

16. M2x Will & Guillermo

USRowing Training Center Partner

The Elite Rowing Group has been accepted as a USRowing Training Center Partner Program. This provides a great opportunity to return Long Beach to the position of national and international prominence it once held.

Group training 6:30am every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday

Individual technique sessions 6:30am every Monday, Wednesday, Friday

How to do a Great 2k Erg Test

rocoach — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:31:31 +0000

The 2000m Erg Test
By Walter Martindale, M.P.E., ChPC, Coach Development Manager, Rowing New Zealand
From www.rowingnz.com
—————————–
Introduction
Some suggestions for coaching athletes to a best performance. Unfortunately, to be thorough, this gets a bit long… The “basics” of getting a great ergometer test are in “bold” font, like this. The rest of the document provides a “not quite layman’s” description of the “why” behind the basics.

Recent observations of 2000m ergometer tests have prompted a selector to ask that club and school coaches learn how to prepare an athlete to take an ergometer test. We saw some very heroic starts, followed by struggles to survive.

So – to that end – a primer on taking an ergometer test, with some of the physiology about why these suggestions should help. It’s directed mostly at the athlete, but coaches can relay this information, or just stick to the basics. This is NOT the only way to “take” an ergometer test, but it’s an approach that’s based on physiology, some experience, and some observations.

First, let’s talk about the common statement that ergometers don’t float. Of course they don’t float. That’s not what the ergometer test is about. People who make boats move fast almost always have good ergometer scores – people who have good ergometer scores don’t necessarily make boats move fast. With good technique, they can move a boat fast, but with bad technique, they won’t go as fast as someone who doesn’t quite pull as hard but has good technique. If you aim to have both good technique and a good erg score, you’ll have a better chance to be the fastest in a boat. The ergometer test is simply a snapshot of your physical fitness and toughness, and can tell a coach or a selector a lot about you. The monitor on an ergometer tells the truth – no matter how hard you think you’re pulling, the numbers show you just how effective the efforts are being. After the ergometer test, if you are going through a selection process, no matter at what level, you start off on a better footing if you have cranked out a big ergo score. When you’re training on an ergometer, the more closely you can approximate good technique on the ergometer, the more beneficial carry-over you’ll have to the boat.

The ergometer test is just like the A final of a big regatta.
People need to warm up adequately, run a “race plan” and afterwards do a proper “row down.”

Basic Physiology for coaches and athletes
Some basic physiology that explains why a good warm-up is important. Biochemists and physiology researchers beware: this is phrased so that non-physiology people can get it. If the following description is badly flawed, I’d like a physiologist to let me know so I can fix it. If the description is a good “glossing over” of what happens, but not complete, I’d like that confirmed. The description is “AIUI” or As I Understand It, from tertiary courses in exercise physiology from the 80s and Level 4 coaching courses in the 90s.

There are three main “energy supply systems” in your muscles. These are called various names by various physiology people, but what will be used in this paper is: “Anaerobic Alactic”, Anaerobic Lactic” and “Aerobic.” The names are based on the chemistry that goes on in the muscle cells, and this naming system is just one. Some characteristics of these systems will be outlined below.

There’s a whole lot of physiology that goes on when a muscle contracts, from the person deciding to move, to the brain deciding which muscles to use, through the nerves to the muscles which get a signal to contract. There is a lot of “stuff” that is still being researched about muscle physiology, but the overall process is relatively well documented. The details are far beyond the scope of this paper (and my knowledge). The “action” chemical in a muscle is called ATP (Adenosine TriPhosphate). Essentially, the ATP, by splitting off one of the phosphates to become Adenosine DiPhosphate+Phosphate+energy (ADP+P+energy), and giving the energy from that split to the muscle fibre, makes the muscle fibre “pull,” making the body move. A resting muscle carries enough ATP for about 4–5 seconds of full-out work, before something else has resupply the ATP. When starting up, the ADP then gets restored to ATP by another system (Creatine Phosphate, or CP) but which only carries enough supply in the muscle for about 10–15 seconds of energy supply to the muscle. It’s called the “Anaerobic Alactic” system because it produces muscle contraction without using oxygen (anaerobic) and without making lactates (alactic).

