Rio's log

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riom
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Rio's log

#1

Post by riom » Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:24 pm

Logging goal:
For now the primary goal of my logging will be to document my continued attempts at figuring out if and how strength training can be used to drive my speed over 2k on the C2. I'm pretty weak so hopefully we'll see some lifting gains along the way.

I have been rowing on the C2 ~2xweek as my conditioning for a few months now, typically one short interval session and one longer session, while lifting MWF and sometimes extra fluff on Saturdays. I'm now switching to a 2xweek lifting schedule and 4xweek conditioning for 4-8 weeks. I'll see where I end up and go from there.

The dream is to crack the bucket-list number and break 6:00 for 2000m this year.

I rowed competitively for seven years, during my last few years of high school and through college. I was a decent boat mover but never very strong on the erg, 2k PB of 6:06.0 in Feb 2015 @90kg. College coach hated lifting: I did not lift at all for my last 2 years of competitive rowing.
Four years later, 10kg heavier and decently stronger, I want to see if my improved capacity over very short distances will translate into 2000m speed without the months and months of base building I typically started a season with.


Training history:
Stopped rowing after college, and did a smattering of lifting over the next couple of years, but when I was training I mainly stuck to the endurance wheelhouse, running and a little bit of swimming.

Ran the Bridge starting September 2018, and also spent some time on BBM's hypertrophy program. Had good results on Montana Method late 2018. I did start hating squats, and so eliminated back squats entirely.

Did Hanley's high-volume, low fatigue stuff for six weeks start of 2019. Bench did great, top end DL strength did not. That said, I'm convinced the high-volume DL (using SGDL and deficit variations) sessions helped drive my progress in short-interval erg work.


Stats:
Male
25yo
~100kg
194cm tall

Best lifts:
Squat 140 - June 2018
Bench 110 - Feb 2019
DL 182.5 - November 2018

Marker workouts on C2:
:30on/1:30off x10 -ave 1:21.0/500m.
17/2/19

500m 1:23.8
26/12/18

1000m -ave 1:29.1/500m
22/12/18

riom
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Re: Rio's log

#2

Post by riom » Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:34 pm

27/2/2019

100m/1:30r x5 @150df
ave 1:18.2/500m
-went okay. Arbitrarily aiming for <40spm in the hopes of staying long. This threw me off on first and third. others were ~1:17

2x~3k pieces @1:45-1:54 prescribed
Did:
3000m, 1ks@1:52, 1:45, 1:52
then
2500, 500s@ 1:54, 1:52, 1:50, 1:48, 1:46

These felt hard. sorta.
tracked HR on second piece, was through the roof (finished ~187bpm@1:45/500m).
RPE was felt high, but I was alos miles from max possible speed over those distances.
I think I'll get better at these paces quite quickly.

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Re: Rio's log

#3

Post by mgil » Wed Feb 27, 2019 2:30 am

Welcome and thanks for logging, @riom!

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EricK
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Re: Rio's log

#4

Post by EricK » Wed Feb 27, 2019 3:07 am

Welcome, and best of luck with your C2 goal!

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Re: Rio's log

#5

Post by iamsmu » Wed Feb 27, 2019 5:29 am

I've been waiting for you to start a log. I was curious about your rowing training. I'm also curious to see if your rowing improves or not as your deadlift goes up.

riom
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Re: Rio's log

#6

Post by riom » Fri Mar 29, 2019 3:07 pm

Okay my bad team.
Shouldn't have started this the day before my partner's family came for a two week visit/I simultaneously started back at university and had to remember how to read and write again.

The effort to go through my spreadsheet and do a thorough catch-up post has since been stopping me from posting, but I guess it's better to start up from scratch than do nothing.

During past month: I've been lifting "twice" a week, but have missed a few sessions.
The two days alternate heavy and volume work for front squats and deadlifts, and I'm doing the mixed intensity bench sessions discussed in the HVLF thread. plus some rows or chins.


This last weekend I did a trail run that I was woefully unprepared for. It was at a wind farm that is not normally open to the public, so my partner and I signed up impulsively for the rugged/coastal/eerie-wind-farm-vibe views. Had a lot of fun, got extremely sore, and might sign up for another run or two in this series.

