Summer Workout Series

 

 

Today's workout, the final workout of the 2017 Summer Series, includes some short and sharp, max pieces for an efficient 'burn' session so you can get on and enjoy the more indulgent Christmas day traditions, with the confidence that you've earned them!

WORKOUT TIPS

This workout is designed to emphasize effort over distance, to give you an idea of pacing over commonly raced distances. As the distances get shorter, your speed and intensity increases with plenty of easy rowing in between each distance so you should feel too tired by the time you start the 500m. Set this session up on your monitor as 'intervals variable' so that you can keep track of both your distance and time.

Remember to hold on to a strong, accelerating leg drive and a relaxed recovery even as your intensity and stroke rates increase to your upper limit. When you begin the 500m piece, try taking the first two strokes at half length, followed by a three-quarter length stroke before lengthening out to your full stroke. This will help you get the flywheel moving quickly, and make it easier to get your rating up high for this full speed piece.

 

WORKOUT TIPS

This workout continues to encourage correct stroke ratio, where you are seeking a powerful, accelerating drive phase, and a more relaxed, patient recovery phase. As you look to increase the ratings from 22 strokes per min to 24 (and above) focus on driving from the legs to generate speed and increased rating. In doing so you will achieve the greater exertion levels without having to focus on effort, while also developing your technique!

Remember; the recovery phase of the rowing stroke is essentially the drive phase in reverse.The hands lead the handle away from the body, followed by the back, transitioning your body-weight forward onto the front of the seat, before the knees break and you begin to roll towards the catch of the next stroke. During the recovery the handle should move fluidly, but you should seek to roll into the catch more slowly than you would move backwards during the drive phase.

 

These short and sharp, high-intensity pieces are set to encourage you to emphasize the drive and recovery phases of the rowing stroke at higher ratings. Approach this workout as two sets of 500m at each rating, with the first at a challenging, but sustainable effort level, and the second with a focus on intensity in the leg drive, and relaxation on the recovery. Use the second 500m at each rating to generate the stroke rate through the legs on the drive to give yourself more time on the recovery.   After your first 5mins of easy rowing, If you would like to follow your data through each interval of the workout (including the easy sections) set your monitor up as follows: 1- Choose 'Select Workout' on your home screen 2- Choose 'New Workout' followed by 'Intervals Variable' 3- Enter Interval one as 500m, leave the rest time as 0:00, press select 4- Enter Interval two as 250m, leave the rest time as 0:00, press select 5- Repeat steps 3 & 4 untill you have all four 500m intervals and all four 250m intervals entered. 6- Begin the workout!

This workout offers sustained intervals of intensity over 1000m, allowing you to adjust to the set stroke rates and find the rhythm of your rowing stroke. The gradual increase in intensity in each 1000m will make it easier to pace, with each piece getting slighter faster than the last. Be sure to use the 2mins in between each interval to relax, especially in the upper body which can be inclined to tense unnecessarily when the intensity increases.

This workout varies in intensity, but everyone measures their effort differently. To make sure everyone has a reference point for intensity that makes sense to them, we have graded the intervals from Level (L) 1 - 10. On this scale, 1 represents very easy exercises, 5 represents moderate effort, and 10 is hard or fast as you can go!
 
When increasing the stroke rate, think about moving your hands away at the finish of the stroke at the same speed that they come in to your body, leaving no room for pause in the stroke. This will help you find a continuous rhythm, and a smooth increase in stroke rate without cutting the length of your stroke short.
 

This workout varies in intensity, but everyone measures their effort differently. To make sure everyone has a reference point for intensity that makes sense to them, we have graded the intervals from Level (L) 1 - 10. On this scale, 1 represents very easy exercises, 5 represents moderate effort, and 10 is hard or fast as you can go!
 
As you can see with this workout, the higher your stroke rate goes, the harder you will need to work with your legs, meaning your intensity level will increase. If you are unsure how to pace, for this first workout take each step a little easier than you might expect- better to finish the workout than have to pull out early!