You don't need HR to target UT2 training. To train UT2 effectively you need to be around 16-18 spm, your drag factor should be about 15-30 lower than your racing drag for middle distance events, you should warm up with easy rowing for at least 10 minutes, then you should settle into *an effort where you can speak a couple sentences without much issue but where speaking more/longer would disrupt your breathing* . If you do measure HR, it should gradually rise with a consistent slope over time. Unless you have a deep understanding of your own personal HR values (which have nothing to do with HR Max/Reserve/etc) you should ignore the number, and just focus on the pattern(s).

Hi Luke, thanks for watching! Great to hear that the content has been helping you with your training and happy to answer your questions here as well. My first suggestion would be to drop the focus on HR, you can reverse engineer training zones for HR based on a couple months of data, but that takes a lot of time, know-how, AND you need to understand the various influences on HR to know when to give credence to or to dismiss anomalies in the output. Summer heat is a good example. Do a steady state inside with the AC blasting one day, then do it outside in 90 degree heat the next. Your HR is much higher outside, not because your UT2 zone changes based on where you row, it is because HR is influenced by far more than just your energy output (in this case, heat and humidity) With that being said, pace should remain constant for UT2. Definitely do not slow down to accommodate either drift or other factors like heat that I just mentioned. Eliminating rest from your steady state will definitely help but do this gradually. Don't be afraid to lower the total volume or the split as you are making this transition. Maybe reduce the rest to 2-3 minutes for awhile, then down to 1, then less breaks then no breaks. A good rule of thumb for UT2 is that your standard duration is about half of what you could do if you really pushed your limit. So if I know I could do 2 hours if I had to, 1 hour is a good standard length of ss for me. That is an oversimplification but will at least provide a benchmark of how long your standard session should be. I would suggest that once ever week or two put in a session that is 35-60% longer than your standard session, and one additional session each week that is 20% longer. So maybe for you that is 50 minutes twice a week, 60 minutes once, and 75 minutes for another (assuming you are doing 4 UT2 sessions a week) As for split, 2k+30 is probably too slow. I suggest going by feel. UT2 should be a firm, but sustainable pace at 16-19 spm and about 20-30 under your race drag factor. When you're rowing you should be able to speak a sentence or two without disrupting your breathing. When you are done you should be able to get up and walk around after 30 seconds or so (or immediately) and feel just fine (tired, but fine). Testing splits are not a good guide for training paces, because max performance depends on too many variables. Hope that helps. If you're interested in a more in depth conversation, feel free to connect with me through gtsrowing.com.

Travis Gardner Thank you so much this helps a ton! I will start implementing some of these things for my future sessions, especially the lower drag factor and holding the same split. Once again, thank you so much!

You're welcome! I actually have a video in queue that addresses your questions about UT2 pretty directly. Keep an eye out for that. As for drag factor, make those adjustments gradually (maybe by 5 per week) so you can get used to applying power with less resistance. Going down too much too quick could put your back in a vulnerable position. Good luck and have fun!

Travis Gardner I will! Thank you!