A little over a year ago, I invited Marnie McBean, Dr. Thomas Lange, and Rob Waddell, to Newport Beach for a rowing seminar. During the 2 ½ days we spent together sharing information, I scheduled an evening to talk about training methods. Thomas kicked off by talking about the importance of aerobic training, weight lifting and the biological changes that occur in athletes’ bodies when their fitness increases. I continued with practical applications of lactate testing and how the results were used to steer future training on individual levels. Marnie spoke about the “PacMan” theory. She explained how the larger aerobic capacity behaves like a PacMan eating away at the lactic acid during a 2000 meter rowing sprint thus allowing the athlete to push harder longer. Finally Rob came forward and prefaced his speech by saying that the physiological points had been extremely well covered and completed the lecture with the importance of mental training and visualization. Rob and I compared our year Sydney Olympic 4mmol power. He pushed 428 Watts whereas I managed 408 Watts, no wonder he pulled a sub 5:40 2K on the ergo. After meeting with these great rowing champions I reflected on the importance of using and checking lactate levels on endurance athletes whether they are club level or Olympians. I wondered how available information was on the Internet about testing protocols and lactate level results and interpretation. Ironically I found more information on how to train racehorses, but for human athletes, I found very little. Here in the United States, I notice how hard different junior and collegiate rowing programs train without compensating with longer aerobic steady state. The website of the US Rowing federation does not mention lactate testing. As an active person in rowing, I am puzzled why there are not more U.S. coaches using lactate testing to improve their team performance. From a U.S. national team point of view, why bother dealing with lactate accuracy, when the team disposes of a horde of rowers below 5:55 for 2k. But in my opinion, accurate lactate testing would enable athletes such as Jamie Schroeder, a consistent 5: 45ish/2K to break through 5:40 and potentially set a new world record on either the Rowperfect or the C2 indoor rower.
As I mentioned above, the determination of individual aerobic target heart rate through lactate testing is very beneficial for juniors as well as master rowers. Not only does the rower become more capable in burning oxygen, but also it is healthier. My father in law (a.k.a. F.I.L.) is a perfect example. He took up training at the Iron Oarsman, our indoor rowing facility. He would row 6 kilometers and feel done and tired after it. I lactate tested him and found out that he was pulling too hard and was unknowingly bathing in lactic acid. Now we established his target heart rate and his aerobic capacity has increased and he routinely rows 10 kilometers or more four to five times per week. In the case of younger rowers of ages 13 and up, I discovered that they consistently row between 4 and 6 mmol of lactic acid. I routinely advise them to pull less hard approximately 15 heartbeats per minute slower. They are usually dumbfounded, because they feel more capable to pulling longer and farther. As soon as the volume of training is increased and the aerobic engine grows stronger, workouts will become physically more taxing.
I highly recommend reading the book ROWING FASTER by Dr. Volker Nolte. The book is a compilation of chapters written by international caliber coaches. Marty Aitken my former coach and a man from down under wrote the chapter on building the aerobic capacity. The device that I use to test lactate levels is called LACTATE PRO.
All the best,
XENO
Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.
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