The Student Room Group

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Reply 1
Row more? :rolleyes:

I'm not kidding - if 10 mins of rowing kills you, row for 12 minutes. Give yourself a 5 min rest and do it again. There's no magic formula for this - if you find something hard to do then you just need to do it over and over again until you get used to it.

Every time I go to the gym (2 or 3 times a week), amongst the other things I do, I do an 8km cycle - at first it took me about 19mins (that includes about a 1min warm up), this moved down to 18mins and recently I got it to 17min 12secs...this is simply by doing that 8km cycle every time I go to the gym.

The worst thing about rowing on an erg (rowing machine) is that it's intensely boring. Get some music to keep you going. Do things like sprints - 500m as fast as you can go, 1 min rest, repeat 4 or 5 times, or instead of 10mins either do a distance that would take around 10mins - about 2.5-3km for a guy - or do a longer time (i.e. 30mins) but much more relaxed.

Also, check out http://www.concept2.co.uk/training/interactive.php - a great website for creating basic training plans :smile:

Finally - you don't need to just work on the rowing machine to get your stamina up (obviously) - do plenty of cycling and running too.
Reply 2
izzbop
heya! im a former rower, and i detested the ergs! i found it very hard the whole way along, but found some tips my coach gave me very helpful to make it easier, and help you pull a greater distance
1) straighten your legs before you pull fully back
2) focus on a burst of energy as you pull back, and then relax as you slide forwards, this is the few seconds your body needs to recover before the next stroke
3) keep your head up, sounds obvious, but look straight forwards
4) keep your shoulders square and forward
5) don't grip the handle too tightly, this will only create excess strain, and put your thumbs underneath the handle
thats all i can remember, but yes, your endurance will improve with time. plug in some music and enjoy!


I don't mean to sound insulting but those aren't "tips" - they are the very basics of rowing, and don't go towards improving stamina. If those are what your coach told you, what were you doing beforehand? Surely those things are the very first things you are told when you take up rowing?

The only one that I'd agree with just going towards stamina is point 2 - whereby when you move forwards on the slide you should try to move forwards about half the speed that you're moving backwards when you pull the handle - this will give your body some time to recover before you take the next stroke, let your muscles relax for a couple of seconds and for you to breath properly and then engage again for the next stroke. Will allow you to go for longer as if you rush forwards you're using more energy which doesn't go towards anything helpful.
Agreed with Dobbs, those are the basics of the rowing stroke, and just gradually build up your fitness by doing slighlty longer ergs each session, and yes they get very very boring! Our longest piece is 18km and that is probably the dullest thing I currently do by far...
What sort of splits are you pulling for 10mins, or if you are unsure of that what sort of distance are you covering?
Reply 4
Keith Lemon
...
What sort of splits are you pulling for 10mins, or if you are unsure of that what sort of distance are you covering?


Splits? :redface:

about 2500m in 10 mins.
to build up your stamina

why not just join your local rowing club, and train with them, that way you'll also have more of a clue of what your doing by the time you get to uni
Silver Fox
Splits? :redface:

about 2500m in 10 mins.


your split is basically the time it takes you to row 500m

should display it on your erg when your rowing...


so 2500m in 10 mins, means you would of been rowing with a 2 minute split.
Reply 7
Try swimming? The front crawl and breast stroke will build up your stamina. When doing the breast stroke, push your head under water and push your arms downwards to force the pressure (hard to explain!)

Clutch a tennis ball and apply pressure, then release. I do this to build up stamina for windsurfing. I imagine rowing is like windsurfing, you're using muscles that you don't normally use, the tennis ball helps to build and prepare these muscles. Do this for about 10 minutes when watching telly or something!

Do you stretch before going on your rowing machine? Your muscles may need to loosen up before your work out.

Squash? An aggressive game for the arms and legs! Make sure you have decent trainers though so you don't strain your knees and ankles.
Reply 8
Sequoia
Try swimming? The front crawl and breast stroke will build up your stamina. When doing the breast stroke, push your head under water and push your arms downwards to force the pressure (hard to explain!)

Clutch a tennis ball and apply pressure, then release. I do this to build up stamina for windsurfing. I imagine rowing is like windsurfing, you're using muscles that you don't normally use, the tennis ball helps to build and prepare these muscles. Do this for about 10 minutes when watching telly or something!

Do you stretch before going on your rowing machine? Your muscles may need to loosen up before your work out.

Squash? An aggressive game for the arms and legs! Make sure you have decent trainers though so you don't strain your knees and ankles.

Rowing is an all-body workout, so basically you use all of the major muscles in the body, the tennis ball thing wouldn't help with rowing as, contrary to popular belief, rowing has very little to do with the arms.

Yes the arms get built through power put through them, but that power originates from the legs - you push your feet down on the footplates and let that power transfer through your core and along your arms to your oar. Clutching a tennis ball is going to do little to help that - other than rowing the key exercises (stamina wise) would be cycling, swimming, and running (probably in that order).

A good way to build stamina (in my opinion) but to reduce boredom of the gym is to just build your own little circuit - erg, cycle, treadmill - say something like 5-8mins on each, at quite a decent level, as soon as you finish, get onto the next one without much of a break (about 1min) and then carry on - it splits the exercise up but really continues it.