When a person starts any physical activity cold, the first 10–15 seconds is done on this “anaerobic alactic” energy system – the muscles contract through the conversion of ATP into ADP+P+energy, and the ADP is restored to ATP with a P from CP until the supply of CP essentially runs out. During the time the Alactic system is supplying energy, the “Anaerobic Lactic” (works without oxygen, and does produce lactate) system is starting to supply energy so that the person can continue working at almost the same pace as with the Anaerobic Alactic phase of the session.

One difficulty is that no matter what you’re doing, at whatever effort level, at the start of a session, the “aerobic” system of energy production is essentially asleep. When it’s “warmed up” it produces about 80% of the energy needed for racing, but when it’s cold, it produces nearly nothing – so ALMOST ALL of the energy for the first three to five minutes of ANY activity is “anaerobic” – and causes lactate production.

After about three to five minutes of activity, the aerobic system “realises” (yes, it’s an energy system and shouldn’t be anthropomorphised) it’s going to be needed and starts producing energy, AND, if the work rate is low enough, it starts to use as an energy supply some of the lactate that was produced during the early “anaerobic lactic” part of the exercise – (essentially turning the lactate back to pyruvate, and running it through the TCA cycle and the electron transport system) – for non-physiology people, suffice to say that the lactates get burned off.

So – after about 10 minutes of activity, your aerobic system is “up and running” and will have burned off most of the lactates produced in the first few minutes of the exercise session (warm-up).

Then, you can do some short sprints of about 10 strokes that activate your nervous system, and not worry too much about accumulating lactates because your body will be using them up again when you bring the pace back down, AND you won’t be going for long enough to cause lactate to start to accumulate and diffuse from the muscle into the blood stream.

Warming up
A warm up should last long enough to get someone starting to sweat on a relatively cool day. If you time your warm up just right, you get to sit still for about 2–3 minutes before you start your race. And – it’s a good idea to sit dead still for about 2–3 minutes before the race – oops – ergometer test. It’s NOT a good idea to sit still for more than about 5 minutes because your body starts to shut down energy systems that it “thinks” aren’t being used any more.

Why all this palaver about lactates and sitting still?
Imagine starting a race without the aerobic system “warmed up.” Because nothing is “warmed up,” your body produces that initial surge of lactate mentioned above, but because you’re racing, your body doesn’t have a chance to clear it off after the aerobic system gets going – because the aerobic system is not producing enough energy even at it’s maximum rate to satisfy the energy needs of the race. To keep up with the energy required for race-pace rowing your anaerobic system has to fill up the shortfall. So – not only are you working REALLY HARD, but you’re making heaps of lactate in your muscle fibres. When your aerobic system finally does get warmed up, your muscles are already choking in “lactates” and you’re accumulating more with every stroke you take. About 3 minutes into the race… er… ergometer test… you feel as if someone has dropped a very large piano on your head – or you wish someone would do that to put you out of your misery. Lactates, over a certain concentration, interfere with muscle contraction, and interfere with the production of more energy – I think it’s one of those evolutionary protective mechanisms that keep you from turning your muscles into an acid pool that eats itself up. “Ergo” – you need to warm up properly for an ergo-test.

The reason for wanting to sit still for 2–3 minutes before starting a test is the Anaerobic Alactic recovery time – when you stop (STOP) moving, your body somehow knows to replenish the energy supply of the ATP-CP system in a big hurry – so you get very nearly complete recovery of the ATP-CP system in 2–3 minutes of REST (this time it’s not Active Rest).

