Mind over Matter: planning your 2K ergo test

by Sara Bird

Tackling a 2km, or any other, ergo test is as much about your mental preparation as your physical prowess. So here are some suggestions for how to ensure you’re prepared for the challenge, and some tools to help tackle the common issues of ergo tests. 

This post is more from my personal experience of ergo tests (and indoor champs) over the last decade or so, so please do use the comments below to add your suggestions and help your fellow ergers with your tips.
 
Let’s start with perhaps the most important one...

The Digestive System

My most common issue during ergo tests is a desperate desire to jump off the machine mid-sprint and run to the bathroom... The adrenaline hits, blood heads to your limbs, and your digestive tract resorts to fight or flight and decides now’s the time to evacuate. 

So eat a good, bland meal well ahead, 2 hours-ish - avoid anything that could upset your stomach or cause nasty eruptions from either end. Fill the gap with a bland snack if you need it (and we’re hungry rowers so of course we’ll need it). And, before you start rowing, go to loo: empty the system.

Ensure you are well hydrated - but coffee or another caffeine source can help too. Studies show that a little bit of caffeine can boost performance, but as caffeinated drinks can also dehydrate and create an urge to poop, you need to ensure you’ve planned ahead. 

Clothing, hair and sundries

You’re on course for the best 2K ever, you’re 300m from the end…and your top/shorts catch in the rollers. Even being distracted by a floppy fringe, a migrating headphone or sweaty mascara can slow your time so make sure you're happy with what you’re wearing - no hair in eyes, shoelaces that stay tied, a top that doesn't ride up, shorts that don’t work their way down your bum...

Setting the machine up

Next, ensure the ergometer is set up to give you the best chance to perform, and provides a time that reflects your true ability. Check the feet are the right height for you, that you have the right screen setting, and set the drag factor. About 125 for women, 130 for men. Also check your environment - that the room is not too hot, you’re not in a blinding sunbeam, that you’re able to focus - and that your head isn’t centimetres away from a wall or railing at backstops.

The Warm Up

I prefer a longer warm up than usual for ergo tests: at least 2500m over two bursts on the ergo. I start with the usual technique-building warm up of about 1000m with bursts of higher power. I then stretch, to open up the hip joint, get ankle mobility, shoulder mobility and posture. Then I get back on the ergo but focus more high rate, high power bursts that seriously tax the muscles and get me out of breath. Online, serious ergers recommend at least 15 minutes warm up and even up to 30 minutes. This gets the blood flowing, your body ready to handle lactic acid, your muscles prepared for hard work, and your technique all set. Skipping on the warm up is one of the most common 2K mistakes. 

The Plan

In BGC we rarely use detailed plans for races, let alone ergos: but they help. Plans provide a focus when all you might think about is pain, and take decision-making out of moments when your brain is getting very little blood. For me, 2K is almost exactly 200 strokes, and before I start I know what I will do with every single one: and I've often used a post-it (and large writing) on the monitor to remind me.

I start with a racing start of around 20 strokes to get the erg spinning, lengthening over 10 from short powerful strokes to long, fast strokes, then holding it for 10, reaching my fastest split of the test. Just as the lactic acid starts to bite I...

...dramatically slow the rate to my race pace and breathe deeply: this is my most powerful sustainable rate for the majority of the test. Over time this has gone up from rate 24 to 26/27/28 but it will vary for everyone. During this stage I change my focus every 10 strokes, from quick catches on my toes, to using my glutes, to sitting up tall, to a powerful hip opening, to back/finishes (working from my toes up my body). Repeat that cycle 3 times and we’re ready for the finish...

…at about 300m left to go, I dig deep and go for it. Often focusing on 10 on the legs, 10 on sitting tall/ opening the hips/using my shoulders and then 10 all out, with a last few strokes if needed, building power with every one. And then I sit there wheezing and wondering if I’m going to throw up. 

Every person will have a different plan, a different number of strokes, a different length of start or finish - but knowing what’s coming helps deal with the pain and scrutiny, and brings out your best rowing. Plans develop over time, so try one out, see how it goes, improve it next time. 