There are a million things you could do really, be creative about it, I love making my own little exercises up. Try on the rowing machine 1min row, 1 min rest, 2 min row, 2 min rest, 3 min row, 3 min rest, 4 min row, 4 min rest, 5 min row, 5 min rest, 4 min row, 4 min rest, 3 min row, 3 min rest, 2 min row, 2 min rest, 1 min row...rest! :biggrin:
Reply 9
Keith Lemon
Agreed with Dobbs, those are the basics of the rowing stroke, and just gradually build up your fitness by doing slighlty longer ergs each session, and yes they get very very boring! Our longest piece is 18km and that is probably the dullest thing I currently do by far...
What sort of splits are you pulling for 10mins, or if you are unsure of that what sort of distance are you covering?

What time/split are you on for 18k's?
Usually 1:58/57ish, R18-20, every tuesday :/, lol
Reply 11
dobbs
Rowing is an all-body workout, so basically you use all of the major muscles in the body, the tennis ball thing wouldn't help with rowing as, contrary to popular belief, rowing has very little to do with the arms.

Yes the arms get built through power put through them, but that power originates from the legs - you push your feet down on the footplates and let that power transfer through your core and along your arms to your oar. Clutching a tennis ball is going to do little to help that - other than rowing the key exercises (stamina wise) would be cycling, swimming, and running (probably in that order).

A good way to build stamina (in my opinion) but to reduce boredom of the gym is to just build your own little circuit - erg, cycle, treadmill - say something like 5-8mins on each, at quite a decent level, as soon as you finish, get onto the next one without much of a break (about 1min) and then carry on - it splits the exercise up but really continues it.



My mistake. :redface:

Listen to the experts :wink:
Reply 12
Keith Lemon
Usually 1:58/57ish, R18-20, every tuesday :/, lol

thats just painful.lol.did u row at horr?abingdon did well. it is impressive how schools outcompete rowing clubs and university crews.
Reply 13
My main problem, i grip the handle too strongly, and the forearms get all stiff.
Reply 14
Keith Lemon
Usually 1:58/57ish, R18-20, every tuesday :/, lol


Bloody hell. That (to me) is seriously impressive.
Reply 15
Silver Fox
I'm looking at getting myself really fit for september to possibly look to join the university rowing club as a fresher.

However, right now my stamina is really lacking - literally 10 minutes rowing and I'm dead.

Any advice on how to improve this?

you should concentrate on endurance. dont do high rating stuff yet. try doing 15 mins at rate 2:00-2:05 then rest 5-10 mins and do another 15 mins. or start off with 10 mins. then go for a run at a steady pace but for a longer time. once you have built up ur endurance(this will take time), you can concentrate on power.so you can do 1min at split 1:30-1:40 rest for 30secs-1min and repeat 10 times.also try doing some exercises for ur core.
Reply 16
wazzup
you should concentrate on endurance. dont do high rating stuff yet. try doing 15 mins at rate 2:00-2:05 then rest 5-10 mins and do another 15 mins. or start off with 10 mins. then go for a run at a steady pace but for a longer time. once you have built up ur endurance(this will take time), you can concentrate on power.so you can do 1min at split 1:30-1:40 rest for 30secs-1min and repeat 10 times.also try doing some exercises for ur core.



Do you combine this with weights?

Right now I do about half an hour of weights and core followed by as much rowing as I can do.
Reply 17
Silver Fox
Do you combine this with weights?

Right now I do about half an hour of weights and core followed by as much rowing as I can do.

well weights wont increase ur endurance. will just build up some muscle. u can squats to increase ur power. but if u want to get into a rowing team, u need the endurance. do as much cardiovascular stuff as possible. go for the spin sessions. they are quite good for increasing endurance and not as boring as erging alone
I'd say weights are pretty useful, we do deadlifts, rowing pull, squats, dips, and bench press, along with core work.
The deadlifts are a pretty good exercise as the movement is similar to that in the boat(minus the end of the stroke), with the initial leg drive, then the body opens.
Rowing pull is good for replicating the final part of the rowing stroke, as it targets your lats and arms.
Squats are good to build strength in your legs, but when you are doing them make sure you go right down, almost to the point where your bum is touching the floor so you can really engage you glutes.
Dips are good for your tri's as well as most of your upper body, and build some good strength, some goes with bench press.

As for work on the erg, most training programmes are designed that the longer UT2 sessions are over the winter,this helps build a basic platform to work on for later on in the year (which is mainly your endurance), our shortest piece is 45mins throughout the winter.
As we are now pretty much in the Regatta season alot of the UT2 work gets changed to UT1, and anerobic stuff, so shorter faster pieces(to prepare for the 2k regattas), intervals are generally what we do, say 5mins on, 5mins off x5, or shorter pieces, or say 8x250m in a 25-30min erg.

You won't need to do anything like that yet though, thats just a kind of basic guideline as to what you'd need to do if you were to join the Uni squad.
For now I'd just sset yourself a target time and split and go for it, and depending on how you feel after, maybe add a few more minutes, and see how you feel in a few months.
Sorry if I have gone on a bit :s-smilie:
Reply 19
I can imagine my hunger growing somewhat when I change my training tomorrow to what has been suggested.

I'd be interested to know the amounts people had to eat to keep their energy levels right.