Have you noticed that the second time you do a workout it seems easier? Maybe you were increasing from 2 x 15 minutes UT2 (Cat 6) up to 3 x 15 minutes. It seems like a huge step up the first time you do it.
If you do the same workout again within 5-7 days it seems easier. The first session serves as a reference point, an anchor.
This is what is known as the Repeated Bout Effect. Your body's response to a stimulus decreases with each repeated bout.
The more you repeat a behaviour, the less it impacts you because you become accustomed to it.
James Clear, Atomic Habits
When you do the new workout for the first time your body experiences a new stimulus that stresses your muscles and may give you muscle soreness. However, the way people respond to this new stimulus is not constant. Researchers have found that “a repeated bout results in reduced symptoms”. Generally speaking, the more consistently you work out, the less soreness you will experience.
But after a while your body adapts and the new workout becomes "normal". To make more progress, you have to change the workout again and seek new adaptations. Each month the Faster Masters Rowing training programs change the workouts. We leverage the repeated bout effect to help you progress your rowing.
What got you here, won't get you there.
You're likely experiencing one or more of these issues:
If you're over 40 and training as hard or harder than ever but seeing your splits slow down, you're not alone, and you're not doing anything obviously wrong. The problem is that "training hard" means something fundamentally different after 40 than it did at 25.
Volume doesn't equal results anymore. Your body's ability to absorb and recover from training volume decreases significantly after 40. What used to work (high volume, frequent sessions, minimal rest) now leads to chronic fatigue and declining performance. You're not undertrained; you're likely overtrained relative to your current recovery capacity.
Your VO2 max ceiling has dropped. Even well-trained masters athletes see roughly 10% decline in VO2 max per decade after age 30. By 50, you're working with 70-80% of your previous peak aerobic capacity. No amount of volume training changes this, it's physiology. Masters athletes who stay competitive move their training focus from volume to strategic intensity.
Recovery timelines have doubled. Where you once needed 24-48 hours between hard sessions, you now may need 72+ hours for full recovery. If you're doing high-intensity work more than twice per week, you're accumulating fatigue faster than you're recovering. Every "hard" session you do while incompletely recovered makes you slower, not faster over the long term.
1. Muscle Loss (Sarcopenia)
After 40, you lose 3-5% of muscle mass per decade without intervention. That's not just aesthetic, it's power output. If you've lost 15% of your muscle mass over the past decade, you've lost 15% of your potential power per stroke. No amount of cardiovascular training compensates for this.
The solution isn't more rowing, it's resistance training. Two 45-minute strength sessions per week, focusing on compound movements (squats, deadlifts, seated rows), can maintain 95% of your muscle mass through your 50s and 60s.
2. Wrong Training Intensity Distribution
Most masters athletes train in the "moderate" zone too much. This is neither easy enough for true base fitness building, and not hard enough for physiological adaptation. This middle-ground training (often called "junk miles") accumulates fatigue without driving improvement.
Your training should be polarised: 80% easy/aerobic base work, 20% legitimately hard threshold and race-pace work. The middle zone barely exists in your training programme.
3. Inadequate Protein and Nutrition
Masters athletes need MORE protein than younger athletes (1.2-1.6g per kg of bodyweight daily) to maintain muscle mass and support recovery. If you're eating like you did at 25, you're almost certainly underfueling your recovery.
Instead of: 6-7 sessions per week of moderate intensity
Try: 4-5 sessions per week with clear purpose. 2 easy, 2 hard, 1 technical
Your body adapts during recovery, not during training. Less volume with better recovery often produces faster results.
Minimum effective dose: 2x per week, 45 minutes, compound movements
Focus: Squats, deadlifts, rows, overhead press, core work
Goal: Maintain muscle mass and power output as you age
This isn't optional for competitive masters athletes, it's foundational.
Since VO2 max becomes less trainable with age, focus on what remains highly adaptable: your lactate threshold. Threshold work (sustained efforts at race pace minus 2-3 seconds) remains trainable and drives competitive performance.
Effective threshold sessions:
If you're serious about getting faster instead of slower, structured programming makes a massive difference. Our Masters Training Program provides year-long age-optimised periodisation, proper intensity distribution, and integrated strength protocols designed specifically for competitive masters athletes. This self-guided programme is built on testing so that your training zones are correct for YOU at your current age, fitness and rowing experience.
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Looking backwards to go forwards: what rowing taught me about big tech and what big tech taught me about rowing with Matt Brittin.