Finally

Take the time to cool down on the ergo and shift that lactic acid. Ignore people comparing times. Be proud of improvements. Don’t beat yourself up if it didn’t go to plan, learn lessons and use them next time. Stretch. Stretch again. 

Ergo Warm-Up

As we start introducing ergo training to the club, this warm-up is recommended as a great way to
- build your stroke, posture and technique each time
- get the feel of ratio, ideal for when we get to power pieces
- warm up cardiovascularly

By the end you should be 'puffed', and then have a quick stretch before commencing your 'pieces' for the day. So, set your drag factor to 125-130, and off you go...

10 strokes arms only
10 strokes with body lean
10 strokes half slide
10 strokes full slide
10 strokes rate 20 low power
10 strokes rate 20 high power (ratio change)
10 strokes rate 24-26 low power
10 strokes rate 24-26 high power (ratio change)
10 strokes rate 28+ low power
10 strokes rate 28+ high power (ratio change)
10 strokes taking it down

So, to summarise, build the stroke, then do 10 each of low power and high power at low rate, medium rate and high rate - should take about 5 minutes. 

The pain and the glory...

by Sara Bird 

As the prospect of the club actually owning 6 rowing machines looms, this blog entry is a basic introduction to the horror, the joys and the benefits of rowing machine training.

The technical name for these machines is ergometer, often abbreviated to ‘erg’ or ‘ergo’. Concept II make by far the most reliable, accurate and popular machines so this entry is based on these – but any ergo is better than no ergo and others are available far more cheaply. 

Setting the ergo up

Every ergo has a different range of resistance, based on age and how well maintained it is, so setting 4 on one model is not always the same as on another. Before you start training, you need to set the 'drag factor', which is a measure of the resistance of the machine and used to standardise your training. It should be around 125 for women and 130 for men to mimic water training. On newer Concept 2 models this option is in the menu, for older models, press 'ready' and 'rest' buttons and the same time, then row. Then adjust the power setting until the drag reads about right - it's usually about 3-5 on the power setting but can vary hugely. Training at higher levels is not hugely beneficial for cross-training for rowing.

Next you'll need to set the feet height, which for gig rowers or less flexible people could be very low, but for power, the middle range is better. See the video above for other tips.

Now you're set to row.

Roles of the ergo

Ergo training is clearly useful for improving your strength, power, stamina and cardiovascular fitness, but is also useful for improving your technique, each of these issues is covered below. A combination of approaches is good to avoid boredom and improve all round ability.

Improving strength and power

A low stroke rate (e.g. 20 strokes per min) allows the ergo to lose momentum before next stroke, and means a heavier catch. By focusing on the classic 'ratio' stroke, i.e. very powerful then a very, very slow and smooth return, you help build the muscles you use in rowing. This type of training can be anything from 15 minutes to an hour depending on your fitness, so build up time on this, using a very motivating mix tape and occasional breaks for water. Your focus is one posture and power, rather than distance covered. This also helps build stamina and is great for burning fat. 

Improving handling lactic acid

To help improve starts, you need to prepare your body for the pain (!) of lactic acid build up  and to physiologically to break lactic acid down better, which requires anaerobic training. A typical routine for this is short, sharp, bursts of 1 minute 'on' (max rate max power) then 1 minute off, building up the number of times from, say, just 4, to 10 sets.

Improving over race distances

Building up longer intervals, e.g. 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 2000m, with correspondingly longer rest times of around 30s to 2 minute (see Pete's plan below) helps to improve performance over race distances. However note that training above and beyond race distance/power is what really makes the difference to improving strength and stamina.

Improving your technique

Many people think that ergos do little for on-water technique, however used in the right way they can help embed technique changes that you don't have enough time to build muscle memory, and indeed muscle power, for on the water. This involves a great deal of personal discipline to pay constant attention to your own posture and technique. 

So, imagine you are on the water. Things to practice are raising the hands towards the catch, ensuring you draw into body at finish, and lovely smooth returns. Focus on pushing through the balls of your feet, rather than pulling on the handle, and engaging the glutes with strong posture.

