INDOOR ROWING NEWSLETTER # 17 ======================= 21-July-2000 ======================== _________________________________________________ C O N T E N T S 1. Indoor Rowing Training Camp 2. Fastest Split Competition 3. Tel's Tales #1 - Training Bands 4. Bravehearts 5. Lucerne World Cup Regatta 6. Fantasy Rowing Competition 7. Tel's Tales #2 - The Death Sesh 8. E-Commerce 9. Ranking Spotlight - Lynn Loughton 10. 100,000 Metre Row 11. BIRC Race Training 12. Eight Hour Team Row 13. Cowes 14. Tel's Tales #3 _________________________________________________________________ ========================================================= Indoor Rowing Training Camp ========================================================= 57 year old man, grey but energetic, GSOH, N/S seeks men and women for good time in Spain. Yup, there are still a couple of places left on our pre-British Indoor Rowing Championship Training Camp. Led by Terry O'Neill, the Training Camp takes place from September 30th to October 8th in Banyoles and should cost you somewhere in the region of, ooh, 300 pounds all in depending on what sort of room you want. For more information drop us a line at webmaster@vermonthouse.co.uk or check out our web-site at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/race_training_index.htm. If you're planning on going and haven't sent your deposit in yet, then best skedaddle as we're strictly first come first served. ========================================================= Fastest Split Competition ========================================================= You may remember after a question from James Bailey a while back that we launched a competition to find the lowest split anyone could pull, and that we promised to bring a secret weapon into play. After several meetings in smoke-filled rooms, we've reluctantly decided that the secret weapon must remain veiled for matters of national security. And because we can't get hold of him yet. Anyway: the winner is (opens envelope, looks up) Chris Brett of Nottingham Boat Club and Loughborough University with a lowest split of 1:08 (sound of clapping, camera focuses in on Stuart Maze and Michiel Schaap who both did 1:10 and applaud while looking slightly sick). For the women, Anna Bailey did 1:26 with Karon Phillips a runner-up with 1:35. We'll be posting the times of everyone who entered on our web-site in the next couple of days. ========================================================= Tel's Tales #1 - Training Bands ========================================================= Peter Woollard has been using our Indoor Rowing Training Guide and has a question based around training bands: "At what stage during a session should you reach the desired beats per minute? If, for example, I am rowing for 45 minutes at 75% of my Maximum Heart Rate, should I aim to reach 75% as quickly as possible and then maintain it by gradually easing off, or should I aim to reach 75% by the end of the row?" Terry O'Neill: This is a very good question and one that does not have a simple answer. In the lower training bands UT1 and UT2 (Utilisation) it is better to get into the band reasonably quickly and hold it throughout the session. With AT (Anaerobic Threshold) and TR (Oxygen Transportation) you are looking to finish the session just in the band and with AN (Anaerobic) and AL (Alactate) depending on the duration of the intervals you may find that the heart rate will continue to rise even though you have finished the piece. An explanation of the different types of training band can be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/race_training_index.htm ========================================================= Bravehearts ========================================================= A hardy group of former heart patients who have suffered from strokes, undergone heart bypass operations and live with high blood pressure rowed across the Channel recently. Members of the Poole Heart Support Group took turns to do six minute stints on an Indoor Rower aboard the Poole to Cherbourg ferry on Wednesday July 19th. Brian Halliwell, who has suffered from a stroke and had two heart bypass operations, was amongst those taking part in the events: "I think what I have learned is the importance of staying as fit as I can. The heart is a pump and if you keep it in good shape you have a chance." He then shouted "Freeeeedom" and ran off down Poole High Street brandishing his sword. ========================================================= Lucerne World Cup Regatta ========================================================= The big talking point of last weekend's World Cup Regatta in Lucerne was the shock double defeat of Britain's previously invulnerable men's coxless four of James Cracknell, Steve Redgrave, Tim Foster and Matthew Pinsent. After being pipped into second place in their semi- final by the New Zealand crew, their defeat in the final was pretty complete. In the last race before the Olympics, they were second at 500 metres behind a fast-starting Italian crew . From then on in they steadily lost ground on the rest of the race and were eventually passed by New Zealand and Australia, finishing six seconds behind the Italians. It was Redgrave's biggest defeat since he finished fifth with Simon Berrisford in the coxed pairs at the 1989 world championships, and the disappoint was clear: "We had a reasonable first minute and then we just had nothing left to give. All the calls were there, but not the speed. I feel so frustrated." Despite this Matthew Pinsent remained in a relatively upbeat mood: "It just wasn't a great race. These things happen. We obviously made a lot of mistakes, but we will definitely put those right in time for Sydney. We are going to go to Sydney and win." The coxless four will now take a week off before moving to altitude training. In an overall disappointing set of results for Britain, Greg Searle and Ed Coode failed to make the A final of the coxless pairs, although they extracted some satisfaction by winning the B final for 7th to 12th places, a feat mirrored by the women's pair of Dot Blackie and Cath Bishop. The only real bright spot of the regatta was the performance of the men's eight who, in a tense final, just held off the challenge of the Australians to take gold, with the American crew in third. The victory also provided a measure of satisfaction for James Cracknell who stepped into the four seat at the last minute due to an injury to Louis Attrill, thus lessening some of the disappointment of the coxless