Timestamps
01:00 From schoolboy to the Olympics - from a family of ball sport heros. Matt was inspired by Martin Cross to row to a high level - he was his school teacher. Later he was President of his university club where he led the introduction of professional coaching.
Matt was running Google in Africa, Middle East and Europe for the past 10 years - he tells a lot of anecdotes about rowing. Steve Gunn (a harsh coach) taught how to take responsibility for what you are doing. Are you a piece of sh*t on the end of the oar? When the mindset is right but the self-appraisal was not. The things Matt learned at rowing were the human things - more useful than Business School, Consultancies and University. I wouldn't be where I am in the business world without the rowing lessons.
The unique side of rowing is that when I'm seat racing, I'm against you. When we are in the crew, I'm with you. Act like an owner at Google - take responsibility for what you're doing and win as a team. We collaborate hard - and sometimes a collaborative competitiveness gives a better outcome.
The start line of a Henley Royal Regatta final is where Matt felt the most intense pressure. Take confidence from the feeling of nerves and the adrenaline surge - this is a sign you are ready for a big performance. Get the attention off yourself - focus on the process is helpful. Know there is someone there who wants you to succeed.
Matt is a Henley steward - he marks the progress over recent years. Sir Steve Redgrave asked Matt to help the committee to plan a 10 year strategy. It looks unchanging yet it's always evolving. Three new womens quad scull events were announced - near parity in Open events and Womens events. Since 2015 every race has been on YouTube live and on demand.
You Win or You Learn.
It has been a joy and a recalibration too. The gains as you come back are lovely - rediscovering the joy. A lot is about remembering the feelings. How to balance training and travelling for work. How you manage your time at work is important. Matt blocks his diary to take kids to school twice a week - the most important time of the week. He does the same for rowing training.
The discipline when traveling of visiting the hotel gym. The more senior you get the more important it is to show up refreshed and feeling great - in good shape. Leaders need to be in the moment and to have time for staff. Matt is planning to mentor people in business, improve his sculling, and add rowing strength training this year.
Masters rowing is "running up the down escalator". It doesn't have to be the same each year - unlike younger rowing years. Choose something fun to plan for your future rowing.
Friends and business associates of Faster Masters Rowing have the following camps planned.
Not an exhaustive list.
The central tenet of the camps (besides Comfort in the Boat) can be summarized as follows: "Master Small Boats - Faster in All Boats". All coached by Troy Howell (webinar coach at Faster Masters Rowing).
Camps scheduled at Sweet Briar College, Amherst, Virginia, USA.
Visit website for more information https://www.10lessonsinsculling.com/
A rowing week in Portugal
Founded by 3 olympians, Patricia Merz, Jeannine Gmelin and Frédérique Rol.
The G/Rowing Experience is for novice and experienced masters, club and recreational rowers who want to improve their technique, prepare racing or simply experience the joy of being on the water !
April 12 - 18, 2026
or
September 27 - October 03, 2026
Find all the details here :
https://www.thegrowingexperience.ch/
2026 - Masters Rowing February Symposium
Camp Dates:
What is offered: 2 day or 4 days of rowing, rowing and more rowing with unmatched coaching! Sweep and Sculling options—you can even do both! The symposium will combine on the water rows, with in-depth video sessions and on-land convention style seminars to help you do a deep dive into becoming a better and smarter rower.
Please visit the following link to register! https://sarasotacrew.org/index.php/joinus/campandclinics/mwintercamps?id=32
— at Nathan Benderson Park.
Hosted by Club Naval Infante D. Henrique located near Porto. 25km of stable, sheltered water, on-site accommodation for up to 42 people.
Events: Regata Internationale de Gondomar in May; Aerobic Monsters Singles Regatta in October.
http://www.cninfante.pt/
Enquiries to [email protected] +351 224 831 194
Specialists in beach sprint rowing.
Flexible Training Options: Understanding that national teams often bring their own coaching expertise, we offer two training options:
Self-Coached Camps: Utilise our top-tier facilities, including on-site gym, wellness activities, and boat equipment, while maintaining your team’s coaching structure.
BSA-Coached Sessions: If desired, benefit from our experienced coaching staff to provide additional expert guidance tailored to your team’s needs.
Details & registration: https://www.beachsprintacademy.com/
Small-group sculling camps for 4–6 participants, mostly in singles.
Five days, two sessions per day.
