============================================================ INDOOR ROWING NEWSLETTER # 29 ======================== 26-January-2001 ====================== _________________________________________________ C O N T E N T S 1. World Indoor Rowing Championship 2. Concept 2 Message Board 3. Tel's Tales - Veterans 4. Red Nose Row 5. Regional Races 6. Tel's Tales #1 7. Forthcoming Events 8. Top Tips 9. Tel's Tales #2 10. Music To Row To _________________________________________________________________ ========================================================= World Indoor Rowing Championship ========================================================= February: Valentine's day, leap years and the World Indoor Rowing Championship. Well, Valentine's Day tends to be rubbish let's face it. Chances are that card from George Clooney or Kylie Minogue is going to remain unsent. And leap years? Don't make me laugh. They can't even be bothered to turn up most of the time. The World Indoor Rowing Championship, however, now that's reliable. Always in February, always at the Reggie Lewis Track and Field Center in Boston, Massachusetts, always containing some of the world's finest athletes. This year it's taking place on Sunday the 25th, and it looks like the British team will be the largest ever to leave these shores, with over 70 planning to compete. We've managed to tie up a sponsorship deal with those nice people at PPP healthcare, which should make our boys and girls the best dressed team there, and certainly making them the beeline for the inevitable kit swapping ceremonies after the racing. If you get your skates on, really, really get your skates on, you can still enter the championship. Contact us at crash-b@vermonthouse.co.uk or download an entry form from http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/world_champ_r.htm but, like, quickly as close of entry's Thursday morning. ========================================================= Indoor Rowing Message Board ========================================================= A brief history of indoor rowing communication. 1864 - Sir Stamford Raffles sends his manservant out to challenge Baron Tufton of Bufton to a 2,000 metre rowing race using Charles Babbage's newly invented Difference Engine. 1940 - Archaeologists discover a series of cave paintings in Lascaux, France. Amongst the various bison and oxen can clearly be seen some primitive figures on rowing machines, including one figure "blowing up" with 300 metres to go. Thought to be earliest ever description of an indoor rowing race. 1999 - Launch of Concept 2 E-Newsletter. Several thousand words of indoor rowing goodness dropped into your inbox every Friday fortnight. Nation yawns and wonders whether to watch the repeat of Friends or Have I Got News For You. January 26th, 2001 - Launch of the Indoor Rowing Message Board. Nation turns cartwheels, lets off fireworks and a public holiday is declared. Yup. Today saw the launch of the latest step in our ongoing plan to connect every indoor rower in the world up via the web; soon we'll be able to organise them into a revolutionary cadre and march on Washington. At the moment, however, you'll have to be content with this. All you've got to do is drop on http://www.concept2.co.uk/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi. Although anybody can read messages there, you've got to be registered to actually post. To do that, all you've gotta do is click on register, fill in a few quick details and then boom, you can start tapping out your messages to the rest of the indoor rowing world. At the moment of course, the message board has only just been launched so it looks a bit lonely out there. If you get five minutes free, make sure you nip over there and scribble your name and comments all over it. http://www.concept2.co.uk/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi - be there or be really, really, square. ========================================================= Tel's Tales - All Men Are Born Equal by Terry O'Neill ========================================================= All men are born equal. This was said by some geezer with a social conscience with the underlying aim to keep people equal for the rest of their lives. Someone then added a second line "but some are more equal than others". This was of course political irony. In the world of sport, however, this is absolutely true, men are most definitely not born equal. Coming up to the World Indoor Rowing Championships in Boston the old chestnut of the veteran age bands will once again rear its ugly head. In recognition of the fact that performance declines with age, many sports have age categories and some try to apply a handicap system. Every system will have its critics and questions about its fairness, so what are the issues? What is a fact is