Here’s a suggestion to make your warm up and your race most effective
Practice good “pre race” nutrition – A regular meal is OK if it’s about 3–4 hours before you start, with the size and greasiness of the meal being reduced, the closer you get to start time. Try to eat very little if anything in the last hour before you race – you want your stomach to be empty before racing, partly so that the stomach doesn’t take any excess blood flow away from your (soon to be) working muscles – and – you don’t want anything in your stomach to come back up to meet you during or shortly after your ergometer test.
Jog for about 5 minutes. Spend about 5 minutes loosening and doing a little stretching to ensure you have full range of motion.
Get on an ergometer – set the drag factor to that which you test at – in NZ it’s 130 for men, 110 for women.
Row 5 minutes at YOUR U2 pace.
Row 5 minutes at YOUR U1 pace.
Stop for a moment, adjust clothing. Row lightly to keep the aerobic system going, and practice two starts, with light rowing between them.
Somewhere, (with or without a start) do a couple of 10–15 stroke “bursts”, but make sure you have at least 10 minutes remaining before your race starts, after the last burst.
Row lightly for 5 minutes after the last 10–15 stroke burst.
With 5 minutes before your start, row lightly for a minute, and then stop – if you need to secure a heart rate chest strap, do it now. If you feel thirsty, dampen your mouth with some water – if you drink water from mid-warm up on, that water will most likely still be in your stomach when you finish your race. (If you’re thirsty during your warm up, you’re dehydrated, and should have been looking after that before warming up. Anything you drink in the 10–15 minutes before you test will most likely not be through your stomach and absorbed into your blood stream before you start, unless you’re consuming a properly formulated sports drink, AND your body is prepared for quickly absorbing fluids, AND you don’t have a “nervous” stomach. A “nervous” stomach essentially shuts down fluid absorption, and lets you see what you’ve eaten or drunk, later.) Learn to recognise the difference between being thirsty and wanting to moisten your mouth and throat because you’re nervous. Drink to prevent getting thirsty, and plan your fluids to avoid being thirsty at race time.
Report to the testing machine. Position your foot stretcher where you like it. Do NOT offer to change the vent setting – it is most likely that whoever is monitoring the test will have already checked that the drag factor is at the planned setting. You can ask to check the drag factor, but don’t even think about moving the vent until you’ve seen if the DF is off. If you are wearing a heart rate chest strap, make sure it is registering properly on whatever device will be recording.
It may or may not be a good idea to do a few strokes before you test – remember that you want to let your Anaerobic Alactic system recover so that you can start strongly, just like in a race.

That’s the warm-up and pre-race preparation.

Doing the test
START. A usual racing start – a few strokes, shorter than full length, just like in a boat.
REMEMBER TO BREATHE!!!! Most coaches have seen athletes take their first 10 strokes while holding their breath. Not a good idea. What used to work for me was to make sure I blew fully out on the first stroke, forcing me to inhale and keep breathing. Racing or testing, this may help you later in the work piece.
Take a few short, very hard strokes, to get the flywheel started.
Take MAYBE five (5) hard sprint type strokes – these will be using your Anaerobic Alactic “ATP/CP” energy system, and should not cause you problems later in the piece.
Immediately after these (maybe) five strokes, take the pace to your “body of the test” pace, and be very disciplined about staying there. You will have adrenaline and “fresh feeling” going for you early in the piece, but unless you have lots of erg test experience and years of training, it’s easy to overdo the first 500 m.
Treat the test like a race – physiologically speaking, a well trained rower will be fastest in the first 500 because they have less metabolic waste interfering with their performance than later on.
As the test progresses, you need to keep your stroke length, but your body starts to get tired, you can’t push as hard later on as you could in the first 500. So, if you want to keep from fading, you need to increase the stroke rate. Some coaches suggest one “beat” per 500 m.
The second and third 500 (aka the middle thousand) are usually slightly lower in speed because they tend to be run primarily at the “MaxVO2” pace. The closer the Anaerobic Threshold is to the MaxVO2, the faster the person will be able to make it through these two 500 metre segments. The speed profile in international racing (and top level ergometer tests) is dictated by good old muscle and cardiovascular physiology.
The last 500 m – well – how far away from the end of the race do you want to start your closing sprint? If you’re brave, you’ll start bumping the rate up gradually from 500 m out. If you’re REALLY brave, you’ll start hammering it from 600 or 700 out and hang on until you can’t see any more. If you’re more conservative, you’ll try bumping the rate from 300 out, and then complain to yourself that you didn’t start to sprint earlier.
Keep your length as well as you can, creep the stroke rate up, and see if you have energy to try to break the foot plate in the middle of each drive. Listen to the flywheel and make it zing.
At the end – when you’ve finished – try your hardest to stay upright. Most people who crash to the floor and gasp and roll about after they’ve tested are overacting – sure – they’re tired and everything hurts, but a lot more people fall off ergometers than fall out of boats at the end of a really hard 2000 m race. If you have the energy to writhe about showing off how much pain you’re in, you have enough energy to stay sitting (possibly slumped over) and breathe in lots and lots of air. Usually the person monitoring your test will assist you in getting your feet out of the stretchers, and usually there will be someone else around to help you get up on your feet again. If you pass out at the end of a test, the people around you had better be ready to catch you so that you don’t sprain an ankle or knee falling across the ergometer rail with your toe strapped in, but if you’re conscious, and can stay up, it’s a lot safer get your feet out properly.

