Suspect this might be tumbleweed, but let's give it a try anyway. There are already the running and cycling threads which, let's be honest, are miserable activities in winter. Indoor rowing is far more civilized for the cold and dark and far superior for overall fitness.
So any indoor rowers here?
I've owned a machine for perhaps 20 years and used it sporadically. Literally gone years at a time without using it and then had a spurt, only to fall by the wayside again. Anyway, I'm bored to tears with the stationary bike and decided to give the rower another shot. I'm about 3 weeks into it, and been getting a bit of motivation from some Youtube videos which seem to have sprung up since last I gave it a push - about 5 years ago.
The goal is to keep weight down over winter and build some fitness. Also got a secret goal to have a stab at some of the Concept 2 age group records...or at least see how far up the rankings I can get. Well it's not a secret now. The only problem is that I'm laughably far away from achieving that, but if you don't try...
Thought a thread on here might add an additional layer of motivation for anyone working away at their rowing goals in isolation. But really not sure how many are rowing, especially now the gyms are closed.
We'll soon see.
Yep have a water rower brought just before the first lockdown as gyms shut.
During the winter I do 35-40 mins 3-4 times a week, during summer only one or two sessions as I’m on my mountain bike more.
This year is uncertain as I broke my wrist in September and haven’t been on a bike or rower in almost two months.
Got the green light to re-start but only managed a very ginger 1k on the rower today and 5k on the road Friday.
I tend to row when I'm at work offshore as I find too much running on a treadmill makes my knees & feet ache being somewhat heavy. I'm trying to do it every other day for a 6 week trip on a concept 2 rower. Its been a few months but I jumped on it the other day and managed 6.5km in 30min, today it was 7.5km but I'm unsure of the time. My goal is to get up to 10km in under 45 minutes. I have the resistance set to 8 as I'm sure I read once that its supposed to be the closest to be on actual water but may have dreamt it.
I used to row years ago when I was at school and then recently got back into it especially since my gym membership lapsed at the start of this year.
I have a Concept 2 at home and use it 4-5 times per week. I recently started using the Asensei APP which is great for me as it gives me different workouts to follow and the motivation to keep pushing when it is getting difficult.
Another waterrower here. We have a couple of concept two at work, and they are very nice, but the watery swish, progressive action and beautiful wood construction of the waterrower meant they were the one for me. I’m not really into records, I’m just replacing kayaking when there isn’t time to get on the water or sea temperature drops below 15 degrees.
I have started rowing again
I bought a cheap n cheerful rower a couple of years ago whilst training for a boxing match
I let it slip after the fight but about 3 weeks ago I have picked it up again
I do 20 minutes a day, mainly to get the heart rate up and get the lungs pumping. I am actually quite enjoying it...
I do have one, but as long as it's dry outside I prefer cycling in winter. Would be nice if there was some sort of facility like Zwift, so you could propel yourself through a virtual 3D environment by rowing.
I bought a concept2 in lockdown, got it in June. Used quite a bit for 4 weeks but haven't used since July!
I do use my peloton daily though - agree and wish there was some other good virtual/online options.
Interested to see how this evolves as I will use it
Looked at Kinomap?Originally Posted by senwar
Like some others here, I bought a Concept 2 in April this year. Has been used off and on by most of the family since getting it.
I try and get on it about 2-3 times per week. Use the Concept 2 app to log workouts.
Realised my technique was wrong so had to re-learn the basics.
I think a setting of 3 to 4 is closest to water. There are quite a few videos online which explain in depth. It depends on how old/used the machine is. The way to tell is to look at the 'drag factor' on the monitor which I think is to be found in Options. The experts suggest you should set the damper to give a drag factor of around 120-130 for everything apart from sprint work.
Last edited by Jdh1; 9th November 2020 at 12:56.
I've never tried one of those. They look great though.
I'm not really into records either...most of us have got zero chance anyway...but I do need some kind of measure of performance and comparison to keep motivated. Find it very difficult to sit there and row for 20 minutes/half an hour without purpose or feedback.
I have a Concept Dynamic which gets sporadic use but it was bought knowing that was likely, as it's for when the weather's poor and we don't want to walk/bike but it negates the excuse for avoiding exercise with the added advantage that because it's in the house there's little wasted time. I bought the Dynamic as it has a smaller footprint and is meant to be a more authentic rowing experience than the standard stationary rowers; it's been good so far and easy to get the rhythm required, although I suspect my technique has many flaws. I usually do 6.5km in 30 minutes whilst watching youtube/netflix to pass the time plus after that my butt cheeks start to ache despite having the concept foam seat pad.
