New Toy

As mentioned in yesterday’s post, We had just won an eBay auction for a new rowing machine.

This machine is the ‘industry standard’ machine as used in many gyms and the same as the machines that Sue used to use during her gym-bunny days.

I had arranged with the seller to collect it this morning so a short drive to Sutton Coldfield was on the books.

The previous owner was ready with the machine broken down into two which made loading it into the car a doddle.

We had to reign in our enthusiasm as I’d arranged to pop in our some old friends (in all senses of the word) whose house we would be passing on the way home.

After coffees and chat, we tore ourselves away and whizzed home to get the rower out of the car and into the cinema / gym.

This machine is a bit longer than our other rower as can be seen from how short the mat now is !

I let Sue have the honour of first row.

Sue noticed that the feel was different and the pull a lot harder. Her first warm up was significantly slower than previous efforts which she put down to fatigue and unfamiliarity with our new toy.

My turn.

From the initial pull, this rower felt different. The tension on the handle was harder but once the flywheel was spinner it got easier.

I’d picked one of the shorter courses and rowed the 1.3k at a, surprisingly, quicker time than on the other machine.

As Sue was slower I was expecting a similar result but was pleasantly surprised by my sudden improvement.

Realising that my guesstimate at my FTP was way out, I decided that I’d have to do a proper test to get a more realistic figure.

This is the (in)famous Ramp Test where I had to row at a set pace for one minute. The pace was increased for the next minute and so on until I could go no further.

Again. I was surprised at the speed that I did manage, something around 2:18 / 500m.

After a bit of a cool down, I was rewarded with a screen showing my new FTP.

I was happy with this and, in theory, any workouts should better reflect my effort zones.

What is the FTP test?

FTP stands for Functional Threshold Power. The FTP test measures your maximum power output over 1 hour. The results form the baseline of your training, so every workout is tailored to your performance.