This video covers some common technique errors, though note this rower, even on 'good technique' has their back rather too rounded:

The test

The '2K' test is the worst of all worlds - lactic acid over a relatively short distance, but long enough to require ongoing power and endurance, however this is the benchmark for your progress. It is also the standard benchmark across lots of rowing disciplines, amongst both amateur and professional sports people. For women, 'good' is less than 8 minutes, for men this is less than 7 minutes, but it may take a while to work to this if you are new to erging.

Interestingly, there is a strong relationship between what can be achieved over an hour, in 20 minutes and 1 minute, and over 2K and 5K, so there is little benefit in doing one type of work out as multiple types are more interesting and support each other - so use long, aerobic rowing and short, anaerobic rowing, to prep for your 2Ks and avoid obsessively doing just 2Ks. It's very dull and takes away the adrenaline and focus that can lead to a great 2K.Some other ideas.

Other tips

Ergos can be boring and painful, but are probably THE best way to measure your progress and improve performance on the water. Here are some ideas that may help provide variety:

• Rowing 'feet out' (i.e. without the foot straps) is more similar to gig rowing, and helps improve connection to the stretcher that you may lose if you rely on the straps holding your feet in, which would actually catapult you off the stretcher in the boat and mean you are not levering the boat past the oar. Feel those abs...
• Break your session into blocks of say 100 metres, or 10 or 20 strokes, with different things to focus on in each block. I alternate between 10/20 strokes focusing on a power issue (such as power through back muscles, glutes, thighs, or off stretcher) and 10/2o focusing on a technique issue (such as back posture, shoulder position, extent of lean forward, relaxing fingers). 
• Consider using a heart rate monitor: many plans target different aerobic and anaerobic states tailored to your heart rate and age, for really accurate training. 
• Play with it - there is a game on most ergs about chasing fish - or set yourself challenges. Over distances, the faster you do it the sooner you can stop...

Some other help

There is lots of advice on the internet for training plans, technique etc. Some you might like to try are:

• Sign up for Workout of the Day via email from Concept 2 - a choice of short, medium and long every day
• Try the Rowing Company's interactive training programme
• Investigate the 'Pete' plan - a continuous plan that revolves in 3 weeks cycles
• Check out the rowing technique videos on the Concept 2 website

What's the catch?

by Sara Bird

I know it's slidey seat. Sorry. But oh they know how to backsplash.

If there's just one moment in the stroke that I could perfect, each and every time I take the stroke, I would choose the catch. Why? Because:

1. it's the start of the drive: get the catch at just the right depth and just the right position and you can hang off the oar and build the power and drive from there
2. it's such a clear indicator of timing: if the whole crew gets the catch together there's a greater chance of driving together, finishing together and winding up for the next catch together.

But getting the catch right means being prepared before you even get there. So here's my guide to the perfect catch, and some drills to help achieve it.

Preparing for the Catch

Preparation for the catch starts at the finish. If you leave your prep to the last moment before the catch it results in a jolting, rapid rush for the water just as the boat is travelling at its slowest and is most prone to upset. 

So, at the finish, let your hands move smoothly down and away with the oar handle, and focus on getting your ARMS STRAIGHT as a higher priority than bringing your body up (which will happen anyway) (see blog entry no.2). Note the arms should be relaxed rather than locked out. This means you avoid 'punching' from your elbows at the catch because the arms are already straight, adds focus on achieving more rock over in order to lengthen the catch, and keeps the arms straight longer before the catch, resulting in a desire to keep them straight longer after the catch and avoid bending elbows too soon in the drive. 

A great drill to improve this is the Pause Drill at Hands Away: pause on the recovery, with body at full lean back, hands away, shoulders back, arms straight until the coach has given feedback to crew or individuals and says 'go!'. Coach gradually reduces this pause until calling for normal rowing when a marked improvement in holding lean back and sending hands away should be observed. Feedback usually concerns good posture, shoulders back, body lean position and how straight arms are.

