Wearily King Arthur wiped the blood off mighty Excalibur before placing it back in its scabbard. He turned to the man by his side. Merlin, my oldest friend, my greatest companion. For one last time I crave your advice. We have fought off the hordes of Sir Bertilak The Green. Mordred's forces are gathering as we speak, while Morgana Le Fey schemes in the wings. This one question I ask of you: what should I set as the damper setting during a race?. Merlin paused before answering, Jiggered if I know, Arty old boy. Drop an e-mail to Terry O'Neill at tels-tales@therowingcompany.com. He's the fella.Jayne Creamer: I'm sticking to the 2,000 metre training programme [http://www.concept.co.uk/v4/training_prog.htm] pretty much as you've suggested and I have a couple of questions. 1. What is the purpose of training during the early stages in the ranges of 18-24 strokes per minute, given that the actual 2,000 metres will be done at a much faster rate? 2. Why do we do lateral dips? I'm a female and would rather not develop my obliques any more than they are. If it's for core stability, am I OK to use other exercises e.g. on a Swiss ball?Terry O'Neill: The benefits of training at the low intensity are threefold.1. To teach the muscles the correct technique. Muscles have a memory and by repeating a sequence of movements they become automatic.2. Improve muscular efficiency by increasing the number of capillaries around the muscle fibre.3. Reduced risk of injuries during the early part of the programme.The programme will bring you up to race pace and by developing a sound aerobic base your race pace should be higher than if you train at a higher intensity from day one.The lateral dips are for core stability and general muscular balance, any other exercises that achieve the same objective are fine. The way this weight training programme is designed you would be unlikely to see significant hypertrophy (increase in muscle bulk) but if you are happier with the Swiss ball that's fine.