that performance will decline from a peak as a consequence of the ageing process. There is even a figure of 0.4ml/kg/min/year decrease in VO2 max. This won't mean a lot to most people so I will give an example. Take a man aged 25 who is at the peak of his powers, weighs 80 kilograms and has a VO2 maximum of 6 litres/min. If his weight remains the same and he continues to train, then at age 50 his VO2 max will have dropped to 5 litres/min. If at his peak his 2,000 metre best is 6 minutes, on his 50th birthday he would be looking at around 6:40. So it's not too complicated to convert the physiological changes into a corrected time for 2,000 metres. When identifying different groups, statisticians look for a clear gap from one group to another, but when we look at the results of BIRC, this gap does not exist. Taking the Men's Open Hwt as the starting point, there were 116 competitors in this category and if we compare the winners of the different categories this is what we find: 30-39 winner 5th overall 40-44 winner 13th overall 45-49 winner 27th overall 50-54 winner 18th overall 55-59 winner 58th overall 60-64 winner 78th overall 65-69 winner 105th overall 70-79 winner 114th overall This list illustrates two main points. First it confirms that age affects performance, but it also shows us that age is not the only criteria, as 70 year old Mike Collier beat three blokes under thirty. When you train with the aim to perform, you develop your skill, mental toughness and physical capability. In this last area, the extent to which we can develop our physical capacity is determined at birth, or before to be exact, as it is a question of genetics. Andy Ripley, who at 52 won the 50-55 category and would have come 18th in the Men's Open Hwt, was born with a tremendous physical capacity. Allowing for the loss of potential from ageing, he still has a greater VO2 max than the average 25 year old. The perfect handicap system requires everyone to be born equal and we know this doesn't happen. So the next time you think about complaining, don't have a go at the organisers, blame your parents. ========================================================= Red Nose Row Updates ========================================================= Ah, the Reuters machine is working (chatter chatter says the machine in the corner, as it spews out ticker-tape news from around the world). We're receiving a special bulletin on the Red Nose Row: Chatter chatter ***** Worked out what you're doing on the day of the Red Nose Row itself, March 16th, yet? Rowing 15,000 metres while being pelted with wet sponges? Taking part in an office one hour four person team row? Trying to take five seconds of your 2,000 metre PB? Whatever it is, make sure you let us, and therefore Comic Relief as well, know. You can either e-mail your name, contact and event details to us at rnr@vermonthouse.co.uk or give us a ring on 0115 945 5522. Alternatively you should be able to fill your details in on the Red Nose Row web site at the beginning of next week. Chatter chatter ***** Another four people have completed their Million Metre Challenge on the On-line World Ranking (http://166.82.35.96/sranking/home.asp) since the last newsletter. A big round of applause and sloppy kisses goes out to Ruth Boetzel of Norwich, Teresa Coopland of Melton Mowbray, Simon Evans of Bury St Edmonds and Penzance's Simone Kilburn. Chatter chatter ***** Actually, there's not really much of an update to the 100,000 metre Head to Head involving former record holders Leander Club and current top dogs Royce's Gym. Still, we can tell you that things are firmly set in place now and media interest in this looks set to be huuuuuge, so be sure to tell people where you heard all the top goss first. More details (and now with an interactive poll! Yay!) at http://www.concept2.co.uk/rnr/rnr_head2head_index.htm End chatter chatter ***** ========================================================= Regional Races ========================================================= In that great municipal hall of fame, cities tend to be known for mainly one thing. Nottingham for Robin Hood, say, or Coventry for Lady Godiva. Leicester, meanwhile, is legendary for being the home of Englebert Humperdinck. Now, however, something's arisen in that fair city to challenge Englebert's stronghold: the East Midlands IRC. Last year was the first time the race took place and it attracted 34 entrants. This time around there were 84 competitors, a mighty 247% increase in just one year. If it carries on expanding at this rate, by the end of the decade the event will be attracting 287,375 entries and Englebert will be forced into going for gold in the 70-79 Hwt category in order to reclaim his former glory. Anyway. The results. Fastest time of the day was 6:14.0 by Charles Harris to win the