fours. ========================================================= Fantasy Rowing Competition ========================================================= What with only the second ever loss for the Redgrave-led coxless four, and a poor old time in general for the British, the penultimate round of our Fantasy Rowing competition was remarkably low-scoring. Nobody placed more than two boats correctly with the vast majority of people only scoring one or less. First, second and third places all ended up with two correct results and they were separated only on the tiebreaker question of predicting the Men's Single Sculls winning time. Mike Everington was only 4.1 seconds out on this and so wins the set of Concept 2 Slides while Alan Every, who was only 0.5 of a second behind him, wins the second place prize of a Polar Smart Edge Heart Rate Monitor. Nigel Farmer, meanwhile, picked up a Concept 2 Heart Rate Interface and Chest belt for finishing third. The final round of the competition is the Olympics itself, where the winner will receive a brand- new sparkling Indoor Rower. Remember, as you don't have to have entered already to win this, or if you've already entered and want another crack based on recent form, pop on down to http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/fantasy_index.htm ========================================================= Tel's Tales #2 - The Death Sesh ========================================================= Last newsletter's Ranking Spotlight fell on Chris Brett of Loughborough University, and under the spotlight's vicious glare he cracked and revealed one of his favourite workouts, known as the Loughborough Death Sesh. For those of you coming in late this was described as "basically consisting of holding your desired 2,000 metre split for as long as you can until you miss it for three strokes in a row. You then fall off and rest for 5 minutes and then repeat. You are supposed to continue until you can't even get down to the desired split." One of our readers Chris Harrison asked: "While it just sounds ludicrous, is there any physiological reason for this being an effective workout? It's not repeating to failure in the strictest sense because you're stopping while in control. It's not a traditional endurance piece because you're going at a level that must be way over your AT [Anaerobic Threshold]. "Why should this be more effective, say, than a traditional 5-on-5-off for 10 reps? Is it the conditioning of the body to work at the desired level? If so, wouldn't aiming to hold the split at target minus 5 seconds make more sense?" Terry O'Neill: Along with the physical benefits from training there are also psychological benefits to be gained. Variations in the programme that are either fun or really challenging will help keep the athlete focused and are therefore beneficial even if from a strictly physiological aspect they are dubious. The training session you mention would fall into this category and also I can see team building benefits when used for groups. I agree that you would be training above AT and in the transport range. During a 2,000 metres row there is lactate accumulation and some recent papers have identified that training at an intensity that causes lactate to build up also develops enzymes that allow the lactate to be reprocessed quicker. In sports where lactate accumulation is part and parcel then this form of training would have obvious benefits. There is another school of thought which believes that the building up of lactate should be avoided as much as possible during training. This was widely believed in the old East Germany and in countries that now have ex DDR coaches, the training regimes tend to be based on lots of low intensity work (GB and France for example). The theory here is that the long low intensity training will increase muscle capilliarisation leading to increased crossover time for oxygen to pass from the blood stream to the mitochondria and hence reduce lactate build up. However you increase your muscular efficiency you will not be able to avoid lactate accumulation in a 2,000 metre row so I am firmly in the higher intensity training camp. It has also been established that capilliarisation takes place at a higher rate when training at 85% of maximum and so for people with limited time, shorter high intensity programmes will offer the best results. I would not want to do the Loughborough Death Sesh too often but I would leave it in the programme. ========================================================= E-Commerce ========================================================= The shopping section of our web-site is now going great guns. Despite a fortnight of frankly pathetic pleading from the likes of Mr Sainsbury and Mr Asda that our success could cost up to 123,165 jobs in British retail we're determined to forge ahead. Today an inexpensive and affordable line of indoor rowing related merchandise, tomorrow the world, the day after that the Universe. Hah hah hah. Quick, the Earthman's escaping. Stop him before he frees Dr Zargon. I said stop him you fools! ========================================================= Ranking Spotlight: Lynn Loughton ========================================================= This week's turn in the Ranking Spotlight goes to Lynn Loughton who lives in Portsmouth, although she's a Brummy girl at heart. Describing herself as 42 years young, Lynn's a mother of three and grandmother of two, and it takes a phenomenal amount of restraint to avoid reaching into the cliché bag and pulling out the Supergran epithet. Y'see, she's basically cream of the crop in the women's on-line world ranking. The following is a neat summary of her achievements and remember, all the positions are overall, not just for her age bracket: 500 metres…..1st…..1:39.6 1000 metres…..1st…..3:32.9 2000 metres…..4th…..7:18.6 5000 metres…..1st…..19:24.1 10,000 metres…..1st…..40:44.5 30 minutes…..2nd…..7666 metres 60 minutes…..1st…..14080 metres Lynn's always been interested in fitness and joined a local fitness club three years ago. "I've gradually progressed from just 'pottering around the gym' to a level that I would not have thought possible with goals and targets forming a part of everyday life for me now." After deciding to enter the 1998 UltraFIT competition, she started to use the Indoor Rower as one of the disciplines in that competition is a 500 metre row. "The first time I sat on the machine and completed 500 metres I nearly died! What was I thinking of attempting this madness? From then on in, however, I was hooked. The