CupraT

Hi,

I know we have a few rowers on the forum so can anyone help me (simple terms would be good!)

I have started using the concept 2 rower (as well as running & swimming) at the gym as part of my drive to improve fitness. I'm pretty strong from using weights but not aerobically fit.

The thing I don't get is the adjustment lever (drag?) and what this does or what I need to do. I can set it anywhere and I get the same time - it does feel easier if I set a lower number but I don't struggle whatever it's set to.

I'm still pretty slow on the rower (only used it 4 times!) 23 minutes for 5k and I am trying to get this down. Studied a few technique videos and think I am OK with my form but I stroke 30-32 per minute when the concept site seems to suggest mid 20's for decent times - If I drop to this rate I am really slow for the 5k! Any tips for getting my time down?

Cheers

scooby L

Higher number=quicker fan slowdown ie harder to maintain .

1-10 (10 at top)

darts_aint_sport

The setting increases resistance, I believe by changing the wind resistance in the turbine. 10 is as if you are rowing in thick mud, 1 is the least resistive. Although 10 gives a tougher resistance for each stroke you make, greater distance is traveled compared to setting 1.

Use 10 for a more muscle-based workout and 1 for fitness.

Real water is around the 3-4 mark apparently.

Concept2: Damper Setting & Workout Intensity

The amount of people who I see get on it and wack it on 10, and go hell-for-leather, and they don't know what they are doing.

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

they tend to be the type who use all back and arms and no legs.

CupraT

Cheers guys - think I understand that.

Any idea why I seem to get the same time (using the same stroke rate) on settings 10 and 4? Am I likely to be varying my stroke length without realising on 10 (ie a shorter pull)?

Lastly, how get I get my stoke rate down but reduce my time? The concept 2 site gives a mid 20 stroke rate for under 20 minutes (5k) but I would need to be at 35-40 to get near that times based on what I do with my current rate!

SJ_Skyline

Fewer, more powerfull strokes. 23 minutes for 5km is still a pretty good time

CupraT

Cheers SJ_Skyline

Last question for now!

Having been reading up for the last hour or so I have a better understanding of things.

One area I can't find much information on is foot positioning. I have just been putting my feet in the 'holders' with my heal resting on the plastic bit at the bottom. Is this right or are you supposed to play about with where you put your feet (i.e. higher up)?

From squatting (weights) I know how important feet position is and I could probably generate my leg power if I moved them.

Cheers?

alistair

Foot position is more about making sure your foot bends in the right place - your heel will always be on the plastic bit at the bottom

Mitchy260

If you are just going for the 5km i wouldn't exactly call it a pretty good time, it's a beginners time for a moderately fit man.

I'm not overly fit, like a kebab and a beer now and again but do tend to pound the rower when i go to the gym. I'm 5'10 12St and average around 2:05/500m over 5k and around 2:08/500m over the 10k

Timewise, I generally average around the 21min mark for the 5k and 42:30 for the 10k. My PB's are 20:28 and 41:45 though

3-4 is too low, the resistance isn't there too pull hard enough so you end up increasing your stroke rate. (Well for me anyway) I always set my resistance around 7/8. Have a rule never to go above 30 strokes p/m. I pay more attention to the 500m splits though and use that as a guideline as to how well i'm doing rather than the stroke pace.

Sometimes i do the 20km too and average around the 1hr 30min mark which is around 2:15/500 pace. Best result on that is a 1:29:10

We have a rowing 'records' board in our gym and i'm currently in 6th place with the 5km, 4th in 10km and 6th again for the 20km. I'm way off the top 3 spots though, not tall or muscly enough to come anywhere close to their times.

Best advice to give you is to monitor your 500m splits and try and keep them below 2:15 pace. Set the resistance at 7 and aim for no more strokes than 30. This is what i was told when i first started out rowing. (Para PTI, although his rule of thumb was to keep below 2:00 )

Increase your distances too, 5km is only a warm up. Aim for the 10km, it will then bring your 5km time down

CupraT

Thanks all,

I saw today that you can adjust the 'foot plate' (or whatever the technical term is) upwards/downwards - I will try adjusting this next time as I think it will help with getting the power from the legs better (I'm on my toes where it's set now and need to push through the heal).

