Row every day for at least 15 mins for all of August -starting 1st Aug

Lietchi · August 2021

August 20: 25 minutes - 4620 meters

Lietchi · August 2021

August 21: 25 minutes - 4573 meters

Lietchi · August 2021

August 22: 50 minutes - 8324 meters

Lietchi · August 2021

August 23: 40 minutes - 7163 meters

AnnPT77 · August 2021

You really are conquering this challenge, @Lietchi, and that on top of your other exercise . . . and it seems like you're reaping performance benefits from it, too. Good show!

The other folks who started this with you . . . well, we'll hope they're so busy rowing/recovering that they don't have time to post about it, I guess? 😉

I'm sure you'll want to finish this challenge out. But, if you like this sort of accountability thread, though maybe a little more free-form, you'd be welcome over in

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10705619/what-was-your-work-out-today#latest

. . . afterward, if that appeals to you. (I usually post over there, but am currently on "no exertion" orders for 2-3 weeks, after a minor outpatient surgical thing.) It's a good group of regulars, diverse workouts, plus some other less consistent participants who come in and out.

Either way, nice work on this challenge: That's a good lot of machine rowing!

Lietchi · August 2021

I too hope there are others out there completing the challenge and just not posting about it!

I must admit that I've let my goal oriented side take over a bit, my running and strength training has been a bit neglected in favor of the Dog Days of Summer challenge since last week. That's why I did some extra long sessions the past few days, just to have a bit more leeway the rest of the week 😎

I took this challenge on a whim, but it's been great. Better performance, better able to pace myself and go for longer sessions without getting a sore back. Rowing will no longer be the neglected stepbrother in my exercise options 😉
Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. Perhaps it'll push me a bit to improve my performance in my other exercise as well.

Can I take advantage of your expertise regarding rowing? My boyfriend was mocking my pace (he's about 20% faster, and he doesn't row regularly at all). But I was wondering about the difference between men and women. Is height an important factor? I'm 5ft5 and he's 6ft 3. I would think that gives him a significant advantage, or perhaps I'm not willing to admit there's another type of exercise I'm not good at 😂

Lietchi · August 2021

PS: good luck with your recovery, I see you're exercising vicariously through fellow MFP'ers in the meantime!

AnnPT77 · August 2021

Yes. In brief: Long levers. One year when there were too many novice (no rowing experience) walk-on candidates to even fully fitness test, the NCAA Div I women's team here arbitrarily screened out every one of them who was under 5'10". Elite teams are tall people (except the tiny coxswains 😉). Even elite lightweights are tall for their weight.

Men are also statistically faster than women on average by a good bit. For example, compare at:

https://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/racing/records/world

Strength is an advantage, so as you get stronger, you should get faster. As distance increases, cardiovascular conditioning becomes a bigger factor. Some serious strength folks who don't do much CV conditioning are fast at 500m, compared to other rowers, in general terms; at progressively higher distances, their times tend to become less competitive compared to people who train equally hard but more specifically for rowing.

IMO, technique is the underappreciated advantage. I assume you know you can compare yourself to others at:

https://log.concept2.com/rankings

That will give you some hints where you stand with technique. Another hint: Do a piece at a very slow rating (spm), like 14-16. You should be able to get your heart rate way up, get a decent-ish split (time/500m), though of course not as fast as the same technique at higher rating. If the workout feels empty, can't reach any intensity at low rating, there are almost certainly technique improvements available. Which ones? Requires individual assessment.

Good for you, doing Dog Days: That last week, especially, is a good bit of rowing, especially stacked on top of other exercise!

Lietchi · August 2021

I knew you'd have useful info, thanks! I hadn't checked the rankings yet. I'm wishing I hadn't, considering my dismal performance... (but at least my BF isn't doing much better than me 😁)

I'm not very good at the very slow stroke rate either, I think, I couldn't manage that slow without pausing between strokes. I thought I was rowing pretty much like shown in the Concept 2 videos, but based on that low spm experiment, I guess not! I fell down the rabbit hole yesterday looking up spm and technique and such, definitely more research and experiments needed.

August 24: 35 minutes - 6540 meters

Lietchi · August 2021

August 25: 30 minutes - 5731 meters

AnnPT77 · August 2021

FWIW, I got curious after our previous exchange. Picking a mid-masters age range for no good reason (40-49), the women's openweight world record time is 117% of the men's openweight world record time at the 2k distance. You may be younger, dunno, but if he's 20% faster, that 20% sounds like maybe comparable to the 17%? In the 30-39 age group, it's more like 15% difference. Probable those women are taller than 5'5", though no way to know for sure; men might be taller than 6'3", but your BF is statistically tall, and you're statistically close to average, height-wise.

I don't think he gets much in the way of bragging rights for being 20% faster, frankly . . . let alone mocking rights. 😉🤣 And you're getting faster, anyway. If you find some technique points you can tune up, you'll get faster yet, too.

Lietchi · August 2021

Yup, I think his bragging rights might have been revoked 😁
Hm I just realized I'm still in the 30-39 category while my BF just turned 40, but I compared with the 30-39 men, oops.
He does around 6500 meters in 30min.

Anyway, today's session :

August 26: 35 minutes - 6595 meters

Lietchi · August 2021

August 27: 20 minutes - 3947 meters

Lietchi · August 2021

August 28: 15 minutes - 2798 meters

And the Dog Days of Summer challenge is over!

AnnPT77 · August 2021

Nice: Congratulations! 👍🏆👍

Lietchi · August 2021

August 29: 15 minutes - 2989 meters

Lietchi · August 2021

August 30: 25 minutes - 4754 meters

Lietchi · August 2021

Final day of the challenge!
August 31: 15 minutes - 3063 meters

I have to admit I'm glad it's over 😛 but it's been an interesting experience, definitely improved my rowing and I'm guessing my cardiovascular fitness too.

AnnPT77 · August 2021

Nice work, @Lietchi! Did the work, reaped the rewards = excellent.

Row every day for at least 15 mins for all of August -starting 1st Aug

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