12 loading workouts: - 8 60 min UT2 + 2 30 min UT1 + 1 anaerobic treshold (total volume = 32minutes) + 18 minutes volumes at transport pace. - not on consecutive days -start: rest day - rest day - work day (for one or two weeks) (listen to body) -level up: work - rest - work - rest - really fit: work - work - rest (first work less hard than second work day) Recovery is key! Listen to your body. (add extra rest when needed)
Like the part about listening to your body with rest and training capacity. I heard this from the triathlete Brad Kearns a couple of years ago. It was his 3 key principles: 1. Take what your body gives you each day and nothing more. 2. Will your 80 year old self be happy with this? 3. Get over yourself.
Travis. Another great video, thanks. Where would I find details on 1) Anaerobic Threshold training - rating, volume etc, and 2) Lactate tolerance and removal programme? Thanks, Rod
hi Rod, AT training guidelines are all over the place and very poorly outlined in rowing texts. I would even say our sport has a poor understanding of the medium. A basic guideline you can follow would be pieces 10-20 minutes long with 8-12 minutes of rest at a speed roughly 4 seconds slower than TR (or if you are ambitious, your time trial pace for 30 minutes at open rate). Rates are 22-28 though I tend to stay around 24 spm with my athletes. LTR training is about spiking lactate, recovering, and repeating 2-3 times. Keep your volume for the session around 1-1.5 times race distance (maybe 2x for a high performance athlete). Most rowers/coaches do too much volume and consequently do not go fast enough on this training type. Two examples would be 6x500m with 8 minutes rest, 3 sets of 2x500m with 90 seconds rest and 15 minutes rest between sets. Also, you only need to do this type of workout for about 3-4 weeks starting 6-8 weeks out from your first big race. DO NOT do this while you are in your core race season, you will only self sabotage.
Thank you so much for your reply. I have one follow up question. You mentioned in a different video that frequency is a parameter that can be adjusted in training, and from experience I know I can manage recovering from multiple sessions on many days. If multiple sessions are to be done in one day can they both be loading sessions? Could one of the patterns you discussed in this video be used on a per session basis rather than per day? (Rotate loading and unloading every other session rather than every other day)
Hi Ben, if you're reaching this level then training really should be individualized by a coach that is familiar with your training history and current abilities. There are just too many "if this/then that" situations that come up with the training volume you are inquiring about for me to give accurate answers here. I would say that you should at least unload 2 days out of the week, and I would not advise pairing two non-UT2 loading sessions in a day. Best case, your days would include one loading session, and one unloading session. For example, I would definitely recommend someone do one 90-100 minute UT2 session and a 20-30 minute recovery session over two 60 minute UT2 sessions. Hope that helps a bit. Certainly happy to setup a consultation through gtsrowing.com if you want to dive into some personal details.
Hey man! Love the videos. I've been doing 2 days on 1 day off (1 hard day and lighter on day 2). You mentioned doing the inverse. What are the benefits of building in intensity over a period of consecutive workout days?
You need to find the pattern that produces the best results for you. More work is not better here. It could also be situation dependent. For example, I was only doing 2-3 hard days a week (4 light) when I set those world records earlier last year. If I'm training base I alternate between day on day off and 2 days on 1-2 days off. If you're unsure what you should do, err on the side of more light days. If you do use two loading days back to back, I find it best to make the second the "harder" of the two.
Very nice video again, Travis. Really like the approach. Question I would have is about listening to your body. Even though I’m 62 and an experienced rower, this is something I still have to learn. What signals should I focus on? If I feel rested in the morning? If I’m motivated to do a new training? If I feel some muscle pain from a previous training? What my morning heart rate is? I do HRV measurements btw but so far they haven’t really been helpful. And the thing with all of them is that there are many other factors influencing the answer. I obviously don’t feel rested if I didn’t sleep enough. And my morning heart rate is higher if the room temperature is, we had two warm weeks over here. So, what signals your body is giving you, should you listen too?
Hi Titus, all great questions. Let me try to hit these in order. 1) Try to think about the signs you feel before previous bad sessions. Use those as indicators for future sessions. Also, think about the less than optimal ways that you have felt before good sessions. That experience can help you appreciate what signs are worthy of your attention and what can be safely ignored. 2) I want to emphasize that you don't have to make this decision before starting. If you get 10' in and you're not loosening up as normal and it feels like it will be a uphill battle to get through, then stop or shift gears into a rest day. 3) If you are motivated then take advantage of it, that doesn't mean go crazy and try to beat all your PRs, just maybe you don't need a rest day that day or you can push just a little (I always say the last 1/3 of a workout is where PBs should happen, the first 2/3 should be about hitting baseline). 4) Muscle pain is tricky and circumstantial, I can't cover all the points here with this reply. Suffice to say I prefer to setup training so you don't have carryover muscle pain from session to session. But if you are just referring to pains that come with age, it is very situation dependent. 5) Morning HR is an awesome tool so you're a step ahead of most by measuring it. If you've been measuring it every day you should have a good idea of your baseline. one thing is be consistent. Personally I measure mine first thing in the morning. I always pee first because a full bladder will raise your HR. Then I go right back to bed and lie down. I have my monitor record for 5 minutes and in that time close my eyes while prone and just try to relax every muscle in my body (and my thoughts). The lowest HR measured in that 5 minutes is my resting heart rate. As you noted, it will drift up and down naturally from day to day. But if it is 1 or 2 standard deviations from the norm then your immune system has probably been activated (and you should not train), or you are fatigued and should do a rest day (or take it off). Also, if you have been measuring it a lot, you should be able to track how temperature, poor sleep, etc. effect it and then account for those things when making decisions based on it later. Hope that helps. Love the resting heart rate question. I may even make that the subject of my training talk today!
