Re: Beginners
Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 9:33 pm
Paul -- You showed remarkable restraint in not going for a 100k your first day back.
Seriously, that row was a triumph of determination... and today's row was a good recovery workout. Well done. =D>
Strider, Millie, Greg -- you are all spot on! I think the element of 'routine' or 'habit' is often the most important (and undervalued) part of an exercise program. I spend a lot of time reading and comparing different plans (it's fun) -- The Wolverine Plan, The Pete Plan, The Interactive Plan -- but the fact is: the best plan around is the one you can stick with!
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Greg -- don't know if this applies to you or not -- I spent some time on The Pete Plan. I was addicted to each week watching my times improve, but eventually the amount of effort required to beat or maintain my current pace/time became overwhelming. The knowledge of the pain involved in a 4x2k was finally enough to destroy my enthusiasm. I kept at it, though... until I was injured. Then I conveniently found excuses to take 'one more' recovery day... which eventually stretched to several months.
I like the PP a lot (and the WP), but in looking back over my times and my heart rate data I realize that my progress wasn't nearly as great as it seemed at the time. I was learning how to push myself to the absolute limit in terms of heart rate (and this decreased my times), but my steady-state pace wasn't getting faster.
In retrospect, what I needed was a lot of steady state to build up my base meters and my general fitness (I was a beginner, after all).
I recently read a study that claimed that many world-class athletes (cycling, rowing, running, x-country skiing) use a polarized training approach - with 80% of their training time spent at UT2 intensity and 20% well over AT. Amateur athletes on the other hand tend to push too hard on their 'easy' days and so can't push hard enough on their 'hard' days. They tend to spend much of their time in the 'black hole' zone where they get plenty tired, but their times don't improve much.
That describes me. When on the PP, my long rows were always too fast, so I didn't get enough recovery.
As I say, I don't know if this applies to you or not, but during this cycle I'm spending at least 80% of my time with a heart rate cap of 133 bpm. I'll let you know how it works for me.
Cheers,
zoot
Seriously, that row was a triumph of determination... and today's row was a good recovery workout. Well done. =D>
Strider, Millie, Greg -- you are all spot on! I think the element of 'routine' or 'habit' is often the most important (and undervalued) part of an exercise program. I spend a lot of time reading and comparing different plans (it's fun) -- The Wolverine Plan, The Pete Plan, The Interactive Plan -- but the fact is: the best plan around is the one you can stick with!
=======================
Greg -- don't know if this applies to you or not -- I spent some time on The Pete Plan. I was addicted to each week watching my times improve, but eventually the amount of effort required to beat or maintain my current pace/time became overwhelming. The knowledge of the pain involved in a 4x2k was finally enough to destroy my enthusiasm. I kept at it, though... until I was injured. Then I conveniently found excuses to take 'one more' recovery day... which eventually stretched to several months.
I like the PP a lot (and the WP), but in looking back over my times and my heart rate data I realize that my progress wasn't nearly as great as it seemed at the time. I was learning how to push myself to the absolute limit in terms of heart rate (and this decreased my times), but my steady-state pace wasn't getting faster.
In retrospect, what I needed was a lot of steady state to build up my base meters and my general fitness (I was a beginner, after all).
I recently read a study that claimed that many world-class athletes (cycling, rowing, running, x-country skiing) use a polarized training approach - with 80% of their training time spent at UT2 intensity and 20% well over AT. Amateur athletes on the other hand tend to push too hard on their 'easy' days and so can't push hard enough on their 'hard' days. They tend to spend much of their time in the 'black hole' zone where they get plenty tired, but their times don't improve much.
That describes me. When on the PP, my long rows were always too fast, so I didn't get enough recovery.
As I say, I don't know if this applies to you or not, but during this cycle I'm spending at least 80% of my time with a heart rate cap of 133 bpm. I'll let you know how it works for me.
Cheers,
zoot