Never seen one of those before. Just looked it up now. Looks like it needs a bit more in the way of co-ordination and technique than a standard machine. Is the performance on it comparable to a regular Concept 2?
The only fault (for me) of the waterpower is its electronics, which are, frankly, dire, at least until the S4+/S5
There is a way to improve it (smart row) but it's another £250...
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
I recall it was Concept's slightly rushed to market competitor for the dynamic rowing machine market, although it has the inherent robustness associated with Concept's products. It does require a bit more finesse/technique but nothing too challenging, more just different. I think times can be marginally slower than the D/E models as there's less scope for smashing the strokes, so to speak, in that it rewards a more fluid technique hence it being designed for more of an OTW experience.
I think generally it is considered as being more forgiving in terms of stresses on the body, lower back especially, which was one of the reasons I chose it however that's anecdotal/personally subjective rather than an acknowledged design benefit.
Big benefit for people tight on space as well. The regular Concept 2 does need a fair amount of space.
Along with everything else, they're sold out at the moment.
The D splits in two but I didn't fancy doing that regularly in a spare room.
Another Waterrower user.....3 times (each of 30 mins) per week. Mine is now showing signs of wear on the rails. I’ve had it 6 years, so a fair amount of use
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I hadn't - looks good, thanks a lot for the heads up
This could be the push I need to dust mine off which I keep looking at but just can't arsed to go through the pain of the first few weeks until I'm back into it. I used to do 10k in the morning then same again when I got home and 15k on a Saturday but there is zero chance of those distances happening this side of Christmas. I did have a look once at the records but once I saw that I'd be OK against boys under 12 or women over 69 I decided that I'm not quite ready to set the world of indoor rowing alight
I row 6k every morning on my machine, except Sundays. I've done this religiously since I bought the machine over 4 years ago. The only times I've missed any days are when I've been on holiday and nowhere near a gym, or the two occasions my recurring lower back problem erupted.
With my daily push ups, sit ups and weights regimes it all takes about 45mins in which time I watch the news channel on the TV I have on the wall opposite the rower.
The data also gets uploaded to Strava every day although the only thing it records is elapsed time, calories burnt and heart rate!
Excellent. The records can be a bit daunting, but there's also a rankings section for multiple distances on the Concept 2 website where you can see a full range of performances for every age group and weight category. Even if we can't get the records, we can see how we stand against other comparable folk and try to move up the rankings.
For me, the longer the distance, the further down the rankings I go!
That's some dedication. I can't do the TV thing and breath at the same time though!
I have a total mental and physical block getting past 2 minutes per 500m, so I was doing 5000 in 20 minutes, 10,000 in 40 and 15,000 in an hour. I found it almost impossible to improve my time no matter how much effort I put in. Righto I'm off out to the garage to give it a clean, first day back on it tomorrow for first time in over 12 months
I’ve got a Concept2, and a few years ago spent 18 month or so training on it with a guy from work. We use followed a lot of the training plans on the C2 website and kept a whole load of data on times and distances etc. I think we culminated in a half marathon, but kept targeting the 2km as the challenge, which we steadily improved on but hated more and more. Unles it felt just ‘right’ it was to easy to give up as a fast 2km is horrible, it’s the only thing that max my heart rate!
I took up triathlon training after this and have not gone back, although I did get the C2 out during lockdown and did a few 5km rows, but shortly after found Zwift and started cycling more again.
Will follow this thread with interest though as I do love a row (inside obviously!)...
Well I can't do any of those at the moment, so you're ahead of me. If you can do 15K in an hour, you can definitely do a much better 5000M time than that. It has to be a mental block.
I think an all-out 2k row is the hardest thing I've ever done, physically. I have avoided it for years, but do remember laying down for 20 minutes after my last attempt.
I normally just row to a set distance - 3000m. But every now and then I’ll alternate a much faster 500m with a slower 500m and it’s incredible how much the fast 500m takes out of you! I can’t imagine what an all out 2km would feel like.
Maybe one to try one day soon...?
Planning on getting back on the rower when we fly home for good in December. Must be a good 6-7 years since I used one, back then my best 2k was 7:14 and I remember the absolute state I was in as I rolled off it at the end. Longest single row was a half marathon, which I did after getting stuck in traffic on the M6 for about 4hrs and needed to blow off some serious steam, don't fancy that again any time soon!