Is a UT2 day considered a training/loading day or a rest/unloading day? In the beginning of the video you said UT2 is a loading day. Then towards the end it sounded like a conversational pace (which is what UT2 hr pace is for me) is an unloading day. Maybe my UT2 pace needs to go up.
Hi Mary, UT2 definitely isn't a conversation pace and it would be a loading day, yes. Executed properly you'll probably want UT2 to be in the 16-18 spm range, about 15-25 lower drag factor than you would race with, and the effort should be hard enough you could say a few sentences but any more would be too disruptive to your breathing to continue.
@@TravisGardner Thank you for your reply. My drag factor stays at 119 for both my UT2 and my all out (2K) row (I don't change the resistance setting on my Concept2. I leave it at 5 which is 119 drag factor on my rower). What changed is my avg watts: 75 for the UT2 and 121 for the all out 2K. Thoughts?
hi Mary, that is definitely quite high. 119 is generally what I'd recommend for the average athlete that pull 1:37/500 for 2000 meters. I'd recommend moving down into the 80s for your UT2 and around 105 for 2000 meters. You should also be able to bring your split down into the the 2:30s for your UT2 with either technical improvement, the proper effort, or both. I talk about the range of splits any athlete should expect in the video linked here, th-cam.com/video/XG0exWwM75U/w-d-xo.html
For the 32min threshold workout, what would that be like. You said to split it up if you want to but how about the splits and rate. How do you figure out your Threshold pace? Thanks
![UNDERSTANDING UT1 STEADY STATE [FOR ROWING] and How to Execute a UT1 Training Session](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gaZudbfGjmQ/mqdefault.jpg)
12 loading workouts:
- 8 60 min UT2 + 2 30 min UT1 + 1 anaerobic treshold (total volume = 32minutes) + 18 minutes volumes at transport pace.
- not on consecutive days
-start: rest day - rest day - work day (for one or two weeks) (listen to body)
-level up: work - rest - work - rest
- really fit: work - work - rest (first work less hard than second work day)
Recovery is key! Listen to your body. (add extra rest when needed)
what is a UT 1 and UT 2
Like the part about listening to your body with rest and training capacity. I heard this from the triathlete Brad Kearns a couple of years ago. It was his 3 key principles:
1. Take what your body gives you each day and nothing more.
2. Will your 80 year old self be happy with this?
3. Get over yourself.
If only we could have been so wise in our 20s... :)
@@TravisGardner OMG yes. He still holds the U24 US Ironman record 31 years later, so you gotta think it worked for him.
Travis: fantastic advice, thanks for sharing.
You're very welcome. Hope it helps!
Another informative video! Can I ask what the outline of the next phase would look like? Planning for whenever I can get back on an erg
Great videos
Travis. Another great video, thanks. Where would I find details on 1) Anaerobic Threshold training - rating, volume etc, and 2) Lactate tolerance and removal programme? Thanks, Rod
hi Rod, AT training guidelines are all over the place and very poorly outlined in rowing texts. I would even say our sport has a poor understanding of the medium. A basic guideline you can follow would be pieces 10-20 minutes long with 8-12 minutes of rest at a speed roughly 4 seconds slower than TR (or if you are ambitious, your time trial pace for 30 minutes at open rate). Rates are 22-28 though I tend to stay around 24 spm with my athletes.
LTR training is about spiking lactate, recovering, and repeating 2-3 times. Keep your volume for the session around 1-1.5 times race distance (maybe 2x for a high performance athlete). Most rowers/coaches do too much volume and consequently do not go fast enough on this training type. Two examples would be 6x500m with 8 minutes rest, 3 sets of 2x500m with 90 seconds rest and 15 minutes rest between sets. Also, you only need to do this type of workout for about 3-4 weeks starting 6-8 weeks out from your first big race. DO NOT do this while you are in your core race season, you will only self sabotage.
@TravisGardner Thanks Travis. Very much appreciated.
Thank you so much for your reply. I have one follow up question. You mentioned in a different video that frequency is a parameter that can be adjusted in training, and from experience I know I can manage recovering from multiple sessions on many days. If multiple sessions are to be done in one day can they both be loading sessions? Could one of the patterns you discussed in this video be used on a per session basis rather than per day? (Rotate loading and unloading every other session rather than every other day)
Hi Ben, if you're reaching this level then training really should be individualized by a coach that is familiar with your training history and current abilities. There are just too many "if this/then that" situations that come up with the training volume you are inquiring about for me to give accurate answers here. I would say that you should at least unload 2 days out of the week, and I would not advise pairing two non-UT2 loading sessions in a day.