N.B. Pausing at the finish can actively destroy good technique by encouraging hands to stop moving and the body to pop up too quickly as abdominals tire out: if you really have to do it always do the Pause Drill at Hands Away straight after to reestablish good technique.

The Knees are Key

Three things happen as, during the recovery, your hands (attached to already straight arms) travel over your knees. 

1. The inner hand ROTATES the handle to square the oar ready for the catch (with a slight hood)
2. The outer hand starts moving UP to the catch
3. The outer hands starts SPEEDING up to the catch

Think about the rowing stroke as being like a bicycle chain. The finish is the big cog, slow as your hands move down and away, but the catch is the little cog, building up speed for the drive and a very quick change in direction from hands travelling forward to levering back. 

A useful drill here is the Slap Drill: oar should be feathered as hands approach knees, so as hands pass over knees, at this point ask the crew to SLAP! their oars on the water. It'll take time to learn to do this, so leave plenty of time for mistakes and make it clear it's not easy. As the crew improves, call for louder slaps (really WHACK the water with the flat of the blade, slightly tilted forward), and better timing so they all slap together. 

Then call for SLAP! and add in focus on rotating the inside hand to the catch. See how the feathering looks much more in time.

Then call for SLAP! and add in bringing the outside hand up to the catch, the blade down to the catch, smoothly from knees to the moment of the catch. See how this reduces dropping in from a great height at the catch. Ask rowers to aim for the person in front's shoulder blade with their hands.

Then call for SLAP! and add in building speed up the outside hand to the catch, creating momentum and urgency for the drive. Ensure this is moving forward, to catch over the feet, rather than round and pushing the oar out, rather like a secretarial whack on the typewrite barrel to return it to the beginning of the line. Also ensure that speed is create by the chest moving forward and momentum from hips, rather than overreaching with rounded shoulders.

This drill is also useful for improving feathering technique and timing, and is best done on flat water.

The Catch Itself

The catch itself is the moment of placing the oar in the water, for good length of stroke and strength of drive. These trade off against each other - if you over reach you'll have a weaker drive, but little lean over means less length through the water and so less overall power. So you are aiming for strong shoulders, good lean over from hips, catching over your feet. 

A good catch will:

1. dip into the water at the furthest point of the stroke, when the oar is furthest back and the hands furthest forward. If taken too soon or too late you miss water and have a short stroke. Taking too late also means wasted time at the catch, 'hovering' above the water as it disappears under your blade.
2. engage the oar fully ready for applying power during the drive, at the right depth and right angle
3. see the body prepared to take the weight of the drive and apply power. 

This means the catch should happen as you hit front stops, which in gigs means aiming to go into the water rather than hit the pins, reducing the clunk on the pins at front stops. This improves timing (any hover makes the catch unpredictable), and ensures you drive as a crew. 

The best way to achieve all this is counterintuitive but shown to create effective catches. It's a core tenet of British Rowing's sliding seat technique, and they are working in much finer boats. We're talking about backsplash. Really you're aiming for EQUAL splash on the back and the front of the blade (see video), but as many rowers have a deeply engrained habit of creating splash only on the front of the oar we need to over-exaggerate the backsplash to begin with. It helps to think of the catch as the final part of the recovery, and to take the catch with the hands coming forward.

Creating splash off the back of the oar ensures the catch is taken at the furthest point of the stroke, knocks the mildly hooded oar into the perpendicular, and the mild jolt that transmits up the loom and through the hands is the rower's signal that the blade is engaged in the water and it is time to drive.

I, unimaginatively, call the drills to help with this, Backsplash Drills. With the boat not moving, ask rowers to create backsplash on the back of their oars by putting the oar in as they come forward. There should be no drive, simply place the oar, stop, reposition, place again, with backsplash each time. I encourage rowers to imagine the face of someone who has really annoyed the that week, just behind their oar, seems to work. Timing is not important, and provide feedback to individual rowers.

Then ask the crew to do in time, still without any drive. Ask them to listen to the splashes and over-exaggerate - attempting to splash bow pair (sorry bow pair, and best not done on a windy day unless you have cagoules).

