As April shuffles unhurriedly through the door, it takes with it both the last of the rain (ha) and the end of the 2003/04 Ranking Season. The gnomes at Indoor Rowing Towers (like the gnomes of Zurich but a lot more likely to eat Dairylea straight from the packet) are busy at work compiling this year's Ranking, which should be up and running by the end of this month.

Those of you on the On-Line Ranking may have noticed a new feature this season called "Rower of the Day". When you click on the link from your logbook, you will "meet" a fellow online rower. You will be able to view their photo, read their comments, and have the opportunity to contact them via a double-blind e-mail system (if the person allows this in their profile).

Rowers of the Day are drawn from all Ranking participants who have submitted a photo. To be included as a Rower of the Day, just e-mail a photo (no larger than 400 x 400 pixels) to denah@concept2.com, and set your profile to "Yes" for participation in the double-blind Ranking Member Email.

Any rower who has a picture associated with their profile is eligible for Rower of the Day. If you would rather NOT be in the random pool for Rower of the Day, email denah@concept2.com and ask to have your profile picture removed.

On-Line Ranking: http://www.concept2.com/sranking03/

The final race in this year's race season was the Scottish IRC, which took place at the Ryan Centre in Stranraer on Saturday, 24th of April. With over 110 entries, the race took place in an electric atmosphere. Full results, alongside a report, can now be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/racing/result.php?race=scottishirc2004

Tel's Tales is the column written by three-times Olympic rowing coach Terry O'Neill. If you've got a question you'd like Terry to answer, send it to tels-tales@concept2.co.uk.

Gerry Tipple: "I have a female friend who, now aged 46, was a national sculls champion and top international competitor in her prime. She recently underwent back surgery for a synovial cyst. All the doctors and physios she went to commented that she had very weak buttock muscles - and this may have contributed to her back problems! Clearly buttock muscles have another role, but what? And how to maintain them - especially if, like her, you have a full time desk job? And what happens to a rower's buttocks (because of the rowing)."

Terry O'Neill: The buttock muscles are known as the gluteals. They are connected to the Ilium and Sacrum (Pelvis) at one end and the Femur (thigh) at the other.

The function of the muscle is the extension and outward rotation of the Femur. There is some dynamic use of the gluteals in rowing by controlling the aligning of the trunk with the thigh. Games like rugby, football, netball, basketball and skiing place more stress over a wider range of contraction on the gluteals than rowing.

Core stability exercises can also help with strengthening the back. You can find out more about these in the Training Guide: http://www.concept2.co.uk/guide/guide.php?article=core_stability

H'Okay. News and changes about the forthcoming race season. Firstly, entry has now opened for this year's AXA PPP healthcare British IRC. Taking place on Sunday 21st of November at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, there's only 176 days until the close of entry, so you might want to get a move on and head over to http://www.concept2.co.uk/birc/entryform.php where you can either enter and pay on-line or download an entry form.

Now for the changes; due to the venue being double-booked, it looks like the European Open in Amsterdam will take place on the 18th of December rather than the 11th. We should know for sure by the time of the next newsletter.

Also: this year's Grand Prix series. Again due to venue problems, the Irish IRC will no longer be part of this year's series, while Nigel Mayglothling will now be organising the Portsmouth IRC, meaning that the Nottingham Grand Prix has been dropped. With the Cambridge GP changing from 5,000m to 2,000m, this now means we're back to a six race season, all of which are 2,000m apart from the first race in the series, Newark, which will be over a mile.

As the bloke in the Ford Escort found out this morning, we're rubbish at giving directions and explaining things, so you might need to check out the (slightly more glitzier than before) race calendar at http://www.concept2.co.uk/racing/calendar.php. Remember, if you're running an event anytime in the next couple of years, make sure you drop us a line at editor@concept2.co.uk so that we can let everybody know about it.

Here is a programme that will help improve your ergo time over 2,000 metres. The sessions can be substituted into an existing training programme.

Traditional training methods are designed to improve the functional efficiency of the body, which in turn will lead to an improved performance. Different training bands are identified by heart rate. Using heart rate is a useful method of controlling intensity because it is so simple. Heart rate increases in proportion to an increased demand for oxygen from working muscles. Therefore it is a reasonable tool for monitoring intensity certainly for aerobic workouts.

However, it does have its limitations once you reach your heart rate max. At this point, a continuing increase in effort has to be met by the anaerobic system and so different intensities of anaerobic work cannot be identified by heart rate. The point where work becomes anaerobic (as measured by the accumulation of lactate acid) and measured as a percentage of heart rate max varies from one individual to another. To measure the aerobic and anaerobic thresholds accurately requires complex and expensive test procedures.

Unlike traditional interval training, which is determined by either time or distance, this new system is based on performance every session of both stroke rate and pace. "The point of failure" is when you are unable to maintain either the stroke rate or pace stated in the programme. At this point you stop, recover and start again; this process is continued until the prescribed time, at which point each level is completed.

The reason that stroke rate is included in "the point of failure" is because, when you exercise, there are two things going on. There is the useful work, which is measured by the monitor, and there is the cost of effort, which cannot be seen. The two combined represent the total effort expended during the session. Although guidance on stroke rate is given in other programmes, they are not compulsory. This means that the athlete can carry out the session at the most comfortable rate. By fixing the stroke rate for each session, the cost of effort element of training is also challenged.

An added advantage of this system is that, because it is task specific, you will make substantial gains in performance even though you reduce the total training volume. The disadvantage is that every session requires you to go to failure repeatedly which can be quite unpleasant. For this reason this training method should only be attempted by those people training for an event and not used as a general exercise routine or those exercising as part of a weight management programme.

