New to Rowing

[potatorower]

I'm sure this is a very common question and has been asked many times. I very recently bought a C2 model D with the PM3. Amazing machine! I come from a very athletic backround( ex pro cyclist, still workout 4-5 times a week, 6 '1, 190lbs, 35yo) and I'm either a terrible rower, have a problem with my monitor or using poor form. I rowed for an hour yesterday after I assembled my machine and had a very hard time breaking 2:00 per 500m @ a spm of 28-30. I held a consistent pace, felt my form was decent(90% legs, back & abs) and totaled around 900 cals per hour. I was a bit pleased with myself until I looked at this forum and noticed that men well into their 70's are killing me??!! Am I that far off or may my PM need calibrating?? I had a drag factor around 130-135. Thank you!

[hjs]

I'm sure this is a very common question and has been asked many times. I very recently bought a C2 model D with the PM3. Amazing machine! I come from a very athletic backround( ex pro cyclist, still workout 4-5 times a week, 6 '1, 190lbs, 35yo) and I'm either a terrible rower, have a problem with my monitor or using poor form. I rowed for an hour yesterday after I assembled my machine and had a very hard time breaking 2:00 per 500m @ a spm of 28-30. I held a consistent pace, felt my form was decent(90% legs, back & abs) and totaled around 900 cals per hour. I was a bit pleased with myself until I looked at this forum and noticed that men well into their 70's are killing me??!! Am I that far off or may my PM need calibrating?? I had a drag factor around 130-135. Thank you!

this is nice video for technique.

You are a bit harsh on your yourself. It takes a bit of time to get your body fully to adept to erging. The arms/back are proberly not strong enough yet. As a neyby you proberly will improve rapidly.
2.00 for a full hour is not that bad at all. But you will soon improve on that.

Welcome.

[potatorower]

Thank you. I'll place a mirror next to me today and work on form. Although I thought I was using good technique, my lower back and right bicep is very sore today? I'm still a little mystified that self proclaimed "out of shape" C2 users can train @ 1:50 per 500m pace with a rate of 20-22 spm. Very humbling!

[hjs]

Thank you. I'll place a mirror next to me today and work on form. Although I thought I was using good technique, my lower back and right bicep is very sore today? I'm still a little mystified that self proclaimed "out of shape" C2 users can train @ 1:50 per 500m pace with a rate of 20-22 spm. Very humbling!

Some one who pulls 1.50 at rate 22 for a full hour is far from out of shape. Doing for a short periode of time means not much, a bit a strenght is enough. The fact your bicep/back are sore says a lot. Those part simply have tyo strengten up. Sports is specific, you can have a great heart/lung fubction but you muscles also have to be strong enough. For you that will ne number one now. And that will come in time.

The only thing that may be true is that the erg is a bit forgiving on the weight front. A bit of extra fat does not make that much of a difference. Although is sure does not help also

[chgoss]

I'm sure this is a very common question and has been asked many times. I very recently bought a C2 model D with the PM3. Amazing machine! I come from a very athletic background( ex pro cyclist, still workout 4-5 times a week, 6 '1, 190lbs, 35yo) and I'm either a terrible rower, have a problem with my monitor or using poor form. I rowed for an hour yesterday after I assembled my machine and had a very hard time breaking 2:00 per 500m @ a spm of 28-30. I held a consistent pace, felt my form was decent(90% legs, back & abs) and totaled around 900 cals per hour. I was a bit pleased with myself until I looked at this forum and noticed that men well into their 70's are killing me??!! Am I that far off or may my PM need calibrating?? I had a drag factor around 130-135. Thank you!

If your new to the erg and did an hour at anything approaching a sustained 2:00 pace (15,000m in 1 hour), that is actually an excellent time. It would put you in the top 50% of your age group (you probably expected top 5% given your background, but first time out? very good). Additionally, If you keep at it 3-5 times a week you should see a very rapid improvement until at some point you will level off..

Check out the technique vid, DF sounds a bit high.

Get RowPro and row with us online! Free eval copy at: http://www.digitalrowing.com/Downloads/index.htm

Good luck!

[potatorower]

Thank you for the responses. I certainly have a lot to digest and work on.

[jamesg]

very hard time breaking 2:00 per 500m @ a spm of 28-30

You're already fit and doing plenty of work. You can adjust your technique however: suggest you lengthen the stroke to let your legs do more of that work; the rating will fall to say 20-22. You may need to drop the drag a bit to speed up the stroke.

