============================================================ INDOOR ROWING NEWSLETTER #41 ========================= 27-July-2001 ======================== _________________________________________________ C O N T E N T S 1. 2001 Concept Ranking 2. Banyoles Training Camp 3. Tel's Tales #1 4. Commit To Get Fit 5. PPP healthcare British Indoor Rowing Championship 6. Instructor Course 7. Marketplace 8. Tel's Tales #2 9. Forthcoming Events 10. New British 10,000 Metre Record ________________________________________________________________ ========================================================= 2001 Concept Ranking ========================================================= When Moses descended from Mount Sinai with a stone tablet under each arm, the natives weren't particularly impressed, especially when they learnt he hadn't been able to get rid of the one about adultery. If, however, he'd had a couple of Concept Rankings tucked about his person, things might have gone a bit smoother. This year's Ranking is finally on sale now, and a thing of beauty it is too, containing over 10,000 entries, 140 pages, articles, interviews, tips and more. Not only that, but it smells really nice too. (Seriously). The Ranking is the chance to see how your results compare with the stars of today, as well as a chance to pick out some of the stars of tomorrow. Matt Langridge, for example, who tops the Junior 17 Men's 2,000 metres with 6:02.3 (21 seconds ahead of the next person!), won the Single Scull event at this month's National Championships, beating Tim Foster in the final. To order the Ranking, which sells for 10 pounds, visit the C2 Shop on http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/merchandise.php3 or contact Concept 2 on sales@concept2.co.uk or 0115 945 5522. The Ranking is also available as part of a bumper pack including an Indoor Rowing Training Guide and an Indoor Rowing Training Log for 20 pounds, a saving of a fiver overall. ========================================================= Banyoles Training Camp ========================================================= For some poor souls, all the word "camp" conjures up is Akela teaching you how to tie a woggle while Smelly Smedley makes himself sick after finishing his second packet of Jammy Dodgers. For intrepid indoor rowers, however, it evokes the tang of fresh Spanish air, the joy of bike rides up scenic mountains, the pleasure of crew class sessions with fellow enthusiasts, and the pain of Terry O'Neill running through his Bumper Book of Cockney Jokes. This year's two training camps are taking place in Banyoles from the 6th-13th and the 13th-20th of October. For more details on what last year's training camp was like, check out: http://www.concept2.co.uk/birc/training_camp.htm. In the meantime, for those of you who have been wondering, a typical days itinerary would look like this: 7 a.m. early morning row. Mid morning - main training session up to lunch. (Bike) After lunch some free time 5.30 p.m evening session - Crew Class. During the day or early evening there will be talks on subjects like training theory, nutrition and other matters of interest. All sessions are optional but last year most people did most of them. The programme has enough flexibility to take account of the weather, which last year was great. The cost of the camp is 600 pounds, inclusive of meals and board. In order to book yourself a place on a camp, you need to pay a deposit of 150 quid, with everything working on a first come, first served basis. For more information, or to book a ticket for the hottest show in town, e-mail sales@concept2.co.uk or call 0115 945 5522. ========================================================= Commit To Get Fit ========================================================= July the 1st saw the launch of the PPP healthcare Commit To Get Fit campaign to encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to get into better shape this summer at health clubs and leisure centres across the UK, and at the same time raise funds for Imperial Cancer Research. Head honcho at the launch was reigning British indoor rowing champion James Cracknell, and the campaign's strapline of "Let's pull together for a healthier nation" shows how important a component of fitness rowing is. Backed by a number of other celebrities, including Olympians Roger Black, Katherine Merry, Stephanie Cook and, oddly, Ed The Duck's straight man Andi Peters, the campaign offers you the chance to go to your local participating Health Club and use all the same facilities as a full member would at a fraction of the price. The length of the trial membership campaign will vary from club to club. Upon signing up for the Commit To Get Fit campaign many clubs will offer you a goodie bag. This will include a drawstring gym bag, an official Commit to Get Fit 2001 T-Shirt, a special edition Active Health magazine, a voucher to save you 5 pounds off Health and Fitness Magazines when you order on line, free access to a 24 hour helpline from PPP healthcare and, most importantly, a flyer telling you all about the British Indoor Rowing Championship. For more details, including a finder to work out which is the nearest club to you, go to http://www.committogetfit.com ========================================================= Tel's Tales #1 ========================================================= Every fortnight, three times Olympic rowing coach Terry O'Neill answers your questions on any aspects of fitness, training, contemporary