Men's 19-29 event, while the fastest lightweight man was Andrew Brown of Humberside Fire Service; Andrew won the 30-39 Lwt category with 6:44.0. In the women's events, there was a tie for the overall fastest, with Berni McCabe of Nottingham Boat Club and Sally Horrocks of Leicester Boat Club winning the 19-29 Hwt and the 30-39 Hwt respectively in 7:23.0. For the lightweights, Ali Drury of Nottingham Boat Club won the 19-29 in 7:54.0. Full results can be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/local.htm ========================================================= Tel's Tales #1 ========================================================= For those of you coming afresh to the Indoor Rowing News, Tel's Tales is the column written by three times Olympic Rowing coach Terry O'Neill. When he's not horrendously mangling Jean-Jacques Rousseau quotations to try and support his argument, he also answers any questions you might have about all aspects of indoor rowing and training. Send your questions into webmaster@vermonthouse.co.uk. Bert Anderson: Could you please advise on what you consider to be an adequate warm up and cool down procedure for Pre-Competition and Competition sessions and 2,000 metre events. Does the duration vary with age and fitness level? I am a very fit 56 but some of my older/younger friends are not as fit. Terry O'Neill: Warm ups are quite an individual thing, especially before a competition. The reason for this is you not only need to get the body ready for action, but you need to prepare mentally as well. The same thing applies to the cool down. If you have completed a steady state row then the cool down is not important. If you have completed a high intensity row which has resulted in the accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles then the cool down is very important. Another consideration is the ambient temperature where you are training or competing. You would need more time if it is cold and draughty than if it is warm. There are basic principles that apply to warm ups and they are that you should warm up over the range of movement and the speed of muscular contraction of the activity you are warming up for. A reasonable starting point is to build the rowing stroke up from the back stop, holding the legs flat, the body still and just using the arms. After 15 strokes introduce the body swing again for 15 stokes before gradually introducing the slide. This is divided into four: quarter slide for 15, half slide for 15 and so on, until you are rowing at full slide. The first ten strokes at each position should be controlled with the speed increased over the final five strokes. When you have reached full length hold this in a controlled way for one minute then increase the pressure for ten strokes. Come back to steady for another minute then row twenty strokes hard and again returning to steady for one minute, Finally row 30 strokes really hard and you should be ready to start your training piece. Cool down after a high intensity training session should consist of a steady paddle for a total of 50% of the time spent during the session. ========================================================= Tel's Tales #2 - The Shorts ========================================================= Tel's Tales Shorts - All the flavour, half the calories. James Reid: Recently I was giving instruction to a member of the health club where I work on using the Indoor Rower when another member on a rower, (whose technique was inadequate), interjected when I came to the bit about 'body roll' from the hips. She said it was bad practice to have the shoulders 'leading' the hips after you've completed the stroke, (legs straight and the body roll is starting to come into play at the rear of the monorail). I tried to point out to her that's the way to row and that the erector spinae muscles have the spine braced and also that the spine is in a straight line from the pelvis to the neck. What made it worse was that she was 'quoting from a position of professional expertise as a therapist'. Terry O'Neill: The only thing that I can think of that would cause concern to a physio was if you were insisting that the legs were held flat by locking out the knees while the body is swung over. This could cause soreness in the lower back especially to someone with tight hamstrings. As long as the knees are not locked as you rock over at the finish of the stroke what you are teaching is standard technique. On the recovery there is no load and by shifting the body weight slightly forward you take advantage of the slope on the slide and you do not have to work to get to the front stop. ---------------- Dan Flavin: Did you ever notice that belching while working on the erg lowers the heart rate by a good 30-40 beats per minute, even when it's in the high 180s. The effect