After the test
After your test – coaches, selectors, and “testers” all know that you’re tired, hurting, and will have trouble moving, but the worst thing you can do for yourself, particularly if you have racing the next day, is sit still. As SOON AS YOU CAN MOVE again, start moving… We know very well that you don’t want to move, but you’ll be able to eventually, and you NEED to move. The best thing you can do for yourself is row an ergometer for another 15–20 minutes. Lightly – of course – at “U3” or “Active Recovery” pace – or somewhere between 40 and 60% of race speed. Yes. That’s slow.

What happens to the metabolic wastes that you produce during a race? They are cleared from your body by a variety of mechanisms. The heart muscle can use lactate as a source of energy, so it tends to take a small amount of the lactate out of the blood. The heart itself doesn’t use much blood (it has its own circulation, from the “coronary arteries,” that fill up thanks to back pressure from the other arteries after the heart’s valves have shut after the stroke. The liver clears out some of the lactate by turning it back into something useful, but again, this is a slow
process. If you just sit still after a race, and do no “AR” work, you MIGHT return to normal blood lactate levels in TWO DAYS. Not an ideal situation if you have to race the next day. Of course, it’s not really the lactate that’s the problem; it’s the fact that your muscles have become acidified by the production of the lactate that is a big part of the problem.

Rowing lightly for about 20 minutes uses up most of the lactates. When you’re working REALLY HARD, your muscles need more energy than the aerobic system can provide, and the chemical system that makes the extra energy (anaerobic glycolysis, or the anaerobic lactic system) gets “clogged” at the end of its reaction chain by the end product of the chain “Pyruvate”. So – to unclog itself, the body takes this pyruvate molecule and breaks a hydrogen molecule off it to make it into “Lactate” (plus a Hydrogen ion – which is what makes things get “acid”). The Lactate and Hydrogen float around in the muscle and diffuse into the blood stream (this isn’t exactly what happens, but that’s way beyond the need-to-know for this article). Then researchers stick you with a lancet (usually at the earlobe in RowingNZ) and test your lactate levels, but that’s another story. If you keep active, the muscles need energy. A very convenient way to make this energy available quickly is to take the lactate and hydrogen that you made while you were working very hard, smunch them back together to make Pyruvate, shove it through the TCA system and the Electron Transport System, and get a whole heap of ATP for your muscle to use while you do your “row down.” Essentially, using the muscles that produced the lactates will clear off the lactates much faster than will running or something, because the lactates are mostly in the muscles that produced them – you use the muscles, and you burn off the lactates.

To shorten the story, erging for 15–20 minutes, lightly, will make you feel about 10000% better in a much shorter time, than will sitting on your “duff” and waiting until you feel better. Counterintuitive, perhaps, but true.

Technique during an ergometer test
Effective rowing technique is effective rowing technique – if you row “well,” and have the physical conditioning, it will show up in a good ergometer score and in good times on the water. If you are very strong, and don’t row so well, you may be able to get a good ergometer score but on water speed may suffer. If you are very good in rowing technique but not so strong, you may not get the good ergometer scores, and you won’t catch the people who row well AND have good ergometer scores.

Some people learn to row ergometers differently from how they row a boat. In some circles, this is believed to provide a better ergometer score. In other circles, people change the technique on an erg (pulling to their neck, for example) for the purpose of developing just a little more strength in the hope that it will transfer to the boat. Unfortunately, when doing a NZ selection ergometer test, this may not be to your benefit, because selectors watch you pull your test, and spend some time being judgmental about a person’s rowing potential because of what you do on the ergometer.

Having a pull that’s too low, or over your head, or looking too unconventional will probably not
help, unless you manage to “beast” the test, and pull a 5:40 for men, or a 6:40 for women.
Row as much like a boat as you can, and try to leave nothing behind – your 20 minute recovery will help you get ready for the next day’s training, trialling, or whatever comes up. Of course – if you have more time to spend doing recovery work, keep going for up to an hour, but at a low pace.

