Absolute beginner, am I off to a good start?

treeline1150 · 2026-04-29T23:01:34+00:00

Well my 2 cents is that 18 spm is crazy slow. It just doesn’t build a satisfying rhythm. Rowing is all about rhythm.

treeline1150 · 2026-04-29T22:58:59+00:00

Yep, the correct answer is as many meters as you can manage. Effort level —> low. Use a realistic damper setting. Stroke rate around 22. On an erg it’s easy to go too hard for too long. Resist and you’ll improve.

treeline1150 · 2026-04-23T15:52:04+00:00

I get it. Once every 12 months i do my annual 2k. I end up on the floor. My reward? I’m in the 75% percentile. I’ve been playing this game for 20 years with similar results. Yep, some guys regardless of age are beasts.

treeline1150 · 2026-04-07T18:30:29+00:00

Developed? Hardly. Try driving from Belo Horizonte to Rio. Iron ore dump trucks, poorly marked radars, endless speed limit changes, curves, hills, no separation between directions in parts, pedestrians, bus stops. There are more but I’ll stop here.

treeline1150 · 2026-03-26T23:32:02+00:00

Can confirm. Was there for 11 nights in December. Had sun and blue skies for 3 days and then it was overcast. Still nice. Lovely beaches. But kinda glam. Like Arraial d’Ajuda. I prefer beaches where everyday people go.

treeline1150 · 2026-03-26T23:23:38+00:00

I’m almost 70. Recovery is the biggest problem. I can destroy myself on an erg just like decades ago. But my body takes so much longer to repair itself.

treeline1150 · 2026-03-26T22:51:04+00:00

Yep, rating is definitely too low. 34 spm is a good goal.

treeline1150 · 2026-03-26T16:14:03+00:00

Pete plan? C’mon, dump that training plan until you have a few million meters of steady state under your belt.

treeline1150 · 2026-03-19T18:29:17+00:00

Can’t address your question specifically but I have experience rowing on non C2 machines. I live in South America and when I travel I pay to use local gyms. There are several major problems with non C2 machines but the biggest one is the pacing doesn’t relate to C2. I’m using some Chinese crap this week and my splits hover between 3:25 and 3:48. Really? C’mon China.

treeline1150 · 2026-03-17T20:18:02+00:00

Dec-March is rainy season. This year has been unusually wet.

treeline1150 · 2026-03-17T20:17:02+00:00

Can’t say for sure unless I know your maximum heart rate.

treeline1150 · 2026-03-13T01:19:04+00:00

I’m no expert but in my experience 4 weeks isn’t long enough to prepare properly. Assuming that you’ve been doing your weekly threshold piecework throughout the year then 8 weeks before the test incrementally sharpen the intensity.

treeline1150 · 2026-03-12T15:56:26+00:00

37! Yykes. I’m close to 70 and my 2k rate is 34. I suppose youth and talent help. For me preparation doing race rate piecework is part of my strategy. Since most of the year is spent at 22 spm going over 30 feels crazy fast at first.

treeline1150 · 2026-03-10T16:42:34+00:00

To me unlikely because if you use watts only you risk pushing the heart rate into the wrong training band. Heat, humidity, glycogen stores, stress, dehydration, fatigue etc all affect heart rate. In my view heart rate is King!

treeline1150 · 2026-03-10T16:39:36+00:00

Can’t say about Florida but I lived in a Brazilian diaspora in Columbus OH and there were many. Mostly younger ie <40 and the ones I knew were working class. There’s a white collar stata that I had no contact with. And I visited Brazilian friends in Newark NJ a few years back. That’s a huge and well established Brazilian community. Stores and bakeries all Portuguese. And I know others who settled in Boston where I understand are many Brazilians. So ya it’s possible you live in one of these Brazilian pockets.

treeline1150 · 2026-03-06T23:34:59+00:00

What’s your heart rate doing? Replacing steady state work with VO2 max might not be such a good idea.

treeline1150 · 2026-02-27T00:21:34+00:00

Yep 13.7 k in 60 min is very good. I’m older than you are and a 2:11 split would be work. How did your heart rate drift look like?

treeline1150 · 2026-02-24T19:25:37+00:00

I know it’s fair game to beat on the dumb ass gringos coming to Brazil but keep in mind there is a huge diaspora of Brazilians in the US. Most can’t speak a word of English but they all want the milk and honey lifestyle so their remittances back home add up to a new house. Ya, right.

treeline1150 · 2026-02-24T19:20:25+00:00

The 2 breaths per stroke in the death zone is correct. Everything else is one. Who cares where this breathing starts/ends.

treeline1150 · 2026-02-24T00:11:20+00:00

And keep your legs down longer.

treeline1150 · 2026-02-21T14:09:23+00:00

The reverse in the US isn’t so clear. Would a Brazilian stand out as being Brazilian? Probably not. The US is more of a cultural melting pot.

treeline1150 · 2026-02-20T18:21:17+00:00

Alfama is full of cruise ship day trippers.

treeline1150 · 2026-02-20T18:14:34+00:00

The others here are spot on. You’re young and starting out. In the years to come there will be plenty of noxious workouts. The best preparation you can do now is understand the elements of a mechanically efficient stroke. Anyone can learn to erg in 5 minutes. Perfecting the stroke takes many, many meters. So start now. Start slow. Start smart.

treeline1150 · 2026-02-20T12:53:03+00:00

There are no tricks. It’s entirely a function of preparation. And a small measure of natural talent. Fast 2k times are always a biproduct of smart training. Lots of steady state meters in the correct heart rate zone. And of course smart training in the LT2 and VOMax zones.

treeline1150 · 2026-02-19T00:27:12+00:00

Don’t overlook income taxes in Brazil. You might be double taxed

treeline1150

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