2026 Camp Dates:
Details & registration: https://aramtraining.com/ref/13/?campaign=Newsletter
We do not run camps. Our self-guided online courses Sculling Intensive Camp, Erg Intensive Camp, Nutrition Intensive Camp, and Square Blades Challenge can be purchased - go to Online Courses and browse Skills and Technique.
Rebecca Caroe and Grant Craies are available to visit your camp as coaches.
Camps in Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Bulgaria, plus:
Various dates; check their calendar.
2026 International Camps:
Details: www.allamericanrowingcamp.com
2027 private group camps (4–12 people) also available.
Sabaudia, Italy
Aviz, Portugal
Aiguebelette, France
Please check the Masters Brochure for more info.
April and September 2026
Advanced sculling technique.
scullingcamp.rojabo.com
Tailor-made rowing camps for all levels.
Row in mixed crews with Olympians and receive coaching from Italian National Team coaches.
Various dates and locations across Tuscany (Florence, Pisa, and more).
rowingintuscany.com
Located in Vermont USA camps run from May to September. Sculling only in 3,4 and 6 day formats.
As of the time of writing (Dec 2025) all camps are full for 2026.
https://www.craftsbury.com/sculling/camps/camps-home
Three-day sculling clinics
December 1, 2025 – May 3, 2026
floridarowingcenter.com
No in-person camps for 2026.
Offering virtual indoor rowing classes:
Nov 2025 – Mar 2026 (USA Eastern Time):
$15 per 60-minute class.
Fundamentals + interval work.
p3pe.net
Five-day rowing retreats combining yoga, breathwork, wine tasting, and cultural experiences.
No rowing experience required.
2026 Dates:
http://mindbodyrowexperience.com
Intermediate/advanced 3-day sculling camps.
2026 Dates:
Kevin McDermott Camps
Dan Duxbury Camps
Coaching available on request for clubs, organisations, private groups, or individuals.
Sessions can take place in Amsterdam or at your location, by arrangement.
Best suited for personalised technical coaching and small-group development.
enjoyrowing.com
Ways to improve speed of the oar through the water. Keep the stroke rate the same and increase the speed.
Timestamps
00:45 This is a long term project. Less experienced rowers push the oar less hard than the more experienced and you need to train this. Time through the water at stroke rate of 20 is approximately 3 seconds per stroke. Pushing the oar through the water on the power phase takes 1.2 to 1.5 seconds and yet we row with a ratio of at least 2:1 at low rates.
Experienced rowers get more rest every stroke. They push the oar with high intensity through the water and so they have more time with the oar out of the water.
How to row at the same stroke rate and deliver more force into the boat hull. The key to training this on the erg was to start with a focus point once every 5 minutes for 10 strokes. For ten strokes push harder through the power phase but you're not allowed to take the rate up. This showed us how much harder we could push and how much more rest we got as a result. It depends on your muscular strength and fitness.
Then we moved to doing this for a minute. After each intense stroke period we allowed 5 strokes to recover and take a little rest. Over time, you don't need to take that rest.
Taking the same principle of increased intensity into the boat. We call "Up one down one" which means take the stroke rate up one point in rate through the water and down one point in rate on the slide. So at rate 20 you move to rate 21 through the water and rate 19 on the slide - which averages to 20.
This has the effect of intensifying the power phase. Train yourself to do this and it gets a better ratio in the stroke - you learn how to relax more as you rest on the recovery. The benefit is slightly more boat speed, slightly more rest and this helps to keep the boat moving fast through the water.
Here's an earlier episode which covers this topic further of how to train yourself to relax.
Do this for short periods to begin with as it's tiring. Introduce it to your warmup just for 5 strokes at each stage in the pick drill.
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David Frost reviews Practical and Personal Looks at Coronary Artery Diseases (CAD) in Master's Rowers - download the additional information link below.
Timestamps
00:45 David Frost's journey through CAD Coronary artery calcification - men need checking after age 70 more than women. Even rowers who are known for being stoic - if you feel something in your chest, get it checked out. "You have the coronary arteries of a 92 year old" was my signal that I needed help. The Agatston Score is is a proxy for heart health.
Inflammation in your arteries can cause an issue if you work too hard, too fast for too long.
08:00 Rowers have a higher than average incidence of atrial fibrillation (AFIB) Maybe rowers are doing themselves a disservice by training long and hard. What to do about this?
There are interesting heart age metrics - pulse wave velocity measure tells how elastic your arteries are. Heart Rate Variability - the higher it is the better you are recovering. David encourages masters to measure these and track their trends. Dr Churchill in Boston is studying masters rowers' aorta for ASCVD. Get a calcium CT scan - it helped David understand his condition.
