How important is it to follow a plan?

So, how important is a rowing plan?

In short, it really depends on whereabouts in your rowing or exercise journey you are at. I have trained for lots of different events in my life, most recently they have almost exclusively been indoor rowing events and I have always planned my own training in advance depending on what the goal was and made sure sessions were specific to it. This sounds obvious to me, but it far more common that people will not do this. Whether they are not sure how to, or don’t feel the need I am not sure.

The most important thing is that people are staying fit and active and introduce exercise into their lives in an enjoyable and sustainable way as without this the next level can’t be reached. However, as we become more experienced and interested in a sport very often we want to progress and following a plan brings a structure, focus and accountability to help this.  Very often there are ups and downs along the way, but remaining consistent at what ever level you are at will always bring you the best chance of improving. Having a plan at this point is vital to remain on track especially as those margins for improvement become finer and the level of effort needed to achieve will increase.

If you feel you need some structure then I would encourage you to take a look at the many plans out there.  This year I have developed a plan myself with a system for all abilities to follow. It is a generic plan that provides individual targets, feedback and motivation via a group of likeminded people with a common goal.  Details are at www.fmrowing.com/rowing-programme/.

Consistency will always be the stand out factor for me when trying to make progress, but following the structure of a plan will make that task a whole lot easier.

Happy rowing.