Now, use single strokes, and add in the drive. Come forward to row, just short of catch, hold the boat up if moving. From standstill, ask crew to catch with backsplash, feel the jolt, pause in the water, then drive. Stop the boat, repeat. This separates out the catch and the drive. Reduce the pauses until you call normal rowing.

Over time you are aiming for even splash on back and front and 'plop' noise as you go in, and a tremor up the loom, so use these drills and start reducing backsplash until even. On the sea, you'll need to predict wave height to achieve this, but the little tremor means you know when it's okay to initiate the drive.

What's the catch?

Common issues around the catch are taking it too fast and 'snatching' the catch, or taking it too slow and 'hovering'. Just keep thinking about that bicycle chain, and the constant movement of the hands for smooth flow through the boat. When you get it right, slight backsplash and that little tremor up the loom lets you know when you've got the catch at front stops, and that it's time to change direction of movement and drive through the feet. When the whole crew gets it right, you'll hear that united catch, feel that tremor together, and then be able to hang off your oars and push through the feet for a drive that levers you past the competition.

Its good to talk: even in the boat!

by Sarah Gosling

Last summer I was asked to cox a crew I didn't know very well.

After a truly epic first 3/4 of the race (including an amazing turn thanks to a good call from the number 5 rower), the final leg saw 3 boats battling it out for 3rd place.

As they raced neck and neck, all ‘guns’ blazing, it became apparent that the men in the other gigs were getting tired. I thought my guys must be too, but then as I say, I didn’t know them very well. Maybe 60 strokes before the end, I heard a grunt from the bow which was swiftly echoed by the stroke pair. To my surprise the call was to take the rate up!  

These guys were FIT (in an aerobic sort of way, obviously). Up went the rate, and the boat just flew. I don’t think I’ve ever felt a gig accelerate quite like that- it was hugely exciting.
 

Now I know you want me to report that we went ahead and won the race. We didn’t. We lost to the others by just a fisherman’s whisker, but that’s not the point. The point is that there is a lesson to be learnt from my tale. The stroke pair, and indeed the bow rower, knew their crew better than I did. They could sense the flow of the boat and the power of the rowers behind them far more easily than I was able to from the cox’s seat. And had I not listened to the crew in that race (had I kept the rate the same) we would not have had such an incredible finish (or 3^rd mark- best turn ever!).  

As a new rower I was often told by coxes that there should be no talking in the boat… “If you can talk then you are not rowing hard enough”; “the cox is in charge- they make the decisions” etc. etc.  To be honest, those of you who know how chatty I am will probably agree that the coxes were right to shut me up! 

But now I am a cox. And it has struck me since that wonderful race last summer that a well-timed call from the boat, or a little bit of chat between the stroke rower and their cox can change a race completely- and for the better! 

And so I have come up with some examples of moments when- in training as well as racing- a bit of communication might go a long way. These are only based on my personal experiences in the boat, but it’s always good to try new things, and who knows- you might find that communication with the crew works for you too!

Three ideas for session plans

by Sara Bird

A rowing session is much like a sandwich. You always know the bread and butter - the warm up and cool down, but for less confident coxes it's the filling that is less sure.

This post has suggestions for 3 'fillings' and a bit of guidance for the crusts, and more suggestions from seasoned coxes are welcomed.

The Warm-Up

The purpose of the warm-up is twofold - to warm up the body, but also warm up the mind. Especially after work or first thing in the morning, rowers' minds may be anywhere else but in the boat, so a good warm up will both warm-up and stretch muscles that may have sat at a desk all day, and get the crew rowing in time, with a good technique, and mentally ready to bite into whatever the filling may be. But more on warm-ups in another post...

The 'filling' depends on a few things:

• whether the crew are uniformly experienced and strong
• at what point in the training calendar the session falls
• the weather.

Here are 3 ideas.

