============================================================ INDOOR ROWING NEWSLETTER #38 ========================= 08-June-2001 ======================== _________________________________________________ C O N T E N T S 1. Royce's Gym Strikes Back 2. PPP healthcare British Indoor Rowing Championship 3. Ranking Spotlight: Charlie Brecknell 4. Forthcoming Events 5. Concept 2 Slides 6. Tel's Tales 7. Crew Class 8. British Lions 9. Mediawatch: Survivor ________________________________________________________________ ========================================================= Royce's Gym Strikes Back ========================================================= One of the highlights of this year's Red Nose Row was the Valentine's Day showdown, when world record holders Royce's Gym from Wigan battled it out over 100,000 metres against the former holders Leander Club (see http://www.concept2.co.uk/rnr/rnr_head2head_index.php3). On the day, although it was Leander who emerged bloody but victorious, both teams covered themselves in glory and easily broke the old record. Never ones to take defeat lying down, Royce's Gym have reformed bigger and stronger than before in an attempt to wrest back their crown. On Sunday 12th August they're regrouping at Orrell Rugby Club with new members, new tactics and the advantage of a specific target to aim at. Could be mighty interesting. ========================================================= PPP healthcare British Indoor Rowing Championship ========================================================= This year's British Indoor Rowing Championship takes place on November 18th at the new venue of the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. Records, past results and news can be found on the official web site at http://www.concept2.co.uk/birc/index.html --------------------------------- Team Competition --------------------------------- In order to kick off the move to a new venue with a bang and make things that little bit more jazzy, this year also sees the introduction of a team competition into proceedings. The rules are simple and don't worry - you won't have to row twice. All competitors compete as individuals in their chosen race categories with the team with the fastest cumulative time in each event the winner. To be eligible for a team prize, team members MUST ALL be entered as representing the same organisation. There is no extra fee payable for competing in the team categories. There are four events each for both men and women. These are: Junior Eights: The Junior Eights includes performances across all junior race categories. Collegiate Eights: The Collegiate Eights event is open to all organisations affiliated to the British Universities Sports Association. The Collegiate Eights event only includes performances across the Open, Open Lwt, J18, J18 Lwt, U23 and U23 Lwt race categories. Club Eights: Club Eights includes performances across all race categories. Schools, colleges and universities are excluded from the Club Eights event. All oarsmen and women currently registered with the British International Rowing Office, seeking senior and U23 world championship selection for 2002, or who have represented their country in the past 2 years (2001, 2000) at the U23 or senior world rowing championships, are excluded from the Club Eights event. Championship Eights: The Championship Eights includes performances across all race categories. ------------------------ Past Results ------------------------ Last newsletter we were forced to confess to the fact that the dog had eaten every last single copy of the 1994 results and to try and cadge a spare copy off any readers who hadn't fallen asleep by that point in the newsletter. In truth, we asked more in hope than expectancy, so a very big thank you indeed goes out to all those who responded. The lonely gap in the results section has now been plugged, and we now have a complete list of all winners and times dating back to the inaugural 1991 championship: http://www.concept2.co.uk/birc/results.htm This week our pesky dog has eaten all our tickets to the French Tennis Open Women's Final, so if anybody has any spares, can they contact us at webmaster@concept2.co.uk. ---------------------- Entry Form ---------------------- Just a quick reminder that you can now enter and pay for this year's championship on-line at http://www.concept2.co.uk/birc/entryform.php. The entry fee has been frozen at last year's level of 7.50 pounds. It's also possible to print out PDF and HTML versions of the form as well as a PDF version of the form designed for institutions. ========================================================= Ranking Spotlight: Charlie Brecknell ========================================================= To celebrate the forthcoming Concept Ranking (which should be hitting the streets sometime in July), we're highlighting a couple of the 10,000 people who feature in this year's edition. This fortnight it's the turn of Sussex man Charlie Brecknell. While one of the more familiar uses for the Indoor Rower is as a cross-trainer for various other sports, we're pretty sure that Charlie's using it to train for one of the rarer ones. He and his wife Jo started using the Indoor Rower at their local gym, Dimensions 2000 in Westergate, West Sussex, in order to help them with sled dog racing. "The machine is ideal and