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01Chapter 1 · The engine and the erg

Double your watts. Your split won't halve.

Transcript

  1. Double your watts. Your split won't halve.
  2. Two hundred watts is two oh oh point five.
  3. Double it to four hundred: one thirty-five point six.
  4. Twice the power. About twenty-one percent off.
  5. Power grows with speed cubed.
  6. Ten percent faster? Thirty-three percent more power.
  7. Two thirty to two flat: about a hundred watts.
  8. Two flat to one forty-five? Another hundred.

In short

Double your watts and your split won't halve. 200 watts is 2:00.5. 400 watts is 1:35.6, about 21% off.

Power on the rower and SkiErg grows with the cube of speed, so 10% faster takes about 33% more power.

Concept2's own example: 2:30 to 2:00 takes about 100 more watts. 2:00 to 1:45, half the seconds, takes about 100 more again.

Every number comes from Concept2's formula. The splits are examples.

Read the full explainer: Watts versus split: why you take a percentage of the watts →

Turn pace into watts, and watts into pace, on any Concept2 erg.

Open the machine converter

Or start in Telegram.

Sources

  • Worked out

    Computed: 200 W = 2:00.5; 400 W = 1:35.6 (20.6% shorter); 2:00.0 = 202.5 W; 1:49.1 = 269.6 W (+33.1%)

  • Paper

    Schabort EJ et al. (1999) J Sports Sci 17(8):627-632, PMID 10487463: 'simulated velocity is proportional to the cube root of power on this ergometer'

    pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10487463/

Nothing here is medical advice. The tests are maximal efforts: if you have a health condition or any doubt about training this hard, check with a doctor first, and stop if you feel unwell.