INDOOR ROWING NEWSLETTER # 18 ======================= 04-August-2000 ======================== _________________________________________________ C O N T E N T S 1. Jersey IRC 2. Cornish Rowing Event 3. Nations Cup 4. Tel's Tales #1 5. 100,000 Metre Row 6. Top Tip 7. Club Tropicana 8. Fantasy Rowing Competition 9. Crew Class 10. 5 Million Metres and Counting (by Keith Atkinson) 11. Tel's Tales #2 _________________________________________________________________ ========================================================= Jersey Indoor Rowing Championships ========================================================= The Fort Regent Leisure Centre will be the venue on Saturday 19th August for Jersey's first ever Indoor Rowing Championship. Almost 100 competitors are expected to attend the Championship, which will be run on a heat and finals format over the 2,000 metre distance. Categories will be divided by age, weight and gender. The finals will be divided into women and men's lightweight and open sections with the fastest ten rowers in each class competing in a "row off" to determine Jersey's fastest indoor rower. Some competitors taking part in the Championship are members of the Jersey Rowing Club, who are also training intensively for the London to Paris Rowing Challenge, scheduled to start at midnight on Saturday 23rd September. The club aims to become the first Channel Island Team to be in the Guinness Book of Records. To do this they will have to beat the 480 mile London to Paris rowing record of 4 days, 10 hours, 14 minutes and 54 seconds, set in May 1999 by a British team that featured rugby and indoor rowing legend Andy Ripley amongst their crew. Championship organiser, Guy Hinks, commented: "The indoor races are not aimed purely at rowing individuals. Everyone can take part, the priority is for competitors to have fun." For further information contact Guy Hinks at the Fort Regent Leisure Centre on 01534 484090, or visit the web-site http://www.jerseyrowing.com for more information on the London to Paris Rowing Challenge. ========================================================= Cornish Rowing Event ========================================================= In conjunction with St Austell's Brewery the British Olympic Appeal will be running a series of events throughout August in Cornwall in order to raise money to help send British athletes to the Sydney Games. At each event people will be invited to do 500 metres in as fast a time as possible. The person who does 500 metres quickest overall will be invited to compete against local Cornish boy Ed Coode, current world champion and member of the Olympic-bound coxless pair, after he gets back from Sydney. Nine dates are currently confirmed and the others will go up on the news section of our web-site once we get confirmation (http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/news.htm) 9th August - Pirate Inn, Falmouth 9th August – Watersport Centre, Falmouth 10th August – Pirate Inn, Falmouth 10th August – Royal Cornwall Yacht Club, Falmouth 11th August – The William the Fourth, Truro 15th August – The Waterfront, Plymouth 18th August – The Oyster Catcher, Polzeath 21st August – The Shipwright's Inn, Padstowe 22nd August – The Central Inn, Newquay ========================================================= Nation's Cup ========================================================= A total of 575 rowers from 33 nations descended upon Copenhagen last weekend for the annual Nations Cup competition, also known as the U23 World Rowing Championship. Britain achieved one of its best ever performances, taking home four gold medals. As well as first places in the men's coxed four and the women's pair, Britain also performed an amazing double in the single sculls event. After twenty years of not having won any of the single sculls events, they preceded to win both. For the Men, Matt Wells extended his recent fantastic run of form with an eight second victory while Debbie Flood, who turned to on-water rowing having achieving success on the Indoor Rower, added to her recent Henley triumph by romping home with four seconds to spare. ========================================================= Tel's Tales ========================================================= Each fortnight, three times Olympic rowing coach Terry O'Neill answers any questions you may have about any aspect of the machine. If you've got a question you'd like Tel to answer, send your e-mail to webmaster@vermonthouse.co.uk Thom Board: "I have owned a C2 rower for some time but had never really used it in anger until a few months ago. Since the beginning of May I have regularly been in the seat every other day. The reasons I actually got going was that I wanted to justify the price for the machine in addition to wanting to get fit. I lead a fairly active lifestyle anyway but with 30 approaching fast it's a lovely dream to be as fit as I was when I was 22! "I have read all the useful C2 training literature and read your 'column' in every newsletter, consequently