As I read literature from the past decades, from different
countries about rowing, everyone seems to be looking for some kind of answer or
secret way to be fast. The funny part is that credible people who obviously
have been successful as rowers or coaches post the simple answer in between
forum posts or small comments. I’m not going to dwell any longer because the
main answer is steady states. We all know how training goes and that steady
states aren’t the only sessions you will have during the week but they are the
most important. I’m going to give some history about this training and how it
is used in different places on top of the positive and negative consequences.
I know being credible in articles means having other
articles or literature backing you up but I don’t have that; I only have the
stories from all the rowers I have grown up next to who were on the world
rowing stage during the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. A lot of western countries always
blame the eastern countries’ success in sports on doping and other techniques
that I won’t speak about which is in part true, BUT they were also very good at
getting their training right. Having to prove something to the left side of the
iron curtain, they spent a lot of money and time finding what the right ways to
train for the best performance outcomes. I’m not going to lie, to do the amount
of training they did also probably required a little help. E. MUND, who took up
the French national team rowing coach position in the 90’s brought a whole new
vibe to the hexagon’s long lineage of rowers after leaving East Germany right
before the wall came down. Besides his bag, he brought intensity and steady
states with him to an “alright” team. If you look at France's history you’ll see that from 1968 to 1992 they did not get one medal on the Olympic
stage but as soon as he took over, they then achieved 7 medals within the next
two Games. One of his rowers in the lightweight men’s four from the Sydney
games, Yves HOCDE , has told me about the long
steady states they used to do which is most of the workouts published by the
federation for all the programs, called B1 {2-3x30’ @18 sr} and B2 {2-3x20’ @20
sr} and how they had to apply almost race-like pressure during them so that by
the time they actually did race pieces they would have the power and the rate
would really be the only thing that they had to work on. Other like Casey BAKER , who had to train by himself in Florida while everyone up north had each other
to race or train with all year, just logged in large amounts of meters and then
show up a month before racing to test out the waters and was at the top level
with guys like Brad Lewis. My mom, Monique COUPAT , who has always emphasized the long rows to build a strong base and it showed
by being at the top of the women’s squad. Or even Xeno MULLER who has kindly posted on every social network how amazingly important those
workouts are for top-notch success such as Olympic medals.
Like I said before, in France, every club pretty much
follows the same program set out by the federation since everyone goes to the
same regattas. Much of my training was those previously stated B1 and B2 so
when it came time to move to Florida, steady states didn’t appear as common; at
least on the junior level. It really seemed to be all about testing rather than
building, and when it came down to it, university rowing is all about it. Now
it depends on the teams too, but these long workouts can be accomplished on the
ergo like on the water, and you definitely need to trust the rowers around you
when it comes to water training because who knows if they are actually getting
the work in. Every country has different ideas about it, some spend more time
on the water, some on the ergo, and some just don’t do enough of it which is
apparent when it comes down to the last regatta. There is always a debate on
how steady states should be done though which I enjoy reading because it
wouldn’t be as fun and interesting if everyone knew everything. I try to read
these posts with an open mind so that I can take in what might be new to me,
but as I read, I see a bunch of people talking about this and that while
successful rowers/coaches who don’t even have to put their “secrets” out there
are just laying it down for everyone to see, and still get confronted. I don’t
know if some people can’t read and comprehend but whatever. So most countries
have a plan that everyone respects and understands, but on the other hand you
have the U.S. who apparently has a million different ways to win and perform.
Lets be real now, for every endurance sport like cycling and rowing, it’s the
same damn idea and it is written in red all over the internet so just stop
trying to get out of +60’ workout because you don’t feel like putting in the
time to be good!
The last point of this post is the consequences. I’d rate
this training 90% good and 10% bad, and the only reason I’m saying that is
because of how people use it. Most rowers will do their steady states with the
help of a heart rate monitor because it will be accurate no matter how you are
feeling. Doing these workouts allows you to build that foundation work so that
by the time harder workouts come around, you won’t be behind. There is a reason
for this on a molecular level that I won’t go too into depth with. Simply, the
motor neurons who transport the signals to activate muscle fibers have myelin
sheath surrounding them, and the amount of right work you do will make that
“blanket” thicker transporting the signals faster. Also more mitochondria
(power cell) are being produced helping energy production faster and better.
It’s hard to explain without going deeper but I hope you can understand. You
almost have to understand that sometimes doing a little less than what feels
like working is actually better. This very good article explains how steady states are good until you start going into the no-man’s
land that is created between SS and vigorous workouts. It’s really easy to get
caught in a little competition with your teammates and pushing harder than
usual which will end up tiring you more and back firing on a longer run most
likely creating a plateau.
In the end, it’s plain and simple, follow what your coaches
tell you to do and respect the splits and heart rates because it’s prescribed
for a reason. No one wants to regress especially at university level when we
only have 4 years. Steady states are where it’s at so get a ton in and I assure
you it will take you beyond what you have done. It’s nothing special and it
works for every endurance sport if you are training on the side or moving on to
something different; except cycling, who knows how long that will last! ;)