I must admit I do struggle on the rower - years of weight training have left me stong (I can squat and deadlift 200+kg) but I don't have the endurance. At 37 years of age I'm under no illusions that I'm not in my prime though

Rowed 22 mins 30 today so knocked 2 mins 30 off in 2 weeks so pleased to be going the right direction. Confident that if I get the foot postion right, up the resitance a bit (4 is too low) and row harder I could knock a couple of minutes off the time. I run for 30 minutes straight after the row so don't go all out and have a bit in the tank.

Not sure I fancy a 10k - get a little bored and also a little uncomfy in my glutes at 3k. Maybe just need time to adjust to the exercise.

Cheers all

SJ_Skyline

Cupra,

My workout is similar, I go for 5k row > 20k bike > 5k run (minimal breaks in between) while I have a couple of years on you, I'm happy with sub 1 hour 30 doing this

CupraT

I do a little cycling as well at the end as part of my cool down (unless I hit the pool) - just 10km though.

All round a decent workout with enough variety to keep the interest high.

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

200KG Squat is very very good!

How tall are you and how much do you weigh?

I can squat 110Kg at the mo (6 reps).

I hate the running machines etc in the gym. I get bored and all my focus is on the pain I'm in. give me a football to chase any day of the week!

CupraT

I'm 5 9" and around 13 stone 7

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

Powerful little b@stard aint ya!

Brit_in_Japan

About a month ago I was in the gym and was waiting for one of the Concept 2 machines to come free. I was watching one guy, he had a very exaggerated stroke (i.e. very long, straightened back almost completely, handle pulled up to chin) but was doing about 1:54/500m at a stroke rate of less than 20. And he maintained that for 20 mins.

Had a chat to him once he'd finished, turned out he'd been in the Olympic rowing squad (lightweights) until end of 2006 but had to leave after bad health the following year. I've tried, can't maintain that pace for more than about 30 secs

SVVG

iTrader: (1)

Think technique is all important too - and shouldn't be overlooked. I'm pretty small - 5 10"" and 75kgs - and I can out row pretty big guys over the same distance purely 'cos I learnt how to row properly at posh school.

You sound like a pretty strong bloke and your times seem pretty good too, so you can't be that too far wrong - although may be worth bearing in mind as you should still be a) careful that you don't fck your back by stroking in the wrong order (as it were.... ) and b) you could probably get a lot more out of each stroke if you were sure your technique was spot on. You can reduce your stroke length, which will also speed up your stroke rate (think you should be hitting between 26-30 strokes per minute in my view - with, incidentally, the fan set to about 6-7), as you shouldn't really be overstretching forwards, over-leaning too far backwards or going too far forwards of 90 degrees with your knees when you come forward.

Also, the concept site has a really good PDF download of training programmes (it did a few years ago anyway!) - definitely worth alternating the types of training you do on the rower in order to nail your selected objective distance/time - I started to do one long, but slightly slower row each week between my normal fixed times - and occassionally do pyramid (almost like fark-lek (can't be ars*d to look up how you spell that!)) type sessions where I'll cane it for 200 meters, then warm down over 100 and so on. These sessions are obvioulsy over a lot quicker than a full work-out as you get knckered pretty quick, but they alter how you perfrom over your set distance when you combine them with your usual training.

I was struggling to improve my times when rowing (and also running) as I was simply rowing/running my set distance time after time, with little or no improvement (guess my body had peaked with that fixed level of exercise), and really noticed an improvement over ther fixed times/distances that I was aiming for when I mixed up my training.

Am by no means an expert, particulalry fit (at the moment ) or big (!) but have noticed improvement by varying the training, rather than simply bashing out 5ks each time.

Hope that's helpful!!

CupraT

Very - Thanks (appreciate it takes time to write the replies)

I do alternate the rowing and running order when I train - If I row first I do the 5k and if I run first I do less distance on the rower but faster. May need to get a better structure to this (5 x 500m or something)

Will try stiing the fan a little higher when I have my next 5k attempt to see how I get on.

A couple of things probably not helping my progress:
1) I'm dropping weight so running a slight calorie defecit
2) As I am working the cardio most days to help with the weight loss, I do row the day after weight training - still sore from it. Will get better in time but I guess my body needs to adjust to this routine.