@iamsmu My rowing training has been a bit all over the place. Have had a little competitive back and forth going on these past few weeks with a former rowing buddy, and this has helped solidify what I think will be some productive workouts. maybe it'll be coherent going forward.

As to the deadlifitng-rowing relationship, I'm convinced that my twice/week high volume SGDL and deficit sessions were a major driver in my improvement at the :20/1:40r or :30/1:30r style workout. However, during the six weeks that I was crushing that approach, I did not see much change at all to my top-end deadlift strength, or to any workout that would serve as a good 2k proxy. The caveat is that I was also practicing shorter high intensity rowing work every week: if DL training improves some "general" capacity useful for rowing, maybe it requires specific practice at the desired pace to have any kind of transfer.

I do also think that with my pull focus I've left my quads under-worked. This has been partly due to keeping my occasional front-squatting at very light weights while my dodgy wrist gets used to the front rack. It's hurting less now, but I still might play around with doing some FS-high bar combos (in the alternating competencies vein) to get some more volume in. One of my 2019 goals was to not talk about squats, and three months of occasional front squatting seems like it covers that pretty well. ...LBBS can still go die alone in a hole though.


Going forward my week will look something like this:

Wed: 500m/1:00r. I'll start with 2x(3x500m) at a ~1:35ish. The aim is to progress this to ~8 500s at 90% of target power (1:33.2). I'll be starting more like 1:35+

Thurs: Lift

Fri: repeats 2.5-4k in mid to low 1:50s for ~8k volume

Sat: optional fluff lift and LISS. I'll either spin or go do some running for the LISS. Spinning is probably more applicable for improving rowing performance, but if I'm going to race another one or two of this trail run series I should probably do enough so they don't cripple me each time. And getting larger aerobic capacity will still help, even if I do that running.

Sun: some kind of work at 110% target power (1:27.2) I originally discussed with my friend doing 300-350m intervals for 1.5-2k, but recently I've wondered about doing just two slightly longer pieces, say 600m+, 2-3min rest, ~400m, at 1:27, followed by a ~25min spin down or similar. I think I'll try the second option tomorrow.

Mon: Lift

Tues: Off

riom
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Re: Rio's log

#7

Post by riom » Mon Apr 01, 2019 1:40 am

30/3/19
Saturday

Did some OH squat fuck-around. ~5x~5 with 45kg. My shoulders seem to enjoy this.
Then alternating incline/dips, 6 total sets (3 of each)
Incline 5s @ 70
Dips 7s @ BW

20min spin
Going forward I'll try to make this LISS work after lift 2.5 a "longer" run, starting ~7km and work up towards 10 or 12km. I imagine there'll be a fairly hard limit to what feels comfy at current bodyweight


31/3/19
Sunday

Rower:
600m, 3min rest, 300m.
1:27.1, 1:26.6. --->1:27.0 average

20min spin

Aim here was to spend some time at 110% of 1:30-level wattage (1:27.2)
Instead of doing a full workout of 300s or 350s at 1:27, I decided to do just a couple pieces and get some more aerobic work in. I liked this a lot: got to spend some time in pain, roughly at pace, without being as fatiguing as a full interval workout, and still could get productive aerobic volume afterwards. Will aim for 30min spin next week.

I think I should be able to push this up towards 800m, 400m over a month or so, without making it a super taxing workout.

Did this workout in my new reebok nanos, 10/10 very comfy.

1/4/19
Monday

Deadlift:
3@75% (140)
2@80% (150)
2x2,3x1@85% (160)
Pulled these in nanos. Not as slim soled as my old minimus trainers, and yes there's a small drop (i think 4mm.) But it felt great to pull in a stiff, supportive shoe. Fuck flats, never going back.

