Rowing wise man Allen Rosenberg chimed in the other day when asked by someone how to improve an erg score. These steps were taken from that discussion. Although not length, their might be insight in here for you.
1) Get into the mood: have no hesitancy or recriminations about working the erg. Shed the workaday stuff during the time well before the sitting down.
2) Fuel up: don’t skip breakfast on the days you workout
3) Fuel up again: snack 3-4 hours before work time with nuts, fruits whole grains and above all strong tea about 30 minutes before.
4) Use high-test fuel: make sure your diet is rich in carbohydrates and proteins which, when combined, will release glucose and tyrosine for energy.
5) Stress free: pay attention to being stress-free immediately before the work by checking heart rate and staying close to normal resting.
6) Control your surroundings: make your surrounding clean, pleasant smelling and not too cool or too warm, and make use of moving air using a fan for circulation, make use of pleasant sights and sounds with audio and/ or video tapes.
7) Be special: treat yourself as someone special. Wear fresh, clean workout gear.
8) Get wet: hydrate all day well before the workout. Hydrate after the cool down.
9) Plan: thoroughly plan workout well ahead so that you can (and will subliminally think through the workout )
Allen Rosenberg is one of the best known rowing coaches in the world. I hope that he will continue to share his wisdom here. To read more about Allen click here.
Care to share your suggestions about improving an erg score . . . please use the comment box below.