Smythe-Jones wiped back the sweat that ran down his face. For six long weeks he had hacked his way through the thick undergrowth that ran parallel to the arterial road, searching for living proof of the white god worshipped by the natives, a god said able to provide the answer to any question on indoor rowing, no matter how arcane or recondite. Bursting into a clearing he saw a tall, distinguished white man sitting on an ornate carved jade throne. Smythe-Jones stood stock-still; idly he noticed that the man appeared not to be bothered by the infernal heat. As he felt his breath rasp in his throat, he saw the man's face crease under the weight of a wide grin. Wotcha geezer! All you had to do was send an e-mail to [email protected]!Bill Pike: I really enjoy your newsletters, especially any ideas and tips for improving times. I started on the Concept 2 almost a year ago at the age of 30 and just under 15 stone (I'm only 5ft 9ish!) and could only row around 1,000 metres. Since then I have seen the milestones go by as I managed to row 1,500m, then 2,000m. Then it was 2,000m in under 8 minutes, then 7.55, 7.50, 7.45 and so on. My PB is now just over 7.20 and my weight is now down to around 12 stone 9 pounds - and hopefully I will eventually get to around 12 stone. My stroke rate is usually quite slow starting at around 20 and speeding up to 25ish before the flat out bit at the end. I was therefore surprised to read that the top guys are so fast at around 35 strokes per minute. I know that all the best rowers are tall (simple physics, levers etc.) and so I am unlikely to set the world alight comparing myself to the heavyweights. However, to get into the lightweight category I've got to lose almost another stone which, whilst probably do-able will take a while. I am curious to know if you have any data by height rather than weight. Being realistic, the Holy Grail looks like a PB of 7.00, which if I can hit the lightweight category will do me. If you have any tips/ideas then please let me know. Terry O'Neill: Congratulations are in order for getting into shape but a slap on the wrist for allowing yourself to balloon up to 15 stone. A couple of things in direct answer to your questions. First, if you are thinking of going down to lightweight go to your doctor and have a fat test. This is a simple process that involves the use of skin fold calipers so the doctor can determine what percentage of your body is made up of fat. At your age your percentage body fat should be around 12-15% of your total body weight. Whatever it is above that would be safe to lose, so you can work it out before you start in order to see whether you can safely make the lightweight limit. You are right to say that taller people have an advantage of leverage on the machine but, contrary to popular opinion, it is not because they can row longer but because for a given stroke length they can remain in the most effective range of their muscular efficiency. Muscles can exert less power when tightly compressed as a shorter person would have to do to row a long stroke. For this reason, especially on the Indoor Rower, shorter people should row at a higher rhythm and a shorter stroke and not try to overreach and get into weak positions. There are no records kept relating height to performance, but your target of 7 minutes is reasonable and achievable. I guess from your letter that you have not read the Training Guide (http://www.therowingcompany.com/v4/training_prog.htm) or are not following it. I sincerely recommend you get onto it as the bloke who wrote it knows what he's talking about.