Irish poetry, rowing and health. If you've got an itch, and you think he's the man to scratch it, put that itch down in an e-mail and send it to: tels-tales@concept2.co.uk Terry Larson: "I would like to boost my overall fitness and health levels and gain some weight; to do this I intend to work out using, in particular, the rowing machine and weights. To supplement this I also want to start a high-energy diet or use weight-gain formula as I have always struggled to put on weight. I am 33, 5'9" and weigh ten stone and would be grateful for any advice on the exercise and nutrition strategy I have planned." Terry O'Neill: When you say you want to gain weight you mean you want to increase your lean muscle mass. Muscle is body protein so a high protein diet associated with the correct training regime could lead to an increase in lean muscle mass. Increasing your protein intake via supplements rather than a wholesale change in your diet would be a better system as you would not need to increase your protein intake that much above normal recommended levels. Always follow the instructions associated with the product. The type of training you would need is training that increases the cross sectional area of the muscle fibres (hypertrophy). This is best done with weights, training in the 85-90% of one repetition maximum and repetitions of between 8-12. This type of training together with training on the rowing machine will bring about the improvement in your general health and fitness that you seek. The only caveat to this is that you may be of a certain body type that finds it difficult to increase your muscle mass. The good thing is that people with this type of build do not get fat either. ========================================================= PPP healthcare British Indoor Rowing Championship ========================================================= There's nothing the Indoor Rowing News likes better on a hot summer's day than kicking back its shoes and reclining on a sunlounger with a cucumber daiquiri in one hand and the latest Jackie Collins in the other. Fortunately for us, you see, we're a fortnightly e-mail newsletter, and as such don't have to bother about preparing for the PPP healthcare British Indoor Rowing Championship at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham on November 18th. For those of you who are and are following Terry O'Neill's Training Plan (see http://www.concept2.co.uk/birc/news.php for details), you should be on around about week 10 of your preparation. The third six week block has just been posted on the BIRC site for those of you who want to know the enemy beforehand. We received an interesting question from Simon Green this week about over-training for an event like the championship. Simon Green: "I trained last year for the 2000 BIRC but was forced to stop due to injury. I'm now looking to go for it at Birmingham in November. My training schedule will include four main sessions on the erg combined with alternative cardio training (running and cycling) plus specific and complementary strength work. I'm wondering why the Concept 2 training guide has examples of up to six sessions per week on the erg." "Surely this is too much? You need to use effective cross training to not only stop getting bored, but to ensure an overall balance of strength. For the average working person, five to six ergo sessions a week of up to 50 minutes does not leave much time for other training and I'd say it could lead to an imbalance and possible overuse injuries. We all know how hard a 40 - 50 minute session on the erg can be and I certainly don't feel like carrying on to do Interval training on the bike, or low pace treadmill work afterwards. I'd be interested in your views." Terry O'Neill: The training guide offers a variety of programmes which have a maximum of 8 sessions a week but the six month programme we've published up to BIRC has 6. It also says which sessions to cut if you want to train for 3,4,or 5 times a week. Cross training for variety and mental stimulation is fine and many erg users in fact use it for cross training for other sports. There are also many users who have taken up indoor rowing because of injuries received doing other sports that have forced them into retirement and, because of their injuries, cross training is not an option. The programmes we produce are guides and not cast in stone so you can mix and match them as you please. However, it is not correct to say in absolute terms that 6 sessions a week is too many or that you need to do other things to alleviate boredom. For some people 6 sessions are too much but for others it is not enough. It depends on what you are looking for. If you want to do really well at indoor rowing then training on the rower is the best way to achieve that aim. One problem with cross training is that it is virtually impossible to quantify the transfer of gains made in the cross training activity back to the rowing machine. Also the rowing action does bring into play all major muscle groups and therefore the need to balance the body is not as necessary as in sports where only isolated muscle groups are used. ========================================================= Instructor Courses ========================================================= There are five instructor courses left this year, two in Nottingham at Gamston Community Centre, and three in Watford at Watford Leisure Centre. The dates are: Nottingham: September 19 November 28 Watford: August 23 October 