Perceived exertion, rest and hydration are a good guide to how you are feeling each day. David is mindful of recovery as well.
What age should you start getting the calcium CT scan done? For men from age 40 and women maybe 50. For the plus wave velocity test this could be done from mid life - age 40 maybe ladies a bit later. Note David is a layman, not a doctor.
Rowing training is more 80% steady state and 20% higher intensity. This has trended upwards from about 60% when David was younger. As humans we are slow to recognise when our body moved into the "next" stage. The competitive mindset can make us live in denial of aging. It's not good for you to carry to much body fat - your waist to hip ratio is worth checking.
25:00 Burden or banish? David's new book coming out 2026
Sloth and gluttony contribute to heart disease - 80% is preventable. Lifestyle measures can defer the onset of heart disease. Hopefully rowers can start to banish the preventable problem. STRESSED spelled backwards is DESSERTS.
David's package of information
Resources on this topic
Remember the disco funk classic theme tune from the Kids from Fame TV series?
Fame: I'm gonna to live forever, I want to learn how to fly - high!
My most frequent gripe about aging is 'nobody told me it was going to be like this'. But the real truth is I was not looking out for that information. Scientists are now treating aging as a disease and research focuses on longevity and anti-aging. I've been taking NMN and Novos Boost since 2021 when Clare Delmar, keynote speaker at our Older Athlete and Aging conference referenced it in her speech.
Efforts to extend healthspan through pharmacological agents targeting aging-related pathological changes are now in the spotlight of geroscience, the main idea of which is that delaying of aging is far more effective than preventing the particular chronic disorders.
Science Direct: Anti Aging Pharmacology Promises & Pitfalls
Education is the major determinant of healthy aging. What can you do with lifestyle choices, rowing practice and new therapies to make your future the best possible?
Aligning your physical activity - rowing - and your lifestyle towards aging well and understanding what choices you can make for yourself is outlined in our guest article by Brian Clark.
Scientists are working on ways to reducing aging - not face creams and vitamins, but serious scientific endeavour into proven methods.
Gen Xers who adopt healthy aging practices can live long enough and well enough to benefit from the research and resulting treatments that defeat the ailments that come with aging. Even by current standards, we’ve got 20 to 30 years post retirement before we’re considered old. That means if you retire at 67, you should plan to live to 97. Maybe you will or maybe you won’t, but it’s hard to imagine betting against yourself, right?
Based on the amount of investment into scientific research there’s a better-than-average chance we’ll have one or more effective anti-aging treatments in our lifetime.
So here’s a primer on that vital education that can boost your longevity potential. These are the four most promising approaches.
Read the full detail of each from Further: Why Generation X May Be the First Group to Live Much Longer - what it is, how it works, the promise, where we are and the challenge.
Researchers publicly emphasize extending "healthspan" (healthy years without debilitating illness) rather than total lifespan for three strategic reasons:
But the distinction is somewhat artificial. All of these approaches work by targeting the fundamental biology of aging: the cellular processes that cause both disease and death. If you can genuinely slow cellular aging, you're likely to get both additional healthy years and more total years. The animal studies certainly show this to be true.
In other words, most longevity scientists privately believe that meaningfully extending healthspan will naturally extend lifespan too. They're just being strategic in how they frame their research for regulators, investors, and the public.
So, in light of this fantastical but valid information, I’ll ask you a question I’ve asked you before:
What do you want to do with the rest of your life?
Choose wisely.
Brian Clark, founder Further: Live Long and Prosper
There are four types of recovery responses to be familiar with:
Acute overload is the recovery that takes place on a daily basis, session to session. Proper diet and sleep are the main factors for long term recovery. However, immediate recovery interventions should start as a session concludes to signal the body to start repair. This can include a 10-minute cool down row with focused deep breathing, changing to some slow music after listening to upbeat music, a protein snack within 30 minutes ending a session, wearing compression garments, and light massage.
Functional overreaching is the gold target. It is the result of good management of the daily training load. It will show improvement in the performance of the rowers from week to week. As they repeat weekly sessions they get better. Repeating the same weekly sequence of workouts for a few weeks is an effective approach for masters. Making small changes or increases to achieve slow steady gains are preferable.