Looking forward to it, but the extra years (and extra lbs) are going to make for painful reintroduction. I seem to remember the concept2 uk website had a very active forum and lots of helpful advice/training plans so worth checking out if any of you are unfamiliar
I haven't used a rower for years, but I got quite addicted to the Concept 2 back in the mid- 90s. The 2k challenge was quite tough, I used to use it as a warm- up before gym sessions at around 90% effort. At the age of 39, weighing 70kg, I could do around 7mins 10, I never got under 7 mins. When I turned 40 I planned to give it a real go........but I bottled out! Psychologically I lost it and I never got back to the self-imposed beastings , 20+ years on and I hate rowers.
Funniest sight on a Concept 2 was a guy I worked with. We had a gym on site with 2 rowers side by side, so it was easy to have races or challenges. This lad was 23, fancied himself as a fitness fan, so I had him a race over 2k. Despite giving him 16 years and being lighter in build I beat him comfortably, I was knackered but felt OK. When this guy stopped he was red in the face and breathing hard, but when he tried to climb off the rower his legs buckled and he collapsed in a heap......definitely not his finest hour!
I’ll stick to running while ever my old legs will let me.......jogging is probably more accurate thesedays! If I use an exercise machine I much prefer a cross trainer.
I’ve had a Concept 2 for a couple years. It gets used the most when the weather is cold and ugly. Did 100,000 meters on it this past January during one of Concept’s team challenges. That was great motivation for me, but unfortunately my teammates couldn’t seem to find the time to participate after the first week.
Concept usually puts together several team “challenges” each year. Could be fun and a motivational tool for those with rowers here during the winter months. You don’t need to own a Concept rower, just input your time and distance and the date into their app.
Although you are right 3-4 is robably going to be about right to simulate a fast moving fine boat its best to use the “Display Drag Factor” setting on the menu and always set to to the same/similar value. A “normal” value is a drag factor between 100-140, the BR squad use around 130-135. For me as a past it masters rower I use around 115-120.
The physical damper won’t account for dust in the machine or other physical differences whereas the drag factor measurement will.
As an aside a damper setting of 8 is likely to feel very heavy indeed, unless there is something badly wrong with the machine.
Used to use the Concept 2 a fair bit in the gym and also followed one of their training programs (Pete Plan?). Managed to do 2k in just under 7:30 which for my height (5’5”) and weight (11st) is not bad. In the end just got so bored with it. Found it hard to concentrate on keeping the right stroke for so long.Don't know how some folks can watch T.V at the same time.
now use the rower for warm ups or HIIT training - 500m x 10 with 1 min rests
Done a lot of rowing in my time on concept 2's and once even managed a 6.57 2,000m. Not any more as I'm older and going for 500m sub 1.30 sprints these days. Anyway, technique, technique, technique! That'll bring your times tumbling.
Watch some YouTube vids, practice getting it smooth. If you're lifting your hands over your knees on the return stroke then you're losing a lot of time.
Oh, and on the C2, make sure to go into Options and set the Drag Factor properly rather than just ramping to 10!
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Thanks I'll take a look at that.
I was actually looking at getting a concept 2 for home, wow I can't believe how expensive they are. Have to have a rethink
They are expensive but they are well regarded, robust and hold their value. A decent second hand one is a pretty safe bet.
Thanks. Any particular videos you’d recommend re technique? The one I watched was from Concept themselves and it was useful but I’m sure there are others worth exploring.
I haven’t really used menu options much - just to connect to my phone so the time and distance get logged in the ERG app and then setting the display. What else is worth setting in the menus?
Thanks
Try to position a camera/phone 'en profile' in a way that you can film your whole stroke movement. And rig up a real-time connection to a display /screen in front of you. It gives you instant feedback during every stroke, over and over again.
Concept2 has an online ranking system and community. You can join that. It's helpful and it gives you an idea of where you're ranked, world-wide.
Menno
By the time I've figured out how to do that I'll have lost the umphh to row! It's a good idea though and I'll give it a try. You see some absolutely horrendous strokes in gyms, and you probably need to video yourself regularly to see how yours looks.
Agree about the online ranking system and it's good that it's split by age, weight and gender.
This one is a pretty good side view: https://youtu.be/Ai64EEexI0I
I always think of breaking it down into 4 parts: legs-arms-arms-legs... get the transitions smooth, don't lean too far back and as you develop times will tumble.
Only setting I worry about is drag set to 130ish to mimic rowing on water.
