One day in the Palace of the Summer Rain, young Heihachi asked Master Yoshimitsu, Master, what is wisdom? And Master Yoshimitsu smiled and said, Listen to the trees for a year and then you may know. After a year Heihachi was no wiser and said, Master, what is wisdom? and Yoshimitsu again smiled and said, Listen to the water for a year and then you may know. After another year Heihachi was still no wiser and said Master, what is wisdom and Yoshimitsu said, Look, I haven't a clue alright? Try sending an e-mail to [email protected] and leave me alone, OK? Mick Davidson: Several people who don't use a rower regularly, if at all, have said that to get any benefit from rowing you have to be doing it for at least 20 minutes. Given my experience and taking into account that I vary my training, for example I did 2,000m last night, 3 x 1,000m the night before, 5,000m a few days before that, and seem to be getting fitter all the time, is this really true? On average I row five times a week and probably about 1,750/2,000m a night.Terry O'Neill: Conventional wisdom recommends 3 x 20 minutes of aerobic exercise per week to maintain health and I suspect that this is where your friends have come up with the 20 minute figure. There is a big difference, however, between regular exercise for health and training. Physical training has a specific outcome goal that involves exercise, whereas general exercise is done to maintain well-being or slow down deterioration due to the ageing process. It's like saying an apple is a fruit but all fruit are not apples.Because training has a specific aim then the training doses are made up of multiples of the final task. All coaches will use different methods but there are rules that apply across the board regardless of the sport. These are:1. As the intensity of the exercise increases so the quantity decreases.2. As the intensity of the exercise decreases so the quantity increases. 3. The programme should change from high volume low intensity to low volume high intensity as you get towards the outcome task.The different training doses will have a different effect on the body from general muscular efficiency through cardio-vascular development to lactate tolerance. The multiples that I work on for 2,000m training are, short intervals 2 times the race distance i.e. 8x500m; medium intervals 3-5 times the race distance and long intervals 5-10 times.As you can see from this, you may have a training dose one day of 20,000 metres, which would last around 90 minutes, or some short interval work that lasts 12 minutes. Each would be valid and address a specific training aim so the next time locker room experts give you the word, just nod and give them a knowing smile.