works all your muscle groups, particularly your leg muscles which need to be strong." Charlie explained. Charlie started competing in sled dog racing in 1996 as a member of the Siberian Husky Club and by 1999 had won the British Championship, at the Aviemore Snow Rally in Scotland, in the three dog class. Charlie and Jo take turns to compete and in 2000 she won the championship, while in 2001 he finished second. Competitors participating in the sled dog races cover distances ranging from three to ten miles and events usually last for two days. Charlie commented: "Although the dogs are strong you do have to be fit to take part in the sport. When the dogs run up a hill they slow down and the driver has to dismount the three-wheeled trike behind the dogs and push it forwards with them. As the dogs continue at some speed the driver has to sprint along with them and try and help them so that they don't become too fatigued." Since taking up indoor rowing Charlie has become a real enthusiast. A firefighter for the West Sussex Fire Brigade and personal training instructor for his watch, Charlie encourages his colleagues to use the Indoor Rower in their training and in preparation for their twice yearly fitness assessments. He has reached the top of the indoor rowing ladder in the gym at work for 1,000 and 2,000 metres and secured second place for 500 and 5,000 metres. Like many others, Charlie was inspired by the Olympic success of Redgrave and the coxless four in Sydney, and he entered the British Indoor Rowing Championship for the first time last year, finishing 119th in the Men's 30-39 Heavyweight with a time of 6:54.8. ========================================================= Forthcoming Events ========================================================= Name: West of England IRC Date: 9th June Venue: West Somerset Sports and Leisure Centre, Minehead Distance: 2,000 metres and 500 metres sprint. Entry Fee: 8 pounds for 2,000 metres (includes free T-Shirt); 4 pounds for 500 metres (includes free medal) Contact: Neil Hutchinson. Tel: 01643 708857 E-mail: wsslc@wsslc.demon.co.uk Name: Stranraer Scottish Indoor Rowing Championship: Date: 24th June. Venue: Ryan Centre, Stranraer Distance: 2,000 metres Entry Fee: 5 pounds (includes free T-Shirt) Other: Closing date for entries is June 15th Contact: David Hislop. Tel: 01776 703535 E-mail: davidh@dumgal.gov.uk Name: Tropicana UK Cross-Training Challenge Date: 28th July Venue: LA Fitness, Sutton Coldfield Distance: Multi-discipline event. Other: See http://www.crosstraining.org.uk/course.htm#tropicana for details of course. Closing date for entry is 28th June. Contact: LA Fitness, 366 Gravelly Lance, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham B23 5SB. Tel: 0121 377 8081. ========================================================= Concept 2 Slides ========================================================= The Concept 2 Slide was invented a couple of years ago to add an extra on-water dimension to rowing. Two Slides can be used to float one machine, while extra Slides can be added to connect the Rowers in a crew formation. Since their launch, Slides have started to become an established feature in the rowing market. Last year saw a demonstration fours race take place between four schools at the PPP healthcare British Indoor Rowing Championship, while the annual Nottingham Universities Boat Race took place on them after the River Trent became flooded. Over the past couple of weeks we've received a number of letters asking what benefit there is to the individual of the Slides. After a bit of hunting down and cajoling, we've got Terry O'Neill to write the following piece... "The Slides introduce an additional skill element similar to that encountered in the boat. The propulsive force available to move the boat is the difference between the negative force on the foot stretcher and the positive force applied to the rowing pin via the handle. To change direction at the beginning of the stroke, the rower has to create an impulse on the foot stretcher that is opposed to the forward momentum of the boat. This negative impulse can slow the boat down if timed incorrectly but will have no effect on the flywheel of the rowing machine. By starting the leg drive before the oar is connected to the water the boat will slow down, as there is no positive force to counter this reaction. "Newton's third law states that 'every action has an equal and opposite reaction'. On the recovery, the movement of the rower towards the stern causes a positive reaction on the boat speed. It will, however, have no effect on the flywheel of the static machine. "When the rowing machine is placed on Slides, if the legs are driven down in an inappropriate way, then the machine will move forward and crash into the end of the carriage. If the sliding is controlled and the timing of the catch is correct, then the rower will remain static in the centre of the Slide whilst the machine moves underneath. "The benefits of the slides are apparent to oarsmen but what good are they to people who only row on the Indoor Rower? "If you place the Indoor Rower onto a highly polished floor then it will move forward in a similar way to a machine on slides if the timing of the beginning of the stroke is incorrect. On other types of flooring the reason the machine does not move is that the friction of