Cheers

tommihayes

Sorry to butt in on the thread, but Im looking at getting a rowing machine to do a bit of CV, ive started with doing some weights (not massive) and general core stability and working everything, which is toning me up but the belly is still there.

I hate running and I'll get mugged for my bike round here so was thinking of getting a rowing machine to do about 15-45 mins a day. It works the whole body too which is unlike cycling or running.

This seem like a good idea?

Tom

CupraT

Its a tricky one...

In conjunction with a diet, I have found the exercise bike better for weight loss and running better for fitness with some weight loss beneifts. Its too soon for me to comment on how the rower will compare.

What ever you do will be better than nothing but it really is boring using the same exercise equipment! If you are buying anything I would look second hand at e-bay then if you don't get on with it you can punt it on without losing too much money.

Mitchy260

Cupra T...Your BMI obviously classes you as overweight (Weight vs height)

Is this down to muscle mass or is there a bit of extra beef there to be gotten rid of? Are you trying for weight loss or just CV work?

CupraT

I'm trying to get fit and drop some weight in that priority order.

I will be pretty ripped if I get down to my target weight of 13 stone. My waist is 31" at the moment so not carrying much fat.

I have been as high as 17 stone at my lifting peak

alistair

That would come in at around 19mins for the 5000m.
That's good, but isn't exceptional - I used to do that when I rowed regularly in the gym & I'm not that special, certainly nowhere near olympic standard.

Take a look [/url=http://www.concept2.com/sranking03/rankings.asp]here[/url] if you want to depress yourself with how slow you really are

I rarely row these days, but jumped on one last week and was pleased that I can still do sub 2min 500's for a 10 m row at under 20 strokes/min

There is a lot of technique tweaking that can yield good results, a really long reach helps, I nearly touch the fan with the bar when I lean forward, always separate legs from arms, so straighten your legs before you pull with your arms, stop for a little breather then pull yourself forward from your feet - always pull on those toe straps.

the big yim

What is a good time for 2000m? My pb for that is 6.59. Then I felt likr throwing up for the next ten minutes!!

Mitchy260

That is 1:45/500 pace

I can do that for about 500m, but no way would i be able to keep that up for 2000m

Very good time.

zip106

And here's me thinking my PB of 6:48 for the 2k was crap.
Mitchy, you've just made me feel a whole lot better

I enjoy using the rower but my **** starts to hurt if I'm on it for more than 10 minutes, therefore I use the treadmill more for HI cardio work.

Edit - did you notice that the Mens Olympic Fours were doing 44 s/m near the end of their race?

CupraT

Rowed today after my weights session and did 5 X 500m with around a 2 minute rest in between 'sets'.

With the drag set at 8, I was rowing 1 minute 43 - 1 minute 48 for each of the 500. Sure I could not maintain this pace for any length of time but will hopefully help when I row longer distances (helps with getting my running pace anyway!)

I also rowed a 500 in 2 minutes 3 with a stroke rate of 22 so this is a big improvement.

bigvern

iTrader: (1)

My 2k best was 6:43 done with a mate on one side and a really fit bird on the other.... she was really impressed with my retching after that...

I did find that I could do better times than people who were fitter which I put down to technique and being taller than them - my stroke rates were always lower which I think helped.

CupraT

Rowed a 5k in 20 minutes 9 seconds today. Pleased that I have improved (though this was the first time I have pushed so hard) but a little ticked off not to go below 20 minutes. Pretty sure I would have done so if I have started a little harder. Still get uncomfy in my ar$se cheeks.

Given I've exercised every day for 3 weeks (plus 3 weights sessions each week) and dropped half a stone I am really pleased with my progress. One last week of hard work then I will back off to more sensible levels.

Mitchy260

You've went from 23mins 5km down to 20min 9sec 5km in the space of 5 days or 2:18/500 pace down to 2:01/500 pace?? How has your body managed to do that

To chop 17secs every 500m x 10 times is like doing a 100m sprint in 15secs 1 minute to 10 secs the next.

You taking banned substances Can you imagine if that was an olympic athlete that improved so much in such a short time

Good time, not to be sniffed at I really wish i could wipe 5 mins off my time in 2wks. (You were doing 2:30 25mins only 2wks ago )

All the best im sure a 1:45/500 x10 is in there soon