FS/High-bar combo
6 sets @ 80kg
2 reps FS, 4 reps high-bar

Incline/dips, 7 total reps
Incline: 7s@62.5
Dips: 8s@BW

Rows:
4x8@70

Curls


Am breaking my 2019 goal of "don't talk about squats." I've done 3mo of no back squatting and minimal light FS so I'll count that as goal met.
I enjoyed the mixed squat work today: I'm trash at squats clearly and FS still quite uncomfortable on the wrists, but my 5th and 6th sets felt technically the cleanest which was promising.
What I have been slowly realising is that my quads are super weak. My FS work of late has been very light mainly due to difficulty holding front rack, but it turns out that it wouldn't shoot up even if my wrists were happy. 80kg feels very light to pick up, but after 6 sets of try to focus on keeping knees forward out of the bottom my legs were struggling a little.
Did make some technical progression though.

Further on the weak quads story has been some difficulty keeping rate high on the erg when fatigued. I kinda I'll need to be 36+ as my lowest base rating to get the most out of a 2k test now, but find myself slipping easily down to 33-34 if I'm not working very hard to keep it up.
I suspect that weak quads play a role in this, as there's a decent change-of-direction requirement to come in and out of the front end at speed. Especially given that I'm now +10kg from when I did my lifetime 2k PB at a 37-38 rating.
PB was also at 120 (or 125, don't recall) drag, so that might be a factor, as I'm now using RowingNZ standard of 130.

Might do something crazy and try eccentric overloads on leg press on Thursday, just to see how that goes. If it's not miserable I might try it for two weeks or so.
...might even try out some snatch balances on Saturdays as part of my OH squat fuck-around.

riom
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Re: Rio's log

#8

Post by riom » Wed Apr 03, 2019 2:15 am

3/4/19
Wednesday

(500m/1:00r x3) x2
3min rest, but I took some of the 1:00r going in to the rest, so it was closer to 4min between the sets of 3

Set 1:
1:34.8, 32spm
1:34.9, 32
1:34.9, 33
1:34.9, 32

Set2:
1:34.5, 33spm
1:34.9, 33
1:34.8, 34
1:33.9, 33


The rate will need to come up a bit as I work to bring the split down. Last piece (1:33.9, 33spm) felt halfway to a long power stroke session.

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Re: Rio's log

#9

Post by riom » Wed Apr 03, 2019 8:30 pm

4/4/19
Thursday

FS
3 @85
2 @90
2x1 @95
3x4 @80

wrists still complaining during warmups, but fine afterwards. Will start bumping up this light ass weight and see if they stay happy.


Leg Press
7 plates loaded
single leg eccentrics,
3x5 each side.

easy first time playing with eccentric overloads, bump volume and load fairly aggressively next time. Did sets in alternating fashion, will try one side at a time next week.


Bench/press
combined for time.
5s @80/3s @5
10 sets total (5 each)


Deficit DL
5x5 @125

*Do 6 sets next time, same weight


Chins
36 reps in 6min

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Re: Rio's log

#10

Post by riom » Thu Apr 04, 2019 10:43 pm

5/4/19
Friday

Low rate variety 5k:
1:51.5, 22spm

1k splits, rate:
1:54.0, 22
1:55.9, 20
1:52.0, 22
1:46.0, 24
1:50.9, 22

Then,
20min easy spin

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Re: Rio's log

#11

Post by riom » Sat Apr 06, 2019 12:58 pm

6/4/19
Saturday

45min run. Walked a couple moments, and did some harder bursts, but mostly just a steady run.

OH squat fuck-around. Tried some snatch balances, super sketchy without bumpers. It's hard while I'm doing it, but the day after my shoulders seem pretty happy to have done some uncomfortable overhead work.
also did a handful of BW dips.

