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Planning and controlling your rowing
The basis for planning your course of exercise should be your actual state
of fitness. Your family doctor can put you through an endurance test to
determine your physical performance. The results of the test should be
used to plan your exercise programme. If you do not go through an en-
durance test, you should avoid excessive exercising stresses at all costs.
The following principle should be follow in your planning; endurance
training can be controlled as much by the extent of effort as by the level
of effort and the intensity.
Exercise intensity
The effort intensity when rowing can be determined by checking the pulse.
The intensity of the rowing exercises can be varied on the one hand by
altering the number of strokes per minute, and on the other by altering
the resistance of the tension device. The intensity increases both when the
stroke rate is increased, and when the resistance in the tension device is
increased.
Beginners should therefore avoid exercising at high stroke rates or at
high resistance levels. The optimum stroke rate and level of resistance
should be determined using the recommended pulse rate (see Pulse dia-
gram), which should be
checked three times during each session. Before
starting, check the resting
pulse, about 10 minutes into the session check
the effort pulse (which should be in the region of the recommended level),
and after finishing exercising, check the recovery pulse.
Regular exercising will soon show a reduction in both the rest and the
effort pulse rates. This can be taken as a sign for the positive effects of
the endurance training. The heart is beating more slowly and more time
is available for the heart to take in blood and for the blood to circulate
through the heart’s own muscles.
Extent of exercise
By extent of exercise, we refer to the length of the exercise sessions and
their frequency per week. Experts consider the following extent of exerci-
se to be especially effective:
Sessions per week Length of session
Daily 10 minutes
two or three times a week 20 -30 minutes
once or twice a week 30 -60 minutes
(65% of max. pulse)
(75% of max. pulse)
Exercise sessions of 20 -30minutes/30 -60 minutes are not suitable for
the beginner. The beginner should increase his/her extent of exercising
only gradually, with the first blocks being kept relatively short. Block exer -
cising can be looked upon as a good variation at the beginning.
A typical beginner’s programme for the first 4 weeks could be something
like the following:
1st/2nd week Length of exercise blocks
Sessions per week three 3 minutes rowing
1 minute break
3 minutes rowing
1 minute break
3 minutes rowing
3rd/4th week Length of exercise blocks
Sessions per week four 5 minutes rowing
1 minute break
5 minutes rowing
Following these 4 weeks of beginner’s exercising, the blocks can be ex-
tended to 10 minutes of continuous rowing without a break. If 3 weekly
sessions of 20 - 30 minutes are preferred (at later stages), a free day
should be planned between each two days with exercise.
Accompanying gymnastic exercises
Gymnastik exercises are an ideal complement to rowing. Always do war-
ming-up exercises before starting rowing. Activate the circulation with a
few minutes of easy rowing (10 -15 strokes per minute). Stretching
exerci-
ses should then be carried out before the real rowing exercise is started.
Easy rowing should also be done at the end of the session, with further
stretching exercises during the cooling-down period.