I train in all disciplines - 2K, 5K, 10K, 30mins, 60mins, pyramids, sprint bursts, etc. etc. I also keep a running total of metres and time with a friend to retain a competitive edge. At present we clock up 100,000m+ a month. "Without doubt I am now infinitely fitter than three months ago, I sail every weekend, cycle to work and jog when the sun's out and I find a downhill slope. In short the Concept 2 is brilliant and has brought me back to feeling really healthy both in mind and body. Whilst I never started the Concept 2 training to lose weight, when I started I was 6ft 3in and 97kg, however, this training added to a much improved diet and a little less ale has not altered my weight more than one kilo! "I have consulted a great friend on the issue - a Leeds Carnegie Sports Graduate - who is equally as baffled. He's seen the training I've been doing, noted less ale and improved diet and still baffled. As I say I didn't start the training to lose weight but it does seem odd that I am not approaching my 22 year old racing weight of 89/90kg. Any ideas why the weight is not coming off?" Terry O'Neill: In short I don't know why in your case you are not shedding weight because there could be several reasons. The main components of the body from a weight perspective are the skeleton and the flesh the skeleton supports. The flesh is composed of muscle fibre and fat and when people say they want to lose weight what they really mean is they want to reduce the ratio of body fat to lean muscle. Changing this ratio in itself may not result in weight loss, as lean muscle fibre is heavier than body fat per unit volume. Comparing yourself to your weight at age 22 is also misleading because for a male your fit weight could continue to rise until you were about 27 or more. I don't know if you are old enough to remember one of the greatest athletes of all time, Mohammed Ali. He boxed light-heavy weight and won the gold medal in the Olympics in his early twenties. So he weighed around 80kgs but in his late twenties and early thirties he was heavyweight champion of the world and weighed around 100kgs. No one would seriously suggest that he was either overweight or unfit so just looking at your weight may not tell you the full story. Tel ========================================================= 100,000 Metre Row ========================================================= After competing in The Big One, the 100,000 metre team race at Millfield School in March, members of Redrice were not satisfied with a new club record of 6:03:38.5 and resolved to have a go at improving it. So it was that in mid-June team leader Ian May re-assembled his team of ten, with a few changes of personnel, as Redrice's contribution to the Test Valley Millennium Relay, with the aim to go under the 6 hour barrier so narrowly missed in March. The initial strategy was to work in 1:30 minute intervals, which was maintained until 30,000 metres had been completed. As the pace took its toll the decision to drop to 1 minute intervals was made, thus enabling all members to maintain their intensity. The team went through the halfway point in 2:44:04, leading to the possibility of a sub 5 hour 30 row, something which exceeded all expectations and set them a new goal to aim for. With 40,000 metres to go the intervals were decreased to 45 seconds; aided by a changeover routine that was slicker than a MacLaren pit-stop, the intensity was again maintained. With 90,000 metres completed, the sub 5 hour 30 row was still a possibility. The last 10,000 metres were completed in 30 second intervals with all 10 team members pushing themselves to the limits of their mental and physical strength. The honour of the last few metres fell to Dickie Moore who passed the 100,000 metres in 5:29:15.8 to the delight of his ecstatic and shattered team mates. ========================================================= Top Tip ========================================================= This week's Top Tip focuses not on the training side of things but on the actual machine itself. Everybody knows that at the end of a piece the machine displays your average 500m split time, but how many people know that you can use the monitor to display all your splits over the piece (up to a maximum of twenty) and further, that you can customise these splits? Here's how to do it: choose the distance you want to row (say, for example, 2,000 metres) and then press OK and the METRES button together. This will bring up the split distance. Use the SET DIGITS buttons to set the split distance (for example 200 metres) and then press READY when it's done. Once you've completed the piece, pressing M/RECALL will show you the time you did for the last 200 metres. Pressing M/RECALL repeatedly will cycle back through the 200 metre splits you've done in the piece. This trick also works if you're doing a time piece rather than a distance piece. Simply press OK and TIME rather than OK and METRES to set your custom time split. If you want to see your split scores during