Champion Mindset: How to improve your 2k

Ukrainian powerhouse and 2020 World Rowing indoor champion Olena Buriak is the undisputed queen of indoor rowing. With her six foot five (197cm) frame, cavernous lung capacity and wardrobe-wide shoulders, Olena has powered her way to just about every indoor rowing world record going, including a 6:22.8 for 2000 metres - the fastest female score ever recorded.

As she prepares for the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games this summer with a gruelling national team training camp in Turkey, we caught up with the legendary Buriak to ask for her top tips to approaching a 2k test - rowing’s gold-standard measure of fitness.

So, if you're looking to shave a few seconds off your personal best, or have yet to take on a flat out 2k, read on for a few pointers from the world’s best.

Reassuringly, it seems even the best in the world get nervous before a flat out test. Olena says the secret is harnessing that nervous energy and not letting it intimidate you.

“Every time when I have to start a 2k test, I hope it will be the last test in my life” admits Buriak. She says it's all about making the nerves work for you. “Don’t be nervous about being nervous,” she says “its actually a good thing, feel the adrenaline and let that energy carry you through the first part.“

“You must never neglect the warm-up,” insists Olena. “It doesn’t need to be long, but it needs to be effective.”

Olena begins with some light stretching before jumping on the machine, then she says she does at least 20 minutes of rowing to get her body fully ready for the challenge:

“I do about 12 minutes gentle rowing keeping my heart rate around 130-140bpm, then five sets of ten hard strokes, with 15 light strokes between each set.”

Olena aims for each “power 10” to be at progressively higher intensities, trying to make each one about 2-3 seconds per 500m faster than the last.

“After I finish those I do a minute of light rowing and just breathing. Then I stop and  do a minute from a standing start, at my target 2k pace.”

Then Olena likes to rest for 10 minutes “and just think about good things” before beginning the test.

And what about a scientific nutrition plan? The truth is a 2k test will likely take you between 6 and 9 minutes, depending on age, gender and fitness. That's short enough to mean any special carbo-loading tactics etc won’t have any impact. Most important is to not eat anything too close to the test (or risk seeing it again) - so avoid any substantial food for at least two hours or so before. Olena nibbles on fast-release carbohydrate (sugar) before a test: “I just eat chocolate,” she says, adding “Avoid protein, it can increase lactic acid.”

“You need to go into it with a clear plan of what pace you want to hold for each 500m,” she says.

It may take a few goes to work out what pacing works best for you, but Olena likes to keep it simple: “The third 500m is definitely the hardest so my main aim is to not die in that section.”

“Its better to have more to give in the final sprint than fly and die in the first half, so I just aim to hold an even pace throughout.”

Olena allows herself no more than 10-15 hard strokes off the start before settling onto her target /500m split that she will try to maintain all the way to the finish. The key takeaway here is, even if you feel great in the first 500, stick to your plan - the effort will catch up with you eventually.

In terms of strokes per minute, again it is a matter of preference, but somewhere between 30-34 strokes per minute is best for a 2k, allowing yourself to go a little higher off the start and in the final sprint. The important thing is to not shorten your stroke to chase higher rates. Olena will typically sit at about 32 strokes per minute during a 2k.

Once you are on your rhythm and target pace it's nothing more than a mind game - you versus the machine. “It will get very hard, and you will want to give up,” she says. “You have to remind yourself, it won’t get any easier if you back off.”

Olena likes to sprint for the finish with about 300m to go; “I tell myself it's less than a minute and I can be confident I can hold the pace to the finish.”

As you reach exhaustion don’t worry if the final sprint achieves little more than allow you to maintain your race pace. That's usually a good sign you paced it well. If you die in the last 500 and your pace slows, you probably overcooked it - try going a second or two slower per 500m in the first half next time. If you find you can dramatically increase your pace as you approach the finish line, you probably left too much in the tank and can afford to go a little harder in the first 1000m.

Olena’s final pearl of wisdom for a 2k test? “Listen to AC/DC’s Highway to hell -  twice!”