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I finished an 8 week rowing workout and followed it with a Fasting Mimicking Diet.
Now my training will be standard barbell and dumbbell work until the end of the year.
5 Nov
Bench Press – 4 x 8 x 50kg
Pull Ups – 4 x 6
Push Press – 4 x 6 x 40kg
BB Row – 4 x 8 x 40kg
EZ Curl – 3 x 8 x 16kg, 1 x 8 x 18.5kgThis was really relaxed as I know I’m going to be very sore whatever I do, so nothing to be gained from making it a week of soreness.
6 Nov
Back Squat – 3 x 6 x 60kg
RDL – 3 x 8 x 60kg
DB Lunge – 3 x 8 x 20kg
Lateral Lunge – 3 x 10 x 10kg (plate)
Single Leg Calf Raise – 3 x 10Again, not using heavy weight, merely getting the movement pattern back and ensuring I’m not so sore I can’t train legs again later in the week. I meant to do a vert test but I forgot. It’s very likely that after just one session back I will jump higher by the end of the week. It will be interesting to compare with the end of the last vert program as I’ve done no jumping since then, only rowing.
25 Oct
Rowing Machine – 3 x 45 on/45 off @ 1:51.7 pace
Thought I’d give it a bit more oomph in this session and this was in the middle of the pace for 7:40 rowers. Over in no time and able to take a few days completely off to prepare now.
28 Oct
Step Test – 3 mins. 15 sec heart beats = 34
Estimated VO2max = 54.21 ml/kg/minAt 69.8kg this puts my predicted 2k row at 7:41, but having seen my friend beat his estimated VO2max by 2 I looked at 56.2 as well, giving me a range of 7:32-7:41 meaning a 500m pace target of 1:53-1:55 which is where I expected to be…
Rowing Machine – 2000m in 7:29.2!!!
Oh lord this hurt. My only change in tactic was 4 hard strokes at the start instead of 2, and treating it as 4 x 500m, finding a rhythm in the first three then going hard. After four hard strokes I was holding 1:50/500m pace and rather than panic I just went with it. I got through 500m relatively well and my 1k time was something like 3:42. Then with what felt like the same effort I saw it slowly tick up to around 1:53, where I was fighting to stop it going to 1:54 and beyond. The last 370m (precise I know) was horrible, I increased my stroke rate to compensate for the reduced power per stroke and held on for the end. With 150m to go I knew I had it but saw the predicted finish time flick between 7:29 and 7:30, and since the former sounds so much better I dug deep to hold 1:53. When I finished I was on the floor for almost 10 minutes and requested a bucket in case I threw up. Really proud of how hard I pushed myself as I know from previous maximal fitness tests that I wuss out when it gets really hard on the lungs.
You can see split times below and I’ll put a video up on my channel of the whole training program review.
24 Oct
Rowing Machine – 3 mins @ 1:54.6/500m pace
Stretches – Middle Back, Lats, Triceps, Biceps, Quads, CalvesUsed this to pretend I was doing a full 2k, thought I would aim for 1:53 but slightly slower felt really natural for my rhythm which is key for a good 2k. Stretching helped afterwards, it’s taking me longer than I thought to feel ready so I’m glad the taper is this long. Have been eating the same so with reduced energy use in the sessions I should put on a bit of weight this week.
22 Oct
Basketball ~30 mins
Rowing Machine – 25 mins @ 2:20.8/500m pacePrior to this I was training my vertical jump and I wanted to have a quick run out and “shoot some hoops” as they say. Rowing was nice, the target was 2:19 to 2:33 so right down the lower end of that. This week looks really chilled, only 3 (!!) minutes of rowing on Wednesday and 2 mins 15 on Thursday. I still warm up properly and that is likely helping keep me loose. Will do some stretches tomorrow.
21 Oct
4 x 2 mins (2.5 mins) DF 130, avg 1:54.6/500m
Short and sweet, felt natural to hold ~1:54 pace. That would be 7:36 for 2k and I’d really like to go faster than that on race day. I don’t want a DNF or to be so tired I start pulling 2:00/500m and above, but I think it’s more dangerous to row entirely within myself and not challenge my mental strength. I can’t dig deep for 1k but I can certainly suffer a final 250-300m meaning I just need to get myself to 1.7k in one piece.