Best case, your days would include one loading session, and one unloading session. For example, I would definitely recommend someone do one 90-100 minute UT2 session and a 20-30 minute recovery session over two 60 minute UT2 sessions.
Hope that helps a bit. Certainly happy to setup a consultation through gtsrowing.com if you want to dive into some personal details.
I’m so new there’s a lot news terms. Hard to understand for complete beginner.
Hey man! Love the videos. I've been doing 2 days on 1 day off (1 hard day and lighter on day 2). You mentioned doing the inverse. What are the benefits of building in intensity over a period of consecutive workout days?
You need to find the pattern that produces the best results for you. More work is not better here. It could also be situation dependent. For example, I was only doing 2-3 hard days a week (4 light) when I set those world records earlier last year. If I'm training base I alternate between day on day off and 2 days on 1-2 days off. If you're unsure what you should do, err on the side of more light days. If you do use two loading days back to back, I find it best to make the second the "harder" of the two.
Very nice video again, Travis. Really like the approach. Question I would have is about listening to your body. Even though I’m 62 and an experienced rower, this is something I still have to learn. What signals should I focus on? If I feel rested in the morning? If I’m motivated to do a new training? If I feel some muscle pain from a previous training? What my morning heart rate is? I do HRV measurements btw but so far they haven’t really been helpful. And the thing with all of them is that there are many other factors influencing the answer. I obviously don’t feel rested if I didn’t sleep enough. And my morning heart rate is higher if the room temperature is, we had two warm weeks over here. So, what signals your body is giving you, should you listen too?
Hi Titus, all great questions. Let me try to hit these in order. 1) Try to think about the signs you feel before previous bad sessions. Use those as indicators for future sessions. Also, think about the less than optimal ways that you have felt before good sessions. That experience can help you appreciate what signs are worthy of your attention and what can be safely ignored. 2) I want to emphasize that you don't have to make this decision before starting. If you get 10' in and you're not loosening up as normal and it feels like it will be a uphill battle to get through, then stop or shift gears into a rest day. 3) If you are motivated then take advantage of it, that doesn't mean go crazy and try to beat all your PRs, just maybe you don't need a rest day that day or you can push just a little (I always say the last 1/3 of a workout is where PBs should happen, the first 2/3 should be about hitting baseline). 4) Muscle pain is tricky and circumstantial, I can't cover all the points here with this reply. Suffice to say I prefer to setup training so you don't have carryover muscle pain from session to session. But if you are just referring to pains that come with age, it is very situation dependent. 5) Morning HR is an awesome tool so you're a step ahead of most by measuring it. If you've been measuring it every day you should have a good idea of your baseline. one thing is be consistent. Personally I measure mine first thing in the morning. I always pee first because a full bladder will raise your HR. Then I go right back to bed and lie down. I have my monitor record for 5 minutes and in that time close my eyes while prone and just try to relax every muscle in my body (and my thoughts). The lowest HR measured in that 5 minutes is my resting heart rate. As you noted, it will drift up and down naturally from day to day. But if it is 1 or 2 standard deviations from the norm then your immune system has probably been activated (and you should not train), or you are fatigued and should do a rest day (or take it off). Also, if you have been measuring it a lot, you should be able to track how temperature, poor sleep, etc. effect it and then account for those things when making decisions based on it later.
Hope that helps. Love the resting heart rate question. I may even make that the subject of my training talk today!
Is a UT2 day considered a training/loading day or a rest/unloading day? In the beginning of the video you said UT2 is a loading day. Then towards the end it sounded like a conversational pace (which is what UT2 hr pace is for me) is an unloading day. Maybe my UT2 pace needs to go up.
Hi Mary, UT2 definitely isn't a conversation pace and it would be a loading day, yes. Executed properly you'll probably want UT2 to be in the 16-18 spm range, about 15-25 lower drag factor than you would race with, and the effort should be hard enough you could say a few sentences but any more would be too disruptive to your breathing to continue.
@@TravisGardner Thank you for your reply. My drag factor stays at 119 for both my UT2 and my all out (2K) row (I don't change the resistance setting on my Concept2. I leave it at 5 which is 119 drag factor on my rower). What changed is my avg watts: 75 for the UT2 and 121 for the all out 2K. Thoughts?
hi Mary, that is definitely quite high. 119 is generally what I'd recommend for the average athlete that pull 1:37/500 for 2000 meters. I'd recommend moving down into the 80s for your UT2 and around 105 for 2000 meters. You should also be able to bring your split down into the the 2:30s for your UT2 with either technical improvement, the proper effort, or both. I talk about the range of splits any athlete should expect in the video linked here, th-cam.com/video/XG0exWwM75U/w-d-xo.html
For the 32min threshold workout, what would that be like. You said to split it up if you want to but how about the splits and rate. How do you figure out your Threshold pace? Thanks
gtsrowing.com/consulting-services.html
LOL@@TravisGardner