Tim Hellis, Llandaff Rowing Club: I've been using Concept 2 Indoor Rowers, since around about 1992. Having been a serious competitive on water rower since the 1960s, the introduction of a machine which realistically simulates the rowing action on dry land, made a huge difference to the effectiveness of my training programme.Now I was able to 'row' even when the river was in flood.Now I was able to compare my performance with other oarsmen and, more importantly, with myself as my fitness improved or deteriorated.Now I had an effective way to warm up all my rowing muscles, before starting a weights session.In short it revolutionised my training programme, and the results were evident when it came to racing on the water. Over the past ten years I have been very successful in national and international veteran rowing events, and have a large collection of medals as evidence.However, as the years advance (I'm now 57), a negative aspect has become evident, and I wonder how others are coping with the same problem. I have been continuously recording my ergo scores for various times and distances since 1992, when I was 44. Most of these are distances covered in 30-60 minutes, but there are some 1k-5k times as well.Each year followed a similar pattern. I would steadily improve my scores during the winter training period (October – March) until summer racing began and training switched from power and stamina building to speed work. September would usually mean a break in training, after which, on returning to stamina work again, I would find my ergo scores had significantly worsened. This was fine as it provided me with the incentive to train hard, and get the reward of seeing my ergo scores steadily improve (still the only reliable feedback I have).My target each year would be to get back to the scores of the previous spring, and for 5 or 6 years this worked really well. Since passing 50, however, I have noticed an increasingly fast deterioration in my peak performances year on year. Everybody tells me of course that this is only to be expected, and they're right I know. However, I'm a very competitive guy, and the success of my ergo training up to now has been competing with myself. It's hard to keep motivated when you no longer have a realistic target to aim at.What I need is some kind of 'ageing curve' that can help scale down expected performances based on age and previous scores. Does such a thing exist? Are there studies going on? (If not perhaps my personal data could be useful). How do others deal with this problem?Please don't tell me I should just grow old gracefully!There are a lot of people in a similar boat. Each year, the number of rowers over the age of 50 competing at the British IRC grows faster than ever. In terms of information on the effects of ageing on rowing performance, there's a section in our Training Guide that covers that exact topic. You can find that chapter online at http://www.therowingcompany.com/guide/guide.php?article=ageing_and_performance. One point it makes is that VO2 max decreases by 0.4ml/kg/minute/year on average. A man aged 25 who is at the peak of his fitness and weighs 80kgs has a VO2 max of approximately six litres/min. If his weight remains the same and he continues to train, at the age of 50 his VO2 max will have dropped to five litres/min. If, at his peak, his 2,000m best time is six minutes, this would fall to around six minutes 40 seconds by his 50th birthday as a direct result of the decline in VO2 max.In terms of an ageing curve, we do have an age correction table, based on data collected by Concept 2 in Denmark. This can be found at http://www.therowingcompany.com/racing/correction.php along with a weight adjustment factor.