decision was then made to train up for the British Indoor Rowing Championship at Reading where I was fortunate to achieve third place in my event. After that the target was the World Championship in Boston, a truly unforgettable experience and one I shall keep on doing until this body decides otherwise!" "My favourite type of workout/training session is one where I can honestly say that I achieved everything I set out to do, whether it's short speed or long steady paced work, or a weight routine worked to the best of my ability, although always at the back of my mind there is my personal challenge of working that little bit faster, lifting a bit heavier, increasing reps or rowing further than the previous session. We all have to experience failure at some levels, it's just that I don't like it." ========================================================= 100,000 Metre Row ========================================================= Dot.com shares, cheeky Liverpudlian popster Sonja, the mullet haircut. All these things have for a brief shining moment achieved immense popularity before beginning a slow decline. Not so, however, the solo 100,000 metres row, which continues to grow in fashionabilityness as a report from Stuart Garrett makes clear: "Inspired by Andy Robinson after speaking to him and watching as he rowed his 100,000 metres at 'The Big One' [see previous Newsletters], Steve Lunn and I set a date for the May 21st to complete the individual 100,000 metre challenge. "I asked Steve if he would row alongside me as I knew it would seem to be easier if I rowed with someone to take away the boredom and so that we could watch each other's display for rest periods. I also knew there was very little chance that he would say no. "Our times came out as: Stuart – 7:28:46, Steve – 8:24:27 "I would just like to say a very BIG thank you to all those who supported us in our gruelling challenge especially to Heather and John Bush for being with us throughout and acting as official sponsors. "This was a charitable event for CRY - Cardiac Risk in the Young - which we raised 709 pounds for and a close personal friend Anton Szculz who is the Managing Director for a local Renault garage gave us 400 pounds which bought it to a total of 1,109 pounds." ========================================================= BIRC Race Training ========================================================= We're now 18 weeks away from the British Indoor Rowing Championship. If you're thinking of entering and you haven't yet sorted out a training regime and you've yet to download or purchase a Training Guide (and why ever not?), your best bet is to check out the Race Training Section on our web-site (http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/race_training_index.htm). This tells you all you need to know about training for a race along with a little bit extra. ========================================================= Eight Hour Team Row ========================================================= The British Olympic Appeal "Row for Sydney" took place successfully on Saturday 8th July at Salisbury Leisure Centre. An eight hour team event, 35 teams took part and over 10,000 pounds was raised to help send British athletes to the Sydney Games. The event was won by the 11th Signal Regiment who covered 139,036 metres in the time available. Remarkably, after rowing for eight hours solid, they finished but 589 metres ahead of Flying Wing SAAvb. Third place overall was taken by the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. The first female team was SLC Harpers with 111,868 metres while the mixed prize was won by Shaftesbury Leisure Centre Paddlers with 123,480 metres. ========================================================= Cowes ========================================================= Confucius he say, just as one British Olympic Appeal Row finishes, another one starts up. Anybody who's at Cowes for the sailing on the 2nd of August, should pop on over to the British Olympic Appeal stand where they'll be running a sponsored Indoor Rower event, challenging you to row as far as you can in three minutes. For more information, contact Peter Stanworth on 07887 708366. ========================================================= Tel's Tales #3 ========================================================= Michael Davidson managed to squeeze four questions into a short space of time: "I can't find any explanation of what watts are all about and why I have to know about them. Also, when I'm getting to the mad bit at the end, the sprint to get under the previous time, I find that there comes a point where the chain starts to thrash around because I'm going pretty darn fast. What am I doing wrong? Finally, side benefits for me of using the rower is weight loss and muscle gain. My girlfriend, however, is a bit concerned by the idea of getting big muscles and so doesn't use the rower as much as she would like. What's your opinion on this?" Terry O'Neill: You don't really need to know about watts so you can leave the monitor on the 500m split setting. The machine measures the power consumed in watts and then from simple maths converts this to calories or speed over 500m. Watts are a very small unit and if you keep the machine on watts when you are rowing you will find that it is jumping around and so we recommend leaving the monitor on 500m split time where these small differences are averaged out. The reason the chain is jumping about could be because you're throwing your hands away too quickly at the Finish and you're moving about quicker than you should be. Alternatively, it could be because the shock cord needs a bit more tension. I think your girlfriend is worrying unnecessarily. First of all women do not have the same body structure as a man and to develop muscle definition is much more difficult. Secondly, to develop muscle definition the rowing machine is not the most effective way, you would need to pump iron. In your case I suspect that the weight loss you refer to is revealing and toning a muscle structure already quite well defined. _____________________________________________S U B S C R I P T I O N If you're on this mailing list by accident, reply to this e-mail with "unsubscribe" as the subject header. If you're receiving multiple copies of this e-mail, reply with "multiple" as the header _________________________________________________________________ Concept 2 Tel: (0115) 945 5522 E-mail: info@concept2.co.uk Web: www.concept2.co.uk Printed from: www.concept2.co.uk/news/newsletter_archive.php