1) The Technique Session

If you have a mixed up crew, a crew that know they have a specific issue, it's an unusually sunny day (especially in winter), or a crew that you know have a specific issue, consider a technique session. This involves:

- explain a relevant drill(s): why you're doing it, how it's done, and that it's okay if it goes a bit wrong

- do the drill(s): early in the session while attention spans are at their best

- give EVERY individual in the boat feedback about whether they are achieving the aim, always with one specific suggestion of how to do it better.

- use off/on pressure rowing in the second half of session: in 'off' periods get the technique back, in 'on' periods see if the crew can keep it under pressure. Just 10 strokes at a time is enough, building up to longer periods as technique is held for longer under high pressure. Continue to give individuals explicit feedback and advice if they lose technique under pressure.

We'll put more about specific drills into the blog over time, but in the meantime try one that you have had to do yourself.

2) The Pyramid Session

With a mixed up crew, in colder/rainy weather when you don't want people to get too cold doing techniquey things, or to help build a crew's endurance early in the season, try pyramids, which alternate between mid-rate/mid-pressure (off) and high-rate/high-pressure (on). 

These can be '5 strokes on, 5 off, 10 on, 10 off, 15 on, 15 off' etc and back down, or even '1 stroke on, 1 off, 2 on, 2 off' all the way up to 25 and back down to keep everyone's mind on the ball, or '30 seconds on, 30 off, 1 min on, 1 min off' etc. Or maybe between bridges, buoys, or other landmarks.

In 'off' periods, encourage the crew to focus on technique, sit tall, get posture back, breathe deep, or correct major issues such as blade depth - but don't let the pressure completely fade. In 'on' periods encourage the crew to go all out, counting strokes and giving time checks with positive feedback - and don't let the pressure fade in the final few strokes. In Bristol this is usually to Temple Meads and back.

3) The Endurance Session

This is thanks to Matt Randall, who showed us that it is perfectly feasible to get right up to the top of the Feeder canal and back if you just keep rowing at a good strong rate. Great for cold or rainy days with a strong crew that are rowing well together, to build endurance and fitness. At around 80% pressure: talk to the stroke throughout the session to get to the right rate and power for that crew.

The trick to long rows is for the cox to provide enough direction for rowers to think about so that they don't get distracted or lose focus: call for 20 strokes at a time, and I tend to focus on power for 20, then on technique for 20, with specific calls for each. So examples of power calls are, '20 focusing on levering the boat past the oar', '20 off the stretcher', 'through the glutes', 'off the balls of the feet', 'drive on the CATCH', 'let's see those puddles for 20', 'use the quads', 'ratio' and 'lean BACK as a crew' (focus on speed rather than leaning further). Technique calls may include '20 sitting tall', '20 keeping the lean back and hands away', 'square at the finish', 'draw up', 'hands UP to the catch', 'slow the return' - note all of these allow you to keep or improve power, so should not slacken speed. Perhaps ask each rower in turn to suggest what they'd like the next technique call to be. Allow rowers to drop out in pairs for water but pose this session as a challenge to be achieved in the hour, with a quick turn at the top of the Feeder. 

Timed pieces back from Temple Meads can achieve the same for less fit/experienced crews - if you have a crew that are varied in strength and ability, a long endurance session can take its toll on the stronger people and risk injury, and may result in some pretty miffed rowers who may feel they are doing the lion's share of the work.

The Cool Down

Finally, allow time for a cool down, with no surprise drills or spurts of speed, and maybe use this time to get feedback from the crew. Then go home feeling rather chuffed that there are six people who may not have got a row without you and who do appreciate you, even if they moaned at the time...    

If any other coxes have sessions that would work well for newer coxes, please add them in the comments below, they'd be much appreciated, Sara

Bits of the gig boat...

by Sara Bird

If you're a new rower, much of what you hear from your cox will sound like gibberish...so this post is all about boat bits. When whoever's directing lifting the gig shouts 'hold onto the stringer not the gunwales', or the cox calls 'keep the centre of the leather between the pins' it helps to know what bits of the boat or oar they are referring to...

So, here are a couple of pics - and I know I've spent gunwale wrong...

by Bird