is only transient (around 30 seconds) but an interesting quirk. I seem to belch a lot on the erg so have had plenty of time to analyse this. Terry O'Neill: You can't belch and breathe in at the same time, so belching has the same effect as holding your breath. If you hold your breath for about twenty minutes your heart rate would fall even lower. On the other hand, flatulence has a siphon effect and draws in extra air, which causes an increase in the heart rate and a reddening of the cheeks, especially if it happens on a crowded train after a curry. ---------------- Frank Birch: I've been thinking about adding weight-training to my program for next year and have just read your weight-training programme [http://www.concept2.co.uk/rnr/rnr_tp_horr.htm fact fans]. I'd like to try it out but would appreciate guidance on (i) how many times a week you should undertake the sessions you describe and (ii) how to spread them over a 48 week period rather than the 24 week one they were designed for. Do you just do each 6-week block for twice as long or maybe two 24 week cycles? Terry O'Neill: I think it would be good for you to introduce some weights if it doesn't involve too much aggro. I believe that training in blocks of six weeks is the most effective for the simple reason that if you focus on one aspect of training for too long then you can lose performance in another area. To stretch it from 24 to 48 weeks is no problem but I think it would be better to rotate it rather that double the length of the periods for the reason stated above. The only thing I would change is the weeks 1-6 which are really meant as a starter if you have been away on holiday or not trained for some time. In your case you would benefit from doing the other three periods three times to give you 48 weeks. Three times a week would be ideal, twice a week would give some level of improvement but less than that would be a waste of time. ========================================================= Top Tip ========================================================= Last newsletter Simon Barnes threw down the gauntlet to everybody who significantly improved their PB at the PPP Healthcare British Indoor Rowing Championship and asked them how they did it. Well, David Hislop only went and picked that gauntlet up and answered. "Having competed for the first time at this year's championship, I achieved a Personal Best of 6:42.8 (previous best 6:50.3). The bulk of my training in the lead up to the race was a blend of aerobic sessions: 5,000 metres in the morning followed by a second daily session either at lunchtime or early evening comprising of alternate sessions of: - "4 x 500 metres averaging out at faster than race pace with a two minute recovery between each piece. I was targeting at a 1:37.5 average (6:30 pace) on the basis that when race day came my system would be used to the pace and would deliver the goods. 3 x 1,000 metres with a 3 minute recovery aiming to get each 1,000 metres progressively faster around the 3:20 mark. I also put in sessions of 10 x 100 metre sprints with 1 minute recovery looking to get an average of between 17.0 seconds and 17.5 seconds. "Some of these sessions were with a training partner on the machine next to me to simulate a race situation. Generally though most of my training was done on my own using the pace clock on the rower as a guide. At no time did I use my Heart Rate Maximum or the target time on the monitor. My biggest problem was to get my weight down under the 75kg mark to make Lwt. My normal weight is around 77/78kg. This was done in the three weeks prior to the competition by cutting out (gradually) my daily intake of one litre of ice cream and other goodies like biscuits etc. I made the weight and held it while still maintaining the quality training and sharpening up. "It took a lot of will power and discipline but I couldn't see the sense in training hard for nearly a year for the Championships and blowing it for the sake of a few gallons of ice cream and a ton of biscuits. For the record I finished 5th in the 40-44 Lwt category and am now building up for next year's BIRC where I will go in the 45-49 Lwt category. "One final point. I did regular time trials over a minute (personal best 339 metres); 500 metres (PB 1:29.6); 1,000 metres (PB 3:13.2) and also speed endurance sessions of 2 x 500 metres with 5 minutes recovery and 2 x 1,000 metres with full recovery throughout the year to gauge progress. "Other training I do includes running, cycling and weights to ensure a complete programme of cross-training covered all the necessary training components. "To beat the boredom on the erg I tune the TV into Sky News at 7am and turn the sound up so that at least I can catch one full news session each day. Other than that I get the odd chance to speak to someone on