Concept2 Forum

Do people use different damper settings for different distances and workouts?

I have it maxed at 10 for speed and interval training, up to 2K. But when I do the longer "engine-building" pulls (5k -14K), I knock it down to about 5.

Is this a bad idea; should I always keep the damper setting the same? You just get a lot more distance out of one pull the higher up you go, right? That's why I want it to set the better times on the shorter distances. But maybe I'm thinking about this wrong...

Edit: I know I have to check my drag rating on the machine. I've had it for a good 4 years now and I've never done that, though I've never really been serious about getting a good deal faster until recently. I guess the higher damper setting doesn't actually amp up intensity; it just makes you pull harder, and maybe that's not a good idea because it tires you out faster.

Some people like a little higher drag for hard sprints, but whatever Drag Factor (the actual number read from the monitor, not the damper setting) you use, the distance you get with each stroke is only dependent on how hard you pull (power you put into the drive). DF is a personal preference thing only. Most people, including world class rowers, settle in on a DF of 130 plus or minus.

As you've discovered, higher DF is more like weight lifting, lower DF results in a faster drive. It's all about feel. The workout you get depends only on the power you put into it.

Cyclist2 wrote: ↑

July 19th, 2020, 5:31 pm

Some people like a little higher drag for hard sprints, but whatever Drag Factor (the actual number read from the monitor, not the damper setting) you use, the distance you get with each stroke is only dependent on how hard you pull (power you put into the drive). DF is a personal preference thing only. Most people, including world class rowers, settle in on a DF of 130 plus or minus.

As you've discovered, higher DF is more like weight lifting, lower DF results in a faster drive. It's all about feel. The workout you get depends only on the power you put into it.

Okay, thanks. I'll see where I'm at and shoot for around 130 then. Maybe there's a big discrepancy right now, I have no idea.

It's certainly easier on my hands to go lower on the damper setting -- blisters aren't as much of an issue.

In itself any drag is fine. If you want row/mimic rowing in a boat, a high drag is not handy. This makes the stroke very slow.
Almost everybody uses a higher drag on sprints, but only very people use max drag. For most this is way to much.

Re weightlifting, even a 100m could be 15 strokes in 14/17 seconds. So to call that weightlifting is not really the case. And a 500 is 50/60 strokes. Not for nothing erg sprinters use weights and much less the erg to get stronger.

I have settled on 115-120 for every session but I don't do short sprints ie less than 500m but I have seen ergers doing 1:15 pace sprint intervals at 120 so it's not essential to whack it up.

Dangerscouse wrote: ↑

July 20th, 2020, 4:13 am

I have settled on 115-120 for every session but I don't do short sprints ie less than 500m but I have seen ergers doing 1:15 pace sprint intervals at 120 so it's not essential to whack it up.

1.15 yes. But thats not real sprinting. For 1.05 you need more drag. But 95% plus of people have nothing to gain from high drag and can’t sprint.

I use higher drag not only for sprint pieces, but also for workouts with higher rating.
For example, I do my 30R20 with drag around 120, free rate 30' around 130.
My "goal" is to prevent the fan from getting too slow, at lower rating the fan has more time to slow down, so drag can be lower.

For sprints I use max for 100m and 1', around 170 for 500m and around 150 for 1k. 2k is a bit higher than normal around 135. For very long pieces (1h+) it's slightly lower around 125.

hjs wrote: ↑

July 20th, 2020, 4:38 am

Dangerscouse wrote: ↑

July 20th, 2020, 4:13 am

I have settled on 115-120 for every session but I don't do short sprints ie less than 500m but I have seen ergers doing 1:15 pace sprint intervals at 120 so it's not essential to whack it up.

1.15 yes. But thats not real sprinting. For 1.05 you need more drag. But 95% plus of people have nothing to gain from high drag and can’t sprint.

For HWTs yes, but if you look at LWTs then 1:15 average gets you v v high on rankings. We often say on here the rankings would include many more fast efforts and that would see more people 1:10-1:15 sort of range, but faster than the top LWT guy Tyson Whitt at 1:10? Doubt it.

(I "get" that your're more interested in HWTs btw)

Gammmmo wrote: ↑

July 20th, 2020, 11:59 am

hjs wrote: ↑

July 20th, 2020, 4:38 am

Dangerscouse wrote: ↑

July 20th, 2020, 4:13 am

I have settled on 115-120 for every session but I don't do short sprints ie less than 500m but I have seen ergers doing 1:15 pace sprint intervals at 120 so it's not essential to whack it up.

1.15 yes. But thats not real sprinting. For 1.05 you need more drag. But 95% plus of people have nothing to gain from high drag and can’t sprint.

For HWTs yes, but if you look at LWTs then 1:15 average gets you v v high on rankings. We often say on here the rankings would include many more fast efforts and that would see more people 1:10-1:15 sort of range, but faster than the top LWT guy Tyson Whitt at 1:10? Doubt it.

(I "get" that your're more interested in HWTs btw)

Paul, in general its mostly absolute results to really interest me. Not weight limited, not age limited. The more “freak” the better

I row pretty much everything at a drag of 130 other than distances under 2K - then I may go to 140-160 for sprint rows. All my PBs from 2K to FM were at 130 and just feels right for me. I may try some longer rows with less drag as an experiment but in general as you can read here most people stay pretty consistent and most don't use max drag other than super strong sprinters like Martin.