Bike Training

rocoach — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:35:21 +0000

Whether you are a recreational cyclist, a bicycle racer or a triathlete, you will benefit by understanding the basics of cycling training and by having a structured training plan.

I have discovered a must-have guide that will help take your cycling to a new level. Your bike training will be rejuvenated and refreshed with a wide variety of new workouts that will challenge you and help develop you into a better and fitter cyclist. The workouts form the basis of a complete training program that works on endurance, aerobic and anaerobic fitness, strength, speed and power. Use these workouts to train harder, smarter and more efficiently by making the most of your valuable training time.

David Ertl’s 101 Cycling Workouts gives you a huge variety of ways to train. Once started, you’ll never have an excuse to get bored with your training again! The 101 workouts are grouped according to the type of physiological system they train, letting you easily find workouts for the day’s objective. Every ride or workout meets the goal of improving some aspect of your cycling fitness.

The different workout intensities are based on 6 training zones that are compatible with both heart-rate monitors and power meters. An explanation of the zones is included along with instructions for determining your own zones which you then apply to your workouts. The purpose of each workout is described, with a description of the type course that the workout should be done on, a description of the workout protocol, and ways in which you can modify the workout and still achieve its objective.

There are tips to help you put the workouts together to create your own structured training plan that is varied by season to produce optimum results. You plan your week by deciding how many workouts you can do based on your ability, goals, age and available time.101 Cycling Workouts is essential to my training, and I am confident it will be to yours too!

For all-around cycling fitness or road racing, you should do workouts from every chapter.
If you are more of a time trialist or triathlete, you’d need to focus on endurance, tempo, threshold and strength workouts.
If your goal is to improve your ability to ride long distances, you’d want to concentrate primarily on endurance,tempo and strength workouts.

Improvement comes by continually changing up your routine and throwing different workouts at your body. The workouts contained within this eBook will do just that.

Let’s use Tempo riding as an example of what you’ll find when you purchase 101 Cycling Workouts: Tempo riding is an important training component that is effective for improving your level of fitness and increasing your basic speed. In 101 Cycling Workouts, a chapter is devoted to Tempo Workouts, introduced as follows:

EXCERPT: Zone 3 — Tempo Workouts

Tempo pace is faster than endurance pace, but slower than threshold pace. This pace requires some concentration to maintain as it is getting into the range where it begins to become slightly harder and is more work to maintain than endurance pace. But they are not ‘hard’ efforts and shouldn’t be painful, they just take concentration to do.

Tempo workouts are good to build speed for fairly long distances. It’s often the pace that occurs when riding with others. Cyclists tend to push the pace when riding with others. It’s good to incorporate some tempo rides in with endurance rides as your base fitness improves. This will stimulate your body to get used to a faster pace and avoid getting into a rut of zone 2 training.

However, because zone 3 is harder than zone 2, you need to be careful of not doing too many zone 3 rides each week as they can fatigue you and prevent you from getting in quality workouts on other days. One tempo workout per week should be enough if you are doing other workouts.

Workout 8: Tempo Endurance Ride

Purpose of Workout: This is an endurance ride but is ridden at a faster pace than endurance pace. This pace shouldn’t be uncomfortable but also should require some focus to keep the pace up. This ride will increase your ability to ride long endurance rides more comfortably and to ride them at a faster pace.

Course Description: Find a route that allows you to go the distance required to get in the length of ride you want. It can either be a loop or an out-and-back route. For variety, you can ride some hills of varying difficultly.

Workout Description: Following a 15-minute warmup in zone 2, increase the pace to low zone 3 for the bulk of the ride. On hills your heart rate may move into zone 4 for brief periods. Avoid letting yourself drift back into an endurance zone 2 pace. This will require constant attention to your pace. A tempo endurance ride should be at least 90 minutes in duration.

Total Workout Length: 90 minutes to three hours.

Modifications: These are great rides to do with others as long as you avoid the temptation of going too hard and turning it into a threshold ride, which is the tendency when riding with others.

