There are a lot of people who still believe that all ergs should be done by pulling as hard as you possibly can, from start to finish. And, if you don’t fall off vomiting at the end, having beaten your personal best – you haven’t trained properly. More scientific approach to training is to find the level of intensity specified in your training programme. This is normally done by stating the percentage of your maximum Heart rate that the training session should be done at.

Maximum Heart Rate [MHR]
Your Maximum Heart Rate is the highest possible heart rate you can achieve. You may have been told that you can roughly work out your max HR by taking your age away from 220. The problem is, that although this will give a reasonable approximation for people who don’t exercise, Maximum HR declines at a lot slower rate in people who have been exercising regularly for years
In reality, the only real way to find out your true maximum heart rate, is to have it tested properly but, in the meantime, the following will give you a rough idea:
For Fit Women Max HR = 211 – (AGE / 2)
For Fit Men Max HR = 205 – (AGE / 2)

Resting Heart Rate [RHR]
Each morning as you wake up you should take your pulse. Either use a Heart Rate Monitor or alternatively a ten second count, multiplied by six. This should be averaged out over the week to find your resting heart rate.

Calculating Your Zones
Rather than using a straight percentage of your maximum, the best way to calculate your
zones, takes account of your Resting Heart Rate as well as your Maximum Heart rate. The
difference between these two figures is called the Reserve Heart Rate.
Each training zone is a percentage of your Reserve Heart Rate, added to your Resting Heart
Rate. For example:

Rowing Heart Rate Training
You have a Resting Heart Rate of 50 bpm and a Maximum Heart Rate of 195 bpm. Your coach has told you do an ergo at 65% and you want to know what heart rate you should be keeping to.
* your Reserve Heart Rate is 145 bpm (i.e. 195 minus 50)
* 65% of 145 bpm is about 94
* add this figure to your Resting HR (50), giving a figure of 144 bpm

Heart Rate Training Zones
The whole point of using different heart rate zones when training is that each training zone has a different effect on your fitness. It is worthwhile taking the time to understand the benefits of training in each zone. The value of each training zone should not be underestimated and although it may feel strange the first time you do an erg at 65%, resist the temptation to pull harder and just keep at it, it’s on your programme for a reason.

The Energy Efficient or Recovery Zone – 60% to 70%
Much of the benefits from heart rate training involve the body’s energy systems and one of these systems is responsible for the long term supply of energy to your working muscles. Fat is an abundant source of energy for the endurance athlete. Training within this heart rate zone – best accomplished by doing long, slow rows or runs – develops the body’s ability to feed the working muscles more efficiently. The other major advantage to training in this zone is weight loss, because you are almost exclusively burning fat. You will also be allowing your muscles to re-energise with glycogen, which has been expended during those faster paced work-outs. Underestimate this training zone at your peril.

The Aerobic Zone – 70% to 80%
When you train in this Heart Rate zone, you are training your cardiovascular system. Within this range, the body’s ability to transport oxygen to, and carbon dioxide away from, the working muscles can be developed and improved. As you become fitter and stronger from training in this zone you will get the benefits of some fat burning and improved aerobic capacity. 75% training often feels good. This zone is also ideal for developing local muscle strength.

The Anaerobic Zone – 80% to 90%
This is the zone in which an enormous amount of benefit can be gained. Somewhere between 80 and 90%, your individual anaerobic threshold is hiding. Between these heart rates, you use very little fat, instead you start to use glycogen – which is stored in your muscles – as the main source of energy. Unfortunately, one of the by-products of burning this glycogen, is the rower’s worst enemy, Lactic Acid. There is a point at which the working muscles are producing lactic acid at a faster rate than the body can remove it. The heart rate at which it happens, depends on you as an individual, but when you do hit this point – known as Anabolic Threshold it will be accompanied by a rapid rise in heart rate and a slowing of your pace.

Through the correct training it is possible to delay the Anabolic Threshold either:
 By increasing the heart rate at which you reach it.
 By increasing your body’s ability to deal with the lactic acid for a longer period of time.

The fitter you are the nearer you will be racing to your Anabolic Threshold. But beware, pulling a 1:40 split does not mean you are rowing at your Anabolic Threshold if the training you have been under-going is incorrect. Assuming you are fit you will be racing at just below, or right on, your AT (depending on the length of the race). Sometimes elite athletes can hold a pace above their AT but for most mere mortals “going off too hard” will only result in you “blowing up” half way through a race – something most of us have experienced at some stage, and it’s not pleasant.

The Red Line Zone – 90% to 100%
In this zone you will only be able to train for short periods of time. It effectively trains your fast twitch muscle fibres and helps to develop speed. It is worth being aware that to develop this speed you must first have developed your ability to deal with lactic acid. This zone is reserved for racing sprints and only the very fit are able to train effectively within the red line zone.
Remember, training very near your maximum HR can be dangerous.

The main benefit of Heart Rate training is that you train to your own realistic levels. Break
free of the curse of the 500m avg split, as heart rate tells you when slow down as well as
when you should pull harder. Just set the erg to “calories” and keep an eye on the heart rate
monitor instead.