A good warm-up/technique drill that clearly shows the effect of leg action length is to start by using arms only with back straight, then when warm add swing forward, then add leg action (after the swing so that you're on your feet), gradually lengthening slide travel until your hands reach the chain-guard. At full length make sure your shoulders (not your rear) are well forward, again with back straight; this makes for a strong quick catch with no risk of injury.

You'll see Watts increasing and the rating dropping during this warm-up; you'll soon see what level is sustainable for say an hour; my guess is 200W at 20-22.

This lady knows how: http://www.britishrowing.org/rowing-stroke

Note that her blades are in the water in only 2 of 8 photos: she takes plenty of time for recovery, knowing the next stroke will be very hard work; and because the boat keeps going anyway. The erg does too.

[potatorower]

Thanks for all the good advice! Should I lower the DF while learning proper form? New, off the store's floor, I have it set at about 6.5 on the dial which reads a DF of 135ish. I'm still amazed that small tweaks in form can shave 15-20 seconds per 500m.

[Citroen]

Thanks for all the good advice! Should I lower the DF while learning proper form? New, off the store's floor, I have it set at about 6.5 on the dial which reads a DF of 135ish. I'm still amazed that small tweaks in form can shave 15-20 seconds per 500m.

Leave it alone for now if that's what you're used to. You have a lot of other variables to play with before you think about playing with the drag factor. DF 135 is good for the average HWT (>75kg / > 165lb) rower. If you do want to play with it don't move more than ten points in either direction or you'll have a horrible, uncomfortable workout.

[Bob S.]

Although I thought I was using good technique, my lower back and right bicep is very sore today?

This suggests to me that you are doing too much of the work with your back and arms. my old coach's mantra was that the thighs are the real drivers and the arms and back are just linkage. An exaggeration, of course, but the point was that the legs should be doing the bulk of the work. A particularly important factor is in not having the relatively weak strength arms compete with the much stronger legs. In other words it is critical that the arms should not be bent on the drive until the legs are straight.

In regard to the lower back, it could be that you are bending too much in the spine. Your back swing should be a pivot at the hips.

Bob S.

[Alissa]

Although I thought I was using good technique, my lower back and right bicep is very sore today?

This suggests to me that you are doing too much of the work with your back and arms. my old coach's mantra was that the thighs are the real drivers and the arms and back are just linkage. An exaggeration, of course, but the point was that the legs should be doing the bulk of the work. A particularly important factor is in not having the relatively weak strength arms compete with the much stronger legs. In other words it is critical that the arms should not be bent on the drive until the legs are straight.

In regard to the lower back, it could be that you are bending too much in the spine. Your back swing should be a pivot at the hips.

Bob S.

And by "hip" we mean the place where the thigh bone inserts into the pelvis. Your pelvis should be treated as part of your strong stable torso!

Alissa

[potatorower]

Amazing advice. Thanks to everyone! I spent about 20 minutes rating around 15-17spm focusing on the tips, then 10k rating around 20-22spm( 8spm less than before) and shaved 15 seconds off of my previous 500m splits. I have a feeling I'm going to really like this erg thing! It's like chasing watts on my power meter when I was cycling but without the risk of being run off the road or hit by an idiot driver!

[aharmer]

I would add that you should post a video of yourself erging for critique. Watching a video and trying to emulate their form usually does very little for your technique. If you post a video, experts can show you exactly what you are doing correct and incorrect. Far superior method of improving your technique in my opinion. Good luck with the erg, with your size and background you should put up some impressive numbers once your technique is dialed in!

[potatorower]

Will do. I'll upload a vid this weekend. I can totally see how this can be very addictive! I felt that my cardio system was only @ 50% max or so during the workout yesterday rating so low yet the splits were so much faster. Once I get a reliable technique down I can really have some fun with this! In the years racing my bike I was always battling my large frame and killed myself to get as thin as possible. From what I've seen and learned so far from rowing, this won't be an issue and I can reap some benefits from my size and use my backround to my advantage. I'm very familiar with the "pain cave" and look forward to visiting it again in a new sport!

[potatorower]

Thought that I had the form down, but have indisputable evidence that I was wrong. Very wrong. Did around 15k meters three days in a row at a decent clip and today my lower back is locked up like a 90 year old arthritic man. I'm shuffling around, taking 10x longer to do normal tasks and need to figure out why I'm not getting enough drive from my legs and why I feel like I dug a 50 foot deep hole with a shovel without ever bending my legs???