Samuel Johnson was well overdue on delivering his dictionary, taking nine years to complete it and overshooting his original deadline by a full six years, making our one week seem positively virtuous. It also explains why one of the phrases he uses to illustrate dull is To make dictionaries is dull work. Hear, hear Samuel, and it only took us half an hour to do ours. Anyway; here's the first attempt at compiling a dictionary of indoor rowing. From now on, we'll include a link to this at the start of every newsletter, so if there's anything we've missed out, and our ghast would be well flabbered if we hadn't, then let us know at editor@therowingcompany.com. 2K – 2,000m: the standard race distance on both the rowing machine and on-water. 2,000m World and British records can be found at http://www.therowingcompany.com/racing/records.php. Tends to hurt. Aerobic – Exercise that uses oxygen. Low to moderate intensity activity that can be sustained for long periods. It is the foundation of most training programmes. A 2,000m race is 80% aerobic.Anaerobic – Exercise without oxygen. Hard work done over very short periods, which cannot be sustained. A 2,000m race is 20% anaerobic. AT/Anaerobic Threshold – The maximum intensity of exercise that is sustainable via the aerobic system, i.e. without a build up of lactic acid. BPM/Beats Per Minute – The number of times your heart beats in a minute. Monitoring your heart rate is pretty essential for anybody who takes their training seriously, as it helps you to both control and assess your training programme. BIRC/British IRC – The British Indoor Rowing Championship. The biggest indoor rowing race in the world, the next one takes place on the 20th November at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. For more information, especially if you're wondering how big the swimming pool needs to be, go to http://www.therowingcompany.com/birc/ Core Stability – The ability to use the postural muscles to maintain the stability of the spine. Often neglected, Core Stability training helps improve rowing technique through good posture and also increases spinal stability during exercise, helping to prevent back problems. An introduction to Core Stability can be found at http://www.therowingcompany.com/guide/guide.php?article=core_stabilityDrag Factor/Damper Lever – The damper lever is the thing on the side of the flywheel that controls the drag factor, which is to say it controls the amount of air that flows through the flywheel. The single most commonly misunderstood thing about indoor rowing, there is no set drag, either for training or racing. For a decent article on the basics of drag factor, go to http://www.therowingcompany.com/training/tels_tales.php?id=12. Drive – The application of power during the rowing cycle: http://www.therowingcompany.com/training/technique.php?stage=4Erg/Ergo – Another name for the Indoor Rower.Fartlek – A Swedish word that means Speed Training, this is a training technique in which periods of intense effort alternate with periods of less strenuous effort in a continuous workout. Can cause school children to giggle in GCSE PE.Finish – The end of the Drive phase and the beginning of the Recovery phase of the rowing stroke: http://www.therowingcompany.com/training/technique.php?stage=1Hwt/Heavyweight – Indoor rowing races frequently have heavyweight and lightweight categories. To be a lightweight you must be under 75kg (11 stone 11 pounds) for a man or under 62.5kg (9 stone 9 pounds) for a woman. Anything heavier than that is classified as heavyweight. In competitions, you must weigh in less than two hours before your race.HRM – Heart Rate Maximum. The fastest your heart will beat on the Indoor Rower. A rough estimate for this is 220 minus your age. A more accurate way of gauging it can be found at http://www.therowingcompany.com/training/tels_tales.php?id=3.HRR – Heart Rate Range. The difference between your resting heart rate and your Heart Rate Maximum.Lwt/Lightweight – See Hwt/Heavyweight for more details. Have a tendency to only talk about food in the days leading up to a major championship.MHR – Maximum Heart Rate. See HRM.Recovery – The time between the Finish and the beginning of the next Drive.Stroke Rate/SPM – The number of strokes per minute you take while rowing. This will vary depending on both what sort of rowing you're doing, and also your body shape. Taller, heavier rowers will tend to have a lower stroke rate than smaller, lighter rowers. Training Bands – There are five main training bands. In ascending order of difficulty, these are:UT2 - Utilisation 2. Light aerobic, low intensity work. Sustainable and fat burning.UT1 – Utilisation 1. Heavy aerobic work using more oxygen.AN - Anaerobic (without oxygen). Short bursts of maximum effort. Unsustainable. Burning carbohydrate.AT - Anaerobic Threshold. Harder work. On the aerobic limit. Pushing into anaerobic area.TR - Oxygen Transportation. Working hard. Unsustainable for long periods.For more on Training Bands, see http://www.therowingcompany.com/guide/guide.php?article=training_bandsTraining Log – A diary where goals, objectives and training are recorded. You can download (for free, naturally) a Training Log from http://www.therowingcompany.com/training/log.php or you can use the Online World Ranking and Log Book at http://www.concept2.com/sranking03/log_start.asp. VO2 Max – The maximum amount of oxygen that can be used by the body in one minute. Matthew Pinsent has a VO2 Max of eight and a half litres, the largest ever recorded in the UK.WIRC/World IRC – The World Indoor Rowing Championship, also known as the CRASH-Bs. Currently held every February in Boston, USA. You can found out more at http://www.therowingcompany.com/wirc/