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7 min 2 K possible?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 8:31 pm
by Old school
I am a male 39 years old. Have rowed on and off for a year an im pretty seriosus right now. But im not gonna use every day for my project. Im gonna get a baby in some weeks. So three times a week i have for my project. But i like rowing and because of a bad back its one of the only kind of training i can do. But i can do it with no problem.
Is it realistic to get to a 7 min 2k with this kind of effort?
I would like to work hard within my time frame. Whats the best i can do?

Im 183cm and right now around 84kg.

Re: 7 min 2 K possible?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 9:53 pm
by Thomas W-P
I returned to rowing aged 38 and it took me about six months to get to sub 7, but I was VERY unfit. If you get on a structured programme (The Pete Plan could be ideal with three rows a week) then you have a good chance. But I will let the smaller guys give you more of a steer. I am 191cm and 113kg at the moment!

Re: 7 min 2 K possible?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 10:23 pm
by Old school
How often did you row?
Would PP work only 3 days a week?

Re: 7 min 2 K possible?

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 2:47 pm
by strider77
Welcome to the best indoor rowing club in the world Old School !

If you have a very good fitness background you may be able to do it in 3 sessions.

Why not try a 2k TT before you start the plan and let us know where you are at the moment, make sure you warm up properly by rowing for around 15-20 mins easy with a few bursts of 10 strong strokes after 10m mins or so rowing every minute or so. After your warm up rest for maybe 10 mins before doing the 2k, do not go too fast at the start as it is easy to get carried away, it is better to negative split.

If you are in lets say 7:24 shape for example then the splits should be negative so for each 500 aim for :- 1:54, 1:52, 1:50, 1:48

From the Pete Plan I would recommend the first session be the L1 sessions 4 x 1k with 5 mins recovery, 8 x 500 with 3 mins recovery and for the 3rd week the sprint pyramid:- 250 with 1.5 mins rest, 500 with 3 mins rest, 750 with 4.5 mins rest, 1k with 6 mins rest, 750 with 4.5 mins rest, 500 with 3 mins rest and finally 250

The second session could be a longish row, at least 10k and adding 1k every week

The 3rd session could be the L2 session 4 x 2k with 5 mins recovery one week, 5 x 1500 with 5 mins recovery the second week and The Waterfall-3k, 2.5k, 2k with maybe 7 mins recovery the 3rd week

So a 3 week cycle would look like this :-

Week 1

8 x 500s
10k
4 x 2ks

Week 2
4 x 1ks
11k
5 x 1500

Week 3
Sprint Pyramid 250/500/750/1k/750/500/250 with 1.5 mins per 250 rest
12k
3000/2500/2000

Repeat the 3 week cycle or have the 4th week as a rest week just rowing easy if it is getting hard then repeatthe cycle.

Good luck-let us know your progress.

Re: 7 min 2 K possible?

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 5:06 pm
by Old school
So basicly the 3 main workouts from the PP?
Its a little like this i train Today.
Today is like this:
3x6'
5x3'
Long row

My 2k is 7:36

Re: 7 min 2 K possible?

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 3:34 pm
by strider77
I would follow the PP as the discipline is good and you will definitely see your interval times come down every 3 week cycle.

I am 65 and 1:78m and my PB is from when I was 57 at 6:55, I can still knock out a sub 7:20 with not too much pain Ok I lied it would hurt but I could do it :lol:

So you will have no problems improving on 7:36 fairly quickly on the plan.

Good luck and keep us updated with your progress :wink:

Re: 7 min 2 K possible?

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 5:24 pm
by Old school
I am from a running background and back then i learn that i shouldnt run on the edge every time. Isnt it what Pete plan does?
Back then i plot My Best 5k into a calculator and get a pace for the different intervals. So you dont run too fast/push yourself to much.

Re: 7 min 2 K possible?

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 4:30 pm
by Paul Victory
The Pete Plan is based on 3 tough sessions a week and recovery rows on the other days. A lot of us have achieved good results using it. Part of the key is not overdoing it on the 'easy' days.

Re: 7 min 2 K possible?

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 5:42 pm
by Old school
Paul Victory wrote:The Pete Plan is based on 3 tough sessions a week and recovery rows on the other days. A lot of us have achieved good results using it. Part of the key is not overdoing it on the 'easy' days.
But i Will only be training it 3 times a week. So no easy days.

Re: 7 min 2 K possible?

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 6:29 pm
by gregsmith01748
Old school. You probably can get to <7min by doing 3 hard days, but I want to just raise a point. A 7 minute 2k takes 7 minutes, obviously. Most analysis of that effort show that it relies about 70 to 80% on your aerobic fitness. On hard days, you are doing a little work to improve your aerobic fitness, but mostly you are improving your power, neuromuscular coordination, and tolerance for pain. Basically, those days push your anaerobic capabilities really hard.

Most of what I have read says that to improve your aerobic fitness you need to have some longer sessions and limit the intensity of those sessions. Limiting the intensity of these sessions has two purposes. First, it gives your body the opportunity rebuild the muscle tissue that you ripped up in the hard session (and build it better), Second, if you are trying to push the aerobic fitness, going harder than a certain limit does not get you fitter faster, it's just a waste. There is no reason that you need to row every day, but the easiest path to a fast 2K is to include some longer sessions.

If you are going to row 3 times a week, make one of those sessions a 30r20 (30 minutes at a stroke rate of 20), or a 10K. If you can include some other aerobic work on other days, either running, or biking or whatever, you will see big benefits.

Re: 7 min 2 K possible?

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 7:22 pm
by Old school
gregsmith01748 wrote:Old school. You probably can get to <7min by doing 3 hard days, but I want to just raise a point. A 7 minute 2k takes 7 minutes, obviously. Most analysis of that effort show that it relies about 70 to 80% on your aerobic fitness. On hard days, you are doing a little work to improve your aerobic fitness, but mostly you are improving your power, neuromuscular coordination, and tolerance for pain. Basically, those days push your anaerobic capabilities really hard.

Most of what I have read says that to improve your aerobic fitness you need to have some longer sessions and limit the intensity of those sessions. Limiting the intensity of these sessions has two purposes. First, it gives your body the opportunity rebuild the muscle tissue that you ripped up in the hard session (and build it better), Second, if you are trying to push the aerobic fitness, going harder than a certain limit does not get you fitter faster, it's just a waste. There is no reason that you need to row every day, but the easiest path to a fast 2K is to include some longer sessions.

If you are going to row 3 times a week, make one of those sessions a 30r20 (30 minutes at a stroke rate of 20), or a 10K. If you can include some other aerobic work on other days, either running, or biking or whatever, you will see big benefits.
Thanks for a great repply Greg.

One of the session i am doing now is a longer row at r20. So this i will continue. Shoul the other two be all out intervals like PP?

Re: 7 min 2 K possible?

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 9:12 pm
by gregsmith01748
Yeah, I'd do the short intervals and long intervals

Re: 7 min 2 K possible?

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 9:26 pm
by Old school
Then i will try something like this:
Speed intervals
Endurance intervals
Distance work. Pete recommend 22-25r, But you recommend r20?

I know the interactive plan recommend training bands as % of 2k and Pete recommend to beat your previous best. But you cant do that forever?

Re: 7 min 2 K possible?

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 9:13 am
by Layvin Kurzawa
Great tips! I'll give it a try.

Re: 7 min 2 K possible?

Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 4:35 pm
by ranasarkar
Thanks