Oh, make sure your arse stops at end of stroke. Loads of people lose power by moving their ass forwards before the handle touches the chest. That really will affect times!
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I'm not sure what you mean by that last point. Can you explain it a bit more? I need all the help I can get.
No probs.
As you move the seat to the back end of the track you are still pulling the handle towards your chest. If you watch in the gym loads of folks start the seat moving forwards before they've fully pulled the handle in to a stop. If you make sure your legs have fully extended, pulled the handle to the chest thereby getting maximum extension, only then should you start the seat moving forwards and start to extend your arms. The handle should be below the knees before your legs start to bend and your knees rise on the return.
Once you've got the technique you'll have people wondering why you're cruising sub 2mins/500m as they utterly mash themselves.
The longer you can make your stroke and keep power on, the faster the fan is turning, the quicker you're going.
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Many thanks. Pretty sure I don't do that, but I must be doing something wrong or I'd be faster. or maybe just unfit. Sub 2.00/500 for 5k is beyond me at the moment, but a realistic target for this winter.
Good advice. One thing I realised I was doing was that in the return, I kept going till the seat hit my foot - as in I could feel it touch - then is drive backwards. When I watched a video from Concept and realised that I should only return to the point that my legs were around 90 degrees, the exercise became more effective and I think I got faster. Nowhere near the sub 2mins/500 m, but a bit better.
Also felt like the fan was constantly spinning more than previously.
I would say that 5k at sub 2mins/500 is a fairly high bar to set, to be honest and would be a fair achievement. Best of luck!
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Having been rowing for about forty years, including at a fairly high level my technique tips for the C2 would be:
0. As already mentioned use Drag Factor to setup the machine every time to have a consistent setting
1. From back stops, move hands away first, rock over from the hips and then start to move the slide
2. Compress forwards until your shins are vertical
3. Ensure your arms are fully straight and “loose” before you start the drive (if you drive your legs with bent arms you are limiting your leg drive to the strength of your arms)
4. As you drive lean back slightly and press your legs flat before you draw your arms in
5. Draw your hands in and away “flat” there is no need to drop your hands at the finish (as you would if you were actually rowing)
Last edited by tertius; 11th November 2020 at 21:15.
Thanks. I've been back on the rower for about a month now and did a 5K last week at 2.05/500 pace starting at 20spm and adding 2 spm for each 1,000m. I know that's a long way from 2.00 pace but feel I could have probably got close to 2.03/500 with a more even stroke rate.
It must be 25 years since I dipped below 20 mins for 5k and I think I only did it once and was coughing my guts up for an hour afterwards. And I was about a stone of muscle heavier than I am now. So yes, it's going to be tough!
.. another vote for concept2 and aSensei from here (10k a day apart from weekends, and the time I’d like to drop is my HM time). Asensei was free during the first lockdown, but is now chargeable - but they do 20% off every so often.. worth it alone to make it more interesting than just slogging metres.
There are still a few workouts from Eric Murray on YouTube before he did solely asensei (he still does weekly random one offs on YouTube - well worth a look), YouTube-dl can cheerfully grab those for replay.
al
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All these sub 2min/500m times are making me feel inadequate! I timed a 2k split this morning, it was after I'd already completed 3k so it came at the mid point of my session. I also row on a step scale meaning resistance is high for 1.45min, then resistance drops a little for the next 1.45, then another drop and then a final one to an easy resistance until ramping back up to the high one again. My machine is a Bodymax Infinity R200 which I found had a much higher resistance than the concepts when I was trying them out, high resistance what what I was after to help with an old back injury. Anyway, it cycles this 5 times and it takes 35mins to complete. My 2k split time was 9m 42s but this is at my regular (which I'm now thinking is slow!) pace.
The only mitigating factor is I'm 60 next year!
To build up more core strength (which I find helps my damaged back) the other thing I do is 100 sit ups whilst rowing, meaning I lean right back on the power stroke until the handle is fully extended and I'm pretty much horizontal. I do these on the hard resistance part of the cycle so 40 on the first one, another 40 on the second and 20 on the third. Before I introduced the sit ups I'd regularly get muscle spasms in my back due to an old injury, since doing them the muscle spasms have all but disappeared so it must be helping. It doesn't help my times though obviously
I very much doubt if times are at all comparable between manufacturers/machines.
E.g. the standard machine in rowing clubs the world over is the Concept 2, and unsurprisingly the C2 ladders and challenges are only valid on C2 machines.
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