You're hoping for some camaraderie... a sense of belonging. You're looking for more than just an online training diary where you can post your workouts... you're looking for someone to care about those workouts and to care about you. To commiserate when your day has gone to shit... to cheer when you're soaring high.
Anxious and full of hope, you click on a random post and read: "60 min L4 for me today. 168's/172's at ref pace 1:56. +8m. EPOC 75. TE 3.2." Er... you try another: "4 x 2k, r5' R32 1:56.1, 1:55.8, 1:55.7, 1:53.1 - Blasted that last one!" You look at some thread titles: "Training towards a 6:20 2k"... "The Pete Plan"... "The Interactive Plan"... "The Wolverine(sque) Plan"... "Marathons, Ultras and Other Crazy Talk"... "Millionaire's Club"... "RowPro Sessions".
It's easy to feel intimidated... easy to think that this is an Old Boy's club with a secret club handshake and maybe a decoder ring or two.. easy to feel that an inquisitive post of yours will be met with scorn or pity. Or both.
Well, it ain't like that here.
People who hang with one another often develop a cryptic way of communicating - don't let that throw you. The people here are uber-friendly and have tons of patience. And there's a wide range of knowledge, skills, motivation and aptitude here. Speed demons? Meter munchers? World-record holders? Sure, we have them. But we also have people who would be happy to row a 2k in 15 minutes... people who would be happy to row a 100,000 meters in a year... people who don't want to set any kind of record at all (except maybe a personal record of sticking with an exercise plan for more than two months at a time!). What I'm saying is that we got all kinds here. You, me, them. Everybody... everybody... (Even people who break into song... )
This club was made for you and me.
I'm going to post regularly in this thread - I'll post about goal setting and nutrition... weight loss and erg technique... motivation and strategies for sticking with a health plan. I'll answer your questions. I might even show you a picture of my cat. But what I won't do is belittle you, or laugh at you, or shut you out.
So feel free to join me - post any questions or comments you have. Tell me about your day.
I'll tell you straight-up, though, that I'm not an expert on anything. I'm someone just like you... with maybe a little more experience. But if I can't answer your questions, another club member will be along shortly to lend a hand.
After all, isn't that what being a part of a team is all about?
Very good thread zoot. I am doing a very similar thing on facebook, trying to educate and encourage people who are new to rowing and are learning the lingo about splits, technique, drag factor and the rest of it.....
There are 722 members on the "Concept 2 logbook" page with people of all sorts of sporting backgrounds.
Everybody has a plan until they get a punch in the face.
Here's a question - some people have 'LP' in their PB signature - what is this? The only thing I can think of is 'long pull' i.e. the distance travelled from one very hard pull of the chain??? But really I have no idea... Wouldn't the strategy for this if it is a single pull be to basically lean back as far as possible (without falling backwards )?
billwright wrote:- A nice intro to a newcomer Zoot and very apt. =D>
Bill (who needed commiseration today after my workout went belly up )
OK Bill a big dose of commiseration coming up-stand up marine and get back on that metal mistress sharpish
Seriously Bill if I had the guts to put down all the HD workouts I have had over the last year or so it would make very sad reading-you will be fine tomorrow me old China
hewitt wrote:Very good thread zoot. I am doing a very similar thing on facebook, trying to educate and encourage people who are new to rowing and are learning the lingo about splits, technique, drag factor and the rest of it.....
There are 722 members on the "Concept 2 logbook" page with people of all sorts of sporting backgrounds.
Jason - well done! =D> That's partly where I got this idea from.
strider77 wrote:
billwright wrote:- A nice intro to a newcomer Zoot and very apt.
Bill (who needed commiseration today after my workout went belly up )
OK Bill a big dose of commiseration coming up-stand up marine and get back on that metal mistress sharpish
Seriously Bill if I had the guts to put down all the HD workouts I have had over the last year or so it would make very sad reading-you will be fine tomorrow me old China
millie wrote:Here's a question - some people have 'LP' in their PB signature - what is this? The only thing I can think of is 'long pull' i.e. the distance travelled from one very hard pull of the chain??? But really I have no idea... Wouldn't the strategy for this if it is a single pull be to basically lean back as far as possible (without falling backwards )?
Hi Millie,
'LP' means 'Low Pull' - it is a measure of explosive power.
Different rowers measure this in different ways... some try to trick the C2 monitor into displaying wacky results... some choose the lowest of their first 5 strokes coming off a standing start... others don't set a stroke limit at all - a flying start - and select their absolute maximum power, usually the lowest of their first 6-10 strokes.
