Do you have a split to aim for during workouts? What to do if you don't hit your rowing 500m split and does this matter?

Timestamps

01:00 Psychology of chasing 500m splits on the erg and on the water? Is it beneficial for masters rowing training.

03:45 Before rowing electronics the best way to find out your boat speed was to work on a measured marked distance on your river or lake. Repeating the distance and comparing boat speeds helped to work out your improvements.

Splits are a useful tool

The advent of splits enabled comparability between workouts and also use on the indoor rowing machine. Concept2 erg splits are comparable to heavyweight men 4- times on water.

05:30 Splits as a comparable tool but your split does NOT equal your training zone.

The physiology of how coaches write programs to achieve key athlete outcomes. Training each physiological system helps you improve. As we age our base fitness is generally more sustained (we don't lose it fast).

Our absolute strength declines with age and our ability to rate high and train our anaerobic system can be more challenging.

Doing testing allows you to set up training zones aligned to your physiology. The same training program can't be applied to men and women of different ages e.g. 40 to 65 years old. They cannot do the same workouts - not physically capable.

Know your own training zones so you can adapt the program to suit you. In a club with diverse members, you may find that the program is too hard or too easy for you. You may find recovery is insufficient. These symptoms are caused by a one-size-fits-all training program for masters rowing.

Come to Faster Masters Rowing and use our program where you can interpret the program and adapt it to suit you.

Buy the testing protocols - Faster Five.

https://fastermastersrowing.com/member-register/faster-five/

09:00 Athletic benefits of training to splits

Re-testing yourself regularly allows you to measure progress and then adjust your training zones to match your new physical fitness.

Use tools mindfully.

It's fun to look at a number and to try to beat it - this is motivating.

But moving into an adjacent training zone as a result of beating the number will negatively impact your future performance.

10:30 You can choose to focus on a split that is attuned to your body or not.

The program you are following was written with a goal in mind. You aren't supporting your coaches' goals if you do not follow the program. Following the wrong split is a good example of not doing the program.