Ergometer rowing problems?

Question

I am a high school rower who just finished novice season. Our coach let us take the ergs home over the summer to practice on them.

However, I am having enormous trouble staying focused. When we erged as a team, I could pull for 30 minutes straight, with no problem. Now, I have trouble making it through 5 minutes before I am out of breath, unfocused, distracted, and my split jumps too high. I don't think its a problem with my fitness, because I have been running, biking, swimming, etc. all summer long.

What is happening, and how do I remedy it?

Answer 1

Hi, I am also a high school rower and sometimes have the same problem when erging at home.

It is definitely a question of motivation and focus - without supervision and crew mates to compete against it is very easy to become distracted.

My advice:

- If you don't already, definitely listen to music during your workouts.

- Buy a notebook and create a training plan, then stick to it.

- Find a goal, this may be to do well in a certain competition or to make it into your team's 1st/2nd boat. Focus on this goal when you start to lose concentration and it should help.

- Complete your workouts, if you start a piece, but after a point feel as if you can't continue, simply adjust your pace - just don't get off or stop. This will become habit and over time erging at home will seem easier and your scores will improve.

Good Luck!