Some people find this a very useful measure of how their sprint training is progressing, Others consider it a waste of time. And still others just consider it something fun to try.
For the beginners...
An explosive start places a lot of strain on your lower back. My advice is wait until you are stronger. Some people can dead-lift insanely-heavy weights and not injure themselves. But they don't do it on their first day in the gym! Muscles, especially back muscles, take a long time to adapt to a training stimulus. Baby steps, baby steps.
However, if you want to try this:
1. Make sure you are absolutely warmed up!
2. Make sure the weekly cummulative load on your back has been low (i.e., your back is well-rested).
3. Take a few strokes to ramp up the flywheel before you go all out...
4. And be sure to read the following threads (which have additional info).
Over the past 9 years I've lost 270 lbs... but I still weigh the same. I exercise for a while... I make good progress... I'm happy and motivated... and then something happens -- I don't know what -- and the next thing I know 4 months have gone by and I haven't exercised and I've gained back all the weight that I lost and I'm right back where I started, kicking myself and believing that I suck. I'm so depressed. I don't know if I have the energy to start all over again...
Sound familiar?
You're not alone.
The psychology of motivation, goal setting, and achievement is very complex. And it seems to work differently for different people. We live in a culture that emphasizes the myth of the self-made man: the idea that every achievement is the product of will power and determination alone. I don't buy it. It's not so much a myth, as a half-truth. It certainly takes will power and determination to make things happen -- I'm not disputing that -- It's just that this myth makes it easy to jump to false conclusions, like the idea that if we fail it's because we lack will power... or motivation... or self-worth.
I disagree. I think most people fail due to lack of knowledge... not lack of desire.
Specifically, the knowledge of how to set goals properly and how to transform those goals into real achievements.
"The inherent problem with goal setting is related to how the brain works. Recent neuroscience research shows the brain works in a protective way, resistant to change. Therefore, any goals that require substantial behavioural change or thinking-pattern change will automatically be resisted. The brain is wired to seek rewards and avoid pain or discomfort, including fear. When fear of failure creeps into the mind of the goal setter it commences a de-motivator with a desire to return to known, comfortable behaviour and thought patterns." -- Ray Williams, "Why Goal Setting Doesn't Work"
So if we want goal-setting to work, we need to start with small changes in a context which minimizes fear.
How do we do that?
1. Start with a Vision -- See the Big Picture -- Set Priorities
As an example, let's suppose you choose the common vision: "I want to lose weight". This is not a goal because it is not specific -- it is a vision of the way you want the world to be. The crucial thing to remember is that "You don't get what you want in life, you get in life what you are." To change what you have in life, you must change who you are. There's that old joke: How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? Just one... but it takes a long time and the light bulb has to really want to change.
So you want to change and you have a vision. The problem is that you most likely have other visions as well, all of which require time, money and commitment. So the next step is to list those visions, determine how much time you have available, and prioritize those visions. If you are like most people, you desire to achieve far more than you have time for. You need to do a little weeding.
This is the time for brutal honesty. If you bite off more than you can chew, you set yourself up for failure. That failure creates a downward-spiralling negative-feedback loop which involves the fear of failure, self-doubt, indecision, and actual failure. Followed by the fear of failure, self-doubt, indecision, and more failure. Take baby steps... baby steps.
Below is my Vision for the next few years -- (my desires, my fantasies, my hopes)
a. Lose weight
b. Spend more time with my nieces
c. Learn to program Python
d. Refurbish/rebuild a '65 Ford Mustang
e. Install solar panels on the house
f. Go back to school part-time to get a college degree
g. Row in the 2016 summer Olympics
h. Write articles for the Free Spirits web site
i. Canoe from Nova Scotia, Canada to Nome, Alaska
j. Visit Finland to see the Aurora Borealis
k. Spend a month in New Zealand - 2 weeks on the north island, 2 on the south
But when I look at my work/family schedule I see I have at most 10-20 hours per week that I can spare... that's it. After much thought and many discussions with my wife, I settle on (a), (b), (c), (h), and (j) as possible goals for the next year. But before I can confirm those goals, I need to...
2. Be Specific
"Lose weight" is not a goal. "Lose 20 lbs in the next 2 weeks through dieting alone" is. "Spend more time with my nieces" is not a goal. "Fly to Florida for winter break and canoe with them way down upon the Suwannee River" is.