Next, Coach Ertl describes 3 additional types of tempo rides, including with a group or when you’re indoors on a trainer.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1: How to Use This eBook

A. Explanation of workout formats

B. Determining your training zones

C. Modifying workouts to fit your ability

D. Putting workouts together to form a structured training plan

Chapter 2: Recovery Workouts

Chapter 3: Endurance Workouts

Chapter 4: Tempo Workouts

Chapter 5: Threshold Workouts

Chapter 6: Anaerobic Workouts

Chapter 7: Sprint and Power Workouts

Chapter 8: Strength Workouts

Chapter 9: Leg Speed Workouts

Chapter 10: Cross Training Workouts

Chapter 11: Testing Workouts

Chapter 12: Races as Workouts

Chapter 13: Recovery Exercises

Chapter 14: Workout 101 About the Author

TO PURCHASE the eBOOK 101 CYCLING WORKOUTS PLEASE CLICK HERE

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Squeaking Pedals

rocoach — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 01:06:16 +0000

I have owned a pair of LOOK Keo Sprint pedals for about one year. Like all LOOK pedals, they creak and squeak where the cleat contacts the pedal. The squeak comes from the tip of the cleat rubbing against the wall of the pedal lip. It does get very, very annoying.

I have tried most of the usual “remedies” and have found what works for me. First, it should be pointed out that there is absolutely nothing wrong with LOOK pedals — it is not the pedals themselves that creak, it is the interface between the cleat and the pedal that causes the problem. LOOK claims that its newer teflon coated cleats do not squeak, but a quick trawl through the message boards shows this is not true. Incidentally, I wonder how much Alberto Contador annoyed the Parisians as he creaked his way up the Champs Elysee on his special yellow Keo 2 Max Carbon Pedals last month.

If the cleats under the shoes get loose they will cause noise. Make sure to tighten them fully. You may want to use a mild grade of thread locking compound (loctite) or grease on the bolts, but that’s not really the cause of most incidents of creaking. Some people, who I suspect are LOOK representatives posing as customers, claim that switching to red cleats, or black cleats, or gray cleats, or upgrading to teflon cleats solves the squeaking problem. It makes no difference what color cleats you use. They ALL creak.

Some advocate spraying WD-40 or PAM cooking spray on the pedals where they contact the cleats. Yes, oiling the surface of the cleat does stop the squeaking, but the fix is only temporary. I’ve read that some riders spray Armor All or silicon grease onto their cleats. Good luck with that — be very careful when walking or stepping down, else you’ll go arse over teakettle and wish too late that you’d taken your neighbor’s advice and worn your helmet. Cooking spray works well for three or four rides only and you’ll have a nice covering of cooking oil all over the bottoms of your shoes and on your cleats which you’ll be able to track onto your mother-in-law’s nice clean carpet once you’ve skated your way over her hardwood floor.

Other remedies include paraffin wax, candle wax and beeswax. All waxes will last longer than the oils, but that waxy residue will attract grit and dirt and stuff to your cleats and pedals. The most extreme suggestion that I’ve seen involves packing epoxy onto the pedal to completely close up any gaps between cleat and pedal and to eliminate the up-and-down play believed to cause all the noise — a belief that I disagree with, as I can get the squeaking with no vertical movement by twisting my foot from side-to-side over the range of the cleat’s play.

Many LOOK owners give up in frustration and switch to other pedal systems. As one rider says: “They actually don’t make noise when they’re off my bike!”

So what is my solution to creaking and squeaking pedals? Baby powder. I simply dust my cleats where they contact the pedals with baby powder (talcum powder). Talc, a mineral, is a dry lubricant that stops the squeaking without attracting grit or dirt. As talcum powder is not water soluble, it will stay on your cleats even in moderately wet conditions. I find I can easily go for a couple of months before needing to give my cleats another dusting. This is the no mess, no slime, no grease, no dirty residue, ecologically friendly, natural solution to the problem of creaking LOOK pedals.

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Get Recruited by Colleges — Rowers

rocoach — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:32:08 +0000

If you, or your child, is thinking about rowing in college, you may want to consider using the FREE services of beRecruited.com

beRecruited is a site that revolves around high school athletes connecting with college coaches.

A great feature of the site is that it lets you know which coaches have viewed your athlete profile.