Non-functional overreaching is when athletes are not seeing performance improvements, they are feeling stale, and the usual number of recovery days is not enough for them to gain energy back. The prescription is then to recommend taking three or four days off perhaps a week. Often the athlete will then feel better and be able to return to their previous level of performance. Usually non-functional overreaching happens because the increase in the training load was too fast.
An example of recovering from non-functional overreaching:
R.C.’s normal heart rate variability measurement is between 7.2 to 8.3. She had a moderate training session on Wednesday, rowed a hard session on Thursday, and then trained easy on Friday.
On Saturday her HRV was high 9.5 but she went to train but had to abandon her session due to fatigue.; She rested on Sunday but HRV was still high at 9.3. On Monday it was 8.7 so she took an additional rest day. Tuesday her HRV was 8.5, still slightly above normal, but she was able to resume training on Wednesday when her HRV was received to her normal range.
All in all she required three days rest to recover but was able to resume training at her previous level.
Fortunately, true overreaching is rare. This is when the athlete cannot recover for weeks and can take months to get back to their baseline performance level. Overreaching can be avoided with attention to the balance of work and rest on a daily, weekly, and seasonal basis.
Researching masters physiology - aging from 50 to 70 affects your rowing.
01:00 Guests from Athlone, Ireland Lorcan Daly and Paul Gallen
Lorcan is a sport science researcher starting with his grandfather, Richard Morgan who was an erg champion. Uniquely he was sedentary for most of his life, was a smoker and at 73 took up indoor rowing. He was tested aged 92 and some of the tests were on a par with a 30 year old. Three world champion indoor rowers were his next test subjects - described as a "game changer" by Irish Rowing.
Paul Gallen Dennis and Ken were recruited after winning their divisions at the 2024 World Rowing Indoor Championships. The tests were done over 2 visits - diet, lung and muscle function and sporting history.
06:00 Paul Gallen rejoined masters rowing
He took 30 years out of the sport and his first event back was the Head of the Charles Regatta. Learned to scull aged 60 and indoor rowing competitions. His 8s crew includes school friends. For the winter season he does a 10 week lead in to the Irish Indoor Rowing Championships. The three age gaps gave a good framing for the study.
Lorcan found that their muscle oxygen take-up was similar to an Olympic champion. The deterioration over life is much flatter than non-trained people.
Paul has 10 years of his splits at the indoor champs 6:59 - 7.14 times over ten year drop off. Paul does daily Yoga for rowers - 12 moves a day. Off season 2 weights; mix of high intensity and longer rowers. At least one high intensity per week.
13:00 General advice on aging well
The principles for healthy aging - keep your full body system going is a mix of resistance exercise and the mix of aerobic exercise is key. The two together is the winning formula.
15:00 Returning rowers
Paul the big thing about people coming back to rowing - it depends on how busy your life is. Start at recreational level and not commit fully to being in competition. Build up if your life gets less busy.
Lorcan's paper is called Toward the Limits of Human Ageing Physiology: Characteristics of the 50+, 60+ & 70+ Male Indoor Rowing Champions
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What is normal for you? What to expect when you track your normal waking heart rate.
Resource: Daily Diary - simple templated record keeping for your training diary
00:50 This is important as we age. It's a free way to track your physical wellbeing. I found out about it from Harry Mahon, the New Zealand rowing coach. Resting heart rate is important for masters because we are too good at "keeping going". Knowing how well you are is key to how you approach training and to give you confidence.
In the longer term it's an indicator of your fitness. The lower your resting heart rate the fitter you are. Heart rates are very individual - what's normal for you is not the same as mine.
It's also useful to determine your readiness to train today. Waking heart rates when tracked regularly show you what number is normal for you. After one week you will see your numbers and what's normal.
The resting heart rate can show if you are incubating an illness - viral or bacterial. It shows up in your resting heart rate before you see symptoms. Before you get symptoms your heart is already responding to the illness. This could also be stress, poor sleep or dehydration - it's not always illness. The heart rate jumps up 10 beats per minute when suffering an illness.
07:00 After being sick and wanting to go rowing again, I have gone out when I still have symptoms but find doing a medium intensity workout helps to clear the final symptoms of the virus. The normal pulse precedes this.
There are two easy places - the side of your neck or the wrist - find your pulse on the thumb side about 2 cm from the wrist joint - use two fingers to locate it (not your thumb because there's a pulse in your thumb).
Take a one minute reading or 30 seconds and double the score. When you start counting, make the first pulse zero and then one, two, three etc. Keep a daily record - use this free daily training diary from our website - to record your training, overnight health and hydration state.
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