"Being specific" means identifying your goals with as much precision as you can. It means visualizing the details involved in achieving those goals. "Fly to Florida... blah, blah, blah" means calculating how much money you need to save, researching your employer's vacation policy, making sure your nieces don't have other plans, visualizing how to get your canoe to Florida, making contingency plans for alligators, etc.
The more specific you can make your goals, the easier they will be to achieve and the easier it will be to...
3. Be Realistic
Losing 20 lbs in a fortnight, means a nutritional deficit of 5,000 calories a day. Your current basal metabolic rate might be around 2,000 calories a day. As stated, this goal is impossible! You must add in some exercise. But even exercising 3-4 hours a day, this goal would be difficult... and the result may not be what you expect.
Once you have specific goals, you can seek advice from others. "Have any of you lost 20 lbs in 14 days? Do you know anybody who has? Any idea what happens to your body?" Answer: "You lose a lot of water and you lose a lot of muscle. Your percentage of body fat goes up! Is that what you want?" Probably not. By laying your goals out there for others to see, you allow others to help fine-tune those goals. Perhaps what you really desire, but hadn't realized, is to change the shape of your body by losing fat and adding muscle... to bring back that youthful, slimmed-down appearance? This is a very different goal which requires a different strategy.
You see, if your goals aren't realistic, you're setting yourself up for the same type of downward-spiralling negative-feedback loop that we talked about earlier.
You just can't lose that much weight in so short a time and maintain your health.
You need to...
4. Make Small Changes
14 days? Huh. 6 months is a more realistic goal. 0.5 to 1.0 lb per week would be a calorie deficit of 250-500 calories per day, which can be achieved entirely through exercise... or by a small dietary change coupled with light exercise. The advantage to this approach is that you are more likely to to meet your goal... which will cause a feeling of accomplishment, a rise in self-esteem, and a better chance that you will be able to meet more challenging goals in the future. This is an upward-spiralling positive-feedback loop. This is the sweet spot where life is good.
Baby steps... baby steps.
While we're thinking about making small changes, it might be worthwhile to consider...
5. Use a Sliding Scale
If you set a goal to lose 20 lbs in 6 months and you only lost 19.5 lbs, would you consider yourself a failure? Many people do. I read about it all the time.
"I tried to row a 4x2k and I handled-down in the third rep."
"I only lost 1.2 lbs this week."
"I had to drop a class because my wife was in the hospital. Now I won't graduate this year."
"I swore I'd never smoke again, but after the car accident I was so anxious, I lit up anyway."
"I haven't exercised in the last 4 months."
Success and failure are rarely black and white. They exist on a continuum, gradually sliding from one into the other. Sometimes the difference is slight; sometimes it's a matter of opinion. Give yourself the benefit of the doubt and set incremental goals -- some easy, some hard -- along that continuum.
Example:
Gold Star - Negatively split a 4x2k starting at 1:58.
Silver Star - Complete 4 reps of a 4x2k no matter what the split. If a HD, pause and drink some water but keep going.
Bronze Star - Complete one rowing session per week at a pace significantly higher than steady state.
By setting sliding goals you recognize that you have good days and bad days and you won't beat yourself up about the bad days. It really is okay to be human and suffer setbacks. Nobody is going to think any less of you. In fact, if you post your disappointments and setbacks on this forum, you'll find quite a few people commiserating with you and offering encouragement.
Using a sliding scale has another benefit. Instead of being trapped in a downward-spiralling negative-feedback loop and thinking about how worthless you are, you have the opportunity to reassess you goals, your strategy, and your progress.
But to do this, you need to...
6. Stay Focused
The only real failure is a failure to think... a failure to think about your goals, what it takes to achieve them, why your progress is not as strong as you'd like... in short, the reasons for temporarily losing direction. To think or not to think -- to focus one's mind or not -- is the fundamental choice in human life. If you evade the responsibility to think, you give up the chance to make any changes in your life. Don't tune out. Don't blur your mind. Stay focused.
You didn't negatively split that 2k? That's okay. You didn't pick up again after the HD? All right. You didn't even exercise this week. No problem... Just stay focused. Accept it. Accept that this is reality. Accept that this is what really happened. But stay focused and don't walk away from it.
If you stay focused, you can recover from any setback; if you tune out, your mind becomes mush and everything drifts out of your control. And that leads to the fear of failure... blah, blah, blah.