Unlike most other sites which concentrate on the major sports, beRecruited embraces the “smaller” sports like rowing. It also embraces club teams in addition to high schools. beRecruited.com has separate sections, for all of which registration is FREE:

athletes

* Create a profile to market your ability to college coaches

* Research athletic scholarships and college academic standards

* Find the college program that is right for you

parents

* Learn about the recruiting process and college admissions

* Help your athlete create and update their profile

* Review profiles and advice from successfully recruited athletes

coaches

* Encourage your athletes to register and create a profile

* Review athlete profiles through the “Teams” section

* Write recommendations to college coaches for your athletes

college coaches

* Market your program to over 200,000 athletes

* Evaluate athletes that meet your program’s criteria

* Search and find athletes that missed your recruiting radar

Colleges most viewed by rowers

1. Boston University

2. Duke University

3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

4. Drexel University

5. Clemson University

Rowers most viewed by rowing coaches

1. Daniel Cohen

2. Kelly Griggs

3. Morgan Weller

4. Tom Roberts

5. Balt Heldring

beRecruited.com rowing stats

* 4,216 athletes registered

* 312 coaches registered

* 231 connections made today

The beRecruited.com website gives useful information on how to notify your interest to a specific college coach and it helps you keep a list of all the schools you are interested in. You can see each school’s profile, athletic information as well as the name of the rowing coach. You can e-mail coaches from the website and the system helps you keep track of key information as you progress through your recruiting search. beRecruited gives tips on how to write your e-mails and on the content of your e-mails.

Click on the link now and check out what they can do to help you get recruited beRecruited.com

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The Best Heart Rate Monitor For Rowers

rocoach — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:39:08 +0000

THE BEST HEART RATE MONITOR FOR ROWERS

What is the best heart rate monitor for rowers and scullers? That question was recently posed to the readers of rowingillustrated.com, a leading rowing bulletin board in the United States. Three models emerged as being popular with rowers and coaches. Which one you choose will depend upon the type of rowing training that you do. Here is our review of the Polar FS1(best for single scullers, general fitness) the Sigma Onyx Classic (best for crew boats, teams and groups) and the Suunto t6c (best for high performance programs). (click on image for price and ordering information)

**Polar FS1 — Best for scullers and general fitness**
	The Polar FS1 is an entry level Heart Rate Monitor which is perfect for those who want the training benefits of heart rate monitoring, without spending a fortune on features that will never be used. The Polar FS1 has a clear easy to read display which shows the time of day, heart rate, exercise time and average heart rate. Easy one-button use makes the Polar FS1 extremely easy to use. Polar FS1 Features: * Wireless ECG accurate heart rate. * Average heart rate of total exercise. * Exercise Time. * Heart rate (displayed as bpm) * Visual and audible alarm in target zones. * Manual target zone. * Time of day. * Stopwatch. * Water resistant 50m. * Polar T31 transmitter and elastic chest strap. If you’re looking to spend lots of money for lots of unneeded options then this is not the heart rate monitor for you. However if you want something that is simple to use, well thought out, and does what it says on the box this monitor could be a winner. It comes from Polar, a well known and respected heart rate monitor manufacturer. It uses the popular Polar standard chest strap so reliability shouldn’t ever be a problem. The strap itself is easy to adjust and is as comfortable as any other on the market. The watch is ridiculously simple to operate as it has only a single button. The uncluttered display with extra large numbers makes reading the watch while erging or sculling very easy. Polar claims the batteries will last for 2 years with 1 hour of exercise use per day. Sadly after this you have to send the watch off to Polar for a battery replacement. While not expensive,it is an inconvenience, even if it does help maintain the unit’s water resistance. This watch is a great value way to complement the information the erg gives you, it provides simple feedback when you are sculling or running. The only down side to this product is that it doesn’t have Polar’s shielding technology. This means that it is possible the monitor might pick up other signals from other monitors being used in close proximity, like on the next erg, or in a team boat. This is a very easy to use product, it does what is required at an unbelievably cheap price. However the lack of shielding technology and thus potential interference from similar devices means it is probably best suited to single scullers and those who tend to erg by themselves. There are definitely better monitors out there, but with the Polar FS1 the price is most definitely right and you’ve got to ask yourself — do I really need more? Polar FS1 Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Dark Blue)