the machine feet on the floor surface is too great for the machine to move - not because these negative forces are not there. Any force that acts on moving the machine is not acting on the flywheel. The monitor only measures the force applied to the flywheel and therefore these negative forces are wasted energy. "Directing all the potential available through improving your skill is far quicker and easier than developing extra strength and fitness as a means to improve your time. Training on the Slides can improve the timing of the catch and slide control and see your split time come down on the static machine for no greater effort." See http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/c2slide.htm for further details on the Slides plus video footage of them in action. ========================================================= Tel's Tales ========================================================= Indoor Rowing News #36 saw the publication of the first part of a six month training plan designed to see you wallop your Personal Best at BIRC (http://www.concept2.co.uk/birc/news.php?news=telsplan.inc). We've had a couple of letters seeking clarification or assistance on following the plan, so this column is devoted to that. Remember, if you've got a question to do with any aspect of indoor rowing, jot it down in an e-mail and post it to tels-tales@concept2.co.uk. Gavin Allison had the following two questions: "1. With regards to the wave method, should the wave be hard week, light week followed by medium week? "2. Should I be incorporating some weight training into my programme, I could add another few sessions on top of the rowing sessions per week. I am already quite big: 6'3" and 103kg. "If I want to do more than 6 sessions, and sometimes I will be able to do two in a day, should I do a weight session or one on the Rower? If on the Rower, what should I do?" Terry O'Neill: The wave principle consists of a micro and macro wave. The micro wave is created from the day to day loading whereas the macro wave is weekly. Training volume is not based on size; just because you are big you don't need to do more training than a smaller person. There is no problem, however, in doing additional sessions, especially if you are accustomed to more volume. In the case of two sessions a day, I would cross train rather than do two rowing sessions. If you do two, then you would have to reduce the intensity and this would only bring about any benefit if you were training twice a day every day. A weight session would be better in your case, but to get the best results the weights should be done in a complimentary way to the rest of the programme. I've posted a weight training programme on the BIRC web site at http://www.concept2.co.uk/birc/news.php?news=weightplan.inc which suits this purpose. ************************** Nick Maidment: "During weeks 3, 5 and 6 there are workouts that consist of more than one session. Can you please advise as to how much rest should be taken between each set. Lastly, when will the next 6 weeks cycle be published as I am now well into week 4. This is a brilliant programme that is so much easier to understand than some of the other sessions that you publish. If I don't do a personal best this year, I will only have myself to blame!" Terry O'Neill: Glad you're getting on well with the programme. If you are working on heart rate intensity, during these first six weeks you should be in the heart rate percentile but not above it. The rest period is there to make doubly sure you stay in the band and so 4-5 minutes of light paddling between the main sessions should be fine or working off your heart rate until it comes down by 15-20 BPM. You won't find the whole programme as it goes up the week before the current one runs out. The next section will appear on the web site next Friday as well as in Indoor Rowing News #39. ************************** Tom Pattichis: "I have been very busy with university exams and will be unable to start the programme until the week starting Monday 11th of June. This means I will have missed the first four weeks of your proposed programme. "Should I pick up the programme in week 5 and discard the first four weeks, or should I start the programme from the beginning? The former seems like the best option but the only thing that worries me is that I will miss out on a lot of the long distance pre-conditioning work which takes place in the first four weeks. "I have a 2,000 metre best of 7.07.9. Despite much effort, this has not improved recently, compared to when I started rowing when I would knock up to 10 seconds off every time I did a 2,000 metre piece. I understand from what I have read, that when this happens you have in a sense reached a peak, and in order to improve your score you need to go and do lots of long distance work in order to build up a more solid base. "Perhaps the best option would be to condense the most important sessions from those 6 weeks into my available two weeks?" Terry O'Neill: The best way to cover the missing 4 weeks is to cut the first two weeks from the first two six week blocks. So you start the programme on week 3 follow it right through then pick up the programme on week 3 three of the second block and you are back on schedule. Effectively the first two six week blocks become four week blocks. When people get stuck on a