25 December 18 Each instructor course costs 75 pounds and covers everything from technique to coaching skills to Crew Class. The courses are open to everyone, from individuals wishing to learn more about technique to gym instructors wishing to brush up their skills. For more information on the instructor courses, visit http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/education.htm. To book a place, contact Concept 2 on 0115 945 5522 or e-mail sales@concept2.co.uk. Alternatively, you can book a place from the C2 Shop at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/merchandise.php3 ========================================================= Concept 2 Message Board ========================================================= When the Indoor Rowing News was young and carefree and used to scamper about tra-la-la-ing in the playground, we were always somewhat on the fringes of the in-crowd. Where other newsletters used to play at being Batman or Wonder-Woman, we always wanted to be Noel Edmonds and used to try desperately to persuade another newsletter to be Posh Paws. For you see, we loved the Multi-Coloured Swap Shop even more than we now love Swarfega (mmm, greasy). So recently, when we saw the abundance of For Sale/Wanted messages posted on the Concept 2 Message Board (http://www.concept2.co.uk/messageboard.htm), we immediately remembered our long-held dream and established a new Marketplace category. This should make it a bit easier for those of you who want to get rid of your Indoor Rowers (boo) to match up with those of you who want to buy one (yay). And if there's any messages along the lines of "Wanted: anything to do with Five Star. Offers: Scalextric 200 track and cars" that'd be fine by us. ========================================================= Tel's Tales - The Shorts ========================================================= Chisco Ruiz: I have recently started training on the Concept 2 at my local gym and must say I am enjoying it very much. However, I have inquired with my fellow rowers and no one can come to an agreement as to what is the proper breathing technique. When should I inhale and when should I exhale? Terry O'Neill: When you are working aerobically you will need one breath per stroke, normally breathing in on the way forward and out on the way back. As you increase the intensity, you will need to increase the breathing rate to two breaths per stroke, in and out coming forward and in and out going back. Having said that, at the end of the day there's no hard and fast rules: just breath as seems natural and easiest for you. ********************** Debbie McGreevy: I am the proud owner of a new Indoor Rower and I would be grateful if you can tell me how to stretch out my rhomboids and trapezius muscles post exercise? I get really bad pains mid shoulder blades. Am I exercising correctly and what can I do to stretch this area? Terry O'Neill: The rowing machine should not cause you any pain but it will expose any weaknesses you may have or injuries carried over from other activities. You should see a doctor or physio if the pain persists, but all the stretching exercises can be found in the Training Guide or on our web site at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/stretching.htm. ********************** Michael Crow: In your 6 month weight training plan for 2,000 metres, on weeks 7-12 you have not said how many circuits should be completed, or am I completely blind? Let me know and keep up the good work. I think the training programme is really challenging. Terry O'Neill: You are right it is not clear. This is the strength building stage and the intensity is controlled by weight increase as opposed to increased circuits. So you do two complete circuits of 20 seconds on each exercise with one minute rest. ========================================================= Forthcoming Events ========================================================= Name: Royce's Gym 100,000 Metre Attempt Note: This has been cancelled for the time being, due to injury. Name: Birmingham IRC Date: 16th September Venue: Cocks Moors Woods Leisure Centre, Kings Heath, Birmingham Distance: 2,000 metres Other: Entry Fee: 5.50 pounds Contact: Paul Robertshaw Tel: 0121 464 0285 E-mail: Paul_Robertshaw@birmingham.gov.uk Name: Nuneaton and Bedworth IRC Date: 23rd September Venue: Dimensions Gyms, Bedworth Distance: 2,000 metres Other: Closing date for entries 11th September Contact: Stuart Gealy Tel: 0247 631 7702 or e-mail Monique Raaijmakers at monique.raaijmakers@nuneaton-bedworthbc.gov.uk ========================================================= New British 10,000 metre Record ========================================================= The record book, which has gathered a bit of dust recently, had a new entry recently when Anna Bailey broke the British record for the 50-59 Hwt Women 10,000 metres on the 15th of this month, with a new time of 39:11.9. All British and World records, along with rules and regulations, can be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/brit_world_records.htm _______________________________________________________FEEDBACK Like what you read? Dislike what you read? Ideas for future newsletters? Spotted a really silly error that would have been picked up by an eight year old proof-reader? Make sure to tell us at webmaster@concept2.co.uk. Or, of course, you could always say something 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. 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