Advice for a Noob

[kennymac!114]

I've been rowing for about a month everyday with my model D. I am seeing some great results. I row for 20 minutes a day (take breaks when needed) at a 4 difficulty and i am consistently getting 4k. Is this a good track to be on? Can anyone recommend ways to improve my output?

[Ombrax]

Hi Kenny, welcome to the forum, and congratulations for starting - if you keep at it you'll find that rowing can be a rewarding exercise. It sounds like you already have.

4k in 20 minute works out to a pace of 2:30 / 500 m (which is the standard way to quote how fast you're rowing) Ignoring the breaks, since we don't know how long they were, that's a good start, but you also have plenty of room for improvement. (You don't mention your age or your height, but both of those will have an impact on your results.)

So to answer your question, you're going to have to decide what type of training is most likely to keep you motivated for the long term - a structured training plan (e.g. lots of folks around here use the Beginner's Pete Plan, or BPP) or a more informal approach, where you keep track of your workouts, introduce variety - some short, some long, and gradually push yourself harder so you improve over time. Some folks do that using the C2 Workout of the Day (WOD).

There are a number of other boxes to check at the start - be sure your technique is good, understand the difference between "difficulty" and Drag Factor, which is what the lever on the side of the erg really controls, etc. If you look around, there's plenty of information on the C2 web site and on the forum.

Good Luck

[gvcormac]

Yes, you're doing great! Fortunately for me, when I started rowing in 1992, there was nobody to tell me how hard it was, or what I should and shouldn't do. Just a pictogram.

https://cormack.uwaterloo.ca/con2.jpg

[jamesg]

Can anyone recommend ways to improve my output?

That'll come anyway. But start with technique and style.

Rowing is mostly a leg sport, since they're large and strong already. So we make them do most of the work, as seen here:

https://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/ ... que-videos

[iain]

Can't add much to the above. Re "Difficulty", this is dependent on how fast we pull the chain not the Drag Factor setting as the resistance increases by the cube of the speed of the drive. The drag factor is a personal choice and the power output and hence the amount of metres covered in a given time is adjusted for the Drag factor, all settings are equally valid. A setting of "4" is reasonable on a clean machine, but you might like to try slightly higher and lower for a little while each to find out what feels best for you (personal choice, stronger people tend to prefer a slightly higher factor as do those with a relatively stronger upper body). Make sure you don't get into the mindset that you will get a better workout or it is "harder" on higher settings.

Ultimately it is good to set objectives. So do you want to row for longer &/or faster? I would agree that the first thing is to develop a good stroke. There are a number of faults that will make it harder to row at the same pace. If you are brave, post a short video from the side and those that know much more than me will make suggestions. Alternatively, try and follow the video posted by James above and watch your "pace". I find a poor sttroke leads to a 2-3S/500m pace drop even after 21,000km, so trying to get the best pace for constant effort will help. Also watching the force curve is also instructive, you shouldn't see any inflections in the curve that should look like a left leaning haystack. Finally, it is easier to get the stroke right at low rating (strokes per minute), the force applied during the drive should be quite high even during long training sessions. But by crawling back up the slide we have plenty of time to "recover" from the effort of the driveready to do it again.

Happy erging.