It's perhaps not obvious, but you should also...
7. Choose Your Own Goals -- not somebody else's
If your wife wants you to lose weight... or your doctor advises you to quit smoking... or your kids want you to take them to Disneyland... those are other people's goals, not your own! Either embrace those goals as your own -- make them a part of you -- or content yourself with the status quo and don't waste your time trying to change, because if you don't buy into the premise you're just setting yourself up for failure. You may as well be honest and spend your time on some other goal, instead.
Accept the status quo... or make those goals your own.
My mom smoked most of her life. She understood the dangers; she accepted the risks. She enjoyed it. It was one of the things that gave her pleasure in life. She tried to quit a couple of times -- to please my dad -- but she could never stick with it because she was never really committed. The craving to light up overwhelmed her will power, not because she was weak, but because that goal wasn't her own.
She died of pancreatic cancer a few years ago. But she never had any regrets. When her doctor told her she had 3 months to live, she shrugged and said, "I've lived a good life. I can finish all I want to in 3 months." And she did.
8. Share Your Success or Failure with Others
The fear of failure is a major cause of failure. On a subconscious level, this fear robs us of motivation and we rarely even realize it. When we are afraid of failure, we hold back and don't fully commit ourselves to our goals. Why? I don't know. Perhaps we don't like to look like fools. Perhaps we don't like to look weak. Perhaps we are embarrassed. Perhaps we have fallen victim to the myth of the self-made man.
I don't know about other forums, but on this forum no one is going to think less of you if you fail to meet your goals. They will commiserate. They will offer encouragement. They will help you find your way. They will help you laugh it off, accept who you are, and get you pointed in the right direction.
But they can't do it alone. They need your help. Seriously, you need to...
9. Lighten Up!
You didn't meet your goal? So what? I mean, in the grand scheme of things is that goal so important that you have to beat yourself up about it? Lighten up, accept what actually happened, regroup, focus on what's important, and move forward. If you don't take yourself so seriously... if you can laugh at yourself when you suffer a setback... you won't be so devastated by failure. Instead of a setback compounding itself and leading to months of despair, it will last a few days and you'll be plugging away toward your new goals.
I remember watching my 10 year-old nephew's basketball game after his team's end-of-the-year, all-night slumber party -- a great team-building event, by the way, which everyone enjoyed. Needless to say, the team didn't play so well. My brother wasn't happy. He yelled at his son for 15 minutes... humiliating him in front of his friends and personally demanding he apologize to the coach for playing so poorly.
All the while, I was sitting there thinking: "What's going to motivate my nephew to play basketball in the future if this is the sort of feedback he gets?" Wouldn't it be so much better to laugh it off? To accept that it was a great slumber party? To realize that maybe the slumber party was actually more fun and served a higher purpose than winning the game? That maybe next year the slumber party should be scheduled after the last game?
Setbacks happen. It's not that big a deal. Laugh about it and move on.
In summary, here are...
Zoot's Rules for Goal Setting:
1. Start with a Vision -- See the Big Picture -- Set Priorities
2. Be Specific
3. Be Realistic
4. Make Small Changes
5. Use a Sliding Scale
6. Stay Focused
7. Choose Your Own Goals -- not somebody else's
8. Share Your Success or Failure with Others
9. Lighten Up!
And remember..."You don't get what you want in life, you get in life what you are."
Thoughts and comments welcome.
Cheers,
zoot
Last edited by zootMutant on Sat Jun 15, 2013 10:24 pm, edited 2 times in total.
You've pretty much nailed it. I'm in a bit of a funk at present, with various aches and pains and finding in very hard to motivate myself. I know I just need to start and then to keep going, but getting started is proving harder than I thought it would be.
I'm off to the Algarve tomorrow for 5 days and there's an erg onsite, so I'm planning to do at least 3 sessions while I'm there and I hope that will get me back on track.
Among other things, I need to do 500m for the Challenge series, 5k for the Free Spirits WAARC and a proper 5555m for this month's CTC.
Thanks
Paul
M 68 6'1" 124kg (May05), 92kg (Feb06), 122kg (Aug10), 95kg (Sep11), 117kg (Jun13), now 98kg
Tell yourself you are not going to work out. Instead just do a gentle warm-up followed by some stretches and call it a day. You don't even need to get into your workout clothes because you aren't going to break a sweat!
A gentle warm-up, maybe 5-10 min, and some stretches.
Today's goal achieved.
