October was a better month of training than I’ve had in a while, and this week of testing confirmed that things are trending in the right direction.

This past month marked a shift in training focus from powerlifting to indoor rowing. I love powerlifting. There’s nothing as satisfying as loading more weight on a bar and moving it. But it can be a difficult sport to train for, and weighing the costs against the benefits, I decided for now to make rowing a focus.

I’ve slowly been rounding back into shape on the erg. And I’ve sought out some help; watching the Dark Horse Rowing videos on Youtube have really helped me find the 4 basic positions, connect to the machine efficiently, and develop rhythm with my stroke. I’m rowing more, yes, but I’m rowing better too.

One thing I like about Rowing is that it is a power endurance sport. It rewards being strong and powerful in a way that other endurance sports don’t, so I still get to lift reasonably heavy. I just need to be cognizant of what my focus is for a given training period - I can’t get confused and think I’ve got a powerlifting meet coming up.

Enough talking, Goldstein. Show us the program!

Base Rowing Program

Week Day 1 Day 2 Day 3
1 500m Time Trial - 1:41.2 5000m Time Trial - 21:40.4 PR 2000m Time Trial - 7:57.9
2 10 rounds of :30 seconds Hard + 1:30 Easy 35 minutes, 5k pace + 5 seconds 3 rounds of 4:00 work + 2:00 rest 2k pace + 5
3 10 rounds of :30 seconds Hard + 1:30 Easy 35 minutes, 5k pace + 5 seconds 3 rounds of 4:00 work + 2:00 rest 2k pace + 5
4 10 rounds of :25 seconds Hard + 1:35 Easy 30 minutes, 5k pace + 2 seconds 4 rounds of 4:00 work + 2:00 rest 2k pace + 2
5 10 rounds of :25 seconds Hard + 1:35 Easy 30 minutes, 5k pace + 2 seconds 3 rounds of 5:00 work + 2:00 rest 2k pace + 2
6 9 rounds of :20 seconds Hard + 1:40 Easy 25 minutes, 5k pace 3 rounds of 5:00 work + 2:00 rest 2k pace
7 500m Time Trial 5000m Time Trial 2000m Time Trial

Here you can see that there’s one day focused on going faster for the 500m; one day focused on the steady state needed for the 5000m, and a third day of specific prep for the 2000m. Strength training in this cycle will be 2 times a week; one day Deadlifting and Bench Pressing, the other Squatting and Pressing. Both days will also include trunk work. The barbell lifts will be done for 3-5 sets of 3-6 reps, with around 3-4 minutes rest between sets. The load will be around ~70-85% of an estimated max (since I’m not testing singles).

My goals for this cycle are:

500m 2000m 5000m
1:35.9 (50th percentile) 7:40.0 (Average) 20:18.3 (Average)

The percentiles and averages refer to the data available on the Concept 2 website - all three would be lifetime PRs. Currently, I’m sitting just above the bottom quartile of these groups, and I want to move up near the middle this season.

After this program

After this, there’s about 10 weeks to two important events: first, my brother’s wedding in Mexico and second, the World Virtual Indoor Rowing Sprints. In the later, you row a 1000m race as fast as you can.

The training program for that can be broken down like this: the first 4 weeks will build a base of longer duration, lower rate, technical meters. Two days a week, and each time including builds like this warm-up:

10 minute build: Start at 16 strokes per minute (spm). go up 1 stroke per minute for the first 5 minutes, i.e.16-17-18-19-20.

Then, go up a stroke every 30 seconds for the next 5 minutes, ending at 30spm.

In the final 6 weeks, still two days a week, like so:

Week Day 1 Day 2
1 5x250m at 500m pace, 60 seconds rest 2x500m at goal race pace, 3 minutes rest
2 5x250m at 500m pace, 50 seconds rest 2x600m at goal race pace, 3 minutes rest
3 5x250m at 500m pace, 40 seconds rest 2x700m at goal race pace, 3 minutes rest
4 5x250m at 500m pace, 30 seconds rest 2x800m at goal race pace, 3 minutes rest
5 5x250m at 500m pace, 20 seconds rest 2x900m at goal race pace, 3 minutes rest
6 5x250m at 500m pace, 10 seconds rest 1000m race

Again, note how simple this is. I’m taking a faster pace and working on holding it for longer in both sessions, but the progression is gradual. My personal goal here is to break 3:20, which would beat my lifetime PR in that distance. Strength training will be similar to before but heavier because the demands of sprinting require more power production.

After the Sprints, there’s less than 2 months to the end of the rowing season (May 1 - April 30 the next year), so it will be more playful, Dark Horse style programming - twice a week, one faster, one longer, nothing competitive. I may/probably will even take a couple weeks entirely off of everything before planning for the 2019-2020 season… who knows? maybe a marathon row is in my future…