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Re: Rio's log

#12

Post by riom » Sat Apr 06, 2019 11:08 pm

7/4/19
Sunday

Work at 110% of target power: (1:27.2)
700m, 3:00r, 350m
1:27.0, 35spm

700m:
1:27.0, 35
300m:
1:26.8: 36


Was slow to get on with some volume after these pieces; messed around on erg for 10min, basically just cooling down.
Then 10min spin @ ~140bpm,
Then 2000m row, with splits of: 1:55@20, 1:53@22, 1:49@24, 1:49@20.
Didn't get pic of exact splits but they were all within a tenth of these^

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Re: Rio's log

#13

Post by riom » Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:53 pm

8/4/19
Monday

DL
2x2, 4x1 @85%

FS/high-bar combo
2 reps, 4 reps
6 sets @85kg

Incline/dips
7s@65kg/8s@BW
8 total sets

Rows, just a whole bunch on janky bench row setup.
~65-70kg



10/4/19
Wednesday

4x500m/1:00r, 3:30r, 2x500m/1:00
1:34.4, 35spm This pace is 86.6% power output

1:34.7, 35
1:34.7, 34
1:34.6, 35
1:34.7, 34
3:30r
1:34.6, 36
1:33.3, 35

This felt really hard, but the god-tier sniper grouping say otherwise.
Still a loong way from doing anything like 2x(4x500) @90%.

11/4/19
Thursday
skipped this because I'm an idiot and had procrastinated horribly and was grinding an assignment.

12/4/19
Friday
Made it to gym. Just squatted: did a bunch of 4s and 5s with 100kg (and some curls).

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Re: Rio's log

#14

Post by riom » Tue Apr 16, 2019 9:33 pm

13/4/19
Saturday

8km jog with partner,
51min

OH squat, 5 sets of ~5 from 40-50kg
BW dips, 4x ~6-10 reps



14/4/19
Sunday

Erg:
725m, 3:00r, 350m
1:27.1, 37bpm
1:27.1, 38
1:27.0, 37



15/4/19
Monday

Skipped workout as working on a godawful essay.



16/4/19
Tuesday

Did Monday's lift instead of taking off.
DL
4x4@75% (142.5kg)
Stuck to 2min rest.

FS/high bar combo
2 reps/4 reps
5 sets with 87.5kg

Incline/dips
70kgx5/BWx8
On every 2min, 8sets (4 each)

Bench row 3x8
30kg dumbbells as bars all in use

Leg press
3x5 single leg eccentric over, 160kg added

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Re: Rio's log

#15

Post by riom » Tue Apr 16, 2019 9:57 pm

17/4/19
Wednesday

Started workout of 500s@85+%
Did 3x 500m/1:00r, 1:34.9 33spm

Was feeling pretty shit, rating tough to keep up and pace varying a lot stroke to stroke. Stopped and got on spin bike for 15min.
Erg is on a slight slope, so I came back and propped up the back end an inch to see if that would help the rating

Did another 2x500m/1:00r, 1:34.2 35spm

Increased rate may have just been due to going faster on these two.

I think that taking clean, long strokes at 35+ is pretty tough at these percentages unless I'm quite fatigued. And if I'm getting that fatigued the session rpe is likely getting too high.
I may try next week alternating 500s @90% and rate-capped power 500s in the 80-84% range. Will probably go with 1:30r
Another option is to shorten work to 1:00, or 300-350m perhaps, to enable speeds closer to 90%

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Re: Rio's log

#16

Post by riom » Wed Apr 17, 2019 9:37 pm

18/4/19
Thursday

FS
Single @90 - 100kg
3x5 paused @70 - 77.5
Pauses halfway down


Bench
Mixed intensity HVLF session:
70, 80, 90, 80, 70% (82.5, 92.5, and 105kg)
5, 3, 2x1, 3, 3x5


Deficit DL + chins
5x5 @65 - 127.5kg
3min rest for DLs,
strict ctb chins during rest: 7,6,6,5

riom
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Re: Rio's log

#17

Post by riom » Fri Apr 19, 2019 7:32 pm

19/4/19
Friday
No erging today; spent 3 or 4 hours smashing concrete at my parents, sledgehammer and kangahammer both very tough on the hands. Back tired and sore doing this the day after deficit dead's


20/4/19
Saturday
Rowed 5k.
Not erging, in a pair with younger brother. Body was feeling pretty beat up. Had some smooth, balanced strokes, but weren't actually moving very quickly for effort put in. Best builder ~1:40 @27 lol...
Whole experience was quite uncomfortable, tough on back, hips, hamstrings, so called it early. My hands are fairly well destroyed after yesterday plus this.

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