You need- a copy of the 500m metre pace/watts conversion table which can be found in the Training Guide on the website: http://www.concept2.co.uk/guide/guide.php?article=watts_conversion

Method

Your current 500m split from your 2,000m time is called "T" and the stroke rate associated with T is 34. T+1 is 25 watts above race pace and T-1 is 25 watts below race pace.

The sessions are simple: you row at the intensity indicated to failure, rest and start again. Repeat this until you have completed the total amount of minutes at the intensity required. Recovery time is not included; you go again when you feel ready.

Definition of failure- if either the pace or the stroke rate falls below that required for three consecutive strokes this is failure.

The sessions can be done sequentially as shown in the table above. They can also be substituted into an existing programme to add variety. But if you have limited time then this programme can be spread over 4 sessions/week for a total of 12 weeks by combining-

• T-3 plus T+5 on Day 1
• T+2 plus T+3 on Day 2
• T-2 plus T+4 on Day 3
• T-1 plus T+1 on Day 4

T, or test sessions, should be carried out every four weeks to reassess your reference pace.

These sessions can be quite challenging and should only be attempted by experienced athletes.

Alcester School ran a highly successful in-house rowing competition recently, with 266 competitors taking part, including a staff handicap race. Apart from Year 7 girls, who did 1,000m, everybody else raced over 2,000m, with 92% of students breaking their personal best in the process. Hannah Bladon (sixth form) and Vash Dasari (Yr 7 boys) won silver and gold at the 2003 AXA PPP healthcare British IRC and, not surprisingly, they were race winners at the event.

This is the third time that Alcester have run such an event and a number of other schools in the area have since expressed interest in running one. With a big screen display like the British IRC, and some expert commentary provided by the PE Department, Alcester reckon that it is probably the most exciting "In House" event they do at the school.

Year Winners

Those of you watching Channel 4's Fit Farm may have noticed the Indoor Rower pop up on more than one occasion. At least one of the inmates of the Farm, 31-year old wine merchant David Pearce (http://shorterlink.com/?2RLBYG) has taken to the machine like a duck to a drake. David, who has lost over three stone in eight weeks, has taken on the challenge of trying to row a million metres in ten weeks, and at the half way stage is well on target.

We're currently in the process of knocking together all the results from National Marathon Day, which should hopefully be up and posted on our website in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, we're still on the lookout for your stories and advice on training for/doing a marathon. To whet your appetite, here's Mick Palmer's account of the day:

"I bought my Model D at the beginning of September last year and, although I always intended to do more, have probably averaged 2-3 x 30 minutes sessions per week. I decided to have a go at the marathon a couple of weeks ago and did a one-hour session and a two-hour session, both of which went OK.

"After this I concentrated on rest and biscuit eating. Then I noticed the Marathon Training Plan in the Guide (http://www.concept2.co.uk/guide/guide.php?article=marathon_plans), which was a little alarming! Undeterred, however, I brought the Indoor Rower down to our offices just past mile 23 of the London marathon course, and completed the distance on the pavement outside whilst the runners went past.

"It took a rather wet three hours and nine minutes, including a couple of breaks for stretching and drinks, but I was pleased with this and got as big a sense of achievement as running the marathon last year. There was plenty of encouragement from passers by, who also dug into their pockets to the tune of £250, collected for the RNID."

It is now official, exercise is good for you and everyone should do half an hour a day for five days a week: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3667121.stm

Five years ago we produced the first Indoor Rowing Training Guide (http://www.concept2.co.uk/guide) and in this we explained the "Need for Exercise". So you would think that, as I wrote it, I would be over the moon by the news but I'm not.

It all hinges around what is your definition of exercise, and mine is definitely not doing half an hour of housework. But this is what has been extrapolated from a serious report that has taken experts a couple of years to produce. Half an hour of housework is the headline catching spin that appears on national television and the papers.

Granted, someone who does do half an hour of housework will be better off than someone who does absolutely nothing, but the difference is minimal. It certainly will not yield any health benefits such as reducing heart disease, diabetes and all the other symptoms associated with an over weight population. This latest initiative is designed to do exactly that, tackle the health time bomb facing the country because of the growing amount of obesity especially amongst the young. This is a serious issue that requires meaningful advice.

How can you differentiate between housework and any other work that requires a degree of physical activity? If it were true, then anyone that did hard manual labour would never be over weight and this is just not the case. According to this advice, a twenty stone navvy, with a beer belly you can stand your glass on, only has to come home from work where he has been shovelling 24 tons of concrete, pick up the duster and whiz around for half an hour and suddenly his life expectancy doubles.

The fact is that the life expectancy of manual workers is less than white-collar workers. If you look at obesity across socio-economic groups, then you find a higher proportion amongst the poorer sections of the population. Also, better education leads to less obesity, which could be part of the same thing, better education, better job, more money, more choice about what you eat and quality of life.

Exercise is a part of the problem of the nation's health but not all of it. It is important that people understand what is necessary if you are talking about significant improvements in the rate of heart disease and other related illness.

So what about exercise? Well, I am afraid that exercise requires people to sweat and get out of breath; it is as simple as that. Things started to go wrong when PE was shuffled to the bottom of the pile in schools due to cuts in the education budget. The problem was compounded as competitive sport was frowned upon.

Physical preparation is no less important than academic preparation. In the same way that children face academic exams, there should also be regular monitoring of fitness. Along with their O and A level results, they should also have a score on a fitness index. Better education on what foods are good for us is essential to combat the massive TV advertising of junk food, especially during kids' programmes.

Once you start getting down to what really needs to be done to address the nation's health problems, you can see why flitting about for thirty minutes with a duster suddenly seems like an attractive idea. It may not bring about the desired effect, but it is cheap and easy and doesn't require any effort from those in charge.