the row, press READY and M/RECALL together just before you start. The split score will hold for five seconds in the lower left display of the window, and then returns to the normal display. If you've got a top tip, to do with any aspect of the machine or training, just send it into the usual address, which is webmaster@vermotnhouse.co.uk ========================================================= Club Tropicana ========================================================= The nation's top fitness enthusiasts are all set to compete in the UK Tropicana Cross-Training Challenge at Club Tropicana in Sutton Coldfield on Sunday 20th August 2000. Now in its seventh year, the Challenge is an all round fitness tournament where individuals and teams tackle ten events against the clock. Nearly 100 competitors are expected to take part in the Challenge, which will feature individual competitions in the morning and team events in the afternoon. Each team member will compete in two out of the ten events allowing them to specialise in their strongest disciplines. Events include indoor cycling, stepping and indoor rowing plus strength exercises like the seated shoulder press, bench press and alternate squat thrusts. Organiser Paul Davies commented: "Individuals and teams from all over the UK will be competing in the Cross-Training Challenge from as far afield as Ireland, Scotland and Cornwall. We have even recruited competitors from all the other major indoor tournaments including the UltraFIT Championship. This will make the Challenge a really tough event." For further information contact Paul Davies, Christine Tooze or the Operations Manager, Stewart Baxter, at Club Tropicana on 0121 377 8081. ========================================================= Fantasy Olympic Rowing Competition ========================================================= There are now six weeks to go until the Olympic Games in Sydney, so for those of you who haven't yet entered our Fantasy Rowing Competition, (http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/fantasy_index.htm) you've still got plenty of time to win yourself a brand new Indoor Rower. Ten British teams qualified for the Olympics in the end (although we'll still be running the competition only on the seven who pre-qualified), making Britain the fourth most represented country in the event, after the Americans with 14, and the Germans and Australians, who both have 12. ========================================================= Crew Class ========================================================= Huntingdon Recreation Centre will be the venue on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th of August for the launch of Impressions Fitness Club's first ever Crew Class Weekend. Classes of up to ten fitness enthusiasts will row in synchrony, participating in rowing "spinning classes" on the Indoor Rower. The aim of the Crew Class is for everyone to exercise in time. In order to achieve this, members of each session will be positioned in front of a mirror. The wide range of resistance levels available on the Indoor Rower will allow the rowers to work at their own level and stay in time with each other. Instructor and organiser of the Huntingdon Crew Class Weekend, Tony Green, commented: "This type of fitness class is very popular in America and Crew Class is attracting a cult following across the Atlantic. There are tremendous benefits from rowing in a group. It is motivational and simple. The launch of the Rowing Crew Class is an experiment and will represent a weekend training camp of sorts. With the ever-increasing popularity of indoor rowing, we hope the launch will be the start of regular weekly classes" For further information contact Tony Green or David Connell, Gym Manager at Impressions, on 01480 388600. Classes are charged at 2 pounds per session, or alternatively participants can pay 5 pounds for a day. ========================================================= Five Millions Metres And Counting by Keith Atkinson ========================================================= Done it! Two and a half years after starting regular use of the Indoor Rower, I've achieved the Five Million Metres. It was a slow start beginning with 5 one-minute rows at around 75% of my Maximum Heart Rate, with two-minute rests between, but by June my trusty training partner Mike Longley and I finished the distance at Nottingham Boat Club under the glare of the Nottingham Evening Post cameras. I was strongly motivated to use the machine for two reasons: firstly, I'm part of the Concept 2 Education Team that delivers instructor courses to the Armed Services, schools, sports instructors, personal trainers and private users of Concept 2 machines, so I clearly needed to have some experience in the regular use of the machine; secondly, I needed to maintain my personal fitness and flexibility in order to combat the effect of multiple sclerosis. Since the machine is weight bearing, I can do very effective CV work without the problems of balance or spasming