performance it could be for several different reasons. One reason is the "Beamon" effect. You might be a bit young to remember Bob Beamon, but he was a long jumper ranked in the top 6 in the US. He was selected as the third US jumper for the Olympics in Mexico. He won the gold medal with a leap of over 9 metres, setting a world record and completely blowing everyone away. This was a phenomenal achievement and sports scientists have been trying for years to explain the Beamon Effect. Every now and then in an event everything goes right: the athlete is in top shape physically and mentally and the conditions are perfect. When all these things come together then you can pull something out of the bag that is totally unexpected and unrepeatable. When you first start rowing, improvement is rapid as both technique and physical condition improve. Also the load is exponential and therefore requires more effort to reduce your score each time you try. 2,000m rowing does require a sound aerobic base as something approaching 80% of the energy required is supplied aerobically. You should not, however, forget the other 20% that is supplied anaerobically. To improve in this area you need to build up basic strength, use this strength initially for higher quality aerobic work and then for greater power and speed. ========================================================= Crew Class ========================================================= Crew Class is where a group of ten or more people exercise on the rowing machine under the guidance of an approved, trained instructor who helps the class get the very best out the machine, the workout and themselves. It's a simple idea based on the sport of rowing - the key element of which is timing. Rowing on water, a crew works in unison flowing in a rhythm. When a crew is rowing well, this synchrony enables it to become greater than the sum of its parts. This can also be true of group rowing indoors. OK, enough of the background. The reason why we're mentioning this is that the Indoor Rowing Message Board recently had the following post by Andy Bradbury: "Does anyone out there take part in Crew Class? If so any ideas or different variations of the standard interval stuff would be appreciated. I currently take two 45 minute classes a week and am looking to vary it as much as possible. If anyone is looking to vary their crew I would be happy to swap thoughts." We thought we'd throw this one over to you. If you either lead a crew class or if you take part in one, pop over to the Message Board and give Andy the benefit of your experience (http://www.concept2.co.uk/messageboard.htm - the question is in the Indoor Rower>Training section). ========================================================= British Lions ========================================================= The shortest and most hyped British Lions tour in history got underway today with a romping 116-10 defeat of Western Australia. With the sort of shameless bandwagon-leaping exaggeration which this newsletter is famous for, we can reveal that the exclusive reason for the victory is the adoption by the RFU of the DYNO as part of their testing and training procedure. Not only is the DYNO used as part of general strength training, but it's also used by the junior and colt sides as a way of assessing and spotting the potential superstars of the future. Incidentally, as well as the DYNO, rugby players are no strangers to the Indoor Rower either, with all the national sides and most club sides using them as part of their exercise routines. For all you trivia fans, as far as we're aware, the fastest rugby player around at the moment is England and Lion's captain Martin Johnson who chalked up 6:15 as part of a charity event a couple of years ago. Of course, if you happen to be somebody like Jonah Lomu or Lawrence Dallaglio and you're reading this fuming on the grounds you can do sub 6:15, feel free to drop us a line at the usual address: webmaster@concept2.co.uk ========================================================= Media Watch ========================================================= After tipping indoor rowing enthusiast Sarah Odell as one to watch and support on ITV's reality game show Survivor, the curse of the Indoor Rowing News struck once again as she was immediately voted off the island. Still, at least this means we don't have to watch it anymore and we can get back to discussing just how annoying Penny is in Big Brother II. It does show, however, that the curse is still in action. Indeed, many seasoned commentators pin-point recent political events from the moment when William Hague appeared on an Indoor Rower as part of a photoshoot. _______________________________________________________FEEDBACK Like what you read? Dislike what you read? Ideas for future newsletters? Make sure to tell us at webmaster@concept2.co.uk. Or of course, you could always tell us at our message board: http://www.concept2.co.uk/messageboard.htm. Oh go on. _____________________________________________________BACK ISSUES Back issues of the Indoor Rowing News are now available on-line at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/newsletter_index.php3. New issues will be posted on the release date of the following newsletter. _______________________________________________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.