Of course, if after your warm-up you feel like going for a gentle row, then go ahead. But the purpose is to get back to doing something, no matter how ridiculously easy it seems. This focuses your mind on the fact that you are doing something and at the same time gives you a goal that you can feel good about achieving.
I know Eddie Fletcher says you shouldn't work out when you are ill. I think this advice is partly wrong. I think it's geared toward people who have a tendency to over-train. My problem is that if I get out of the groove, then I'm not even thinking about exercising anymore -- I'm onto other projects.
I think it is much better to warm-up and do some gentle stretches, and then say "I'm too sick" or "I'm too tired" or "I have too much to do".
Great post zoot, your honesty and humour are very refreshing and make your posts enjoyable to read.. I particularly agree that things are rarely black and white; and personally I feel a routine is essential - if I'm not 100% I'll still stick to my training sessions but sometimes just do a light warmup, some stretches and that's it. Feels easier to then get back into it when I am back to 100% or close to it.
And thanks for the info about the LP - don't think I'll be rushing out to try it though - even on slides I don't think my back would like it!
All the best with your training whilst in the Algarve Paul, let us know how you're going
millie wrote:
All the best with your training whilst in the Algarve Paul, let us know how you're going
Thanks Millie
I decided to go a short session today to break the ice. Did my usual attempt at the blind devil challenge and finally succeeded in rowing exactly 666m! Then I did 500m for the challenge series. Not very fast, but at least I've entered a time.
Heading off to the airport now!
M 68 6'1" 124kg (May05), 92kg (Feb06), 122kg (Aug10), 95kg (Sep11), 117kg (Jun13), now 98kg
Very helpful and inspiring post Zoot-I think you are spot on-its who we are, we sometimes set ourselves impossible goals almost to self sabotage ourselves I think.
Any new regime has to become a habit.
I generally go to the gym 5 times a week, it is now an ingrained habit. so I don't have to think about it
Last edited by strider77 on Wed May 29, 2013 7:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
Today was the first day I managed to make it to the gym here in Alvor. For some crazy reason, I decided that I should attempt a half marathon. My sole objective was to finish and I figured I should be able to do this if I stuck to around 2:15 to 2:20 pace.
It was something of a struggle, particularly when the only other person in the gym left and the door slammed shut behind them, taking away the breeze that was making the temperature tolerable. I didn't want to stop for fear I might not start again and it was around half an hour before someone arrived and some air got back into the gym.
I averaged just under 2:15 pace early on and reached 10k in 44:57 but was really struggling at this stage. I forced myself to keep going to complete an hour, reaching 13297m. I somehow kept going after this and when I got to 80 minutes, I figured I'd make it all the way, which I did, finishing in 1:35:41.5. Possibly my slowest ever HM, but also one of my most satisfying. [-o<
Off to lie beside the pool now.
M 68 6'1" 124kg (May05), 92kg (Feb06), 122kg (Aug10), 95kg (Sep11), 117kg (Jun13), now 98kg
Well done Paul! My hat off to anyone doing a HM, but especially =D> =D> given you haven't been doing a lot of training lately! I think you'll get a lot of momentum out of that holiday session!!
Zoot: I think you have the kernel of a best selling self help book in your post. I wholeheartedly agree with the concept that it all about sticking to it and allowing yourself to have good days and bad without feeling like a failure. I think that might be my biggest problem. I've never quite recovered from reaching a point where I hardly ever set a PB anymore. I was quite addicted to that early success and I have trouble with the long term. I think you post is quite helpful in that regard.
Paul: you are a persistent man. Grinding through a half marathon in an airless room. I can't decide if its crazy or admirable or both!
Thanks for the comments folks and for all the encouragement. It was mainly the thought of being able to say on this thread that I did it that kept me going on the HM. Back on the erg today but feeling very sluggish so just did 3.5k in bits and pieces and called it a day. Went for a walk along the beach afterwards.
M 68 6'1" 124kg (May05), 92kg (Feb06), 122kg (Aug10), 95kg (Sep11), 117kg (Jun13), now 98kg
Er... you try another: "4 x 2k, r5' R32 1:56.1, 1:55.8, 1:55.7, 1:53.1 - Blasted that last one!" 
)
I am doing a very similar thing on facebook, trying to educate and encourage people who are new to rowing and are learning the lingo about splits, technique, drag factor and the rest of it.....
My sole objective was to finish and I figured I should be able to do this if I stuck to around 2:15 to 2:20 pace.