experienced in other forms of exercise. The first million metres took a year, while the next four took eighteen months. I use the programme set out on page 51 of the Indoor Rowing Training Guide. As pieces over 30 minutes tend to cause leg spasms, I cut longer sessions down into smaller chunks, so instead of a 60 minute UT2, I row 3 x 20 minute pieces with 10 minute rests between. Current personal bests are 7:52.5 for the 2000 metres, 22:20.0 for the 5000 metres, and 47:30.0 for the 10,000 metres. The maximum one day distance over the period was 25,000 metres, done in pieces. I average around 40,000 metres per week. I do have holidays – I've generally had two 2-week breaks a year since retirement, but would choose if possible to stay at places where I could continue to train. I'm often asked how I manage the time spent on the machine. I either listen to music – Queen, Blondie, film soundtracks such as Last of the Mohicans or The Full Monty, or watch videos. I've got through Robocop, Full Metal Jacket, All Quiet on the Western Front and Gunfight at the OK Corral! Long on action and light on plot. I had the good fortune to win the bronze medal for the 60+ Lwt at the World Indoor Rowing Championships in Boston in 1999 and again this year – the last year of one century and the first of the next. I'm currently trying to improve my basic strength on the Concept 2 DYNO, the new strength-training machine. As it is designed with rowers in mind, I'm very optimistic about the outcome. I'm pleased to say my walking and balance have improved. My aerobic fitness is considerably better, with a heart rate down from 74 to 48 over the two and a half years. The greatest gain? I feel good, look well and have a very positive view on the future. ========================================================= Tel's Tales #2 ========================================================= Paul Kennedy: "One week ago, I took possession of a Concept 2 Indoor Rower. I also purchased the PM2+ and Heart Rate Monitor interface. "I intend to use the rower for general fitness, weight management and 2,000 metre racing. I am a 41-year-old male, 6'1" and weigh in at 206lbs. I have taken part in sports all my life, but feel that I need to reduce my weight to around 194lbs. As I do not play rugby any more, I do not need to carry the extra weight. "I have followed the Concept 2 web-site advice for weight management, by taking 41 from 220 for my maximum heart rate of 179 (I have reached 185 in my hill sprint training recently, my resting heart rate is normally 42-44). From this figure of 179, I take 65% to get a working rate of 116. But to keep this heart rate over 20 minutes, I have to row at a stroke rate of 28-29, instead of the advised 18-20. By the end of the session, I am sweating quite freely. "What am I doing wrong with this method of training? Has it got anything to do with my low resting heart rate? I look forward to your views on this matter." Terry O'Neill: A couple of things; 1. Your maximum heart rate will vary depending on what you are doing. Hill sprints will initiate a higher heart rate than rowing. If you want to find out what your maximum is on the rower then there is a simple test to determine it, which we covered a few weeks ago. You can find this on our web-site at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/tels_tales.htm 2. The percentage heart rate you should work at is with respect to your heart rate range. You determine this by subtracting you resting heart rate from your heart rate maximum. In your case 179-44=135. 65% of 135=88. You then add this to your resting heart rate so that means that 65% of your heart rate range is 132. 3. A low resting heart rate in a highly trained athlete is normal. With Joe Public it could be a good sign but it could also be as a result of a slow metabolism, When was the last time you had a check up? Assuming you are OK don't worry too much about the stroke rate. This is a throw back to on- water rowing before heart rate monitors were common. Rowers would control their intensity of effort by stroke rate and they have a correlation between heart/stroke rates that may not apply to non-rowers. With weight management when I wrote the programme I assumed that some people who were on the regime may have been really unfit as well as over-weight. In this case the need would be to gradually build up long sessions of low intensity. This would build some conditioning and allow for a more intensive programme to be followed. If you are training at a higher intensity, as long as the calories you take in from food and drink are less than the calories burned in exercise, then you will lose weight. In fact you will lose weight quicker through higher intensity training than the low sessions in the weight management programme provided you are fit enough to work at a higher level. ____________________________________________F E E D B A C K Like what you read? Dislike what you read? Ideas for future newsletters? 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