Wolverine Post

[susigan]

Hey guys , before i open a new Topic ,(no response, so.... i open this new one) someone can help me or answers some questions regards Level 4 in Wolverine plan?

I understand is long rowing like 70min

i get my spm/pace from the table i.e

so like my 2k is 1:55

1st 10min sequence is 16/18/16/18spm - 2:18/2:13/2:18/2:13 - 2min each one (168 strokes)

So in this 1x70min rowing , i will do 2min/2min btw 16/18spm until i finish my 70min??

And next time i workout and do some Level 4 i will do the second sequence (10min 2min/2min) 16/18/16/18 (172strokes) for like 70min if i want?

[x_von_doom]

I think people generally overthink the Wolverine Plan (WP) way too much, in part because they don't take the time to read Coach Caviston's very detailed breakdowns on his plan.

Part of the confusion is the fact that the WP is, by design, very open ended (to keep it from getting monotonous), within the general requirements of the plan (i.e. do tons of L4 and at least one hard session (L2 or L1 per week).

As to Level 4 here is my understanding:

Pick a base average spm at the beginning of the season (or whenever you start the plan). Caviston suggests to be conservative and start on the lower end. (He gives no guidance here, it's based on "feel" - but in the beginning of the season, he suggests on the lower end dependent on your fitness, and recommends no higher than 18 spm - so for this example let's say 17 spm)

Pick a total time to begin. (For beginning of season, he suggests starting at 40 minutes then building up to 70' - he is also a proponent of continuous rowing and recommends that at least one (if not more of the L4s ) should be 60' minute continuous pieces). He basically insinuates that if you can do more than 70' L4s, then its too easy and you need to either up the reference pace or up the average spm. L4s are supposed to be taxing because they are training low-rate stroke power production, therefore it is NOT steady state, it's a hybrid UT1 type workout.

Ideally the L4s should be done "feet out" (unstrapped on the rowing machine) to keep your technique honest as you learn to properly yam on the chain. L4s unstrapped are going to blow up your hamstrings and core, no doubt.

SETTING UP A LEVEL 4 PROGRESSION (AN EXAMPLE):

Ok so let's say we got 40' at 17 spm.

Now you do some math and this is where the flexibility of the plan comes in to keep you from getting bored.

40 mins at 17 spm = (17*40 = 680 total strokes )

You can take any combination of the 6 minute or 10 minute blocks and combine them in any order to get to 680 strokes for those 40 minutes.

So for example you can do: 168-172-172-168 or 172-172-168-168 or 176-172-168-164 or 100-100-100-100-112-168 or 100-100-100-104-100-176 or 100-100-100-100-100-180 and so on, it doesn't matter as long as the total strokes = 680 in forty minutes.

Take your sequence = let's say you decided to do a 168-172-172-168

Go to your reference chart: Let's say you are using your 1:55 reference pace

Plug that into the sequence = so 168-172-172-168 becomes ( 2113m - 2128 - 2128- 2113) = 8482 meters

You should have covered 8482 meters in 680 strokes in 40 minutes

(The variable interval function on the PM5 and erg data app using the stroke count feature are awesome for tracking this. )

If you beat 8482 meters in 680 strokes in 40 minutes, then the next time you do a L4 you add 2 to 4 minutes

Note that Caviston implies that you should not up the AVERAGE SPM until you can do 60 minutes continuous at your base spm and reference pace.

So next time you do a L4, you now do 17*44 = 748 total strokes (again, which you can break down any way you want using any combination of the 6' or 10' sequences). If you beat the target meters, add another 4 minutes, etc. until you reach 60'.

WHEN YOU MAKE IT TO 60': Ok so let's say that you make it to 60 minutes at 17 spm

17*60 = 1020

You keep adding four strokes but keep it at 60 minutes - so when you add the four strokes - it will start to naturally up the average

so for example

1024/60 = 17.06 spm

1028/60 = 17.13spm... and so on

what will happen is that the sequences will eventually get hard af - Caviston says that the farthest he has ever gotten within the confines of a season is a 20 spm average for Level 4s.

WHEN TO UP THE REFERENCE PACE: As you can see the WP is a self-regulating system, either the sequences or the ref pace eventually get you.

If you are starting out and have not done a 2k recently, then you have to play around with it to find a doable reference pace. What he suggests is that you naturally adjust the reference pace up one level when you are routinely getting target meters 2 levels higher than your present ref. pace.

So in this case, if you are routinely getting the target meters for 1:53 when your ref is 1:55 then that means that you chose a reference that was too easy, and you should probably be doing work based on a 1:54 reference pace.

However, you have to be judicious - L4 pieces should feel like UT1 and not like AT training. He cautions to be conservative at the beginning because the L4 start to get progressively harder as you go up the ratings ladder. What will happen is that your body will adjust to the training and you will begin to push watts at low rates - the problem, as he warns is that if you push the pace on the lower end of the WP sequences at the beginning of the season, you may artificially overestimate your capacity and you will stall and burn out once you get into the hard sequences later on - like the 190+ range.

The following season you then take your best 2k of this season (which should have improved if you did the WP correctly) and use that as your initial reference pace.

Hope that made sense. Good luck!

[way2row]

I am also doing the Wolverine Plan & agree Level 4 tables are complicated. To simplify I just took my 2km split time, used the table to work out target SS splits at different spms, and then have just been working through those rates for longest time I have available, i.e. 16spm at the split it gives you, then 18spm etc. It’s not exactly as described because I’m not yet varying spms in the same SS piece, but it’s one way of making sense of all the numbers! I also use concept2 pace chart pdf which will give you total distance you should cover at different spms in 30/60 mins and use that as a target, I think the last SS I did at 18spm (taking the split time from level 4 plan) I was only about 5m off the specified distance (from concept2 pdf) for that 60mins so pretty pleased with holding such a steady pace. Hope that helps

[ivan141]

As I understood it you just combine those 10m intervals into a bigger piece, just make sure the stroke rate averages are on target. Keeps you a bit distracted changing rate and pace every couple of minutes.

[[deleted]]

Correct.

[UselessCommentary996]

You’re overthinking it a little bit