the next machine or alternatively I just shut everything else out and get on with it." Cheers David. We showed your training programme to Terry O'Neill and got him to say a few words about it: Terry O'Neill: To reduce your PB by over seven seconds is no mean feat and was the result of a tough and balanced training programme. Further improvement will be hard fought for as there is a law of diminishing returns. Knocking a second off a 1:50 split is a lot easier than a second off 1:40, especially bearing in mind the constant battle against anno domini. The one thing you need to consider is the training multiples, which for short intervals should be 2 - 2.5 times race distance during early and pre-competition periods. This means 8 - 10 x 500 metres and 4 - 5 x 1,000 metres. This would reduce to 4 - 6 x 500 metres and 2 - 3 x 1000 metres closer to race day. The extra couple of 500 metres will increase the enzyme activity needed to deal with high lactate production in the muscle fibres, as well as improving the shunt mechanism to move the lactate into the other muscles where it is metabolised. ========================================================= Forthcoming Events ========================================================= Name: North of England IRC Date: 28/01/01 Venue: Wardle High School, Littleborough, Rochdale Events: 2,000m individual 4 person teams Oooh this one's going to be good. If you've got a free mo this Sunday and you're looking for something to do in the Rochdale area, make sure you check this out. There's a remarkable 563 entries this year and the standard of competition looks like it's gonna be high. We'll try and post full results and pictures as soon as we can next week. Remember, if you take part in the event and want to talk about it, you can do so at our new message board: http://www.concept2.co.uk/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi! Name: Sheffield IRC Date: 18/02/01 Venue: Sheffield Hallam University Atrium, Owen Building, City Campus, Sheffield Event: 2,000m Contact: Danny Porter, fdrdp@nthercules.adc.shu.ac.uk Other: More information, and an entry form can be found on the Sheffield Hallam web site at: http://www.shu.ac.uk/rowing/ergchamp/main.htm Name: Welsh IRC Date: 24/02/01 Venue: David Lloyd Leisure Centre, Cardiff Event: 2,000m Contact: Michael Hnatiw, michael.hnatiw@ntlworld.com Name: The Big One Date: 11/03/01 Venue: To Be Confirmed Event: 100,000 metre 10 person team event Contact: Neil Rhodes, neil.rhodes@classicfm.net ========================================================= Music To Row To ========================================================= So yeah, after the last couple of weeks of running Music To Row To, the ol' webmaster@vermonthouse.co.uk address could be mistaken for smashhits@poppypop.com or summat. This fortnight's Top 10 has been chosen by Carole Bradshaw and is notable both for the fact she's picked twelve and also for its love of Adult Rock: Bon Jovi - Sleep when I'm dead Bon Jovi - You give love a bad name Bon Jovi - Bad Medicine Bryan Adams - 18 'till I die Bryan Adams - Summer of '69 Chris de Burgh - Don't pay the ferryman Chris de Burgh - Ballroom of Romance Anastasia - I'm out of love Pointer Sisters - I'm so excited Village People - YMCA M People - Moving on up Michael Jackson - 12 minute Megamix off the Earth Song CD single. There was also a stern rebuttal of last week's ten choons by Joe Himes: "Forget the metal Top 10 you published, the biker jackets restrain the shoulders, and having long head-banging hair caught in the chain really hurts. "There is only one record to row to: The Prodigy, The Prodigy Experience. This record will improve your times. Some of the fastest beats per minute around are guaranteed to increase your stroke rate, and anyone who lacks motivation when the legs start to hurt, could not fail to lift their game. Try it. It will work." Anyway. If you've got a training Top 10 then send it in to us at webmaster@vermonthouse.co.uk or, even better!, post it to the message board at http://www.concept2.co.uk/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi [Note to Ed: Do you think we've plugged this sufficiently?]. ____________________________________________F E E D B A C K Like what you read? Dislike what you read? Ideas for future newsletters? Make sure to tell us at webmaster@vermonthouse.co.uk. Or of course, you could always tell us at our message board - http://www.concept2.co.uk/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi. Oh go on. _________________________________________________________ _______________________________________SUBSCRIPTION INFO If you think you're on this mailing list accidentally, just return the e-mail with "unsubscribe" in the subject header. If you're getting more than one copy, then reply with "multiple" as the header.