**Sigma Onyx Classic — best for team training and crew boats**
	The Sigma Onyx Classic Heart Rate Monitor is easy to use and has a very attractive design. It focuses only on the most important stuff which is why the Onyx Classic is so easy to use. The Classic comes with a digital coded chest belt which helps the user have fault-free training in a group. The Onyx Classic is available in Black. This is the basic model used by members of the Elite Rowing Group (ERG) in Southern California. Striking details make all the difference on this digitally coded heart rate watch. The most notable is the very easy to read display with large figures and the watch’s ease of use thanks to a flexible decorative ring instead of buttons. The programmable training zones and the calorie counter pave the way towards healthy training. # ONYX CLASSIC Features Digital coded transmission # Easy to read display with large figures and pictograms # Easily operated by pressing the flexible decorative ring # Training mode with 1 adjustable HR zone # ECG-precise # Backlight # Water resistant # Calorie Counter Simple to setup, easy to synchronize the monitor with the chest-band, and quick to pick up heartbeat. Can be worn on wrist, wrapped around oar/erg-handle, or wrapped onto the rigger. All these options allow easy reading of pulse rate without any dropping of beats. Multiple units can be used in team boats with no interference. At the start of training, synchronization takes place between the coded chest belt and the heart rate monitor. As a result the watch only receives data from its own chest belt. There is no interference between multiple monitors in the same boat. The batteries are easily replaceable in both the watch and chest strap. This is a great unit at a great price for crew boats and is perfect for high school teams or for those who like to erg in groups. Sigma Sport represents German technology at its highest level, combining innovative design with precision engineering. Sigma tests all their products in their in-house laboratories to withstand the harshest conditions, ensuring quality continually throughout production. SIGMA ONYX Classic Heart Rate Monitor Watch

**Suunto t6c — best for high performance athletes**
	The SUUNTO t6c black wrist-top computer is more like a fully equipped sports laboratory than a heart rate monitor. The watch will provide a comprehensive personalized physiological analysis on your PC. The digital customizable menu is easy to use. The unit displays real-time training effect and EPOC (excess post exercise oxygen consumption - otherwise known as oxygen debt). Using optional add-ons or Peripheral Observation Devices (PODs) the unit can display speed, distance and cadence (cycling) in addition to being a real-time heart rate monitor and calorie monitor. The t6c also acts as a chronometer featuring dual time, date, alarm, stopwatch with lap timer, interval and countdown timers. The Suunto t6c heart rate monitor was designed for everyone who exercises seriously with the goals of improving their fitness and achieving high level of competitive performance. The Suunto t6c provides accurate information on seven key body parameters including EPOC. By understanding how the body responds to exercise, the athlete, with or without a coach, can better plan his or her personal training program and, most importantly, monitor its effectiveness. The Suunto t6c is an invaluable tool that brings laboratory accuracy to every training session you or the athletes that you coach do. Data such as changes in heart rate, EPOC and training effect can be downloaded to the computer by the athlete. This gives the coach/physiologist the ability to analyze data from several athletes based in different training locations. The data can be used to make fine adjustments to the training program and optimal training loads can be calculated to prevent overtraining and the concomitant risk of injury and illness. The principles of EPOC and training effect apply equally to elite athletes as well as to those seeking serious improvement in fitness. The Suunto t6c is one of the most accurate and useful sports instruments currently on the market. The Suunto Team PODs open up new possibilities for controlling training protocols. Coaches can follow the heart rates and the percentage of maximum heart rates of all their athletes live on the screen during training real-time — even, for example, all eight rowers in a rowing shell — and if needed, adjust the training individually on the fly. The measured data is shown, analyzed and stored live. This helps ensure that not only every athlete is training at an optimal level but also that the optimal team result can be achieved. The PODs expand the performance range of the Suunto t6c. With the Suunto GPS POD a rowing crew can fine tune the effectiveness of its rowing — for example how much energy each rower has to expend to obtain a certain boat-speed. The GPS POD can be used to ensure that speeds and distances are accurately measured during important training sessions regardless of water and wind conditions. Beside training on water the athletes can also run, erg and bike with the Suunto t6c. The peripheral devices from Suunto offer more data for complete analysis of all training activities. The Bike POD expands the Suunto T6C to a complete wireless bike computer, and the Foot POD works accurately for every runner without the need for a GPS receiver. This sophisticated instrument can become a key component in the serious athlete’s quest for excellence. The Suunto t6c and its successor t6d are used by the high performance athletes at the Elite Rowing Group based in Long Beach, California. Suunto t6c Heart Rate Monitor and Fitness Trainer Watch (Black)

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